Mark Humphrys (politics)

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Islam in Ireland - The Clonskeagh mosque - The Halawa case




  Essential background

The Halawa case

Halawa sisters released

Ibrahim Halawa in jail, 2013-17

Halawa's mosque's silence

FAQ - My position on the Halawa case

Ibrahim Halawa freed, Oct 2017


The Halawa case

The Halawa case is Ireland's biggest Islamism-related story ever.

In June to Aug 2013, four adult children of Hussein Halawa, the leading Muslim Brotherhood cleric in Ireland, became activists (and speakers) in the massive Muslim Brotherhood demos in Egypt (after the toppling of Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi). After taking part in protests for weeks, the Halawa siblings were caught up in the violent Egyptian military crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Aug 2013. They were jailed by the new Egyptian military dictatorship. The Halawa sisters were released in Nov 2013 and returned to Ireland. Ibrahim Halawa stayed in prison in Egypt until 2017.

This story has been one of the greatest failures of the Irish media of my lifetime. A long procession of journalists has written articles on the Halawa case without even mentioning the most important fact about them, that they are Muslim Brotherhood. The journalists reported on four "Irish people" or an "Irish family" on "holiday" who somehow got "trapped" in a mosque in Egypt taking "refuge" from some protest. The Irish media seemed totally uninterested in who these people are and what they were doing. Is it the function of the media to hide information from us?

I finally broke down this media silence in 2016 with my Sunday Times article.

In 2017, the story ended as Egypt acquitted Ibrahim Halawa and (in absentia) his sisters. But many issues remain that cut to the heart of modern Ireland:

These issues have not gone away.

  

Quick introductions

This page lays out the evidence in detail. If you want shorter introductions, see:
  1. "Where is Halawa family's respect for the freedom we enjoy?", Mark Humphrys, Sunday Times, 31 Jan 2016.
  2. "Irish Media Duplicity and the Halawa Case", Fergal Martin, Burkean Journal, 30 Oct 2017.
  3. Radio interview with me. See the first one, on 21 Sept 2017.
Don't waste your time with the following. They do not tell the full story:
  1. "Ibrahim Halawa - the inside story", Ruadhán Mac Cormaic, Irish Times, 8 Aug 2015.
  2. Free Ibrahim Halawa, Amnesty International.
  


Essential background

Ibrahim Halawa is not a tourist. He is Muslim Brotherhood royalty.

  1. The Halawa four are Hussein Halawa's son Ibrahim Halawa (spelt "Ebraheem" on his facebook) and daughters Omaima, Fatima and Somaia Halawa.

  2. The Clonskeagh mosque in Ireland is a leading Muslim Brotherhood centre in Europe.

  3. Its Imam is Hussein Halawa, father of the Halawas and the most senior Muslim Brotherhood figure in Ireland.

  4. Hussein Halawa is General Secretary of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), based at the Clonskeagh mosque. This is the main rule-making body for the Muslim Brotherhood.

  5. The ECFR was (until 2018) headed by Hussein Halawa's colleague Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the religious leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and one of the leading extremist clerics in the world. Al-Qaradawi was banned from entering the US, the UK and Ireland because of his support for violence and terror.

  6. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi praised Hitler and the Holocaust.

  7. The ECFR, based at Clonskeagh, says that gays and apostates should be executed.

  8. The Muslim Brotherhood is a fascist, anti-semitic, far-right Islamist organisation. It supports sharia law and the suicide bombing of Jews. It is the origin of most of the Sunni Islamist and jihadist movements terrorising the world today. It is closely linked to the terrorist group Hamas, which is the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza.

  


Not exactly a non-political family just on "holiday":
Here in late July 2013, Ibrahim Halawa's father, Hussein Halawa, is campaigning for the deposed Muslim Brotherhood regime.
At the same time as this, his adult children were protesting (for weeks on end) for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Later, in August, they were arrested.
Timeline of events:
  1. Ibrahim Halawa said he was involved in pro-MB protests from 28 June 2013.
  2. Morsi was deposed on 3 July 2013.
  3. Irish Times article (by Michael Jansen, 1 Dec 2014) said the Halawas in Egypt were at the pro-MB protests from 3 July 2013.
  4. The above event in Ireland was after 26 July 2013 (see video within video) and before 30 July 2013 (date of upload).
  5. The MB protests in Egypt were violently suppressed on 14 Aug 2013. The Halawas were arrested on 17 Aug 2013, a month and a half after they started protesting.






The Halawa case



Tom Clonan of the Irish Times says our lack of concern for supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood must be because of racism!



