(reprinted in full with permission)
Threatening Shadows Over Egypt
By Robert S. Wistrich
The Muslim Brotherhood did not initiate the current upheavals in the Middle East, but the Islamist parties in Egypt, as in Tunisia and Libya, have been the chief beneficiaries of the collapse of long-standing authoritarian repressive regimes across North Africa. In Egypt itself, the two largest Islamist groups (the Brotherhood and the Salafists) won about three quarters of the ballots in the second round of legislative elections held in December 2011, while the secular and the liberal forces took a battering. The Brotherhood (which garnered over 40% of the votes) is an organization founded by an Egyptian schoolteacher, Hassan el Banna, back in 1928. It has never deviated from its founder’s central axiom:
“Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Koran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
It is this radical vision which animates all those in the region who seek a fully Islamic society and way of life.
The Muslim Brotherhood has always been deeply anti-Western, viscerally hostile to Israel and openly antisemitic – points usually downplayed in Western commentary on the “Arab Spring.” Indeed, the anti-Jewish conspiracy theories promoted by the Brotherhood and its affiliated preachers are in a class of their own. This is especially true of Egyptian-born Yusuf al-Qaradawi, undoubtedly the most celebrated Muslim Brotherhood cleric in the world. The still vigorous 84-year-old, often misleadingly depicted in the West as a “moderate,” flew in from Qatar to Cairo’s Tahrir Square on February 18, 2011 to lead a million-strong crowd in Friday prayers, thereby ending 50 years of exile from his native land. He called for pluralistic democracy in Egypt while at the same time offering the hope “that Almighty Allah will also please me with the conquest of the al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem].”
Two years earlier, in a notorious commentary on Al-Jazeera TV (January 28, 2009), the “moderate” Qaradawi had provided religious justification for both past and future Holocausts:
Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the Jews people who would punish them for their corruption…The last punishment was carried out by [Adolf] Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them…Allah willing, the next time will be at the hands of the believers.
In other words, the loathing of Jews, the Holocaust and the destruction of Israel by Muslims were linked by Qaradawi as things mandated by God himself.
Regarding Israel and the Jews, fundamentalist Muslim attitudes have never deviated since the 1940s. Islamist ideologues, despite their virulent anti-Westernism, have had no problem in drawing on Western sources for their radical anti- Semitism – whether these libels come from Protocols of the Elders of Zion forgery, Henry Ford’s The International Jew, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, fantasies about Judeo-Masonic plots, or have their origin in Christian anti-Talmudism, medieval blood-libels and the slanders of contemporary or Holocaust deniers in America and Europe.
The current swelling of Islamist ranks within Egypt and across the Arab world has hardly improved matters. At a vocal Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo’s most prominent mosque on November 25, 2011, Islamic activists ominously chanted “Tel Aviv, judgment day has come,” vowing to “one day kill all Jews.” The rally, which sought to promote the “battle against Jerusalem’s judaization,” was peppered with hate-filled speeches about the “treacherous Jews.” There were explicit calls for Jihad and liberating all of Palestine as well as references to a well-known hadith concerning the future Muslim annihilation of the Jews. Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of Egypt’s Al-Azhar University (the most senior clerical authority in Sunni Islam) even claimed that Jews throughout the world were seeking to prevent Egyptian and Islamic unity, as well as trying to “Judaize al-Quds [Jerusalem].”
This kind of incitement and the pressure from the Egyptian street does not mean that the fragile peace treaty with Israel will be cancelled overnight. But calls for such a step have been repeatedly heard in recent months even from the “liberal” and more “progressive” sectors of the political spectrum as well as from the Islamist parties.
Dr. Rashad Bayoumi, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, bluntly told the Arabic daily al-Hayat on the first day of 2012 that his organization will never “recognize Israel at all”, whatever the circumstances. Israel, he emphasized, was a “criminal enemy” with whom Egypt should never have signed a peace treaty in the first place. If this treaty is not to be abrogated, much will depend on the United States making clear to Egypt how dire the economic and political consequences for its well-being would be.
