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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; Morsi</title>
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		<title>Rape in Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood ‘Gets Even’</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/raymond-ibrahim/rape-in-egypt-the-muslim-brotherhood-gets-even/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=rape-in-egypt-the-muslim-brotherhood-gets-even</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jun 2014 04:40:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Al-Sisi]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Why is the media giving Islamists a pass for their atrocities against women and children? ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2014-635383695379805643-980.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-234265" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2014-635383695379805643-980.jpg" alt="2014-635383695379805643-980" width="316" height="249" /></a></p>
<p>Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers recently went on a sexual assault and rape spree in Egypt as a way of “getting even” with those women who dared to celebrate the presidential victory of Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi—the former army chief who overthrew Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt.</p>
<p>On June 8, when tens of thousands of Egyptians congregated in Tahrir Square to celebrate Sisi’s inauguration, dozens of women were sexually assaulted and many more harassed.  According to a statement later released by the Ministry of Interior, seven men between the ages of 15 and 49 were arrested for sexually assaulting “a number of women.”</p>
<p>One 19-year-old female student was especially brutalized—and videotaped as she was stripped naked and sexually assaulted by a throng of men.  (I saw the graphic video on YouTube, though it has since been removed; a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUEGZ878J1o"><span style="color: #0433ff;">much less graphic clip of the initial assault appears here</span></a>.)  A gun-waving police officer eventually managed to rescue the woman from her ordeal, though after sustaining injuries himself.</p>
<p>Sexually harassing or raping those supportive of Sisi by way of “retribution” is not uncommon in Egypt.  Earlier, a <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/muslim-brotherhood-rape-boy-for-supporting-anti-brotherhood-revolution/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">six-year-old boy was raped by a Muslim Brotherhood member</span></a> who was “angered” at the child for singing praises to Sisi. He lured the boy into a shed, locked the doors, and proceeded to rape him, while saying, “You’re always holding pictures of this Sisi and singing his praises.  Come, I’ll humiliate and break you—and your Sisi.”</p>
<p>Although Western media never specify who is behind these sexual assaults—often citing “the mob”—<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uzopMigE8"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Hala Sarhan</span></a>, a popular TV host in Egypt alluded to the ultimate source that legitimizes sexual harassment and rape in Egypt, namely, Islamist preachers and leaders:</p>
<blockquote><p>What was said to these people [rapists] to brainwash them into think that such violations on the person and body of this young girl [the aforementioned rape victim] were permissible? …  I’ll tell you.  The one in parliament who said this, is the same as the man who did that…  And the one who told that girl that she is an <i>infidel</i>, is the same as the one in parliament who said that it’s permissible to marry a 9-year-old girl [based on the prophet of Islam’s example when he married the girl-child Aisha].   The ones who in the mosques told him that they [women] are in the pits of hell and the lures of Satan—adulteresses, that Satan lives in their bodies…  This is what they tell them in the mosques!  And they’re so upset now [Islamist preachers] because they can no longer continue to preach like this in the mosques! We thank you minister of religious endowments for stopping this mockery!  [The new Egyptian government has cracked down on radical preachers.] Before [under Morsi], every guy that yelled and stomped got himself a pulpit to preach such thoughts into the minds of the youth—and then they went out thinking they are doing jihad.  You see, they have this thing in their mind that says “If we curse or attack an infidel, that is jihad”….  Concerning the previous cases of sexual harassment, they [Islamist authorities] told people, “Why did she [any violated woman] leave her house in the first place?  She deserves what she got!”  They told them, “Your sister needs to be circumcised”; told them, “In the house, beat her and discipline her, break her bones; and if she refuses to have sex with you, saying she’s tired or sick, curse her with the angels till the sun rises.”  We allowed these people to fill their minds with such ideas!</p></blockquote>
<p>Such honesty is reminiscent of an Egyptian op-ed that appeared after a <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/the-ultimate-source-of-islamic-hate-for-infidels/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">young Coptic woman was murdered by a pro-Brotherhood mob</span></a> because they identified her as a Christian:</p>
<blockquote><p>Those who killed the young and vulnerable Mary Sameh George, for hanging a cross in her car, are not criminals, but rather wretches who follow those who legalized for them murder, lynching, dismemberment, and the stripping bare of young Christian girls—without every saying “kill.”  [Islamic cleric] Yassir Burhami and his colleagues who announce their hate for Christians throughout satellite channels and in mosques—claiming that hatred of Christians is synonymous with love for Allah—they are the true killers who need to be tried and prosecuted.</p></blockquote>
<p>At any rate, using sexual harassment and rape to force people to comply with Islamist agendas has a long history, especially in Egypt.  In 2011, during the “Arab Spring,” when the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists were released from prison, legitimized and eventually rose to power, sexual harassment skyrocketed, as <a href="http://harassmap.org/?l=en_US"><span style="color: #0433ff;">one graph</span></a> showed.  Moreover, UN research done in 2013, when Morsi was president, suggested that <a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/04/28/99-3-of-egyptian-women-experienced-sexual-harassment-report/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">99.3% of Egyptian women had experienced sexual harassment</span></a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, in February, 2013, hundreds of Egyptian women took to the streets of Tahrir Square to protest this nonstop harassment.  They held slogans like “Silence is unacceptable, my anger will be heard,” and “A safe square for all; Down with sexual harassment.” “Marchers also shouted chants against President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood group from which he hails,” wrote <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/1/64191/Egypt/Hundreds-march-against-sexual-harassment-in-downto.aspx"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Al Ahram Online</span></a>.</p>
<p>The response was more sexual harassment and rapes.  One woman was gang-raped for approximately 20 minutes and nearly died.  And as Hala Sarhan pointed out, elements from the then Islamist-heavy government under Morsi <a href="http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/shura-council-committee-says-female-protesters-should-take-responsibility-if-harassed"><span style="color: #0433ff;">blamed the women themselves</span></a>, saying that:</p>
<blockquote><p>women taking part in protests bear the responsibility of being sexually harassed, [and] describing what happens in some demonstrators’ tents as “prostitution.” Major General Adel Afify, member of the committee representing the Salafi Asala Party, criticized female protesters, saying that they “know they are among thugs. They should protect themselves before requesting that the Interior Ministry does so. By getting herself involved in such circumstances, the woman has 100 percent responsibility.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Likewise, popular Salafi preacher <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/02/07/264982.html"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Abu Islam</span></a>  sarcastically blamed the victims:</p>
<blockquote><p>“They tell you women are a red line. They tell you that naked women [i.e., not wearing veils or hijabs]—who are going to Tahrir Square because they want to be raped—are a red line! And they ask Morsi and the Brotherhood to leave power!”  Abu Islam added that these women activists are going to Tahrir Square not to protest but to be sexually abused because they had wanted to be raped.  “They have no shame, no fear and not even feminism. Practice your feminism, sheikha! It is a legitimate right for you to be a woman,” he said. “And by the way, 90 percent of them are crusaders [i.e. Christian Copts] and the remaining 10 percent are widows who have no one to control them. You see women talking like monsters,” he added.</p></blockquote>
<p>The only silver lining in this cloud of Islamist rape that hovers over Egypt is that the differences between Morsi and his Brotherhood government, and Sisi and the post-Brotherhood government, are already apparent.  In response to the endemic sexual harassment in Egypt, the new government</p>
<blockquote><p><span style="color: #0433ff;"><a href="http://egyptianstreets.com/2014/06/09/woman-stripped-beaten-and-sexually-assaulted-at-tahrir-square/">passed a law</a></span> criminalizing all forms of sexual harassment&#8230;  A new article, which has been issued into power, adds a harsh punishment to those found guilty of unwanted sexual contact…. Other amended laws, under article 306, declare that those found guilty of verbal sexual harassment in a private or public place will be sentenced to a minimum of six months in prison and fined no less than EGP 3,000 ($US 420).</p></blockquote>
<p>When I recently asked some analyst colleagues in Egypt if Morsi ever took any such measures against sexual harassment, the quip I received most was along the lines of “Take measures?  He was the one ordering sexual harassment against his female critics.”</p>
<p>Still, and in keeping with Western MSM journalism, Sisi, who at least appears to be trying to take some measures against sexual harassment, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/13/doubts-remain-in-egypt-despite-sisis-action-against-sexual-harassment"><span style="color: #0433ff;">is now being portrayed by the Guardian in a cynical light</span></a>—while Morsi who did nothing and whose Islamist allies were responsible for inciting violence against women got a free pass—just like the New York Times recently tried to blame Sisi for the plight of Egypt’s religious minorities, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/other-matters/the-new-york-times-propaganda-war-on-egypt/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">without mentioning that it was often Morsi and the Islamists who put them there in the first place</span></a>.</p>
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		<title>Who Is the Future Egyptian President?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/joseph-puder/who-is-the-future-egyptian-president/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=who-is-the-future-egyptian-president</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 21 May 2014 04:05:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joseph Puder]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=225767</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Abdel Fattah al-Sisi may win in a landslide, but can he end Egypt’s instability?  ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Abdel-Fattah.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-225769" alt="Abdel-Fattah" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Abdel-Fattah.jpg" width="347" height="217" /></a>Egypt will hold presidential elections later this month (May 26-27), and most political pundits believe that Field-Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will win in a landslide.   Al-Sisi (will be 60-years old in November) has formally shed his military uniform and donned civilian clothes, but that has not eased the resentment of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its supporters.  Al-Sisi ousted the former President, Mohammad Morsi, who is languishing in prison along with other MB leaders.  The July 3, 2013 coup carried out by al-Sisi amounted to a second such coup in Egypt within three years.</p>
