Brussels - Jewish groups boycotted a planned multi-faith meeting hosted by the European Union in Brussels on Monday in protest at the inclusion of allegedly extremist Islamist groups, the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) said. "We do not consider it appropriate that organizations such as the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), or individuals who in the past made, or endorsed, anti-Semitic statements and who are clearly linked to the radical Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood should be present at such gatherings," Rabbi Aba Dunner, CER's director, said in a statement.
The meeting was called by the European Commission to bring faith leaders together to discuss the current economic crisis.
But Jewish groups reacted with dismay at the invitation to the FIOE, which Dunner described as a "very very extreme fundamentalist organization."
"No moderate organization was invited. We couldn't talk to them - it just wouldn't make sense," he told the German Press Agency dpa.
The FIOE is a little-known organization ostensibly aimed at bringing together Islamic groups in Europe. However, some sources link it to controversial group the Muslim Brotherhood.
Commission officials ahead of the talks had said that they would bring together "around 20 senior figures from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish religions from 13 EU member states."
A commission spokesman told
