Activities
The AEL describes itself as Nasserite, Pan-Arabist and anti-Zionist. The group expresses support for the actions of Islamist "resistance" against the occupation of Iraq and approves the killings of coalition soldiers.
Salon.com reports that the group issued public approvals for the September 11, 2001 attacks and the organization's rallies have been reported by the Christian Science Monitor to end in chanting "jihad" and "Osama Bin Laden". However, the group's English-language website has been critical of Al-Qaeda, referring to the September 11 attacks as "horrifying" and condemning al-Qaeda for alleged terrorist acts committed in Jordan.
Following the murder of a 27-year-old Belgian of North African descent by an allegedly mentally ill native Belgian man in Antwerp in 2002, which led to racially influenced riots in the city, the Arab European League began patrolling the streets of Antwerp with video cameras to monitor police activity. The AEL claimed that Belgian police were engaging in a racist "manhunt" of the city's Moroccan youth and that many police officers sympathized with the political party Vlaams Blok. The AEL patrols were stopped after the Antwerp public prosecutor's office began an investigation into whether the activities violated Belgian laws against the organization of private militias. The court however decided on 31 May 2006 that the patrols were not enough to prosecute the organization. Three leaders of the AEL however will be tried for their leading role in the unrest and riots after the 2002 murder.
The organization also responds to issues of concern to Muslims, as with its creation of a short film Al Mouftinoun in response to the film Fitna. (See International reaction to Fitna.)
Read more about this topic: Arab European League
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