<p>The enigmatic al-Sisi, who graduated from Egypt’s military academy in 1977, has spent nearly 37 years in the military.  In August 2012, President Morsi appointed al-Sisi as Minister of Defense, and the interim President Adly Mansour promoted him from general to Field Marshal, Egypt’s top military post.  Previously, al-Sisi served as Commander of the Northern Military region headquartered in Alexandria, and then as Director of Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance.  He was later admitted to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of Egypt (SCAF), as its youngest member.  SCAF assumed power in Egypt during the revolution that ended the 30-year reign of Hosni Mubarak as President of Egypt. In June 2012, SCAF handed over power to the elected president Mohammad Morsi.</p>
<p>In a recent speech al-Sisi characterized the MB as “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/world/middleeast/ex-general-vows-to-end-brotherhood-if-elected.html?_r=0" target="_blank">political stupidity and Religious stupidity”</a>  and vowed to eliminate the MB. Al-Sisi, in a televised interview pointed out that on June 30, 2013 the Egyptian people had called for an end to the MB when huge throngs of Egyptians marched to protest President Morsi rule.  He insisted that there could be no reconciliation with them (MB), because the MB tricked those who voted for them, and were therefore rejected by the Egyptian people.</p>
<p>In explaining his opposition to Islamism and the MB, al Sisi argued that the belief of the MB is that politics should be subservient to Islam.  He maintained that there has never been a state based on religion in Islam. Al-Sisi was quoted by <i>Reuters</i> (May 9, 2014) as saying: “I see that the religious discourse in the entire Islamic world has cost Islam its <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/09/uk-egypt-sisi-religion-idUKKBN0DP0XM20140509" target="_blank">humanity</a>.  This requires us, and for that matter all leaders, to review their positions.”</p>
<p>Al-Sisi’s outward pious appearance reminds many Egyptian pundits of Anwar Sadat, but al-Sisi’s presidential campaign managers seek to present him more like the popular Egyptian revolutionary president Abdul Nasser, who helped depose the monarchy and disbanded the MB. President Sadat on the other hand used the MB against the political Left only to have the MB assassinate him.  Sadat like Sisi was a pious Sunni Muslim.</p>
<p>According to <i>Al-Ahram Weekly</i>, an independent newspaper asked al-Sisi whether he has ever dreamed of becoming head of the Egyptian military.  Then Army chief al-Sisi replied “the armed forces or something <a href="http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/Print/6035.aspx" target="_blank">bigger</a>.” The interviewer then asked if he thought he would be at the throne of Egypt. To which al-Sisi replied that he had been inspired by a vision in which he saw himself carrying a sword with the words “No God but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God.” In the same dream, he also received a promise from the late president Anwar Sadat that he would be president of Egypt.</p>
<p>While there is no love lost for al-Sisi by the MB and other Islamists, some secular critics are alarmed by al-Sisi’s refusal to provide a clear answer regarding parliamentary oversight of the powerful military.  All that al-Sisi could say was that the army “is a <a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/05/07/al-sisi-says-knew-mb-rule-march-2013/" target="_blank">great institution</a>, and I hope to God that all of Egypt rises to this level.”</p>
<p>The May 7, 2014 report of al-Sisi’s interview in <i>The Daily News of Egypt</i> also touched on a variety of topics including the MB, and foreign and domestic policy.  In discussing Israeli-Palestinian relations, al-Sisi called on the Egyptian people not to allow ill-feelings towards Gaza-based Hamas.  He went on to say that Egypt “<a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/05/07/al-sisi-says-knew-mb-rule-march-2013/" target="_blank">respects all charters</a>,” including peace with Israel, adding that Israel had a “real opportunity to give the Palestinians hope.”  He added that he will visit Israel if the Jewish State will move forward on the Palestinian issue.  Asked if he would be ready to visit Israel or invite an Israeli leader to visit Egypt, al-Sisi replied that all Israel has to do is to agree to Palestinian State with a capital in East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>On other foreign policy issues al-Sisi said that he would make his first foreign trip as president to Saudi Arabia (he served military attaché in Riyadh earlier in his military career).  The Saudis have been al-Sisi staunchest supporters in removing Morsi, and have financed Egypt’s military purchases from Russia.   In the interview, al-Sisi revealed that as Defense Minister he visited Russia, and confirmed that “Military relations with Russia were <a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/05/07/al-sisi-says-knew-mb-rule-march-2013/" target="_blank">not interrupted</a> and much of the equipment for the army comes from Russia”</p>
<p>In a May 15, 2014 interview with <i>Reuters</i> al-Sisi asked for US help to combat Jihadi terrorism.  He called for the resumption of $1.3 billion in US military aid, which was partially frozen after his crackdown on the MB.  Asked for his message to Obama al-Sisi said, “We are fighting a war against <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/15/us-egypt-sisi-idUSBREA4E07X20140515" target="_blank">terrorism</a>.”</p>
<p>In April 2012, Field Marshal al-Sisi made the headlines by defending “virginity tests” carried out on women detained and beaten by soldiers at an anti-Mubarak protest in Tahrir Square in March 2011.  Asked to respond, al-Sisi said that the “virginity tests” were used “to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19256730" target="_blank">protect</a> the girls from rape, and the soldiers and officers from accusation of rape.”</p>
<p>During the second part of a televised interview which aired on May 6, 2014, al-Sisi alluded to his attitude towards women, saying, “I personally love the Egyptian women.” He pointed out that as president “all the women in Egypt would be my <a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/05/07/al-sisi-says-knew-mb-rule-march-2013/" target="_blank">daughters</a>.”  Stating that he would work to crack down on deep-rooted issues of sexual harassment and assault in Egypt, he encouraged the media to increase awareness of the issue and promote legislation.</p>
<p>Most Egyptians yearn for a strong leader following three years of turmoil that have shattered their economy, especially the tourism sector.  Two coups, endless demonstration, street violence, and the subsequent violent military crackdown, have made the soft spoken but stern former Field Marshal an attractive choice for a leader.  They see in Abdul Fattah al-Sisi the strongman needed to end the instability that has beset Egypt.  At the same time, Egyptian must also realize that they are trading what appeared as a brief moment of democratic will that toppled Mubarak’s dictatorship with another authoritarian leader.  Al- Sisi removed the failed authoritarian and menacing Islamist regime of President Morsi, but will he be able to provide for the needs ordinary Egyptians yearn for – everyday staples and freedom? Only time will tell.</p>
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		<title>U.S. Courts Islamic Terrorists to ‘Support People of Egypt’</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/raymond-ibrahim/u-s-in-contact-with-islamic-terrorists-to-support-people-of-egypt/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=u-s-in-contact-with-islamic-terrorists-to-support-people-of-egypt</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Mar 2014 04:30:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=221455</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Obama administration’s hypocrisy on full display.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/obama-is-a-terrorist-.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-221514" alt="obama-is-a-terrorist-" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/obama-is-a-terrorist--450x340.jpg" width="270" height="204" /></a>On March 14, in a meeting with foreign journalists in Washington, D.C., deputy spokesperson of the U.S. State Department Marie Harf confirmed, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/other-matters/u-s-still-declares-support-for-muslim-brotherhood/">once again</a>, that the United States is in “communication” with the Muslim Brotherhood but denied that this means it supports the Islamist organization.  The <a href="http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2014/03/20140315296358.html?CP.rss=true#ixzz2w5Fk1BcJ">exchange</a> follows:</p>
<blockquote><p>QUESTION: Okay. The second question is: The State Department has recently said that it is in constant contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, as with the other political groups, you see?</p>
<p>MS. HARF: Mm-hmm, yes.</p>
<p>QUESTION: So do you think that these contacts have any effect on the United States relations with Egypt? And are these just mere contacts or support? Because this is very important for the Egyptian public opinion. Thanks.</p>
<p>MS. HARF: Well, they’re contacts, and let’s just – I’ll put it in a little context here. We think it’s important to have contacts with all the parties in Egypt, because all the parties in Egypt ultimately are going to need to be a part of Egypt’s future, and that we want to help them be a part of that future and move Egypt out of the situation it’s in today. So we think this is important to do. Do we always agree, do they always agree with what we’re saying? Of course not. But we believe it’s important to have the dialogue.</p>
<p>We don’t support one party or one group or one person. So when we’re talking about elections, when – I know there’s a lot of conspiracy theories about us supporting the Muslim Brotherhood or supporting the military or – there’s a lot. They can’t all be true, right? Because they’re mutually exclusive. But we don’t support one group. We support the process. We support the people of Egypt who make up these parties – right – as they are trying to determine how to get Egypt back on a better path.</p></blockquote>
<p>One wonders: if the Obama administration does not “support one party or one group or one person,” why did it try to urge the Egyptian people in general, the Christian Copts in particular, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/obama-to-egyptian-christians-dont-protest-the-brotherhood/">not to protest against former president Muhammad Morsi</a> (“one person”) and his increasingly oppressive Muslim Brotherhood (“one party”)?</p>
<p>Conversely, if the Obama administration is supportive of “the people of Egypt” in general, where was it when the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters were terrorizing Egypt, and <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/pro-brotherhood-cleric-issues-fatwa-to-terrorize-egypt/">continue to do so</a>—including by burning and destroying over 80 Christian churches? But when millions of Egyptians protested against the increasingly oppressive Morsi/Brotherhood government, leading to their ousting, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/murdered-christian-children-the-price-of-obamas-pro-brotherhood-jihad/">it was then that the Obama administration reacted by reducing aid to Egypt</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, in regards to Harf’s claims that “We support the people of Egypt,” the other day an Egyptian TV commentator <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRKhzt2yMig">summed up</a> mainstream Egyptian opinion as follows:</p>
<blockquote><p>Harf yesterday confirmed that her nation is in communication with the Muslim Brotherhood but denied that this means it supports them.  They’re just in contact—you know, “checking up” on each other.  She said that the United States is in contact with all political parties in Egypt.  In reality, they [Brotherhood] are no longer “political parties.” They are “<i>terrorist</i> parties.”  She stressed that they do not support any particular person or political party, adding “we support the people of Egypt.”  Apparently that explains why they stopped their aid and support?  They “support the people of Egypt,” even as the Egyptian people cannot stand the Muslim Brotherhood, has rejected them, and is rejoicing because the government finally designated them as a terrorist organization.  So this is the sort of “support” Mary Harf offers to the Egyptian people—<i>that the United States is in contact with a terrorist organization</i>.  Regarding a “conspiracy” between the U.S. and the Brotherhood, she said this cannot be true, adding that they only “support the people of Egypt as they are trying to determine how to get Egypt back on a better path.”  What’s it to you?  If we want a democracy, a dictatorship, or just to stay as we are—we’re free to do so.  I really don’t understand this idea whereby they [Obama administration] always show up saying “we support democracy” in the Arab world, and yet here is the result of their support: every nation they have put their nose in, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/confirmed-u-s-chief-facilitator-of-christian-persecution/">they destroyed it</a>.</p></blockquote>