Nosayba Halawa at a protest at the Egyptian Embassy in Dublin calling for her siblings' release.
Note the Muslim Brotherhood poster!
Even at a demo calling for the release of the siblings, they couldn't resist carrying a political Muslim Brotherhood poster!
From here.



Their protest at the Egyptian Embassy in Dublin was segregated by sex.
Why leftists admire this kind of thing is beyond me.





Facebook evidence

The Irish journalists may try to hide it. But in the Internet age, you can go on Facebook yourself and find out who the Halawas are.




The Halawa sisters appear in a video, "Rabaa Tour", in Aug 2013, promoting the protests.



A comment on this thread confirms these are the Halawas in the video.
See full size.



Post shows that the Halawa siblings were activists with "Egyptians Abroad For Democracy" (EAD), which is a pro-Muslim Brotherhood group.
"two of those people are colleagues and dear friends of mine both of which work here at EAD Fatima Halawa and Somaia Halawa".



Omaima Halawa, 6 July 2013, posts a picture of herself and her sister Somaia Halawa holding a poster of Morsi at the MB protest.
Mary Fitzgerald, 23 Aug 2013, says: "On July 6th, Omaima posted a photograph on Facebook of herself and Soumaia holding a poster of Morsi at Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, site of what would eventually become a weeks-long sit-in protest against Morsi's overthrow".
Far from being on "holiday", the Halawas had been protesting for the MB every day for weeks: ""The Halawas were at Rabaa all day every day," says Aly Zein, a coordinator for [the MB group EAD] who became friends with the siblings during the sit-in. "Once people got there and saw what was happening, they got swept up in it. The solidarity we felt was inspiring.""



Omaima Halawa, 27 July 2013, says she envies the MB "martyrs" who have died in the crackdown, and she longs for martyrdom: "A night full of tears and action yet jealousy towards the shohad2a how much I envy them and ask Allah to gift me with the shahada yaraaaab".
Among the people who "like" this is her sister Nosayba Halawa.



Omaima Halawa, 28 July 2013, says she is staying at the MB protests and won't quit "because we only fear allah not bullets".
Among the people who "like" this is her father, Imam Hussein Halawa of Clonskeagh.



Somaia Halawa hates Israel.



Fatima Halawa promotes Islamic terror against Israel.
The logo is the Hamas logo.
Hamas is of course the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Fatima Halawa is quizzed about this and agrees this is her page.



Ibrahim Halawa likes a tribute page to Irish jihadist Hudhaifa El-Sayed on one facebook account.
And again on another facebook account.



Nosayba Halawa, 29 Sept 2013, attacks the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
She promotes Saad el-Shazly, who attempted a genocide of the Jews of Israel in 1973.
Had his plans succeeded, Israel would have used nuclear weapons against Egypt.



Nosayba Halawa, 15 Sept 2015, promotes rock-throwing Islamic fanatics inside the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.



As at 2015, Omaima Halawa is a member of a pro-MB group and a pro-Hamas group.



"Palestine will be free inshalallah" is a pro-Hamas group.



Somaia Halawa at a pro-Palestinian demo in Dublin, June 2012.
From album: "Palestinian Hunger Strike Solidarity Vigil".
On Facebook of Fatin Al Tamimi (IPSC activist).
She is holding a poster of Hassan Safadi. Israel suspects him of links to the terrorist group the PFLP.
The other poster is of Samer al-Baraq. Israel suspects him of links to Al Qaeda.





Video - The Halawas speak at the huge Muslim Brotherhood protest






 

The Halawa siblings address the vast Muslim Brotherhood protest at Rabaa al-Adawya square, Cairo.
This video was posted here on 1 Aug 2013.
It was removed but luckily I saved this copy for you.
The banner is of "Egyptians Abroad For Democracy", which is a pro-Muslim Brotherhood group.



Translation of video

A contact of mine who speaks Arabic provides the following translation of the video.

  


[0:04] Here tonight we have some people from other countries, they are here with us even though they should be doing their studies or spending their weekends, but they came here to support their country, Egypt. These ones decided to spend their vacations in Rabaa Al Adaweya instead of doing other stuff and you can see they are young and they look nice.

[1:19] Peace etc. Greeting and the heroes who are here, men, women, young, old. We came from abroad from different countries to share with you, to support you because also we think that the others are stealing Egypt and also the future of the people. We are getting our power from your standing here.

Allah Akbar etc.

