As Israel and the US come to terms with a post-Mubarak Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is continually under fire. Israel fears that a MB dominated parliament would shut down the Suez Canal, thereby affecting much of the global economy and threatening regional security.
| Thursday, February 10,2011 19:54 | ||
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As Israel and the US come to terms with a post-Mubarak Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is continually under fire. Israel fears that a MB dominated parliament would shut down the Suez Canal, thereby affecting much of the global economy and threatening regional security. The knee-jerk reaction of the US and Israel when several members of Hezbollah reportedly escaped from Egyptian prisons, caused them to immediately believe that the MB is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard with a network assisting Hamas members in the Gaza Strip . Such conclusions come in the wake of the inability of the US and Israel to see the MB as a peaceful, pro-democratic group, seeking a civil society and voicing the will of the Egyptian people. The MB has consistently reiterated its firm stances regarding its position in Egypt which include its respect for international treaties and the global economy. The primary focus of the MB is the rights of Egyptians which have been sorely neglected during the three decades that Mubarak has been in power. As the West is generally confused about the stances and identity of various Islamist groups, it tends to categorize them in the same way, thereby causing defaults in analysis, perception and policies that are directly affecting the moderate approach of the MB and their efforts to help Egyptians gain their democratic rights. A minority voice in the international community, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed the paranoia concerning the MB, stating that he was concerned Egypt could become another Iran whose extremist statements are well known in the media. As the MB continues in its firm stance against Al-Qaida-like terrorism, its much-needed moderate voice in the Islamic world is undermined by US and Israeli suspicions. This is especially so when claims of suspected Hezbollah-Iranian agents working in Egypt to destabilize the regime and advance Iranian interests, establishing a base of Iranian operations along the strategic Suez Canal, are believed by the US and Israel. Indeed, this only serves to play into the hands of extremists. It also contradicts the great efforts the MB has exerted to implement democracy in Egypt's notorious police state. If the MB had the same vision as Iran, it would not be following legal channels and supporting the people's uprising for a democratic; not an 'Islamic' exclusivist, revolution. As Vice President Omar Suleiman threatens to call in the military to dismantle the peaceful protests, and as the US hesitates, unsure whether to support its espoused principle of democracy or manipulate the political situation to protect is own interests, and while Israel seeks nothing except its own stability, the MB is reaching beyond itself and has chosen to support the youth uprising in their collective call for democracy and reform, committing itself to social justice in Egypt and its hope to have a ethical civil society over which is does not seek a leadership role. The MB works openly and in cooperation with Egyptians from all walks of life, religions, sects and political leanings, in an effort to procure unity and stability. Suspicions that the MB is a pro-Iranian extremist group, anarchists and seeking to deprive Christians of their basic rights, are simply ludicrous. |