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		<title>Georgetown Panel Sides with Muslim Brotherhood</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/andrew-harrod/georgetown-panel-sides-with-muslim-brotherhood/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=georgetown-panel-sides-with-muslim-brotherhood</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Feb 2014 05:52:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Harrod]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=218953</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Money well spent by the Prince Awaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/jk.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-219038" alt="jk" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/jk.jpg" width="259" height="194" /></a>Egyptians are “literally split in half” on President <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18371427">Mohammed Morsi</a>’s 2013 downfall, former Obama Administration adviser <a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/1904/dalia-mogahed-a-muslim-george-gallup-or-islamist">Dahlia Mogahed</a> stated recently in citing polling data at Georgetown University.  Yet the pro-<a href="http://www.cfr.org/egypt/egypts-muslim-brotherhood/p23991">Muslim Brotherhood</a> (MB) bias of the <a href="http://georgetown.localist.com/event/egypt_the_struggle_for_democracy?utm_campaign=widget&amp;utm_medium=widget&amp;utm_source=Georgetown#.Uvr2SZWPJhg">January 29, 2014, conference</a> at which Mogahed spoke did little justice to the “deep division” facing Egypt, notwithstanding her calls for “pluralism” to overcome the country’s “huge polarization.”</p>
<p>Mogahed addressed the day-long conference “Egypt &amp; the Struggle for Democracy” presented by Georgetown’s <a href="http://acmcu.georgetown.edu/about">Prince Awaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding</a> (ACMCU).  Originally scheduled for <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/egypt-the-struggle-for-democracy-registration-9349712241">December 5, 2013,</a> the conference made headlines even before opening.  <a href="http://freebeacon.com/georgetown-university-to-host-member-of-egypts-nazi-party/">Ramy Jan</a>, one of the rare Egyptian Christians opposing Morsi’s removal, lost his ACMCU conference invitation after his past involvement in Egypt’s neo-Nazi party became known.</p>
<p>Conference participants universally mourned a “new born democracy …assassinated” in Egypt before completing a necessary “trial and error” process, as described by activist <a href="https://twitter.com/NahlaNasser89">Nahla Nasser</a> of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE07UMaHft8">Egyptians Abroad for Democracy</a> (EAD).  A late conference addition, Nasser described visiting Rabia al-Adawiya Square before its bloody clearing by Egyptian forces on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2013_Cairo_sit-ins_dispersal">August 14, 2013</a>.  Nasser found the pro-MB demonstrators there to be the “most respectful people I have ever met in my entire life.”</p>
<p>Making the questionable assertion that revolutionary change is “often from bad to good,” Middle East scholars like <a href="http://maryamjamshidi.co/biography/">Maryam Jamshidi</a> praised a post-<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12301713">Hosni Mubarak</a> “burgeoning of the public square.”  <a href="http://www.liu.edu/Brooklyn/Academics/Faculty/Faculty/F/Dalia-Fahmy">Dalia Fahmy</a> saw emerging during this time “political pluralism within political Islam.”  The MB-affiliated <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15899548">Freedom and Justice Party</a> (FJP) “ultimately played by the rules of the game,” <a href="http://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/directory/70630">Maha Azzam</a> said, only to have the Egyptian military stop the “emergence of moderate Islamist parties.”</p>
<p>Under Morsi, “democracy mattered to” Egypt’s common people for the first time, assessed law professor <a href="http://www.law.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/full-time-faculty/mohammad-fadel">Mohammed Fadel</a>.  Egyptians “lived a very good year” under Morsi because of a “sense of belonging” after democracy replaced dictatorship, concurred <a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/3524/mb-charm-offensive-courts-washington">Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardery</a>.  “We were sure that our votes meant a lot,” the former Egyptian FJP parliamentarian said.  Egyptians should “respect the process and not change the rules of the game” in contrast to the military overthrow of Morsi, the self-proclaimed <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/apr/6/picket-egyptian-muslim-brotherhood-sharia-law-firs/">supporter of sharia</a> argued.</p>
<p>By comparison, the Georgetown panelists only saw no justification for the military’s intervention against Morsi.  Egyptian security institutions’ “vested interests” in matters such as state-owned businesses were the explanation for Morsi’s deposing given by <a href="https://twitter.com/waelhaddara">Wael Haddara</a>, a <a href="http://pointdebasculecanada.ca/articles/10003096-former-mac-president-wael-haddara-was-senior-advisor-to-ousted-muslim-brotherhood-backed-egyptian-president-mohammed-morsi.html">former Morsi adviser</a>.  The Egyptian military expressed an attitude of Egypt “returned to its proper owners,” the former MB youth leader <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/groundtruth/mohamed-abbas-egyptian-revolutionary-comes-america">Mohamed Abbas</a><b> </b>stated via translation by ACMCU faculty member <a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/brownj2/">Jonathan Brown</a>.</p>
<p>“Hysterical coverage” in the media was a significant cause of Morsi’s downfall, according to the Egyptian media scholar <a href="http://www.aucegypt.edu/GAPP/news/Pages/ElMasry.aspx">Mohamad Elmasry</a>. “Many journalists perceive themselves to be activists” in Egypt, Elmasry criticized.  That “Morsi was fundamentally incompetent” and was “Brotherhoodizing the state” in the name of a “mini-caliphate” were common media themes during Morsi’s presidency described as “myth” by Elmasry.  Although Egypt’s “state-run press” is “historically a mouthpiece of the government,” under Morsi this press was “not the typical mouthpiece.”  While 81% of <a href="http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/"><i>Al Ahram</i></a> articles in 2008 were favorable to Mubarak, they were mostly neutral to Morsi when in power, according to Elmasry’s coding.</p>
<p>Morsi’s overthrow, meanwhile, resulted in returning “military rule with a vengeance,” according to Azzam.  While “power was defuse” under Morsi, according to Jamshidi, now it was “concentrated” again under the new post-Morsi <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/english-translation-of-egypt-s-2013-draft-constitution">constitution</a> approved in a <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2014/02/12-egypt-constitution-ghanem?rssid=elections&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BrookingsRSS%2Ftopics%2Felections+(Brookings+Topics+-+Elections)">January 14-15, 2014, referendum</a>.  This constitution strengthened “already powerful” state institutions and a “custodial status” to the military in particular, complained Fahmy.  After an <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/egypts-army-chief-general-sisi-to-run-for-president-9110905.html">expected presidential elections sweep</a>, General <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19256730">Abdul Fattah al-Sisi</a>, the officer who brought down Morsi, will influence parliamentary elections and create a “rubber stamp” legislature helpless against the constitution’s executive predominance.</p>
<p>An “anti-Ikwhan [MB] fever” incited by a repressive military meant that “there is now no real civil society” in Egypt, stated former MB member <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/rifts-in-muslim-brotherhood-mark-egypt-s-political-disarray-20110715">Islam Lotfy Shalaby</a><b> </b>via Brown’s translation.  The military had closed numerous MB social service institutions serving thousands such as 80% of the schools in Egypt and the country’s largest hospital founded in 1924.  Seized MB assets amounted to ten billion Egyptian pounds (about $1.3 billion).</p>
<p>MB suppression also occurred in the media, leaving “essentially a singular voice” in Elmasry words that constantly condemned MB as, for example, a terrorist organization.  This served “to dehumanize the Brotherhood” and “to justify the massacres,” as manifested in a television show on the Rabia clearing with the <i>Rocky</i> soundtrack.  Narratives of MB as terrorist and disloyal to Egypt were “extremely effective” in winning Sisi support according to Jamshidi.</p>
<p>Popular anti-MB sentiment meant that the “line between citizen and state repression has been blurred,” Jamshidi added.  “Popularly sanctioned state violence” stemming from “demonization” of certain Egyptians as “literally subhuman” manifested for Mogahed a “moral and spiritual crisis.”  Fadel, meanwhile, rather unconvincingly discussed how the political Rabia crackdown was religious persecution of Muslims under Article 7 in the <a href="http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/legal%20texts%20and%20tools/official%20journal/Pages/rome%20statute.aspx">Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court</a>.</p>
<p>Yet even the Georgetown panelists could not hide conflicting evidence.  While the anti-Mubarak protests beginning on January 25, 2011, were “very Egyptian,” the anti-Morsi protests beginning on June 30, 2013, were “very sectarian” in Dardery’s estimation.  “Egyptians united” characterized January 25 (82% of Egyptians desired Mubarak’s removal in a March 2011 poll noted by Mogahed) as opposed to “Egyptians divided” on June 30, concurred Shahin.  Egyptian confidence in their military, though, has stayed high at around 95% of those surveyed throughout two years of various upheavals following Mubarak’s resignation.</p>
<p>A “failure to build consensus” thus appeared to the Carnegie Endowment’s <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/experts/?fa=236">Michelle Dunne</a> as causing the post-Mubarak revolution’s failure.  “We knew what we were against, but we did not know what we were for,” concurred Dardery with Dunne in discussing the anti-Mubarak “breadth of social consensus” described by Middle East scholar <a href="http://elliott.gwu.edu/brown">Nathan Brown</a>.  Yet a “basic failure in Egyptian life” noted by Brown is that widely diverse Egyptians are unable “to deal with each other.”  While Dardery spoke of an “Islamic belief” that “Muslim and Christians are brothers,” Brown countered that “you have a got a problem in your camp” concerning sectarianism.</p>
<p>By overlooking key facts in Egypt’s complicated politics, the Georgetown conference if anything hindered developing Egyptian consensus across diversity.  Sisi’s authoritarianism aside, <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE12/005/2014/en">Amnesty International actually judges the 2014 constitution</a> an “improvement over the <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/unofficial-english-translation-of-egypts-draft-constitution">2012 version</a>” passed under Morsi with its various <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/egypt-s-new-constitution-limits-fundamental-freedoms-and-ignores-rights-women-2012-11-30">Islamist rights restrictions</a>.  Egypt’s “strong contrast with Tunisia” in social cohesion noted by Dunne occurred precisely in part because of <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-tunisia-constitution-idUSBRE82P0E820120326">Islamist renunciation of sharia</a> in the new <a href="http://www.tunisia-live.net/2014/01/21/tunisias-draft-constitution-an-english-translation/">Tunisian constitution</a> overwhelming adopted on <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-tunisia-politics-idUSBREA0P0P220140127">January 26, 2014</a>.</p>
<p>The Egyptian people might agree as well despite repression muzzling constitution opponents in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/world/middleeast/vote-validates-egypts-constitution-and-military-takeover.html?_r=2">2014 referendum</a>.  Voting for the new constitution was 98.1% of the 38.6% of the electorate voting, about <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/01/24/four-big-things-to-know-about-egypt-in-2014/">20 million in absolute numbers</a>.  This was eight million more than the <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/files/Comparing-Egypt-s-Constitutions.pdf">63%</a> of roughly a third of the electorate voting for the 2012 constitution under Morsi and six million more than for voted for his presidency that year.  Any criticism of Sisi as a “modern day pharaoh,” moreover, ignores the insight of longtime Egypt resident and scholar Raymond Stock that this “land…has known largely that kind of rule for the past five millennia.”  As ACMCU’s <a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/vollj/">John Voll</a> noted in introducing the conference, many of its themes such as the compatibility of Islam and democracy remained unchanged from Voll’s 1961 graduate student days.</p>