[2:46] My name is Ahmed, I am Egyptian, living in Germany, going to the faculty of medicine and spending my vacation with you. I swear to Allah it is an honor to be here with you and spend the summer. All the people of foreign countries are admiring you and I read in Der Spiegel that the people (you) who are supporting legitimacy are still standing despite the violence used against them. Egyptian people are great ones. I would like to thank the German government for what they did and we deserve democracy, yes we do. Before I came to Egypt I asked my friend "do you need anything?" He said "yes, say hello to Dr. Morsi."

We say together "The people admire the standing of the President! The people admire the standing of the President!" etc.

[5:35] My name is Ebraheem Halawa and I am from Ireland. I am in the first year at University and I am here since one month ago. I came directly from Ireland to Rabaa and I was there at the Republican Guard massacre and I got two birdshot wounds, and it did not stop me. Your standing here makes me stay with you. Also, during the massacre at Sadat's Memorial I was there and saw the people killed even though Salah Sultan said to come back, but they stayed to face the police and our standing there stopped the police and the thugs. And then I came to the hospital at Rabaa, then they took me to Medinat Nasr hospital because I stopped breathing because of the gas. We are saying to them we are not leaving, we are not leaving.

I am going to give you a little word here, I am going to open it the way President Morsi used to do. "Oh great Egyptian people!" You standing here for 35 days on asphalt although you are under war, threats, live fire, your standing is a life for those ones who died. The people are two different kinds. People who are alive but they are dead, and others who have died but are still alive. Your standing here is a life for those ones who are under the control of the media and supporting the army. We are standing with you here, we are standing with you here.

What do we want? Freedom! When do we want it? Now! etc.

[8:31] My name is Mahmoud Ahmed Iraqi and I have been living in Ireland for 15 years. I came on the 28th and I was there at the Republican Guard and Sadat Memorial massacre. I got this birdshot wound during the Sadat memorial massacre and I fell down and had trouble breathing, but we came back because we are men. You brought us here. We are here because of you. We could have spent the summer in Ireland. You showed us the will. You show us the standing and because of you we are here. We are going to stay here until we bring back the will of the Egyptian people. Don't leave the square of Rabaa until you bring what you want!

[10:33] My name is Omaima Halawa and I came from Ireland to stand with my people, with my brothers and sisters. We will bring democracy back, Please Allah! Big greetings for those ones who defended us and who were in the front lines at the Sadat memorial massacre. And they refused to get back to defend us even after they attack them. Big greeting also to those ones who carried the dead and injured. Because of their courage we are still alive and by your standing here you are going to defeat those ones who made the coup soon.

[11:44] My name is Somaia from Ireland. And I came here in March to settle down in Egypt because I thought Egypt brought democracy and I believed I would live in Egypt in pride and dignity. After the coup I was looking for a job and did two interviews. And I decided to stop looking for work until we defeat the coup and bring democracy back. I would like to send a message to those who are watching us from home. Join us! Join us to bring democracy and defeat the coup! If you stay at home and something wrong happens to us here you are not going to have the calm life you are expecting. Then the regret will be useless. The Prophet said if somebody helps somebody to kill another even with a word, he will come on the day of judgement and written on his forehead will be 'he is desperate from the mercy of Allah', because silence means you agree that we should be killed. We think the PM and the government are responsible for the blood that will run tonight and also for the people who are mandated to fight us (the army). We expect their visit soon - anytime - but we trust in Allah to be with us. I swear to Allah we are not going to leave the square until we get back the dignity of all the Egyptians, whether they are with us or not! Keep standing in the square and the victory of Allah is coming soon!


  


Ibrahim Halawa's leaders

Ibrahim Halawa in his speech above declares that the following two people are his leaders:

  1. Salah Soltan, senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, who: (a) spreads the medieval blood libel against the Jews, (b) says Israeli tourists in Egypt should be killed, and: (c) says people all over the world "thirst for the blood of the Jews".

  2. Mohamed Morsi, senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, who: (a) says Jews are "the descendants of apes and pigs", (b) says children should be raised to hate the Jews, (c) says apostates from Islam should be killed, and: (d) says proselytisers for other religions should be killed.

Hard to explain this away!

  



"There is no such thing as democracy. Democracy is founded on principles of heresy. The ten principles of democracy constitute utter heresy: the freedom of religion, the freedom of belief - we have a punishment for apostasy ... In Egypt, there are 80 million citizens, only five million of whom are Crusaders ... They are a minority. A minority in a Muslim country has a certain status. Don't say everyone is equal. Don't tell me that every citizen enjoys equal and complete rights. Says who?! How can you possibly draw a parallel between the majority and a minority? ... There are 70 million of us! So how can you talk to me about equal rights? Whenever I build a mosque, he deserves to build a church?! Says who?"
- The Muslim Brotherhood's Wagdi Ghoneim, Aug 2011.

