The Islamist political party has made devout moderation a cornerstone of their post-Mubarak strategy but the groups statement after the death of Osama bin Laden suggests they may not be so moderate
Most of yesterdays headlines proclaiming the death of Osama bin Laden used epithets like terror mastermind or bastard to refer to the internationally feared mass murderer. (That latter headline is from the New York Post.) But in its first public statement on the killing of bin Laden Egypts Muslim Brotherhood used the honorific term sheikh to refer to the al-Qaeda leader. It also accused Western governments of linking Islam and terrorism and defended resistance against the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan as legitimate.
The Muslim Brotherhoods response to bin Ladens death may finally end the mythology -- espoused frequently in the U.S. -- that the organization is moderate or at the very least could moderate once in power. This is after all precisely how Muslim Brothers describe their creed -- moderate as opposed to al-Qaeda which is radical. Moderate Islam means not using violence denouncing terrorism and not working with jihadists said Muslim Brotherhood youth activist Khaled Hamza for whom the organizations embrace of moderate Islam was the primary reason he joined.
Yet the Muslim Brotherhoods promise that its moderation means rejecting violence includes a gaping exception: the organization endorses violence against military occupations which its leaders have told me include Iraq Afghanistan Chechnya Bosnia and Palestine -- in other words nearly every major conflict on the Eurasian continent.
I never fought in Afghanistan Mehdi Akef the former Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood told me in January just before the revolt. But I encouraged them and sent money to Bosnia and Palestine until now. Muslim Brotherhood leaders have endorsed attacks on Israeli civilians as an exception to their no-violence-except-against-occupation exception viewing all of Israel as an occupation. Zionism is gangs said Akef. Its not a country. So we will resist them until they dont have a country.
The attacks of September 11 2001 however created a real problem for the Muslim Brotherhoods paradigms since it was a violent attack against civilians on territory that could not be considered occupied. Rather than denounce the attacks however the organization chose to argue outrageously that Islamists were not responsible.
In some cases Muslim Brothers have simply expressed doubts about the theory that al-Qaeda was behind the attacks. I dont believe it was jihadists. It was too big an operation said Abdel Monem Aboul Fotouh a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Office who is often touted as one of the organizations reformers. This was done by a country not individuals. Its not a conspiracy theory -- its just logical. They didnt bring this crime before the U.S. justice system until now. Why? Because its part of a conspiracy.
More frequently Muslim Brotherhood leaders blame a more predictable target. The Jews and the Zionist lobby Muslim Brotherhood legal thinker and former parliamentarian Sobhi Saleh declared to me one March afternoon in his Cairo office when I asked him who was responsible for the attacks. And this study is well-known in America and its on the Internet. And a Christian preacher in Lebanon gave me a book on this at a conference. And it was a scientific research.
Now in their most recent statement on the death of bin Laden the Muslim Brotherhood has gone a step further. The whole world and especially the Muslims have lived with a fierce media campaign to brand Islam as terrorism and describe the Muslims as violent by blaming the September 11th incident on al-Qaeda. It then notes that Sheikh Osama bin Laden was assassinated alongside a woman and one of his sons and with a number of his companions going on to issue a rejection of violence and assassinations.
It goes on to ominously declare that the Muslim Brotherhood supports legitimate resistance against foreign occupation for any country which is the legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and international agreements and demands that the U.S. the European Union and NATO quickly end the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. It closes by demanding that the U.S. stop its intelligence operations against those who differ with it and cease its interference in the internal affairs of any Arab or Muslim country.
In a way the Muslim Brotherhoods statement is vintage bin Laden: its Muslim lands not America that are under attack; its Muslims not American civilians who are the ultimate victims; and despite two American presidents genuine effusive promises to the contrary Islam is the target. Its an important indicator that despite its increased responsibility in post-Mubarak Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood may well remain deeply hostile toward even the one of the most basic and defensible of American interests in the Middle East -- that of securing Americans from terrorism.
