Report of Israeli Think-Tank on the Global Muslim Brotherhood

Role <strong>of</strong> Kuwait
Kuwait and its government, charities, and parliamentarians, appear to have played
a significant role in the flotilla. Kuwait had its own cargo ship, and eighteen Kuwaiti
nationals from the flotilla were detained by the <strong>Israeli</strong>s, including two <strong>of</strong> particular
importance, discussed below. Kuwaiti media described the country as “a main donor
for Palestine” that had participated in the flotilla through contributions by several
unidentified charities, but there is evidence that National Assembly Speaker Jassem
Al-Khorafi played a role in the funding. The most important Kuwaiti flotilla participant
was UNIW Deputy Secretary-General Mubarak Al-Mutawa, an attorney known in
Kuwait as a prominent Islamist and supporter <strong>of</strong> conservative Islamic causes. Al-
Mutawa has a long history <strong>of</strong> ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and has both
defended terrorist suspects and requested asylum in Pakistan for Arab and foreign
fighters currently in Afghanistan. He was the UNIW <strong>of</strong>ficial who announced that
UNIW would be seeking legal action against Israel leaders over Gaza and was in
attendance and/or helped organize at least two <strong>of</strong> the conferences discussed above.
Al-Mutawa was the UNIW representative aboard the Marmara and before departure
had expressed his desire to become a martyr, stating that he himself had purchased a
one-way ticket and written a will. Upon his return to Kuwait, Al-Mutawa was widely
quoted in the press as claiming that it was the <strong>Israeli</strong>s who had started shooting at the
flotilla without warning. Sometime later, Al-Mutawa filed a criminal complaint with
the International Criminal Court and the European Court for Human Rights against
various <strong>Israeli</strong> leaders.
The second important Kuwait flotilla participant was Walid al-Tabtabai, a Kuwaiti
MP and a former pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Islamic law at Kuwait University. Al-Tabtabai has been
head <strong>of</strong> the parliamentary Human Rights Committee since 1992 and is described in
media reports as a leading Salafist who has taken very conservative positions on social
issues. Al-Tabtabai also has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in the Netherlands and to
a Dutch mosque that is also related to the Global Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Tabtabai
was also aboard the flotilla and like Al-Mutawa, Al-Tabtabai reportedly said he had
written a will prior to departure and was widely quoted as saying that the <strong>Israeli</strong>s
had fired first.
Both Al-Mutawa and Al-Tabtabai were featured in two meetings that were held in
Kuwait in mid-June. The second meeting was a seminar sponsored by the Kuwait-
Turkish Friendship Society. At that meeting, Al-Mutawa and Al-Tabtabai were joined by
Gazi Misirli, who identified himself and MÜSIȦD as the coordinator for donations to
the Flotilla as well as having purchased its own ship. Mr. Misirli also spoke extensively
about the support provided by Turkey, particularly by the AKP government and Prime
Minister Erdogan, and Al-Tabtabai emphasized the benefits and achievements <strong>of</strong> the
flotilla in the Arab and Muslim world, and its role in breaking the siege.
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