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How the Swiss federation became the «Mecca» of the Muslim Brotherhood

17 July 2019 Investigations   21017  

Switzerland is, without any equivocation, the epicenter of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Europe. Earth that hosts several waves of refugees belonging to the Brotherhood since the 1950s, it has become the “Mecca” of the European Muslim Brotherhood. Especially, thanks to the discretion of its banks….

By Atmane Tazaghart

The Helvetian networks of the Muslim Brotherhood are organized into four distinct poles, which spread over five cantons: Geneva, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Ticino and Zurich. Each of these poles is headed by one or two families: the Ramadan in Geneva, the Kermous in Neuchâtel and Vaud, the Nada and the Himmat in Ticino and Zurich.

The inter-connectivity between these poles cannot be achieved only by the secret International of the Brotherhood, the famous Tanzim al-Dawli, whose existence has long been denied by Muslim Brotherhood, or by the financial occult networks protected by the sacrosanct secret of the Swiss banks. It is also supported by the presence of the representative of a «family» within an organization held by another family.

Thus, Hani Ramadan, based in Geneva, finds himself, for example, on the board of directors of the Wakef-Suisse Foundation (WSF), held by Kermous in Prilly, in the canton of Vaud.

And Mohamed Kermous, based in Neuchâtel, is among the administrators of the Islamic Community in the Canton of Ticino (ICCT), held by the Himmat in Lugano.

The Ramadan dynasty

In the Muslim Brotherood galaxy, Geneva became an exclusive domain of the Ramadan dynasty. Even the all-powerful «spiritual guide» of the Brotherhood, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, had to close, in March 2010, the Swiss antenna of the International Islamic Charitable Organization, which he had established in Geneva in 1987.

The undivided reign of the Ramadan family on the Geneva networks of the Muslim Brotherhood, can be explained by the aura and prestige due to the fact that its members are the descendants of the founder of the Brotherhood.

The family is, indeed, the heiress of Said Ramadan, former personal secretary of the Muslim Brotherhood founder, Hassan al-Banna, of which he married the eldest daughter Wafa. Located in Geneva, in 1959, Saïd Ramadan founded an Islamic Center there. He also contributes to the implementation of Muslim Brotherhood in Germany, especially in Munich.

Upon his death in 1995, his eldest son Hani took over as head of the Islamic Center of Geneva (ICG). And in 2001, a foundation named Said Ramadan is created. it is also led by Hani Ramadan. Like the ICG, the Saïd Ramadan Foundation Board of Directors is composed exclusively by members of the family: his widow Wafa, his sons Hani, Aymen, Yasser, Billal, Tariq and his only daughter Arwa.

Recently, the reputation and aura of the Ramadan family have been tainted by the sexual scandals of Tariq Ramadan, accused of rape by several complainants in France and Switzerland. But the new patriarch of the clan, Hani Ramadan, is no exception. In 2003, he was fired from his post of teacher by the canton of Geneva, because of statements considered discriminatory, including controversial writings in which he advocated stoning and where he considered AIDS a “divine punishment”! 

In 2016, the French authorities banned him from entering France. Not having respected this prohibition measure, he is arrested in Lyon and expelled to Geneva in April 2017. And in June 2018, his assets in France were frozen for suspicions of “terrorism financing”.

The insatiable activism of the Kermous spouses

In the cantons of Neuchâtel and Vaud, Mohamed Karmous and his wife Nadia created successively not less than a dozen Islamic associations. So many tentacles serve as a preface to their Muslim-brothers activism and pro-Qatari lobbying.

They lead in particular the League of Muslims of Switzerland (LMS), affiliated to the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), the Sociocultural Center for Muslims of Lausanne (SCML), the Mithak Euro-Swiss Foundation (MESF), the Islamic Union of Teachers (IUT), the Cultural Association of Muslim Women of Switzerland (CAMWS).

In 2016, the couple embarked on a pharaonic project aimed at creating a “museum without collection” dedicated to the “civilizations of Islam”. A huge and disproportionate building for the small locality La Chaux-de-Fonds, which has less than 40,000 inhabitants (see the box below), received a funding of more than one million Swiss francs, by the Qatar Charity Foundation! 

The islamist enclave of Ticino!

The Swiss canton of Ticino is known for its famous enclave of Campione, a small town of 2.6 km², under Italian sovereignty, in full Swiss territory. The arrival on the spot, at the end of 1960s, of two emblematic figures related to Tanzim al-Dawli, Youssef Nada and Ali Ghaleb Himmat, has established a less visible but much larger enclave dedicated to occult finances of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The discreet activities of the Nada and Himmat clans have only begun to attract attention in 2001 after the attacks of 9/11. In particular, following investigations into their Al-Taqwa bank, suspected of terrorism financing.

Ali Ghaleb Himmat, now 81, is still a director of the Islamic Community in tthe Canton of Ticino (ICCT), which he founded in 1991. His son, Youssef Himmat, chairs the pan-European organization Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO).

At 88, Youssef Nada, remains very discreet. Iconic figure of the Muslim-brothers international, of which he was the occult financier for more than half a century, his name officially appears only as a founding member of the Foundation of the Islamic Community of Zurich (FICZ). His son, Nazim Nada, seems to have inherited from his father the culture of secrecy and the taste of occult finances. 

He directs, in Lugano, Lord Energy, an enigmatic gas trading company and oil. Among its shareholders, there are several “young wolves” belonging to the Swiss and Italian Muslim Brotherhood!