“An office located in Brussels”: Who is the “European leader of Hamas”? | Israel-Hamas war

In May 2022, an announcement regarding the emergence of the non-profit association EUPAC was published in the Moniteur Belge. As per its statutes, it looks after the musical, cultural and sporting development of the youth. In this context, it collaborates with associations in Morocco, more precisely in Aclim, near the city of Pergane with about 10,000 inhabitants. The three founders are Palestinian, born in Brussels, Kuwait and Jordan, but have no ties to Morocco.

According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the text of their laws was modeled after the non-profit association Jeunesse Sportive Aklim, which was dissolved at the same time. The meaning of the acronym EUPAC is also not mentioned in the Moniteur Belge. However, it appears on the official website, where the association presents itself as the “Council for Palestinian European Political Relations”.

The real boss is Majid al-Seir, 61 years old and born in Bethlehem. He was six years old when Israel won the Six Day War, and his family took refuge in Kuwait. He moved to Britain in the 1990s, where he became a leading Palestinian activist. During that time, he maintained ties to Hamas. In a 2009 interview with “Felesteen,” a newspaper affiliated with the group, he spoke of a relative who fell in the ranks of the Ezzedin Al-Qassam Brigades, an armed wing of Hamas.

In London, Majid al-Seir was one of the founders of the Palestine Return Center (PRC), which was established in 1996 to defend the right of return for all refugees in Palestine. This is one of the most burning issues in the conflict, as it would put Israelis in a minority. According to Israel, the simple act of supporting this revenue is a form of anti-Semitism. The PRC has also come under criticism outside of Israel. For example, in Germany, Majid al-Seir has lived for many years.

A major document released by the German domestic security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz in 2018 classifies the PRC as a front organization for Hamas. “In Germany and Europe, Hamas and its supporters generally do not operate openly,” it says. “They use, among other things, the London-based PRC as a base for their operations.”

In a photo taken in 2008, we see Majeed al-Jeer posing with the leader of Hamas, Khalid Mashal. More recently, in 2015, a photo shows him with current Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

A Briton of Palestinian origin living in Berlin is the leader of Hamas on European soil, the Times said, citing German security services. “He has connections all the way to the top of Hamas and organizes the group’s activities in several European countries,” a confidential report said. His name was not mentioned by the “Times”, but all the biographical details match and a well-known German source confirmed to our colleagues at Head Lost News that it is Majid Al-Zeer.

Majeed al-Seir is not the only EUPAC member linked to Hamas. This observation corresponds to numbers two and three of the organizational chart. Both held leadership positions in the PCR and one was a co-founder of the Council for Euro-Palestinian Relations (CEPR), which was established in 2010 and dissolved in 2016. CEPR is included in the official list of the European Union. Pressure groups

Lobbying appears to be one of the main objectives of EUPAC. Its official headquarters are at Place Robert Schumann in Brussels, within sight of the European Commission’s Perlemont building. EUPAC shares its address with a number of organizations, from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to the European Alliance for Israel.

EUPAC’s activities seem to be limited to the organization of conferences. There is no indication that EUPAC directly contributes to Hamas’ terrorist activities. Our colleagues from Het Laatste Nieuws sent questions to the three presidents of EUPAC and one of the spokespersons. For now, they remain unanswered.

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