<p>No conciliation was forthcoming from the panelists to their absent opponents.  Support for Sisi’s regime due to Islamist fears by Egyptian democracy organizations<b> </b>“disqualifies them as true and valid organizations” in Nasser’s eyes, for example.  The “political and religious despotism” under Morsi leading to a “Sunni theocracy similar to the Iranian model” <a href="http://eipr.org/en/pressrelease/2013/06/27/1752">denounced by various Egyptian human rights organizations on June 27, 2013,</a> apparently did not concern Nasser.  Nor did Nasser heed the <a href="http://eipr.org/en/pressrelease/2013/08/15/1782">call of many of these same organizations on August 15, 2013,</a> that MB “accept the political outcome of the June 30 uprising” and “return to peaceful politics” rather than spur the country toward a civil war.”  Contrasting with concern for the Rabia dead, meanwhile, ACMCU’s <a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/haddady/">Yvonne Haddad</a> referenced a “quote/unquote massacre of the Copts.”</p>
<p>Dardery wore on his lapel the yellow and black <a href="http://www.r4bia.com/">R4BIA</a> symbol in memory of Rabia, the same symbol featured by the twitter profiles of Haddara and Nasser.  The symbol’s website celebrates the “great Egyptian scholar and thinker Professor <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/01/afghanistan.terrorism3">Sayyid Qutb</a>” of MB executed in Egypt in 1966.  The <a href="http://www.r4bia.com/en/content/what-r4bia">website also proclaims</a> that “R4BIA is…the grandchildren of [MB founder] <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/256466/Hasan-al-Banna">Hasan Al Banna</a>…against rotten Western values…the end of capitalists…the end of Zionists,” and “smiling martyrdom,” among other things.</p>
<p>Such sentiments ominously shade the pro-MB militancy expressed at Georgetown.  Azzam described a “generation in Egypt…not willing to take this lying down,” a generation that “would rather die” in Haddara’s words rather than accept Sisi’s new order.  “I am optimistic that the coup will not stand,” he concluded, “people will fight to bring it down.”</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>.   </b></p>
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		<title>Malik Obama’s Terrorist Scarf &#8212; on The Glazov Gang</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/frontpagemag-com/cbs-edits-out-cruzs-criticism-of-obama/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=cbs-edits-out-cruzs-criticism-of-obama</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Feb 2014 05:29:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frontpagemag.com]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Does it matter that Obama’s brother wears a Hamas-related scarf calling for the destruction of Israel?
]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mh1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-218239" alt="mh" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mh1.jpg" width="224" height="350" /></a>This week’s Glazov Gang was joined by <strong>Ann-Marie Murrell</strong>, the National Director of <a href="http://politichicks.tv/">PolitiChicks.tv</a>, <b>Dwight Schultz, </b>a Hollywood Actor, and <strong>Tommi Trudeau</strong>, the Producer of “<a href="http://www.stage32.com/profile/6385/Project/GROOVY-FOODS">Groovy Foods</a>.”</p>
<p>The Gang gathered to discuss <em>Malik Obama’s Terrorist Scarf. </em>The discussion occurred in <strong>Part II </strong>and analyzed whether it matters that Obama’s brother wears a Hamas-related scarf calling for the destruction of Israel.</p>
<p>The episode also analyzed <em>CBS Edits Out Cruz’s Criticism of Obama, </em><em>Lies of the State of the Union</em>, <em>Al-Qaeda&#8217;s Commands to Morsi</em>.<em></em><em></em>, <em>Hillary “Regrets” Benghazi</em> and much, much more.<b> </b></p>
<p>Watch both parts of the two-part episode below:</p>
<p><strong>Part I:</strong></p>
<p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4hCjpUYu3H4" height="315" width="460" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><strong>Part II:</strong></p>
<p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LpFDyfyymac" height="315" width="460" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><b>To watch previous <i>Glazov Gang</i> episodes, </b><a href="http://jamieglazov.com/"><b>Click here</b></a><b>.</b></p>
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		<title>Exposed: The Muslim Brotherhood/Al-Qaeda Connection</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/raymond-ibrahim/exposed-the-muslim-brotherhoodal-qaeda-connection/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=exposed-the-muslim-brotherhoodal-qaeda-connection</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Feb 2014 05:50:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[The disturbing truths being brought to light by former Egyptian President Morsi's trial. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Mohamed-Morsi-via-AFP.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-218072" alt="Mohamed-Morsi-via-AFP" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Mohamed-Morsi-via-AFP.jpg" width="283" height="240" /></a></span><em>Originally published by <a href="http://m.cbn.com/blogs/ibrahim/archive/2014/02/04/exposed-muslim-brotherhood-al-qaeda-connection.aspx">CBN.com</a>.</em></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As former Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi’s trials continue, it’s enlightening to consider what is likely to be one of the centerpieces of the trial: longstanding accusations that Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party worked with foreign terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, against the national security of Egypt. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Based on these accusations of high treason, Morsi and others could face the death penalty.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Concerning some of the more severe allegations, one of Egypt’s most widely distributed and read newspapers, </span><i style="line-height: 1.5em;">Al Watan</i><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.elwatannews.com/news/details/369047">recently</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.elwatannews.com/news/details/359554">published</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> what it said were recorded conversations between Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri’s brother. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In these reports, </span><i style="line-height: 1.5em;">Watan</i><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> repeatedly asserts that Egyptian security and intelligence agencies confirmed (or perhaps leaked out) the recordings.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Much of the substance of the alleged conversations is further corroborated by events that occurred during Morsi’s one-year-rule, most of which were reported by a variety of Arabic media outlets, though not by Western media.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In what follows, I relay, summarize, and translate some of the more significant portions of the </span><i style="line-height: 1.5em;">Watan</i><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> reports (verbatim statements are in quotation marks).  In between, I comment on various anecdotes and events—many of which were </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/new-evidence-ties-ousted-morsi-government-to-al-qaeda/">first broken</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> on </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/brotherhood-and-al-qaeda-the-connection-between-morsi-and-zawahiri/">my website</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">—that now, in light of these phone conversations, make perfect sense and independently help confirm the authenticity of the recordings. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#8212;&#8211;</span></p>
<p>The first recorded call  between Muhammad Morsi  and  Muhammad Zawahiri lasted for 59 seconds. Morsi congratulated Zawahiri on his release from prison, where he had been incarcerated for jihadi/terrorist activities against Egypt, and assured him that he would not be followed or observed by any Egyptian authorities, and that he, Morsi, was planning on meeting with him soon.  Prior to this first call, Refa’ al-Tahtawy, then Chief of Staff, mediated and arranged matters.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The presidential palace continued to communicate regularly with Muhammad Zawahiri, and sources confirm that he was the link between the Egyptian presidency and his brother, </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/ayman-zawahiri-and-egypt-a-trip-through-time/">Ayman Zawahiri, the Egyptian-born leader of al-Qaeda</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It should be noted that, once released, the previously little-known Muhammad Zawahiri did become </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/egypt-ayman-zawahiris-brother-leads-jihadi-protest-against-military/">very visible and vocal in Egypt</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, at times spearheading the Islamist movement.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The next recording between Morsi and Zawahiri lasted for 2 minutes and 56 seconds and took place one month after Morsi became president.  Morsi informed Zawahiri that the Muslim Brotherhood supports the mujahidin (jihadis) and that the mujahidin should support the Brotherhood in order for them both, and the Islamist agenda, to prevail in Egypt.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This makes sense in the context that, soon after Morsi came to power, the general public did become increasingly critical of him and his policies, including the fact that he was placing only Brotherhood members in Egypt’s most important posts, trying quickly to push through a pro-Islamist constitution, and, as Egyptians called it, trying in general to </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/exposed-president-morsis-brotherhoodization-plan-for-egypt/">“Brotherhoodize” Egypt</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This second phone call being longer than the first, Zawahiri took it as an opportunity to congratulate Morsi on his recent presidential victory—which, incidentally, from the start, </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/did-the-muslim-brotherhood-really-win-egypts-presidency/">was portrayed by some as fraudulent</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">—and expressed his joy that Morsi’s presidency could only mean that “all secular infidels would be removed from Egypt.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Then Zawahiri told Morsi: “Rule according to the Sharia of Allah [or “Islamic law”], and we will stand next to you.  Know that, from the start, there is no so-called democracy, so get rid of your opposition.” </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This assertion comports extremely well with his brother Ayman Zawahiri’s views.  A former Muslim Brotherhood member himself, some thirty years ago, the al-Qaeda leader wrote </span><i style="line-height: 1.5em;">Al Hissad Al Murr</i><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> (“The Bitter Harvest”), a scathing book condemning the Brotherhood for “taking advantage of the Muslim youths’ fervor by … steer[ing] their onetime passionate, Islamic zeal for jihad to conferences and elections.” An entire section dedicated to showing that Islamic Sharia cannot coexist with democracy even appears in Ayman Zawahiri’s book (see “Sharia and Democracy,” </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Al-Qaeda-Reader-Raymond-Ibrahim/dp/076792262X/"><i>The Al Qaeda Reader</i></a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, pgs. 116-136).</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The call ended in agreement that al-Qaeda would support the Brotherhood, including its international branches, under the understanding that Morsi would soon implement full Sharia in Egypt.  After this, Muhammad Zawahiri and Khairat al-Shater, the number-two man of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, reportedly met regularly.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It is interesting to note here that, prior to these revelations, U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson was </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/egyptian-politician-calls-u-s-ambassador-patterson-member-of-muslim-brotherhood-sleeper-cell/">seen visiting with Khairat al-Shater</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">—even though he held no position in the Morsi government—and after the ousting and imprisonment of Morsi and leading Brotherhood members, Sens. John McCain and Lindsay Graham made it a point to </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/john-mccain-proves-u-s-leadership-allied-to-muslim-brotherhood/">visit the civilian Shater</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> in his prison cell and urged the Egyptian government to release him.