In America there are two divergent views on the current protests in Egypt. Many view the protests positively as an attempt by the people of Egypt to cast off the bonds of dictatorship in exchange for genuine democracy. However, some - most notably neo-conservatives like John Bolton - worry that the protests may allow an anti-American, pro al-Queda group to take over the country. The number one worry for the neocons is a group called the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the most organized opposition party in Egypt. While anything seems possible in Egypt at this point, a deeper analysis reveals that the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood is likely being overblown.
First, there is no sign that the Muslim Brotherhood actually has the ability to gain control of the government in Egypt. Multiple reporters from the ground say the protesters, and a majority of Egyptians, simply want Mubarak overthrown more than the installment of the Muslim Brotherhood. The protests did not begin as an effort of the Muslim Brotherhood. It was only after days of protests that the Muslim Brotherhood decided to join the effort.
The sentiment of the Egyptian people may be best summarized by a man with the Twitter handle of @EgyptFreedomNow, who wrote the following to The Huffington Post,
"A majority of Egyptians in Cairo want the following:
1) Pro-secular freedom and tolerance of others. This includes Coptic Christians that have been supporting our effort. 2) We want a Constitutional Democracy. 3) We want to exile Mubarak and his family. There is no compromise on this priority issue from our people. 4) No more dictators regardless of their name, rank, or popularity!
5) No hard-line theocracy! Especially no "Muslim Brotherhood" thugs that would crackdown worse than this regime has ever done for human rights."
The Muslim Brotherhood simply does not have a broad appeal to the public. In the last parliamentary election in 2005, the Muslim Brotherhood only gained 20% of the vote. The Muslim Brotherhood is the largest opposition group in Egypt, but nearly all opposition parties are outlawed in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood candidates themselves had to run as independents, since Egyptian law prohibited them from running as part of the Muslim Brotherhood party. When the Muslim Brotherhood proposed a plan that would outlaw women and Christians from becoming president, they were soundly criticized by the Egyptian public. The public backlash to the proposal was so strong that the Muslim Brotherhood said the plan was "never final" and ended up giving up on the proposal altogether.
Secondly, those who say Egypt is ripe for a theocratic takeover tend to over simplify their analysis. Some say that Egypt may go the way of Iran or Afghanistan after their dictators were overthrown in the late 70's and 80's. In those countries very strict Islamic-based regimes took over after the dictatorships were overthrown. However, Egypt is very different than other countries in the Middle East. The Egyptian population, while 90% Muslim, is much more diverse and secular in nature than Iran and Afghanistan. The Egyptian population also has a significant minority of Christians who make up around 10% of the population, much larger than the percentage of Christians in countries like Iran and Afghanistan. The Egyptian economy is also much more developed, with a relatively strong middle class that is less likely to be persuaded by the propaganda of radical Islamic groups.
The constitution of Egypt does require laws to implicitly agree with Islamic law, but it also expressly prohibits any political party from running on a religious agenda. When a group called al-Wasat tried to gain permission to run as an "Islamic party" in 2005, the group also promised to give Christians full rights. Al-Wasat even allowed for a Christian president in their party platform.
There have been a number of attacks on Christians by religous extremists in Egypt, but these attacks hardly represent the sentiment of the larger population. After a group of Christians were attacked at a Christmas Day mass, a large group of more moderate Egyptian Muslims served as a "human shield" for Egyptian Christians at a future mass.
Third, the "radical" and "violent" nature of the Muslim Brotherhood also has been exagerated. After the Muslim Brotherhood gained seats in parliament in 2005, they largely focused on practical, political goals rather than focusing on a banning books or regulating the lengths of skirts. The Muslim Brotherhood has renounced violence since the 1970's and has not been connected to any acts of terror since that time. There have been some very indirect connections between the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Queda, but those connections date back to the 1990's. The Muslim Brotherhood strongly condemned the 9/11 attacks and has since had a "out" with al-Queda over the acceptability of terrorist tactics.
