On the occasion of the release of Policy Exchange’s recently published report , ‘The Hijacking of British Islam: how extremist literature is subverting mosques in the UK’, The Transatlantic Institute and the European Foundation for Democracy will be hosting a panel debate to discuss the findings of the report with author Dr. Denis MacEoin and discussant Alexander Ritzmann.

Tuesday, 12 February 2008  17:30-19.30

International Press Center, Residence Palace, Maelbeek Room

Rue de la Loi 155

1040 Brussels

Guest Speakers:

Denis MacEoin is the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He holds MA’s from Trinity College, Dublin and Edinbourgh in English, Persian, Arabic and Islamic Studies and a Ph.D. in Persian [Islamic Studies] from Cambridge. From 1979 to 1980 he taught English and Islamic Civilization at the Mohammed V University in Fez, Morocco and was later lecturer in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University. In 1980 he became an honorary fellow at the Centre for Middle East and Islamic Studies at Durham University.

Alexander Ritzmann is a Senior Fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy and a former member of the Berlin’s state parliament. He is an expert in international and homegrown terrorism, and immigration policies in Europe and the United States. He received his masters’ degree in political science from the Freie Universitaet Berlin. He was previously a research fellow with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C. A frequently consulted terrorism expert, Mr Ritzmann has testified on Hezbollah  before the US House of Representatives in the Foreign Affairs Committee, sub-committee on Europe. His views appear in numerous publications from around the world, such as Die Welt, Financial Times Deutschland, Wall Street Journal, ! Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and many others.

The Panel debate will be moderated by Dr Emanuele Ottolenghi, Director of the Transatlantic Institute

Seating is limited. To participate, please contact the Transatlantic Institute

Phone +32 2 500 72 80 or
E-mail at  info at transatlanticinstitute.org