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The next call, recorded roughly six weeks after this last one, again revolved around the theme of solidifying common cooperation between the Egyptian presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood on the one hand, and al-Qaeda and its jihadi offshoots on the other, specifically in the context of creating jihadi cells inside Egypt devoted to protecting the increasingly unpopular Brotherhood-dominated government.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As I reported back in </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/egyptian-president-summons-3000-foreign-jihadis-to-terrorize-op">December 2012</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, Egyptian media were saying that foreign jihadi fighters were appearing in large numbers—one said 3,000 fighters—especially in Sinai.  And, since the overthrow of the Brotherhood and the military crackdown on its supporters, many of those detained have been exposed speaking non-Egyptian dialects of Arabic.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">During this same call, Zawahiri was also critical of the Morsi government for still not applying Islamic Sharia throughout Egypt, which, as mentioned, was one of the prerequisites for al-Qaeda support. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Morsi responded by saying “We are currently in the stage of consolidating power and need the help of all parties—and we cannot at this time apply the Iranian model or Taliban rule in Egypt; it is impossible to do so now.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In fact, while the Brotherhood has repeatedly declared its </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/muslim-brotherhood-yes-we-will-be-masters-of-the-world/">aspirations</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> for world domination, from its origins, it has always relied on a “gradual” approach, </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/muslim-brotherhood-impose-islam-step-by-step/">moving only in stages</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, with the idea of culminating its full vision only when enough power has been consolidated. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In response, Zawahiri told Morsi that, as a show of good will, he must “at least release the mujahidin who were imprisoned during the Mubarak era as well as all Islamists, as an assurance and pact of cooperation and proof that the old page has turned to a new one.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After that call, and as confirmed by a governmental source, Morsi received a list from Zawahiri containing the names of the most dangerous terrorists in Egyptian jails, some of whom were on death row due to the enormity of their crimes.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In fact, as I reported </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/egypts-most-violent-jihadis-being-released/">back in August 2012</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, many imprisoned terrorists, including from Egypt’s notorious Islamic Jihad organization—which was once led by Ayman Zawahiri—were released under Morsi.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One year later, </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/egypt-pardon-revoked-for-all-jihadis-granted-amnesty-under-morsi/">in August 2013</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, soon after the removal of Morsi, Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced that Egypt was “preparing to cancel any presidential pardons issued during Morsi’s era to terrorists or criminals.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">During this same call, and in the context of pardons, Morsi said he would do his best to facilitate the return of Muhammad’s infamous brother and al-Qaeda leader, Ayman Zawahiri, back to Egypt—“with his head held high,” in accordance with Islamist wishes—as well as urge the U.S. to release the “Blind Sheikh” and terrorist mastermind, Omar Abdul Rahman.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/president-morsi-smuggling-al-qaeda-leader-zawahiri-to-egypt/">March 2013</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, I wrote about how Morsi, during his Pakistan visit, had reportedly met with Ayman Zawahiri  and made arrangements to smuggle him back to Sinai.  According to a Pakistan source, the meeting was “facilitated by elements of Pakistani intelligence [ISI] and influential members of the International Organization, the Muslim Brotherhood.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The gist of the next two calls between Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri was that, so long as the former is president, he would see to it that all released jihadis and al-Qaeda operatives are allowed to move freely throughout Egypt and the Sinai, and that the presidential palace would remain in constant contact with Zawahiri, to make sure everything is moving to the satisfaction of both parties.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Zawahiri further requested that Morsi allow them to develop training camps in Sinai in order to support the Brotherhood through trained militants. Along with saying that the Brotherhood intended to form a “revolutionary guard” to protect him against any coup, Morsi added that, in return for al-Qaeda’s and its affiliates’ support, not only would he allow them to have such training camps, but he would facilitate their development in Sinai and give them four facilities to use along the Egyptian-Libyan border.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">That Libya is mentioned is interesting.  According to a </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/libyan-intelligence-muslim-brotherhood-morsi-involved-in-u-s-consulate-attack/">Libyan Arabic report</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> I translated back in June 2013, those who attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, killing Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were from jihadi cells that had been formed in Libya through Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood support.  Those interrogated named Morsi and other top Brotherhood leadership as accomplices.</span></p>
<p><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/behind-benghazi-muslim-brotherhood-and-obama-administration/">More evidence</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">—including some that implicates the U.S. administration—has mounted since then.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Next, </span><i style="line-height: 1.5em;">Watan</i><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> makes several more assertions, all of which are preceded by “according to security/intelligence agencies.”  They are:</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">• That Morsi did indeed as he promised, and that he facilitated the establishment of four jihadi training camps.  Morsi was then Chief in Command of Egypt’s Armed Forces, and through his power of authority, stopped the military from launching any operations including in the by now al-Qaeda overrun Sinai.</span></p>
<p>• That, after Morsi reached Pakistan, he had a one-and-a-half hour meeting with an associate of Ayman Zawahiri in a hotel and possibly spoke with him.</p>
<p>• That, after Morsi returned to Egypt from his trip to Pakistan, he issued another  list containing the names of 20 more convicted terrorists considered dangerous to the national security of Egypt, giving them all presidential pardons—despite the fact that national security and intelligence strongly recommended that they not be released on grounds of the threat they posed.</p>
<p>• That the Muslim Brotherhood’s international wing, including through the agency of Khairat al-Shater, had provided $50 million to al-Qaeda in part to support the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One of the longer conversations between Morsi and Zawahiri reported by Watan is especially telling of al-Qaeda’s enmity for secularist Muslims and Coptic Christians—whose churches, </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/looks-like-nuclear-bombs-exploded-there-description-of-coptic-villages-attacked-by-brotherhood/">some 80</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, were attacked, burned, and destroyed, some with the </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/al-qaeda-flag-flies-high-above-christian-churches/">al-Qaeda flag furled above them</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, soon after the ousting of Morsi.  I translate portions below:</span></p>
<p>Zawahiri: “The teachings of Allah need to be applied and enforced; the secularists have stopped the Islamic Sharia, and the response must be a stop to the building of churches.” (An odd assertion considering how difficult it already is for Copts to acquire a repair permit for their churches in Egypt.)</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Zawahiri also added that “All those who reject the Sharia must be executed, and all those belonging to the secular media which work to disseminate debauchery and help deviants and Christians to violate the Sharia, must be executed.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Morsi reportedly replied: “We have taken deterrent measures to combat those few, and new legislative measures to limit their media, and in the near future, we will shut down these media stations and launch large Islamic media outlets.  We are even planning a big budget from the [Brotherhood] International Group  to launch Islamic and jihadi satellite stations  to urge on the jihad. There will be a channel for you and the men of al-Qaeda, and it can be broadcast from Afghanistan.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Undeterred, Zawahiri responded by saying, “This [is a] Christian media—and some of the media personnel are paid by the [Coptic] Church and they work with those who oppose the Sharia… secularist forces are allied with Christian forces, among them </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/who-defames-the-prophet/">Naguib Sawiris, the Christian-Jew</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Morsi: “Soon we will uphold our promises to you.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In fact, there was a period of time when the secular media in Egypt—which was constantly exposing Brotherhood machinations—were under severe attack by the Brotherhood and Islamists of all stripes (comedian Bassem Youssef was the tip of the iceberg).  In one instance, which I noted back in </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/muslim-brotherhood-crucifies-opponents-attacks-secular-media/">August 2012</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, six major media stations were attacked by Brotherhood supporters, their employees severely beat.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The last call recorded between Muhammad Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri took place on the dawn of June 30, 2013 (the date of the June 30 Revolution that ousted Morsi and the Brotherhood).  Morsi made the call to Zawahiri in the presence of Asad al-Sheikha, Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff, Refa’ al-Tahtawy, Chief of Presidential Staff, and his personal security.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">During this last call, Morsi incited Zawahiri to rise against the Egyptian military in Sinai and asked Zawahiri to compel all jihadi and loyalist elements everywhere to come to the aid of the Muslim Brotherhood and neutralize its opponents.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Zawahiri reportedly responded by saying “We will fight the military and the police, and we will set the Sinai aflame.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">True enough, as I </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/al-qaedas-jihad-on-anti-morsi-egyptians/">reported</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> on July 4, quoting from an Arabic report: “Al-Qaeda, under the leadership of Muhammad Zawahiri, is currently planning reprisal operations by which to attack the army and the Morsi-opposition all around the Republic [of Egypt].”  The report added that, right before the deposing of Morsi, Zawahiri had been arrested and was being interrogated—only to be ordered released by yet another presidential order, and that he  had since fled to the Sinai. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Also on that same first day of the revolution, Khairat al-Shater, Deputy Leader of the Brotherhood, had a meeting with a delegate of jihadi fighters and reiterated Morsi’s request that all jihadis come to the aid of the presidency and the Brotherhood.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#8212;&#8211;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As Morsi’s trial continues, it’s only a matter of time before the truth of these allegations—and their implications for the U.S.—is known.  But one thing is certain: most of them comport incredibly well with incidents and events that took place under Morsi’s government.</span></p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Al-Qaeda: Defender of Christians?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/raymond-ibrahim/al-qaeda-defender-of-christians/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=al-qaeda-defender-of-christians</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Feb 2014 05:34:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ayman al-Zawahri]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jihad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The jihadis try to protect their Achilles' Heel.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/zaw.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-217931" alt="zaw" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/zaw.jpg" width="280" height="180" /></a>Muslim persecution of Christians is the “Achilles&#8217; Heel” of the global Islamic movement’s image—the surest way of exposing its supremacist and intolerant elements and one of the main reasons the major media and establishment rarely report or address it.</p>