Finally, it is important to remember that Coptic Christians in Egypt have largely joined the protests. Mubarak hardly was seen as a "friend" to Christians in Egypt. Many accused Mubarak of purposefully leaving Coptic Christians vulnerable to attack in the country. Clearly, Christians in Egypt feel that the opposition movement is in their best interests. They would have no reason to support the protests if they believed they were heralding in an Islamic, anti-Christian regime like the Muslim Brotherhood.
Comments
Libs seem to always believe the threat of radical Islam is 'overblown''.
Carter thought the same thing about Iran, when he helped get rid of the Shaw.
'Carter thought", however, is an oxymoron.
Gigi2 ...
You're way closer than any Progressive Cancer reporter.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20110129/D9L25G0G1.html
The propaganda about extremist Muslims is entirely invented. I have friends in the middle east. In the non-progressive countries ruled by dictators (which are entirely kept in power by the West, mostly USA and UK) the idea that they are not progressive is actually shameful to the mainstream. Christian terrorists have committed more acts of terror within the United States AND abroad; the extremists are, in general, a violent reaction to the West crushing the middle east under its boot for oil (rationale: "America is anti-Islam and funding cruel dictators, so American values must be evil").
The concept of the Caliphate/Theocracy was abandoned in '24. They actually held a summit in 1926 in Cairo to determine if they should reinstate theocratic rule, and virtually no countries even showed up, so the idea was abandoned.
By recent polls, Christian extremists (evangelicals), constitute 28% of the US (this is in the 21st century...not the 16th century, lol). Muslims involved in extremist groups constituted 7% in an '03 poll.
I'm not going to disrespect your post with a link, but citations are in my personal posts if anyone takes issue.
In general, although I can't imagine most of our political leaders taking it seriously enough to actually push this, the threat of white-christian racist fundamentalism has more evidence of being a genuine internal and global threat.
There are much more well-funded christian extremists/fundamentalists who seem to vocally take the "rapture" myths, "creation" myths, and bible stories so seriously that they have decided that christian fundamentalism should rule the world and that white-christian-america is the realization of history's purpose (or some similar bizarre, divine, "destiny" thing that ALL deeply religious world powers have expressed in the past).
People seem to overlook the 90 million ton hypocritamous in our own back yard when they start up with their "muslim conspiracies" with absolutely no knowledge of history, or their general racist fanaticism.
Quite sad.
Gigi: too simplistic. The situation in Egypt is very complex, as Ryan points out; including Coptic Christians, secular Muslims, a huge population of young, tech-savvy people -- as well as the Muslim Brotherhood. More information, coming in hourly, indicates that the Brotherhood is helping to organize neighborhood efforts to protect against looting and police thuggery, which can't be a bad thing.
I have never seen anything good from the Brotherhood if they help with one hand they take away with the other. World domination for Islam is their single goal
the low support for the Brotherhood is due to the fact that the movement is currently BANNED under Mubarak and support is silenced and punishable. In a power vaccuum the MB is the most organized opposition party. They will likely ally with secularists and whitewash their image to the West to gain power, but once in power the full extent of their support and politics will become clear (not to mention the help of Palestinians migrants from Gaza who will pour in once Islamists have a chance in Egypt and once the Egyptian army stops guarding the border...)
A binary choice either you think its either a good thing or a bad thing. You cant really judge until after it happens. Now the way we should look at but never do is by looking at this in 6 months and seeing who was right and who was wrong. At which we can say this man is a good "forecaster" and this man is not... but of course that never happens.
Nothing is ever as clear as a binary choice, A. And we're not in a contest here to see who is right...just expressing opinions. If we, as Americans are going to be true to our own values -- those that we have enshrined in our Constitution -- we ought to be supporting all the Egyptians, Muslim Brotherhood included, in their struggle to free themselves from 30 years of dictatorial rule.
Support the Muslim Brotherhood? Do you support Hamas? Al Quaida? They are all one in the same sweetheart!