It is particularly chilling to note that the Islamic wave already dominates not only in Iran, which is on the verge of nuclear weapons, but also in Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, the Gaza strip under Hamas and the Lebanese state, currently in the iron grip of Hezbollah. Apart from seeking to impose Shariah law, and to further downgrade the status of women – while repressing Copts and other non Muslim minorities – the neo-Islamist movements and regimes remain as determined as ever to wipe out Israel and to radically reduce American influence in the region. Needless to say, like the Brotherhood itself, Islamists consider themselves to be the sole authentic interpreters of the Divine will.
In the face of this mounting fundamentalist danger, Israel has no choice but to consolidate its deterrent capacity, close ranks and treat with the upmost skepticism any siren voices calling on it to take unreasonable “risks for peace.” At the same time it will have to develop a new regional strategy that takes into account the seismic changes currently shaking the Middle East.
Prof. Wistrich is a preeminent historian, the director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (SICSA) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the author of the widely celebrated masterwork “A Lethal Obsession: Antisemitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad” (Random House, January 2010).
Tags: Arab Spring, Robert S. Wistrich
Waiting for the other shoe to drop…when the Muslim Brotherhood does something to the Great Pyramids to forever deny them to the world. Cocksucking goatfuckers!
Radical Islam is on the rise all over the Middle East. We’re fucked. That is the only way I can put it.
It would appear that the ‘misunderstanders” of the koran
are taking control.
David Gregory mocked Santorum for not supporting the
Democratic victories of the Brotherhood, since
Santorum espouses democracy.
Idiot! Hitler was elected, we should not
celebrate the election of people who want to kill us.
RIX wrote:
will these morons get it: Democracy is NOT just having an election, it’s also having democratic values and ruling like a democracy.
@ Nevergiveup:
I can’t attribute the quote, but someone said democracy is when you’ve had two elections. By that criterion neither Nazi Germany nor Hamas’s Gaza would qualify as democracies.
@ Nevergiveup:
Exactly, elections are meaningless when undemocratic
forces get power.
Moe Katz wrote:
One man, one vote, one time.
@ RIX:
The aphorism means that it’s not democracy if the group that gets elected changes the system and doesn’t seek re-election. It might have been Bernard Lewis, but I’m really not certain of that.
It’s another way of saying the same thing – that democracy means electing people that are committed to democracy.
@ Moe Katz:
Whoever said it, said it well.
You have all made a great point, Democracy by itself is not what makes our nation great. It was the separation of powers and the inherent gridlock built into our system, coupled with our ability to elect our leaders that made us great. The founding fathers saw to it that no one man would ever be able to seize ultimate power and be left unchecked to issue edicts. It was their hope that our wheels of creating new law and regulation would be slowed down so as to not be subject to the fickle whims of panic and thoughtless passion.
We have seen none of that in the supposed democracies of the Arab Spring. We in fact have only seen the opposite.
@ Flyovercountry:
One thing is for sure: Congress doesn’t possess the balls to stand up to Обама.
Barry Rubin points out:
The Arab Spring is turning into an Islamic spring.
(Note: Turkey’s government, President Obama’s favorite Middle East regime and his main regional advisor, is part of that radical Islamist bloc.)
Haniya knows it. We know it. Why don’t Western governments, mass media, and “experts” understand what this means? It doesn’t mean a springtime for “Islam” as a “religion of peace,” but a springtime for political Islamism as being in power — imposing a very anti-Western, anti-Christian, anti-American, and radically intolerant interpretation of Islam on their countries.
In his official weekly message published on the official Brotherhood website, Muhammad al-Badi — official leader of what is officially the biggest political party and parliamentary vote-getter in Egypt — said that the Brotherhood will now begin the “long-term plan for the reform of all aspects of people’s lives.”
(Note: Why didn’t Barack and Michelle think of that phrase first?)
And soon, the Brotherhood’s supreme guide also explains, the caliphate will be restored. I don’t believe him, but the fact that he thinks so is significant. Why is the caliphate important? Well, one reason is that the caliph can supposedly declare an international jihad in which every Muslim must fight. I don’t believe that will happen either, and it didn’t work out well when the German-backed Ottoman caliph tried it in World War One. But it does convey something about the Brotherhood’s plans for the future.
To my knowledge, that statement by the supreme guide — an actual leader of hundreds of thousands of people backed by almost half of all Egyptians — has not been reported in any Western mass media outlet.
Al-Badi’s own formula is that Egypt will be “a just country” under “just rule,” which means his interpretation of Sharia. This brand of social justice includes death to converts from Islam, and the whole long list of such things.
Did I mention that almost half of all Egyptians voted for the Muslim Brotherhood, and that almost half of those who didn’t voted for an even more radical Islamist party?
Who would you expect the Western media to believe and publicize: the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide, who disagrees with them about the nature of his own organization; or a student with no achievements whatsoever who agrees with the Western media?
What better proof could there be that we are being fed propaganda, and not news?
Want more proof? David Gerstman has been monitoring relevant New York Times op-eds for the last six months. His methodology is quite fair and reasonable. And here is his conclusion:
Anti-Israel op-eds: 38
Pro-Israel op-eds: 7
And this includes four op-eds supporting a Palestinian unilateral declaration of independence — even though that would violate every agreement made in the much-beloved “peace process” — and not a single one opposing it.
We are no longer talking about a “slant” in media coverage. They have fallen over entirely, either onto their knees or flat on their face.
@ Flyovercountry:
In fairness there do seem to be democratic elements in these movements, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to win out….
@ yenta-fada:
The Egyptians happily buy newspapers that run stories about Jews using the blood of Gentile children to make Purim pastries (‘humantaschen’). Their culture itself is hopelessly Islamofascist….
The dark shadows of the coming times.
@ Speranza:
I’m afraid so.
Well, in practical terms, stopping Iran from going nuclear would be a place to start.
RIX wrote:
hamass was also elected, with great fanfare from Bush, Rice, and Carter if I remember correctly.
@ yenta-fada:
The Watch Dogs have become rabid Lap Dogs.
Flyovercountry wrote:
Limited Government is really the great American Experiment, and the pro-Government forces in this country are set against it ever as much as the most ardent Confederate was opposed to Union during the Civil War. It really is a Cold Civil War we are engaged in, and it really doesn’t look very promising for our side. We’ve let the Left run unchecked for far too long.
Iron Fist wrote:
Our side is too worried about offending the other side. They are clueless when it comes to fighting…
@ citizen_q:
Great fanfare, but they didn’t like it. Straight democracy equals mob rule -- they HAD to see that coming.
^ also shows they are/were idiots about Abbas – he ran on a platform of peace???? Maybe to the US media, but definitely not their arabic counterparts.
@ Da_Beerfreak:
Yep, and the Democrats like Wasserman-Schultz play that for all it is worth. Mercy to this enemy is weakness. Politics is War. War to the Knife, Knife to the Hilt.
Iron Fist wrote:
And take no prisoners…
@ Moe Katz:
And what happened to those pro democratic forces which brought about this revolution? The same exact thing that happened to them in 1978 Iran is what happened to them. They were the first summarily imprisoned and or executed by the mullahs. This is the price that they earned for their stupidity, and probably not a single thing learned by other leftists the world over. The rest of us get to live with the consequences so vividly laid out in the article above.
Thank you political left.
Flyovercountry wrote:
The Left see this as a feature, not a bug. Their goal is the destruction of Western Civilization, no matter how they pretty it up for the Useful Idiots. They want to bring it all down and then rule the ruins.