<p>The logic (<a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/how-dare-you-the-supremacist-nature-of-muslim-grievances/">fully explained here</a>) can be summarized as follows:</p>
<blockquote><p>Islamic and jihadi attacks targeting the West or Israel pose no problem to the image of Islam.  No matter how violent or brutal, no matter how many Islamic slogans are shrieked—“Allah commands the subjugation of infidels!”—Muslim violence against the West and Israel will always be dismissed as desperate acts of disempowered, oppressed, and frustrated Muslims—the “underdogs,” which the West tends to romanticize.</p></blockquote>
<p>And so they will always get a free pass, without further reflection.</p>
<p>But if jihadis get a free pass when their violence is directed against those stronger than them, how does one rationalize away their violence when it is directed against those weaker than them—in this case, the <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/the-existential-elephant-in-the-christian-persecution-room/">millions of Christians being persecuted today by Muslims across 41 nations</a>?</p>
<p>This is the dilemma that none other than <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/ayman-zawahiri-and-egypt-a-trip-through-time/">Ayman al-Zawahiri</a>, chief of al-Qaeda, understands.</p>
<p>A few days ago, the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaida-leader-opposes-fighting-christians-135356312.html">Associated Press</a> reported that:</p>
<blockquote><p>It was a rare call by Ayman al-Zawahri in defense of Christians, who largely supported the popularly backed coup against Mohammed Morsi and were subsequently targeted by a wave of violence.</p></blockquote>
<p>In an audio message posted on militant websites, al-Zawahri said it was not in the interest of Muslims to be engaged with the Christians because “we have to be busy confronting the Americanized coup of (Gen. Abdel-Fattah) el-Sissi and establish an Islamic government instead.”</p>
<p>El-Sissi is Egypt&#8217;s defense minister who overthrew Morsi after millions of Egyptians protested to demand he step down. The head of the Coptic church supported the coup along with other groups.</p>
<p>“We must not seek war with the Christians and thus give the West an excuse to blame Muslims, as has happened before,” al-Zawahiri said.</p>
<p>Although Maamoun Youssef, the AP reporter who wrote this story, portrays it as “<i>a rare call</i> by Ayman al-Zawahri <i>in defense</i> of Christians,” and although the report is titled “Al-Qaida leader <i>opposes</i> fighting Christians,” in fact, Zawahiri’s communique has nothing to do with “defending Christians” or “opposing” the overall jihad on them.</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/al-qaeda-flag-flies-high-above-christian-churches/">Zawahiri himself</a> played an important role in inciting mass violence against Coptic Christians following the anti-Islamist June 2013 Revolution—leading to the destruction of some 80 churches, some with al-Qaeda flags planted atop them.</p>
<p>Moreover, Zawahiri’s like-minded brother and Salafi front-man, Muhammad, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/al-qaeda-to-morsi-execute-all-christians-and-secularists-who-oppose-sharia/">allegedly called ousted president Morsi while he was still in office</a>, insisting that the latter take measures to force Christians to pay jizya and live in abject humiliation, according to Koran 9:29.</p>
<p>Instead, Zawahiri’s rationale for this communique “in defense of Christians” is that, in his own words, “We must not seek war with the Christians <i>and thus give the West an excuse to blame Muslims</i>.”</p>
<p>Zawahiri knows that Islamic jihadis waging terrorist attacks on Egypt’s military and state targets will be portrayed in the West as oppressed and frustrated “freedom fighters” doing whatever is necessary to overthrow “tyrannical” powers.</p>
<p>But such “heroic” depictions disappear once these same jihadis persecute the unarmed Christian minorities in their midst <i>simply for being Christian</i>.</p>
<p>Zawahiri understands that, not only are such attacks strategically ineffective—kill all the Copts you want, it won’t bring Morsi back—but they unequivocally expose the true face of the “freedom fighters,” one that can only be seen as inherently fascistic and intolerant.</p>
<p>And the fear that Zawahiri and others have is that some people in the West might actually begin to connect the dots and conclude that, if jihadis persecute Christian minorities simply because they are non-Muslim “infidels,” perhaps that is also <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/how-dare-you-the-supremacist-nature-of-muslim-grievances/">the true reason they are at war with Israel, the West, and non-Muslims everywhere</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps the jihad is less about political and territorial “grievances” and more about religious intolerance and Islamic supremacism—as unprovoked attacks on disenfranchised non-Muslim minorities clearly indicate; as al-Qaeda’s <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/an-analysis-of-al-qaidas-worldview/">once clandestine writings to fellow Muslims indicate</a>.</p>
<p>Hence, the true reason why the astute Zawahiri is trying to call off the jihad on Christians.</p>
<p>For now, anyway.</p>
<p><strong>Raymond Ibrahim is author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1621570258/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1621570258&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=uhurnetw-20"><i>Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians.</i></a></strong><i> </i></p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>.   </b></p>
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		<title>Egypt Buries the Brotherhood</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/egypt-buries-the-brotherhood/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=egypt-buries-the-brotherhood</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/egypt-buries-the-brotherhood/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 2013 05:35:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hamas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trial]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=213538</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Muslim Brotherhood stands accused of an Iranian conspiracy.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Protest-against-President-008.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-213541" alt="Protest against President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, Egypt" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Protest-against-President-008.jpg" width="254" height="191" /></a>It’s not unusual for the United States and a Muslim country to be on the opposite sides of the War on Terror. It is unusual for a Muslim country to take a stand against terrorism while the United States backs the right of a terrorist group to burn churches, torture opposition members and maintain control of a country with its own nuclear program.</p>
<p>But that’s the strange situation in what Egypt’s public prosecutor has declared &#8220;the biggest case of conspiracy in the country&#8217;s history.&#8221;</p>
<p>The media assumes that the charges accusing Muslim Brotherhood leaders of conspiring with Hamas and Hezbollah, passing state secrets to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and plotting to help foreign terrorists kill Egyptian soldiers is a show being put on for Western audiences. They couldn’t be more wrong.</p>
<p>This isn’t about winning international PR points. It’s about destroying the credibility of the Brotherhood in the eyes of Egyptians and burying it along with what’s left of the Arab Spring in the waters of the Nile.</p>
<p>Obama assumed that cuts to military aid would force Egypt to restore the Muslim Brotherhood to power. He was wrong and the latest round of criminal charges show just how wrong he was.</p>
<p>The charges that the Muslim Brotherhood conspired with Hamas and Hezbollah to unleash a wave of terror against Egypt go to the heart of this struggle between the Egyptian nationalism of the military and the Islamic transnationalism of the Muslim Brotherhood. They paint the Muslim Brotherhood as not merely corrupt or abusive, the way that many tyrannies are, but as a foreign subversive element.</p>
<p>These aren’t merely criminal charges. They are accusations of treason.</p>
<p>There are two narratives of the Arab Spring. In one of them, the people rose up against the tyrants.  In the other an international conspiracy of Western and Muslim countries collaborated with the Muslim Brotherhood to take over Arab countries.</p>
<p>To destroy the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the state has to do more than accuse Morsi of abuses of power; it has to show that he and his organization were illegitimate because they were Un-Egyptian.</p>
<p>That will prove that the differences between Mubarak and Morsi aren’t incidental. Mubarak may have been thuggish and corrupt, but he was an Egyptian patriot. Morsi will be charged with being an Iranian traitor who conspired to take away the Sinai and turn it over to the terrorist proxies of a Shiite state.</p>
<p>The Egyptian public prosecutor’s charges speak of an Iranian conspiracy dating back to 2005 that saw Muslim Brotherhood members being trained by that country’s Revolutionary Guard and by Hezbollah. They allege that the Muslim Brotherhood had been preparing to declare its own separatist Emirate in the Sinai if it could not succeed in bringing Morsi to power.</p>
<p>Egypt had already accused Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders of being liberated from prison by terrorist infiltrators. It now accuses him of importing foreign terrorists to attack Egyptian soldiers  (which provided him with a pretext for bringing the Egyptian military under control by pushing out Field Marshal Tantawi and putting General Al-Sisi in command of the Egyptian military) and after Sisi’s overthrow of him, to intimidate Egypt into restoring him to power.</p>
<p>It’s all about Iran now. Wildly unpopular for its support of the Syrian government, an Islamic country whose religion the Sunni Muslims of Egypt do not recognize as Islam, it is the perfect target. The Muslim Brotherhood’s collaboration with a Shiite power murdering Sunnis is not just treason; it’s heresy.</p>
<p>But as cleverly convenient as the charges may be, it’s entirely possible that they are also true.</p>
<p>There is little doubt that Morsi conspired with Hamas. There is no reason for him not to have. Hamas is just the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza. And it is exactly this sort of transnational arrangement that makes Arab nationalists distrust the Muslim Brotherhood and its international network.</p>
<p>Morsi and Hamas’ actions after the murder of Egyptian soldiers in the summer of last year strongly suggest that there was coordination. Morsi was quick to exploit the attacks for a domestic power grab and a push into the Sinai and the Army of Islam, which was allegedly responsible for attacking Egypt, has worked together with Hamas and looks a lot like a Hamas effort at plausible deniability.</p>
<p>If there were really any doubt that the Egyptian military believed Hamas was responsible all along, not just when it became politically convenient to level those charges against Morsi, the way that it began treating Hamas even before the overthrow of Morsi should put any doubts to rest. Even before Morsi fell, Hamas had begun complaining that Egypt was treating it worse than Israel.</p>
<p>Hamas had every reason to exploit the Anti-Mubarak protests to help set Muslim Brotherhood members free. And once they were in power, it had every reason to intervene to keep them in power. The more the Egyptian military turned on Hamas, the more it was motivated to help Morsi hold on to power and to restore him to power once he had been overthrown.</p>
<p>Did Hamas really believe that it could work with the Brotherhood to carve out an Emirate in the Sinai? There’s no way to know. Hamas’ ambitions may have been no grander than protecting its smuggling network, but it certainly would have profited from a Muslim Brotherhood terrorist kingdom in the Sinai.</p>