The banner in the video above, "Egyptians Abroad For Democracy", has fooled some people into thinking this was a "pro-democracy" protest.
But in fact the Muslim Brotherhood does not believe in democracy, as Wagdi Ghoneim shows.
How dare I link this fascist to the Halawas? Well mainly I dare because Wagdi Ghoneim has repeatedly been invited to the Clonskeagh mosque. He appears on Halawa social media.



Video - Ibrahim Halawa inside the besieged mosque

This video was posted here.
It was later removed. But luckily I have saved a copy for you.
Click to play.

  

Ibrahim Halawa inside the besieged Al-Fateh mosque in Ramses Square, Cairo, Aug 2013.
He says he has been at the protests since 28 June 2013, "since day one". (Morsi was toppled on 3 July 2013.)
He came straight from Ireland. He has been "in the 4 killings so far".
He says "the Army and the cops" (or is it "the Copts"?) are "working together" to kill the Muslim Brotherhood. The person who did this subtitled version goes for "the cops".
He says they are willing to be Islamic martyrs.





Ibrahim and the Egyptian Nazis

Since Irish leftists love to call critics of Ibrahim Halawa "Nazis", it is absolutely hilarious that there were real Nazis at Ibrahim's speech, not just rhetorical ones.

Disclaimer: Ibrahim Halawa may not know they are Nazis, of course. But if so, why is he still mentioning them approvingly years later on Irish TV? He needs to do some research!

  

On the Late Late Show on 3 Nov 2017, Ibrahim denied that he spoke at a sectarian Muslim Brotherhood protest.
He said that Christians were there. He specifically mentioned "Christians Against the Coup".
Of course I am the only person in Ireland to research this statement.
I wondered how on earth Christians could be at a MB protest. Most Egyptian Christians hate the MB. So who were these Christians that Ibrahim mentioned?



Christians Against the Coup is a tiny group founded by Rami Gan, co-founder of the Egyptian Nazi Party.
Click to play video. See also Hitler on his Facebook. (From here.)
This group is totally unrepresentative of the majority of Egypt's Christians, who hate and fear the MB. They are like the "God Hates Fags" church of Egyptian Christians.
Why do they like the MB? They like the MB because the MB is anti-semitic and pro-Nazi.
The fact that this tiny group of Egyptian Nazi Christians like the MB is a strong argument against the MB, against Ibrahim's protest, and against Ibrahim for mentioning this repellent group years later on the Late Late Show.



 

 



Ibrahim was a "child"

One line of sympathy for Ibrahim Halawa is that he was only a child when arrested in 2013. (He was 17.)

  1. On the one hand, there is something in this. Few people know what they are doing at 17. And he only protested and went to jail because he was being a "good son" following his father's (horrible) ideas. One might have sympathy for him.

  2. But on the other hand, he was campaigning to oppress Egyptian adults under sharia. You can't have it both ways. If you want to be treated as a child, you have no right to be involved in politics. If you are campaigning to oppress adults, then you have no right to claim child status. If you are a child, stay out of politics.



Halawa sisters released

  


Ibrahim Halawa in jail, 2013-17

For 4 years, from 2013 to 2017, Ibrahim Halawa remained in jail in Egypt. For 4 years, the Irish media uncritically promoted his campaign, and hid his links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The job of the modern media is not to tell us the facts. It is to change the world in the direction they think it needs changing.




Majid Freeman, a supporter of top Al Qaeda terrorists Aafia Siddiqui and Anwar Al-Awlaki, also calls for the release of Ibrahim Halawa and "the rest of our brothers in Egypt".


  

Halawa's mosque's silence

Here's something strange. The trendy Irish left supported Ibrahim Halawa. His sisters campaigned for him.

But Ibrahim Halawa's own mosque (where his father is imam) never seemed bothered. Can anyone explain?



Ireland's trendy leftists all have little "Free Ibrahim Halawa" stickers and icons.
But his own mosque does not. It does not mention him. The above is its Twitter as at Sept 2017.



Irish leftists write about Halawa endlessly and self-righteously. They viciously attack those who do not support him.
The Journal runs items on him every other week.
But, as at Sept 2017, after 4 years in jail, Ibrahim Halawa's own mosque has apparently never written a single post about him.
Can anyone explain?


Site Number of Google hits on site for "Ibrahim Halawa"
(as at Sept 2017)
The Irish Times 3350
The Journal 2540
Amnesty Ireland 281
Broadsheet.ie 195
JOE.ie 168
The Clonskeagh mosque
(Ibrahim's mosque, run by his father)
0
The Tallaght mosque 0
The South Circular Road mosque 0
The Blanchardstown mosque 0

The Irish left campaigns for Ibrahim Halawa.
The Irish mosques do not. Not even the one run by his father.
None of the main Irish mosques have ever written a single post about him.



