Swedish Muslims for Peace and Justice
Swedish Muslims for Peace and Justice (Swedish: Svenska Muslimer för Fred och Rättvisa, SMFR) is a Swedish Muslim self-described peace organization. It was founded in 2008 by a group including the Swedish Parliamentarian Mehmet Kaplan and is today one of the largest peace groups in Sweden It is headed by former Green Party politician Yasri Khan.[1] Kaplan has since been forced to resign from the Swedish Cabinet due to his association with advocates of violent attacks on Armenians and connections to Islamist militants in Turkey.[2][3]
In the years 2015-2017 SMPJ received state subsidies from the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society according to the latter's 2017 annual report.[4]
State aid to SMFR | |
Source: Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society 2017 annual report.[4] |
SMPJ is a supporting organisation to Ship to Gaza Sweden.[5]
The group has been active with educational and leadership programs.[6] It also has some international work[7][8] in Egypt,[9][10] Thailand, Palestine etc. They work from a European Muslim perspective and go by the slogan "By Muslims for society".
According to a 2014 report by the government of the United Arab Emirates, in 2010 Tahir Akran of the Islamic Association in Sweden (Arabic: الرابطة الأسلامية في السويد) (Swedish: Islamiska förbundet i Sverige, IFiS), a group listed by the UAE as a terrorist organization, decided to improve the reputation of the Islamic Association by encouraging its members to participate in the SMPJ.[11]
References
- Gotland, Almedalsveckan - Region. "Troende, tro och misstro mot tron - Almedalsveckan". Almedalsveckan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-09-01.
- "SVT Nyheter avslöjar: Kaplan har träffat islamister vid flera tillfällen". www.svt.se. Sveriges Television. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- Henley, John (18 April 2016). "Sweden's housing minister resigns amid 'extremist links' row". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- Årsredovisning 2017 (PDF). Myndigheten för ungdoms- och civilsamhällesfrågor. 2018. p. 98. ISBN 978-91-88455-65-9.
- "Stödorganisationer". shiptogaza.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-09-01.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-07-04. Retrieved 2013-05-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://www.pluralism.org/events
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-04. Retrieved 2013-05-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://swedalex.wordpress.com/2011/11/
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-05-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "List of terror groups published by UAE". Gulf News. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2016.