<p>Iran is the joker in the deck. Would the Muslim Brotherhood have continued a conspiracy with Iran even after taking power? Ahmadinejad visited Egypt when the Muslim Brotherhood was in power and though he met with a mixed reception, the visit had the air of a victory lap. Adding to that impression were the Iranian warships passing through the Suez Canal.</p>
<p>The willingness of Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, to draw the bulk of its support from Iran, made it and its allied Muslim Brotherhood franchises vulnerable to charges of Shiite collaboration. Despite Qatar’s infusion of money, Hamas was never able to fully break with Iran even during the Syrian Civil War and before too long came crawling back to Tehran.</p>
<p>And now Hamas’ lust for Iranian money and weapons may end up putting a noose around Morsi’s neck.</p>
<p>The trial of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood’s leaders is Egypt’s opportunity to frame the events of the last few years on their own terms. Egyptians are struggling to come to terms with what happened and they will be told that a foreign conspiracy bringing together Iran, Qatar and the United States took over their country for a little while before being forced out of office by civilian and military patriots.</p>
<p>And strangely enough, it will almost be the truth.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Sharia and the New Egyptian Constitution</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/adel-guindy/sharia-and-the-new-egyptian-constitution/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=sharia-and-the-new-egyptian-constitution</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/adel-guindy/sharia-and-the-new-egyptian-constitution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Nov 2013 05:20:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Adel Guindy]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sharia]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=211474</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The dismal future for human rights in the post-Brotherhood country.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/sharia.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-211557" alt="sharia" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/sharia.jpg" width="288" height="175" /></a>The single greatest priority of the United States and other Western governments towards Egypt should be to encourage the drafting of a constitution based on full equality of all citizens. This means the new constitution cannot be based in Sharia law.</p>
<p>The US and EU claim to care about human rights and women’s rights, which were increasingly suppressed and targeted under Morsi. After Morsi’s ouster, Copts have borne the brunt of Muslim Brotherhood outrage through targeted murders and kidnappings of Copts and destruction of their churches, monasteries, schools, homes and businesses.  According to a recent Reuters <a href="/media-news-events/news/2134-arab-spring-nations-backtrack-on-women-s-rights-poll-says">report</a>, Egypt is the very worst country in which to be a woman: “Egypt scored badly in almost every category, including gender violence, reproductive rights, and treatment of women in the family and their inclusion in politics and the economy.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, many in the West seem blind to the far-ranging impact that the denial of religious freedom has on an entire society. Citing from The Price of Freedom Denied, a <a href="/files/FINAL_IRF_Roundtable_NGO_Letter_And_Recommendations_White_House.pdf">letter</a> from the international religious freedom community to President Obama, says, “where there is less religious freedom, there is less women’s empowerment, less economic development, and more political instability and conflict, violent extremism and terrorism.”</p>
<p>If we want to see an Egypt in which poverty is decreased due to economic development, in which women are empowered to participate in politics, receive an education, work, and travel without fear of harassment; in which individuals can practice their faith both publically and privately without fear of attack on their person, possessions, and houses of worship, and a country that is stable without constant terrorists attacks, the single greatest antidote would be to ensure religious freedom for all, which has been proven through Pew research to improve all these other aspects of society and economy.</p>
<p>This is the very discussion happening with the drafting of the new constitution in Egypt. Islamists such as the Salafists (the &#8220;export&#8221; version of the notorious Saudi Wahabis), and those sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood insist that the new Constitution must be based on Sharia law even more explicitly than previous constitutions have been. If the constitutional committee does not comply, they face the threat of even greater terrorism and violence by the Muslim Brotherhood and a withdrawal of support from the Salafists in finalizing the constitution.</p>
<p>Egypt&#8217;s constitutions saw the mention of Sharia for the first time when Sadat in 1971 inserted in Article 2 that &#8220;principles of Sharia&#8221; be &#8220;a&#8221; main source of legislation. In a further effort to appease Islamists, he changed the stipulation in 1980 to make &#8220;principles of Sharia <i>the</i> main source of legislation.&#8221; In an attempt to clarify these &#8220;principles,&#8221; the Constitutional Court defined them (in May 1993) as the &#8220;Sharia injunctions, which are peremptory in proof (of origin) and significance,&#8221; somewhat limiting the possibility of applying the myriads of interpretations and rulings that date back to the tenth century. The Court further clarified that the constitutional article was addressed to legislators (not to judges) and that it was not applicable retroactively on existing laws.</p>
<p>Family status is entirely based on Sharia and matters related to adoption, heritage or custody apply to non-Muslims as well. More important than impacting the legislation over three decades, Article 2 had a devastating effect on Egypt. It implicitly justified treating non-Muslims as second class citizens and set the foundation of the process of Islamization of the country. Both Mubarak&#8217;s regime and the Islamists, led by the Brotherhood, participated in a competition, whose terrain was the media, education and societal behavior, to be regarded as &#8220;more pious&#8221; than the other. It set the stage for the emergence of &#8220;religious parties,&#8221; calling for ever more Sharia-compliant measures. Appealing to raw religious passions and instincts of uneducated masses, they used &#8220;the ballot box&#8221; to democratically impose fascistic rule&#8211;just as happened with the Brotherhood during the past two years.</p>
<p>While Copts represent 12-15% of the country&#8217;s population, the percentage of elected parliamentarian Copts has not exceeded one percent in any assembly since 1952, and was nil in 1995. By comparison, their number was mostly around 8-10%, and seldom below 4%, in the preceding three decades.  Unwritten rules on marginalization/exclusion lead to the fact that Copts number less than 2% in the judiciary, diplomatic corps, military/police, university posts, media, etc. They are excluded from all &#8220;sensitive&#8221; departments/posts.  Only days ago, Major General Essmat Morad, director of the Military Academy, said that 32 Copts were admitted this year, among 2510 new students, representing a meager 1.3%&#8211; further proof of the deep-rooted discrimination against Copts in Egypt. Women (who attained suffrage in 1956) also remain seriously under-represented.</p>
<p>Something frequently lost on Western non-Muslims is that basing a constitution on Sharia law allows for government sanctioned discrimination against all religious minorities, including Muslim minorities, such as Shia Muslims. Copts, Shia Muslims, Jews, and Baha’i have all in various ways lived as second-class citizens in Egypt since the Constitution was based on (principles of) Sharia law.</p>
<p>Basing the constitution directly on &#8220;Sharia law&#8221; would further constitute a quantum leap, taking Egypt back by centuries, and bringing it closer societally to Afghanistan, Iran or Somalia. A whole plethora of existing problems would worsen based on such institutionalized inequality. Some examples of typical Sharia law injunctions:</p>
<p>i) The application of barbaric bodily punishments, such as stoning, amputation of limbs, crucifixion, or flagellation;</p>
<p>ii) A Muslim killer of a non-Muslim cannot get capital punishment;</p>
<p>iii) Non-Muslim&#8217;s court testimony cannot be accepted against a Muslim;</p>
<p>iv) Child marriage upon reaching puberty; and</p>
<p>v) Deployment of &#8220;Virtue and Vice Police&#8221;</p>
<p>Although Egypt has signed international treaties and documents such as the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights which guarantees full religious freedom under Article 18, the Egyptian Constitution was based in Sharia law. This means in practice that the government, abiding by Islamic law, would regularly deny religious freedom to minorities. The state only recognizes the 3 “Abrahamic” or “heavenly” religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Since religion is recorded on mandatory state ID cards, Baha’i and members of other faiths would have to leave their religious affiliation blank or select one of the faiths recognized by the State.  Non-recognition of other faiths obviously created a large hardship in matters of employment, education, marriage, wills, custody, and much more. Furthermore, conversion away from Islam was basically prohibited by the state. Those who tried to leave Islam were frequently arrested, harassed, or even tortured by police. When extremists, or families, beat and even killed apostates, the government would not intervene. At times, entire Coptic villages or neighborhoods have been attacked by Muslim mobs just for accusations of conversion or alleged romantic relationships between Muslim and Christians.</p>
<p>Additionally, Copts have received rare permits for repairing churches, let alone approval to build new ones. Building a church is subject to draconian rules and requires a presidential decree in each and every case. In the past six years, only four churches have been decreed. Despite increased attacks and demolition of over sixty churches, not a single one has so far been repaired, as previously promised by the army.</p>
<p>This is the background and lens through which Copts and all other religious minorities are viewing the current debate on Egypt’s new constitution. They have every reason to be concerned that freedoms, for which they demonstrated in the streets, will once again be lost through institutionalized discrimination.</p>
<p>What is worse, this key point of institutionalized inequality has barely featured in any major discussion by Western governments. The United States in particular should be aware of this problem. The US intervened in both Iraq and Afghanistan and was present through the drafting of both new constitutions; neither of which guaranteed full religious freedom because they are based in Sharia. The result has been a mass exodus of at least half of Iraq’s Christians and the closure of every church in Afghanistan. Unless Egypt’s new constitution treats all of its citizens equally, we will continue to see increased violence against Copts with impunity and an even larger exodus of Copts fleeing the country. The fate of other religious minorities will be equally dire.</p>
<p>One proposed solution has been to stipulate in the new constitution that legislation may not be contrary to “the <i>overall </i>principles of Sharia <i>and </i>human rights conventions and treaties.” Despite the fact that these two frames of values are often 180 degrees apart, their simultaneous reference in the constitution would provide some kind of &#8220;checks and balances.&#8221; Also, the notion of &#8220;overall&#8221; principles of Sharia would provide some room for more &#8220;progressive&#8221; interpretations. Supposedly this would protect religious minorities from the inequality of being ruled by the fuller extent of Sharia law.</p>
<p>There is also the possibility (even the likelihood) to maintain &#8220;Article 2&#8243; as is. While it may be grudgingly accepted by Salafists and would help the transitional Egyptian government maintain control, it will undermine the spirit and freedoms won in the revolution. Ultimately, minorities will still be second class citizens.</p>
