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Ellman
is a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group
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LONDON,
July 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A British Member of
Parliament, known for its staunch support for Israel, has urged Home
Secretary David Blunkett to deny renowned Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf
Al-Qaradawi access to London to attend a hijab conference due to be
hosted by Greater London Authority on July 12.
"It
would be an outrage if someone with such close links to these
movements were allowed to come here. It would create enormous security
problems at a very sensitive time," MP Louise Ellman, Labour
member for Liverpool Liverside, has told Blunkett in a letter,
Britain’s Press Association (PA) reported Monday, July 5.
She
said the prominent Muslim scholar, who has already arrived in London,
Monday July 5, called for beating
"disobedient" wives, praised "suicide bombers" in
the occupied Palestinian territories and called for the destruction of
Israel, PA reported.
Ellman
also accused Qaradawi of being the spiritual leader of the
"largest and oldest Islamist extremist movement", in a
veiled reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Add
to that, the MP claimed that Qaradawi is a major shareholder in a bank
alleged to be part of Al-Qaeda's fundraising and had been banned,
since 1999, from entering the United States.
"It
would be quite wrong to allow this man on our shores," she said.
Sheikh
Qaradawi will be the eminent guest of honor of the hijab conference
organized by the nascent Pro-Hijab
organization and hosted by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone.
Qaradawi
is the President of the European Council for Fatwa and Research in
Dublin, Ireland and he chairs its annual meetings, which will begin in
London, Wednesday, July 7.
Pro-Israel
Ellman
Ellman
is a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group and delivered
several speeches before Israeli groups in London like Poale Zion.
Last
December, she sparked a furious row by using parliamentary privilege
to claim that the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB)
supports terrorism and spreads hatred against Jews.
"Zionist
Ellman is well known for her campaign to find the lost tribes of
Israel, or what she calls 'The Forgotten Jews', to bring them to
Palestine where they would dispossess more Palestinians of their lands
and homes," MAB has said in a press release.
In
April, Liverpool Friends of Palestine group also condemned Louise
Ellman MP (Liverpool, Riverside) for her defense of assassination of
Palestinian resistance figures.
Ellman
told Parliament that "Israel’s action in killing Sheikh Yassin
was a legitimate response to an extraordinary situation".
The
campaign group accused Ellman of speaking for Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon rather than her constituents.
There
are many Jews today who agree that the government of Sharon is a
source of embarrassment for Jews worldwide, chiefly Rabbi Yisroel
Dovid Weiss.
He
told IslamOnline.net on August 25 last year there can be no
true peace "as long as Zionism and the state of Israel
exist."
Moderate
Qaradawi
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Qaradawi
often made clear that bombings targeting civilians were strictly
forbidden in Islam
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Sheikh
Qaradawi enjoys the respect of most Muslims all over the world and is
considered a Muslim progressive social reformer, not just an esteemed
scholar.
Many
were the times that Sheikh Qaradawi had denounced the attacks on
innocent civilians, no matter who they were and the activities of
groups like Al-Qaeda.
He
called for distinguishing
between the Israeli occupation and the Jews themselves.
"We
do not fight Israelis because they are Jews, but because they took our
land, killed our children and profaned our holy places," the
venerable Sheikh had said.
He
often made clear that bombings targeting civilians were strictly
forbidden in Islam, hitting out at the "heinous"
Bali bombings and the 9/11 attacks.
"Islam
not only prohibits attacking non-Muslims who do not launch attacks
against Muslims, but it also urges Muslims to treat those non-Muslims
with due respect and kindness, especially non-Muslims who live along
with Muslims within the Islamic territories," he said.
Furthermore,
he strongly
condemned of the attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda network of
Osama Bin laden and Philippine
Abu Sayyaf.
Following
the attacks on New York and Washington, Qaradawi spearheaded the
Muslim scholars in denouncing the grainy incident and urged the Muslim
community in the United States to
donate blood to the victims of the attack.
More
recently, he condemned
the deadly string of blasts in Saudi Arabia, which targeted
westerners.
Read
some of Qaradawi's views:
