Posted By Paul Cooper On February 27, 2011 @ 3:00 pm
The Muslim Brotherhood isn’t so bad, and couldn’t lead Egypt against Israel even if they wanted to. Sound crazy? I agree, but that is what the Left is trying to argue. And their latest attempt comes from a Muslim teacher seen as a Middle East expert by our mainstream media.
We have to have the facts to debunk the pro-Brotherhood propaganda that grows each day.
Haroon Moghul recently wrote an article for Religion Dispatches Magazine called “5 Reasons the Muslim Brotherhood Won’t Turn on Israel”. Moghul also writes for The Huffington Post and has been interviewed as a Middle East expert by CNN, NPR, the New Yorker, Time, and The History Channel. The young Muslim professor is also known for his sermons held online by NYU’s Islamic center, and supposedly has a large international following.
I’m not sure if Moghul is merely a fool or attempting to push propaganda with his pro-Brotherhood article. I sense it is some mixture of both. He is highly educated, so he must know what is truly happening in the Middle East, but he ignores the truth either because he hopes for the best or supports the worst.
Regardless of Moghul’s real intentions, his five reasons the MB won’t turn against Israel are presented here. Under each reason (which I have given my own titles), I provide a quote from Moghul’s short article. After each quote I completely debunk his arguments.
First up: The Muslim Brotherhood loves a thriving tourism industry?
5. The Egyptian economy is too dependent on tourism.
“There’s a special on Egypt on the Discovery Channel every three or four days. Ancient Egypt is one of the few non-European societies we all seem to know about; in fact we often treat it as part of Western history. Countless tourists visit Egypt every year. The Egyptian economy is deeply dependent on tourism of the Pharaonic and Islamic varieties, and cannot long survive alienated from the world.” – Moghul
You read that right. Moghul actually has the audacity to begin his argument by saying the Brotherhood won’t be able to attack Israel because of The Discovery Channel. How nice that we can tell from the start how ridiculous these five ‘reasons’ are going to be.
Are we really supposed to believe the power of tourism will silence the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood? Moghul makes that argument by pointing out that whenever terrorists attack tourists it gets bad press. First off, I’m not sure the MB cares about international press. Secondly, they don’t want to attack tourists in Egypt, they want to attack the hated Israel.
Young Egyptians have already claimed their support of Muslim Brotherhood because they provide people jobs. So why in the world would Moghul argue that “aggressive national policy will accomplish nothing for Egypt and the many Egyptians whose jobs depend on the tourist sector”? The zeal of Islamists will not be silenced by camera-toting tourists seeking pictures of pyramids.
The government uprising in Egypt has already stopped tourism in Egypt temporarily, and there’s been no massive counter-protest by tourism workers. Tourism will suffer greatly if the MB takes power even if they don’t attack Israel. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out before Mubarak lost power:
It is Europe that will suffer the greater consequences if the Mubarak regime is toppled and followed by the Muslim Brotherhood or anarchy. Aside from lost exports to Egypt, there will be lost domestic investments, not least in tourism (no more bikinis in Sharm El Sheikh with the Muslim Brotherhood in power).
The loss of tourism is a done deal, so how can it stop the Brotherhood agenda? It won’t.
Next: The military to the rescue?
4. The military wouldn’t help.
“The same Egyptian military that gets $1.3 billion from the United States in aid every year doesn’t want to jeopardize that aid—for which reason it will look very suspiciously on any political agenda that wants to antagonize Israel and threaten a major source of its funding.” – Moghul
There are different ways to approach this one. We do heavily fund the Egyptian military, and if Bush was still in power then Moghul might have a good argument. But what has the USA said to make anyone think we won’t support the will of the Muslim Brotherhood?
The Obama administration has not shown any reason for the military to turn back the Brotherhood. In fact, the administration has already said it would support a role for the MB in Egyptian government. The group is not even listed on U.S. terrorism lists. Obviously we would cut off funding the moment Egypt attacked Israel, but until that moment Egypt can build up their forces on our dime.
The Brotherhood shows no fear of the military so far. On Saturday the MB has already issued a statement advising the military on who they should and should not talk to. As Reuters reported:
“The statement was a sign that the group, kept on a tight leash under the rule of deposed leader Hosni Mubarak, is becoming more assertive in voicing its views on how Egypt should be run.”
So before the MB even takes power they are directing the military. And maybe more disturbing, last Friday the military opened up Tahir Square to allow Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the radical Sunni preacher exiled by Hosni Mubarak, to return home and preach a message of jihad. Qaradawi has supported the works of Hitler and suicide bombers. And what did the military do with this hater of Israel? They let him back in the country to lead a rally and preach on national television over their state run media. Reports also say that anyone not in the MB attempting to gain the platform was literally pulled off stage while the military stood by.
Not only does the military not seem to be standing up against the Brotherhood, so far they seem to be walking lockstep with them. Israel is very concerned and is right to be, so why aren’t we?
Next: Is the Brotherhood even influential?
3. At most, the Brotherhood probably commands only 20% of the vote.
“Here’s the key: At most, the Brotherhood probably commands about 20% of the vote, and even that’s an educated guess. That’s not enough to form or dominate a government…there’s not much reason to assume that the Brotherhood will somehow dominate Egypt in Mubarak’s absence. The era of Islam as a national political project, seeking revolutionary expansion, was a brief blip in the political and intellectual history of the Muslim world.” – Moghul
Anyone who argues that the Brotherhood doesn’t have a lot of support simply isn’t paying attention, and/or is purposefully hiding the truth for propaganda purposes. I think Moghul comes off as clueless because he is a propagandist, and much of our media does the same. However, MB apologists tend to let the truth slip on how influential the MB is in Egypt when they try to praise the MB at the same time. An LA Times writer recently wrote:
The Muslim Brotherhood is the largest and best-organized Egyptian opposition group, with an estimated 600,000 members, many of them educated, middle-class men…In addition to its political efforts, the Muslim Brotherhood runs social and economic programs that help fill the gaps in Egypt’s public services.
The BBC also did a recent article praising all the aid that the MB gives Egypt. The BBC wrote, in their clueless article, “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Promotes Moderate Path”, that the MB’s aid is some how proof that they aren’t so bad. They don’t get the simple tactic of the MB when they write:
The popularity of the movement among the millions of Egyptians living in poverty is widely explained in terms of the efficiency of these services.
The Brotherhood is following the same tactics as terrorist organizations all over the Muslim world. Organizations provide aid to the hurting, provide work, and help any way they can as a route to gain the unyielding support of the people. It worked for Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, and many other nations. And now that plan appears to be working in Egypt. I recently reported how some young Egyptian-American students were praising the MB on Geraldo for being the primary reason “why people in Egypt have jobs”.
The mainstream media wants to say that the Brotherhood is good now, and it’s proven by their support of the vast majority of the people. And then the same people say elsewhere that we shouldn’t worry about the MB gaining power because they have very little influence. Which is it? Are they good so the majority of people love them or are they small and ignored by the Egyptian people? You cannot have it both ways.
The truth is that the Brotherhood yields massive power because of all the so-called good they do. Their services have been a quid pro quo and a new government offers them their first real chance to cash in on all their favors. The MB is already flexing their muscle as just this past weekend they called for a purge of corrupt businessmen and media figures who backed the former government.
Millions gathered on Friday in Tahrir Square, Alexandria and governorate capitals and their chants reached the heavens demanding that the country be purified of former officials and corrupt businessmen. This purification cannot be limited to a handful of former officials and corrupt businessmen, but it must extend to all of those who corrupted political and legislative life.
The MB is now boldly demanding the removal of all their enemies in politics and business. In other words, their massive influence is about to grow even stronger.
Next: All bark, no bite?
2. The Brotherhood is all bark now, but would be no bite once they got power.
“I think that the Brotherhood’s position will probably be more in line with a hard bargain: “We’re not going to recognize Israel until we receive certain concessions for the Palestinian side.” But, if they are in power in any capacity, their ability to get any such concessions depends on their having a relationship with Israel—Iran has stood outside Israel for years, and has been unable to accomplish anything for the Palestinians.” – Moghul
This ‘reason’ to trust the Brotherhood is almost as foolish as the first one. Moghul is asking us to ignore the long history of the MB and simply hope for the best. He thinks it’s wise to assume an organization of terror will give up their beliefs and become pragmatic.
