“Egyptian Minister calls Israel ‘an enemy’ on same level as Muslim Brotherhood!”

Paris, 18 September

Mr. President,

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre was delighted to follow the 30th International Conference, organized by the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs at the Egyptian Ministry of Islamic Endowments (Awqaf).

Delegates from 57 Muslim countries participated, in addition to twenty from Africa.

This two-day (15-16 September) gathering was a wonderful opportunity to announce a common stand against the threat of Iranian sponsored terrorism and mayhem across the region and threatening most of the invitee states.

Unfortunately, the Egyptian Minister of Awqaf, Dr. Mohammed Mokhtar Gomaa, misused the occasion to claim on Al-Ghad television ,that the antisemitic and anti-Egyptian “Muslim Brotherhood grew in parallel with the Zionist entity as two enemy aggressors against us, one stabbing us in the face, the other stabbing us in the back!”

Arabic text:

وأضاف جمعة، في تصريحات لقناة الغد الإخبارية، أن جماعة الإخوانالمسلمين نشأت بالتوازى تقريباً مع الكيان الصهيوني، لكى يكون لنا عدوان، أحدهما يطعنفي الوجه والآخر يطعن فى الظه

Full interview Alghad TV Youtube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9dZQYB-g3g&t  (from 16:21 - 16:40)

In the past, Gomaa has also compared Israel with ISIS (Daesh).

Mr. President, on the same day that Gomaa was spewing his hate for Israel, you received a delegation in Cairo from the Canadian Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. The visitors, according to Al Ahram,“hailed [your] efforts to boost the values of tolerance and peace for a historic coexistence among all religions.”

In that spirit, Mr. President, the Wiesenthal Centre’s 400,000 worldwide membership calls on you to publicly denounce Minister Gomaa for undermining your policy and maligning your neighbour, the State of Israel, in the presence of 77 Muslim States... a lost opportunity to encourage peace in the region.

Most respectfully,

Dr. Shimon Samuels
Director for International Relations
Simon Wiesenthal Centre