Two major Muslim organisations in Switzerland have been publicly distanced from the Albanian imam Union Aliu, following the publication of his homophobic statements and reports of participation at a conference in Qatar, attended by former Hamas leader Ismail Haneyeh.
It’s the Federation of Islamic Organisations of Switzerland ( FIDS) and the association of Islamic Cyril Organizations ( VIOZ), which has stressed that such attitudes do not represent their principles and values.
According to the Swiss newspaper “Sontages Zeitung,” FIDS has decided to immediately free Ali from his duties as head of the Imams Commission, while he has resigned from all functions at VOZ, where he held the main theological responsibility.
The haomophobia, or statements that violate human dignity, conflicts with our principles, is the attitude conveyed by organizations that have re-focused that the imams must carry out their duties within the Swiss social and legal context.
Their response came after the paper unveiled a Facebook Union post of Ali from 2017, in which he had named the Crenaria Parade in Pristina as a shame parade.
Another question raised was his participation at a conference in Doha, Qatar, in January 2024, organised by the International Union of Muslim Erudite. Ismail Haniyeh, then leader of Hamas, shared in the same activity.
FIDS said it had not been aware of Ali’s participation in this organisation and that it would not allow its representatives to participate in an activity with such a guest list.
Meanwhile, VIOZ explained that Ali had not attended the conference on her behalf or on the organisation’s authorisation, suggesting that the circumstances of this journey will be considered further.
The case has also received attention because of public financing of Muslim organisations in Zurich.
According to SonntagsZeitung, V The IOZ has benefited about 2.5 million francs from the Cyril Canton during the period 2017,2025 for a Muslim spiritual care project in public institutions, while the town of Cyril supports the organisation with 50 thousand francs annually. /Telegraphy/