But seeing as they are banned at the moment, they will increase in power with most any new governing. They will not rest until we all are subjects to Islam and Sharia.
This week we are afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Read this from an EXPERT and not to some liberal hack on this site.
bigpeace.com/fgaffney/2011/01/30/the-muslim-brotherhood-is-the-enemy/
"A notable example is the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). A federal judge in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial – which successfully prosecuted the nation’s largest terrorism financing conspiracy – found that CAIR was indeed a front for the Ikhwan’s Palestinian affiliate, Hamas. Nonetheless, Fox News earlier today interviewed the Executive Director of CAIR’s Chicago office, Ahmed Rehab, whom it characterized as a “Democracy Activist.”"
"For example, Shariah: The Threat to America provides several key insights that must be borne in mind in the current circumstances especially:
* “The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928. Its express purpose was two-fold: (1) to implement shariah worldwide, and (2) to re-establish the global Islamic State (caliphate).
* “Therefore, Al Qaeda and the MB have the same objectives. They differ only in the timing and tactics involved in realizing them.
* “The Brotherhood’s creed is: ‘God is our objective; the Koran is our law; the Prophet is our leader; jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.’”
* It is evident from the Creed, and from the Brotherhood’s history (and current activities)…that violence is an inherent part of the MB’s tactics. The MB is the root of the majority of Islamic terrorist groups in the world today.
* The Muslim Brotherhood is the ‘vanguard’ or tip-of-the-spear of the current Islamic Movement in the world. While there are other transnational organizations that share the MB’s goals (if not its tactics) – including al Qaeda, which was born out of the Brotherhood – the Ikhwan is by far the strongest and most organized. The Muslim Brotherhood is now active in over 80 countries around the world."
"Of particular concern must be the purpose of the Brotherhood in the United States and other nations of the Free World:
* “…The Ikhwan’s mission in the West is sedition in the furtherance of shariah’s supremacist agenda, not peaceful assimilation and co-existence with non-Muslim populations.”
* “The Ikhwan believes that its purposes in the West are, for the moment, better advanced by the use of non-violent, stealthy techniques. In that connection, the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to establish relations with, influence and, wherever possible, penetrate: government circles in executive and legislative branches at the federal, state and local levels; the law enforcement community; intelligence agencies; the military; penal institutions; the media; think tanks and policy groups; academic institutions; non-Muslim religious communities; and other elites.
* “The Brothers engage in all of these activities and more for one reason: to subvert the targeted communities in furtherance of the MB’s primary objective – the triumph of shariah.”
"In short, the Muslim Brotherhood – whether it is operating in Egypt, elsewhere in the world or here – is our enemy. Vital U.S. interests will be at risk if it succeeds in supplanting the present regime in Cairo, taking control in the process not only of the Arab world’s most populous nation but its vast, American-supplied arsenal. It is no less reckless to allow the Brotherhood’s operatives to enjoy continued access to and influence over our perceptions of their true purposes, and the policies adopted pursuant thereto."
We scared of Muslim Brotherhood.
Dhimmi! I hope your the first that is beheaded.
Radical jihadists are waiting in the wings, whatever lable you want to apply. They have a plan, they are organized and are more determined than anyone.
Those in our government talking about a "transition to democracy" in Egypt are either fools or tools.
http://exm.nr/gIXlUZ
Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and all the other jihadi ilk in the Caucasus and places like Chechnya...they are all the schismatic heirs of the Sunni/Shiite split. They have been fighting this out among themselves for centuries upon centuries and of course nobody really has the ear of God on this. It's like asking if Catholics are more Christian than Baptists.
It only concerns us because the British Empire meddled in the Middle East and bungled the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the founding of Israel so badly; followed by other western governments supporting their corporate interests by bribing and supporting dictatorial rulers in order to pillage natural resources. Who wouldn't be enraged by that?
How hypocritical are you if you only Egyptians now who are not members of the Muslim Brotherhood?
I left out a word: how hypocritical are you if you only support Egyptians now who are not members of the Muslim Brotherhood?
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