Mohamed Badie the leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood talks during a news conference in Cairo on November 30 2010. The banner in the background reads: Islam is the solution. By Amr Dalsh/Reuters
The Islamist political party has made devout moderation a cornerstone of their post-Mubarak strategy but the groups statement after the death of Osama bin Laden suggests they may not be so moderate
Most of yesterdays headlines proclaiming the death of Osama bin Laden used epithets like terror mastermind or bastard to refer to the internationally feared mass murderer. (That latter headline is from the New York Post.) But in its first public statement on the killing of bin Laden Egypts Muslim Brotherhood used the honorific term sheikh to refer to the al-Qaeda leader. It also accused Western governments of linking Islam and terrorism and defended resistance against the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan as legitimate.
The Muslim Brotherhoods response to bin Ladens death may finally end the mythology -- espoused frequently in the U.S. -- that the organization is moderate or at the very least could moderate once in power. This is after all precisely how Muslim Brothers describe their creed -- moderate as opposed to al-Qaeda which is radical. Moderate Islam means not using violence denouncing terrorism and not working with jihadists said Muslim Brotherhood youth activist Khaled Hamza for whom the organizations embrace of moderate Islam was the primary reason he joined.
Yet the Muslim Brotherhoods promise that its moderation means rejecting violence includes a gaping exception: the organization endorses violence against military occupations which its leaders have told me include Iraq Afghanistan Chechnya Bosnia and Palestine -- in other words nearly every major conflict on the Eurasian continent.
I never fought in Afghanistan Mehdi Akef the former Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood told me in January just before the revolt. But I encouraged them and sent money to Bosnia and Palestine until now. Muslim Brotherhood leaders have endorsed attacks on Israeli civilians as an exception to their no-violence-except-against-occupation exception viewing all of Israel as an occupation. Zionism is gangs said Akef. Its not a country. So we will resist them until they dont have a country.
The attacks of September 11 2001 however created a real problem for the Muslim Brotherhoods paradigms since it was a violent attack against civilians on territory that could not be considered occupied. Rather than denounce the attacks however the organization chose to argue outrageously that Islamists were not responsible.
In some cases Muslim Brothers have simply expressed doubts about the theory that al-Qaeda was behind the attacks. I dont believe it was jihadists. It was too big an operation said Abdel Monem Aboul Fotouh a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Office who is often touted as one of the organizations reformers. This was done by a country not individuals. Its not a conspiracy theory -- its just logical. They didnt bring this crime before the U.S. justice system until now. Why? Because its part of a conspiracy.
More frequently Muslim Brotherhood leaders blame a more predictable target. The Jews and the Zionist lobby Muslim Brotherhood legal thinker and former parliamentarian Sobhi Saleh declared to me one March afternoon in his Cairo office when I asked him who was responsible for the attacks. And this study is well-known in America and its on the Internet. And a Christian preacher in Lebanon gave me a book on this at a conference. And it was a scientific research.
Now in their most recent statement on the death of bin Laden the Muslim Brotherhood has gone a step further. The whole world and especially the Muslims have lived with a fierce media campaign to brand Islam as terrorism and describe the Muslims as violent by blaming the September 11th incident on al-Qaeda. It then notes that Sheikh Osama bin Laden was assassinated alongside a woman and one of his sons and with a number of his companions going on to issue a rejection of violence and assassinations.
It goes on to ominously declare that the Muslim Brotherhood supports legitimate resistance against foreign occupation for any country which is the legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and international agreements and demands that the U.S. the European Union and NATO quickly end the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. It closes by demanding that the U.S. stop its intelligence operations against those who differ with it and cease its interference in the internal affairs of any Arab or Muslim country.
In a way the Muslim Brotherhoods statement is vintage bin Laden: its Muslim lands not America that are under attack; its Muslims not American civilians who are the ultimate victims; and despite two American presidents genuine effusive promises to the contrary Islam is the target. Its an important indicator that despite its increased responsibility in post-Mubarak Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood may well remain deeply hostile toward even the one of the most basic and defensible of American interests in the Middle East -- that of securing Americans from terrorism.
Mohamed Badie the leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood talks during a news conference in Cairo on November 30 2010. The banner in the background reads: Islam is the solution. By Amr Dalsh/Reuters
