Wagdi Abdul Hamid Ghoneim

Feb 2

Wagdi Ghoneim.png — **Also spelt/ Other names:** Wagdy Ghoneim

**DOB:** 8 February 1951

**Nationality:** Egyptian

**Location:** Turkey

**Ideology/Affiliation:** Salafism/Political Islam

**Type of Leader:** Preacher/Propagandist/Influencer

Biography

Wagdi Ghoneim is an Egyptian salafist preacher and long-time member of the global Muslim Brotherhood (MB) currently residing in Turkey in exile. He has been a frequent speaker at MB-sponsored events including those held by the Union of Islamic Organisations in Italy (UCOII), the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI) and the League of Swiss Muslims. Ghoneim espouses intolerant views and is a hate preacher on a variety of issues, including the role of Jews, the West, Christians and Arab powers that do not conform to a hardline Islamic approach to governance. Ghoneim has released multiple videos on YouTube mocking and chastising Egyptian president Abdel Fatah El Sisi, and accused Gulf Arab countries of being demons, and hostile to Islam due to their support of infidels and crusaders - in reference to Western countries. In 2019, Ghoniem was banned from entering Tunisia following a statement on YouTube where he personally attacked Tunisia’s late president Beji Essebsi as an infidel for choosing to follow a man-made constitution to govern, rather than a Quran.

Ghoneim was banned from entering the UK in 2009 due to concerns that he was seeking to “foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence, including provoking others to commit terrorist acts”, and he is estimated to have made nearly $80,000 from adverts placed in anti-western propaganda videos. Previously, he voluntarily chose to be deported from the U.S. based upon concerns by the Department of Homeland Security that his past speeches and fund-raising activities could be supportive of terrorist organisations. In his videos, some of which are included below, Ghoneim is sympathetic to Daesh, and even stated that the real holocaust was the one perpetrated against the group’s last stronghold in Syria prior to the collapse of the caliphate in 2019.

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Evidence of Hate Speech/Incitement:

October 2020: Ghoneim called on people to boycott Netflix immediately and quickly, referring to the channel as a criminal channel that promotes apostasy, heresy, homesexuality and the use of drugs. Ghoneim stated that “these criminal dogs” [Netflix] profaned Jesus Christ by calling him gay and insulted the Virgin Mary. Although not considered incitement, Ghoneim’s use of terminology is inciting hatred towards Netflix, and promoting intolerance.

July 2019: Ghoneim stated that “may God damn Essebsi for refusing to follow the Quran and Sunnah, and wishing to follow a constitution to govern, including changing Islamic laws to make inheritance equal for men and women”. Multiple times during the video, Ghoneim stated that Essebsi and his followers and supporters were infidels and apostates. In addition, Ghoneim speaks to viewers and declares “Do not take my word for it, let us look at other scholars, before quoting other extremist scholars who mention that those who do not rule using Sharia are infidels and apostates.”

March 2019: On his YouTube channel, Ghoneim stated that the real holocaust was not the one that was carried out by the Nazis against European Jews during the Second World War, but rather, the attack by the “Crusader” US-led coalition alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces on the last Daesh-held stronghold in Al Baghuz, Syria.

April 2017: Ghoneim used religious rhetoric to justify attacks on Churches in Egypt in Tanta and Alexandria due to Coptic support for President El Sisi. Ghoneim referred to Copts as “Crusaders” that supported, stood by and assisted the “Despicable Sisi” at the expense of us Muslims”, and that the bombings were the work of Egyptian intelligence.

Video Links:

Egyptian Islamist in Exile Wagdi Ghoneim: Churches Attacked Because Coptic "Crusaders" Supported "Despicable-Sisi" pic.twitter.com/0csgxJglZK
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) April 18, 2017