The Researcher: How the Collaboration Agreement Between the Social Democrats and the Islamist Was Revealed

Religious scholar Sameh Egyptson now publishes a detailed account of how he uncovered and mapped out the much-debated cooperation between the Swedish Muslim Council and the then Social Democratic Brotherhood Movement, now Faith and Solidarity.

In a new post on his blog, Egyptson reviews documents, articles, and correspondence from the investigation that took place over more than eight months.

The origin was an Arabic-language article that Egyptson read in the spring of 2013. In it, Mahmoud Aldebe, founder of the Swedish Muslim Council, wrote about a previous collaboration with the Social Democrats and the Brotherhood Movement, claiming that the movement had not kept what was promised in the agreement.

Egyptson then began to investigate the information. According to his account, he traveled to Stockholm and met representatives of the Brotherhood Movement at Sveavägen 68, where he was told that no such agreement existed.

The investigation continued, however, through Arabic-language sources, older newspaper articles, email correspondence, and materials in the Labor Movement’s archives. Egyptson also contacted Aldebe and requested evidence for the claims.

During the fall and winter of 2013, there was also a public discussion about the relationship between Islamist organizations and the Social Democrats.

Goal of Muslim Candidates on S Party Lists

In December 2013, Egyptson gained access to an older report which he says was the basis for a congress decision within the Brotherhood Movement in 1999. There he found the agreement he had been searching for.

The document set, among other things, concrete goals for Muslim representation within the Social Democrats. By 2002, according to the agreement, there were to be Muslims among the party’s elected representatives on 15 municipal council lists, five county council lists, and on parliamentary lists in at least five counties.

Egyptson published the information in Göteborgs-Posten in January 2014, demanding that Faith and Solidarity disclose how the agreement had been implemented and which organizations were involved. Expressen also reported on the collaboration afterward.

In his new publication, Egyptson presents a chronological timeline with links to the older articles, email communications, and the documentation itself.

He particularly highlights the importance of having returned to Arabic-language original sources and to the Labor Movement’s archives. According to Egyptson, otherwise the agreement would likely never have become public.