The best measure of future actions is to look at past behavior. But Moghul wrote, “rather than discuss where the Brotherhood has been in the past, I suggest looking to the future. “ So we should take fans of Hitler and just assume they now denounce him?
Okay, let’s ignore their long past and only look at recent statements of the Brotherhood:
“After President Mubarak steps down and a provisional government is formed, there is a need to dissolve the [1979] peace treaty with Israel.” – MB deputy leader Rashad al-Bayoumi
In January 2010, Muhammad Badi [a.k.a. Muhammad Badie] was named as MB’s new Supreme Guide. Badi has described the U.S. as an infidel nation that “does not champion moral and human values and cannot lead humanity.” He has characterized America and Israel as “the Muslim’s real enemies,” asserting that “[w]aging jihad against both of these infidels is a commandment of Allah that cannot be disregarded.” And he maintains that the “change that the [Muslim] nation seeks can only be attained through jihad and sacrifice and by raising a jihadi generation that pursues death just as the enemies pursue life.” – Discoverthenetworks.org
Mohamed Ghanem, another leader of the MB, recently told Iranian television that Egypt needs to shut off gas to Israel and prepare the army for war with them.
Moghul has admitted that the MB is like most Muslims in the Middle East in that they don’t recognize Israel, but will simply not do anything against Israel so they can lead effectively. Somehow, when I read the latest statements by the MB, I don’t have Moghul’s blind confidence.
And finally: Everyone changes — why not the Muslim Brotherhood?
1. The Brotherhood has changed and might change more – a kinder, gentler Brotherhood.
“In the last few decades, the Brotherhood has moved decisively away from violence, and toward a more social, albeit nonpolitical, religious role…It’s not far-fetched to imagine that the Brotherhood may calculate in the coming months and years that it is more productive for them to concentrate on serving as a minority in Parliament—not aiming to win power. The Brotherhood may want to become the moral consciousness of society (again, as they define moral consciousness): running institutions, clinics, social services and the like, preaching and spreading its idea of Islam, without getting too tangled up in politics.” – Moghul
I have actually already debunked this argument with number 3. Allow me to quote myself and then say a little more:
The Brotherhood is following the same tactics as terrorist organizations all over the Muslim world. Organizations provide aid to the hurting, provide work, and help anyway they can as a route to gain the unyielding support of the people. It worked for Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, and many other nations. And now that plan appears to be working in Egypt. I recently reported how some young Egyptian-American students were praising the MB on Geraldo for being the primary reason “why people in Egypt have jobs”.
The truth is that the Brotherhood yields massive power because of all the so-called good they do. Their services have been a quid pro quo and a new government offers them their first real chance to cash in on all their favors. The MB is already flexing their muscle as just this past weekend they called for a purge of corrupt businessmen and media figures who backed the former government.
Honestly, Moghul must be a fool or in on it with the MB if he thinks the MB does good works because they don’t want power but just want to help people. What they are doing is nothing new in the Islamic world.
The MB is not about to refuse politics for charity as so many in the MSM seem to want to believe. You want proof? The organization applied to become a political party only 3 days after Mubarak stepped down. They passionately want power. They have given aid to get it, and now they are promoting democracy to get that power. They have studied Hezbollah and Hamas well.
“The main demand of our revolution was for democracy, and this cannot be put this on hold across the region because of the fears of six million Israelis.” – Dr Issam al-Arian, the Muslim Brotherhood’s spokesman.
The goal of the MB is to claim they merely want democracy, which of course, is their pathway to an Islamic State. They saw it work for Hamas in Palestine, and now they want to help Palestine get rid of Israel. Dr. Arian tips his hand a bit when he basically says, ‘who cares what those Jews think?’
**************
Every reason Haroon Moghul offers to think the Brotherhood won’t turn on Israel has been clearly debunked. The MB has learned to use social services and democracy to gain power and they have full resolve to accomplish the goals they’ve set out, which include the destruction of Israel. The military will not stop them for tourism or for U.S. support; so far the military has stood with the MB.
Our press, our people, and our president need to wake up. We must be clear that we will stand against the Muslim Brotherhood in every way.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from NewsReal Blog: http://www.newsrealblog.com/
URL to article: http://www.newsrealblog.com/2011/02/27/5-reasons-the-muslim-brotherhood-wont-turn-on-israel-debunked/
No comments:
Post a Comment