At the start, in Aug-Nov 2013, the Egyptian Sisi regime offered to free the Halawas if Mr. Halawa recognised the regime.
Why did they care about the opinions of Mr. Halawa? Because he is a leading MB figure, of course.
Ibrahim could have been freed in 2013 if his father had renounced the Muslim Brotherhood. "Sheikh Halawa announced that he rejected the bargain since the freedom of millions is worthier than that of his own children." ("Freedom" here of course means "slavery under sharia".)
From International Students Against the Coup.



Halawa campaign in May 2017: "If this was your son what would you do to bring him home?"
To which I have a short reply.
And the above longer reply.


  

FAQ - My position on the Halawa case

My position has been mis-represented by many people. So here is what I said while this case was on, from 2013 to 2017:

On Ibrahim himself:

  1. Should Ibrahim Halawa be in prison?
    A. No idea. He supported the MB, a fascist organisation that killed police and burnt Coptic churches. But I have seen no evidence that he did that.

  2. Some people say he should be freed. Some say he should be jailed. Where do you stand?
    A. Neither. I do not take either position.

  3. Do you trust Egypt to give Halawa a fair trial?
    A. No. I have no trust in the Egyptian government or courts. Egypt under Sisi is a tyranny. Just as it was a tyranny under the MB and a tyranny under Mubarak.

  4. Are you upset that a MB guy is in prison?
    A. No, I can't say that could ever upset me.

  5. Did Halawa tear up his Irish passport on video?
    A. I have seen no evidence for that story.

On the MB in general:

  1. Are MB members suffering abuse of their human rights under Sisi?
    A. Yes, probably. That's how Sisi (and every Egyptian regime) operates. No one gets justice in Egypt.

  2. Is that bad?
    A. Yes, I guess, but it is nowhere near the worst thing wrong with Egypt. Egypt needs, among other things, proper freedom for Christians, gays, apostates, atheists and critics of Islam. Treatment of MB prisoners is entirely unimportant compared to these huge issues.

  3. Do you feel personally upset that MB prisoners might suffer abuse of their rights in Egypt?
    No. Not really. I despise the MB and I am not interested in their problems.

Other questions:

  1. Should the Halawa sisters be extradited to Egypt?
    A. No. Ireland should not extradite people to Egypt.

  2. Should Amnesty be defending Halawa?
    A. No. Amnesty should not defend Islamists.

  3. Are you annoyed that the Irish government is helping Halawa?
    A. No. It's what governments do. But don't expect me to join in.

  4. What else should the Irish government be doing?
    A. Asking what went wrong with immigration that a family that supports the Muslim Brotherhood was allowed settle in Ireland.

  5. What would it take for you to support Halawa?
    A. Him denouncing sharia law and the MB, and calling for freedom for apostates, atheists, Copts and gays. Him declaring that Irish law is superior to sharia law.

I am not campaigning for Halawa to be in prison (or to be freed). I have no idea about his guilt or innocence. I just want the Irish media to explain who he is and what he believes. I want them to cover the story with questioning and scepticism (as they should every story).

  

Ibrahim Halawa freed, Oct 2017

I never had any opinion as to whether Ibrahim should be in jail or not. Egypt never presented any evidence he did anything other than support the Muslim Brotherhood.

And that is what I am interested in. If he has reconsidered his support for the Muslim Brotherhood, I would love to hear it. He should tell us.


  


What I said Ibrahim Halawa should do when he left Egypt in Oct 2017.
I got a lot of angry abuse for this - all from people who I am sure never heard of Salah Soltan.
However, the tweet is meant as an optimistic one. It holds out the possibility of a different future.


  

  

Vindicated, Nov 2017

  

  

The Halawa case (after)

  



"This is the problem: the minute you hear that a Muslim youth is doing something they are an extremist. We just have to highlight what kind of Muslims we are; we are active in our communities and there's nothing wrong with that."
- Hajar Al-Kaddo, a friend of the Halawas, complains about the stereotyping of Muslims, 25 Aug 2013.
Rather ignoring the fact that these Muslims are extremists! They are supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"Can we have some investigative journalism rather than a PR platform for the Muslim Brotherhood?"
- A comment of 2 Sept 2013 underneath yet another article about the Halawas sums up the anger of so many people online with the Irish media.
I finally broke down this media silence in 2016 with my Sunday Times article.



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