@ Flyovercountry:
This could change in time. The anti-government forces in Iran now, 30 years later, are democratic. Tunisia has stronger democratic forces than Libya. These are societies in transition, though I probably won’t live to see the process completed. In the meantime, walk softly and carry a big stick.
@ citizen_q:
We never seem to learn.
Seems someone or some people are torching and vandalizing Temples here in Northern NJ. I just said to my wife that it is easy to stop that, just put armed guards outside every Temple. She said no one would want to pay for that? I said shit, give me a gun and permission from the Cops and I’ll do it for free!
hamass was also elected, with great fanfare from Bush, Rice, and Carter if I remember correctly.
That is really not true. Maybe from carter, but President Bush and Condi were just mistaken that the Palis were normal human beings and would not elect animals to rule them. They were NOT happy hamas was elected
Nevergiveup wrote:
I’m sure they now know that Animals elected those Animals.
Macker wrote:
They should have known it then
@ m:
@ m:
Guess I am still stinging from Rice going soft of paleos, and it seems to me they are throwing Israel to the wolves. Bush may have felt bad about it, zero relishes it.
They had to know about ab-ass and ara-fag. Hell the fact that at the Annapolis “peace” talks the muzzies had to have the Israelis enter through a different door then they ( and I don’t think that is the first time either) should have informed all but the naive insensate person.
Nevergiveup wrote:
You’re absolutely correct, While Bush and his team were dangerously naive in regards to allowing for and pimping those elections, they were not any where near stupid enough to applaud them. If memory serves, and it after all was not long ago, he received the news of the Hamas victory by refusing to recognize the Hamas leadership as legitimate, and officially moving our embassy to Jerusalem. While his decision to wrap himself in the democratization flag was to say the least stupid, he did handle the aftermath correctly.
@ Nevergiveup:
I seem to remember Condi being very sympathetic the Paleos, I think even comparing their “struggles” to the civil rights movement.
citizen_q wrote:
I think that was more directed at the Palestinian Authority than Hamas, but having said that, it was one of the stupidest and most moronic things I ever heard anyone say. Remember Condi was suppose to be an “expert” on the Ruskies. She was and is way over her head in the Middle East.
Wow, here is a different take on the Gabby Guifords shooting
Tucson Shooting Survivor: Giffords Makes Me Want To ‘Vomit’
A counterpoint to the article I posted earlier today where debbie wasserman schultz intimated tea party responsibility.
citizen_q wrote:
What a scrunt and an embarrassment to the Jewish People
Nevergiveup wrote:
Actually, I did not know that.
citizen_q wrote:
She botched that one also.
@ citizen_q:
Mark kelly himself blamed Sarah Palin & the Tea Party
for creating the climate that caused the shooting.
He just ignored that the shooter is a hard core lefty.
Nevergiveup wrote:
Worse than Clinton?
They must’ve seen red meat after the reset button fiasco, and obozo’s apology tours.
citizen_q wrote:
No not worse than clinton/bozo, but I expected better from her
RIX wrote:
And crazy for cocoa puffs, though the two are not mutually exclusive.
It’s disgusting how the deems have politicized the gifford shooting and she should resign, it is obvious she is not up to the job. What a farce
citizen_q wrote:
Completely out of his mind
Nevergiveup wrote:
Agreed.
I was horrified they way they trotted her out. It was not supportive. It was a dog and pony show to support their agenda. I am not fit for politics. I could never use someone like that.
Loughner photo looks nutty.
@ Moe Katz:
He’s just doing his Manson impression
Moe Katz wrote:
Looks like a guy who has an LGF account in good standing.
@ waldensianspirit:
I’ve been practicing in the mirror.
RIX wrote:
That place still open?
Moe Katz wrote:
@ citizen_q:
Exactly
Nevergiveup wrote:
The “Margaret Thatcher and the Jews” thread from the morning featured an article by a Charles Johnson. Figured it had to be a different one, LOL!