<p>For these reasons, the constitutional committee must perform their duty in equally protecting all Egyptian citizens under the new constitution by not basing it in Sharia law or on the principles of Sharia.  This is a golden window of opportunity to realize the dreams of all Egyptians by creating a society that is more stable, empowers women to fully participate, and that flourishes economically.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Kerry&#8217;s Surprising Defiance of the White House on Egypt</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/robert-spencer/kerrys-surprising-defiance-of-white-house-on-egypt/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=kerrys-surprising-defiance-of-white-house-on-egypt</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Nov 2013 04:55:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert Spencer]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Election]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[John Kerry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=211114</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Why it is likely to be short-lived. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/22C7436A-F8C9-413D-8ABE-34453E6E8A2C_mw1024_n_s.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-211138" alt="22C7436A-F8C9-413D-8ABE-34453E6E8A2C_mw1024_n_s" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/22C7436A-F8C9-413D-8ABE-34453E6E8A2C_mw1024_n_s-450x302.jpg" width="315" height="211" /></a>Josh Rogin reported in the <a title="" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/18/exclusive-john-kerry-defies-the-white-house-on-egypt-policy.html" target="_blank">Daily Beast</a> Monday that there is a rift in Barack Obama’s foreign policy team over Egypt. “Before <a title="" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2013/11/03/kerry-arrives-in-egypt.html" target="_blank">Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent trip to Cairo</a>,” Rogin wrote, “National Security Adviser Susan Rice told him to make strong statements in public and private about the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsi. On his own, Kerry decided to disregard the White House’s instructions.”</p>
<p>John Kerry, defender of freedom? Rice certainly made it seem that way when she publicly contradicted Kerry’s statement that Egypt, having rid itself of the Muslim Brotherhood regime, was “on the path to democracy.” How one answers the question of whether Egypt has experienced a military coup or a popular uprising that has placed it on the path to democracy depends on one’s opinion of the Brotherhood and willingness to ignore the tens of millions of anti-Brotherhood protesters who took to the streets in uprisings that ultimately brought down the Morsi regime.</p>
<p>Kerry seems unwilling to ignore them, and at a November 3 press conference in Cairo, <a title="" href="http://translations.state.gov/st/english/texttrans/2013/11/20131103285682.html" target="_blank">said</a> in effect that post-Brotherhood Egypt was on the right track: “The roadmap [to democracy] is being carried out to the best of our perception. There are questions we have here and there about one thing or another, but Foreign Minister Fahmy has reemphasized to me again and again that they have every intent and they are determined to fulfill that particular decision and that track.”</p>
<p>An unnamed Obama official <a title="" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/18/exclusive-john-kerry-defies-the-white-house-on-egypt-policy.html" target="_blank">observed</a>: “John Kerry doesn’t agree with Susan Rice on big portions of our Egypt policy, and he made a deliberate and conscious decision not to mention Morsi in his Cairo meetings. Susan Rice wasn’t happy about it.”</p>
<p>Indeed not, for on November 13, Rice <a title="" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/18/exclusive-john-kerry-defies-the-white-house-on-egypt-policy.html" target="_blank">said</a> in a speech:</p>
<blockquote><p>We have tried to indicate to the Egyptian people and the Egyptian government that we support them in their transition back to an elected democratic government. But that government needs to be inclusive. It needs to be brought about through a process in which all Egyptians can participate, and without violence. So when, in August, in the process of trying to clear the protesters from some of the squares in Cairo, over 1,000 people were killed, the United States, I think quite rightly, said, you know, &#8220;We have a problem with that. And we can’t pretend to conduct business as usual on the context of a government, however friendly, taking that kind of action against its people.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Business as usual was indeed scuttled in early October, when the State Department <a title="" href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/state-department-us-suspending-hundreds-millions-military-and-other-aid-egypt" target="_blank">announced</a> that it was cutting hundreds of millions in military and other aid to Egypt, casting a large vote for the restoration of the Muslim Brotherhood to power and sending the Egyptian military regime into a new friendship with the Russians. Yet according to a person whom <a title="" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/18/exclusive-john-kerry-defies-the-white-house-on-egypt-policy.html" target="_blank">Rogin identifies</a> as a “Washington Egypt expert with close ties to the administration,” “We wouldn’t have had any aid suspension at all if it had been up to John Kerry and Chuck Hagel.”</p>
<p>Obama has not publicly rebuked Kerry, but it is clear where his sympathies lie. He has supported the Brotherhood from the earliest days of the “Arab Spring.” On January 31, 2011, when the Mubarak regime was on the verge of falling in the Arab Spring uprising, a former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Frank Wisner, met <a title="" href="http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=258405" target="_blank">secretly</a> in Cairo with Issam El-Erian, a senior Brotherhood leader. That meeting came a week after a Mubarak government official announced the regime’s suspicions that Brotherhood and other opposition leaders were coordinating the Egyptian uprising with the Obama State Department.</p>
<p>Then <a title="" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/30/us-usa-egypt-brotherhood-idUSTRE75T0GD20110630" target="_blank">in June 2011</a>, the Administration announced that it was going to establish formal ties with the Brotherhood. The U.S.’s special coordinator for transitions in the Middle East, William Taylor, <a title="" href="http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/US-would-be-satisfied-with-Brotherhood-win-in-Egypt" target="_blank">announced</a> in November 2011 that the U.S. would be “satisfied” with a Muslim Brotherhood victory in the Egyptian elections. <a title="" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/us-davos-usa-egypt-idUSTRE80O24G20120125" target="_blank">In January 2012</a>, Obama announced that he was speeding up the delivery of aid to Egypt, just as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns <a title="" href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-official-meets-egypts-islamists-171212768.html" target="_blank">held talks</a> with Brotherhood leaders – a move apparently calculated to demoralize the Brotherhood’s opposition in the Egyptian elections.</p>
<p>Kerry’s predecessor as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, hurried to Cairo to meet with the new Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi <a title="" href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765589901/Hillary-Clinton-meets-Egypts-new-Islamist-president-Mohammed-Morsi.html" target="_blank">in July 2012</a>, as anti-Brotherhood protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy complex there. The Obama administration’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt had been so glaringly obvious that foes of the Brotherhood regime pelted her motorcade with tomatoes and shoes for delivering that country up to the rule of the Brotherhood. Protestors held signs reading “Message to Hillary: Egypt will never be Pakistan”; “To Hillary: Hamas will never rule Egypt” and “If you like the Ikhwan [Brotherhood], take them with you!”</p>
<p>Likewise, when millions of Egyptians took to the streets last summer to protest against the Brotherhood regime and it was suddenly and unexpectedly toppled from power, numerous anti-Brotherhood protesters held signs accusing Obama of supporting terrorists. One foe of the Brotherhood made a music video <a title="" href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/05/hey-obama-you-are-stupid-bad-man-viral-egyptian-music-video-accuses-obama-of-supporting-terrorism-muslim-brotherhood/" target="_blank">including the lyrics</a>: “Hey Obama, support the terrorism/Traitor like the Brotherhood members/Obama say it’s a coup/That’s not your business dirty man.” A protestor in Tahrir Square held up a sign <a title="" href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/01/sign-in-tahrir-square-obama-you-jerk-muslim-brotherhoods-are-killing-the-egyptians.html" target="_blank">saying</a>, “Obama you jerk, Muslim Brotherhoods are killing the Egyptians.” Signs like that one became commonplace at anti-Morsi protests; another read, “Hey Obama, your bitch is our dictator.”</p>
<p>Yet despite the abundant evidence that the removal of the Brotherhood regime was the result of a popular uprising against an oppressive regime, Obama has remained chilly toward the military regime. So will John Kerry be replaced as Secretary of State? Or at least told privately to support the Brotherhood more energetically, and do what Susan Rice tells him in that regard? In such an event, Kerry, a canny and ambitious political animal, will doubtless fall into line, and not repeat his mistake. But for one moment, in any case, he was the unlikeliest advocate for the free people of Egypt.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p><em>Don&#8217;t miss <strong>Jamie Glazov&#8217;s</strong> video interview with <strong>Walid Shoebat</strong> about the Muslim Brotherhood&#8217;s infiltration of the Obama administration: </em></p>
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		<title>Obama Accused of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ at International Criminal Court</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/obama-accused-of-crimes-against-humanity-at-international-criminal-court/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=obama-accused-of-crimes-against-humanity-at-international-criminal-court</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Nov 2013 04:55:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accessory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=209993</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An accessory to the Brotherhood?]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/deal.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-209998" alt="deal" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/deal.jpg" width="280" height="172" /></a>According to Egyptian newspaper <a href="http://www.elwatannews.com/news/details/273605"><i>El Watan</i></a>, a group of Egyptian lawyers has submitted a complaint charging U.S. president Barrack Hussein Obama with crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.</p>
<p>The complaint charges Obama of being an accessory to the Muslim Brotherhood, which incited widespread violence in Egypt both before and after the June 30 Revolution.</p>
<p>Along with Obama, the complaint reproduced by El Watan mentions several Brotherhood members by name, beginning with the leader of the organization Muhammad Badie, and other top ranking leaders such as Mohamed al-Beltagy, Essam al-Erian, and Safwat Hegazi, adding that “Obama cooperated, incited, and assisted the armed elements of the Muslim Brotherhood in the commission of crimes against humanity in the period from 3/7/2013-8/18/2013, in the Arab Republic of Egypt.”</p>
<p>According to the published text, the complaint begins by quoting Article 7/1 of the <a href="http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/ADD16852-AEE9-4757-ABE7-9CDC7CF02886/283503/RomeStatutEng1.pdf">Statute of the International Criminal Court</a>, titled “Crimes against humanity,” which is reproduced below:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><b>Article 7</b></p>
<p><i>Crimes against humanity</i></p>
<p>1. For the purpose of this Statute, &#8220;crime against humanity&#8221; means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:</p>
<p>(a) Murder;</p>
<p>(b) Extermination;</p>
<p>(c) Enslavement;</p>
<p>(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;</p>
<p>(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;</p>
<p>(f) Torture;</p>
<p>(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced</p>
<p>sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;</p>
<p>(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial,</p>
<p>national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other</p>
<p>grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international</p>
<p>law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime</p>
<p>within the jurisdiction of the Court;</p>
<p>(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;</p>
<p>(j) The crime of apartheid;</p>
<p>(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.</p>
<p>Next, the complaint shows how Muslim Brotherhood leadership violated some of the above definitions, for example, by torturing, mutilating, raping, and killing Egyptians in their “sit in” camps (first reported <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/inside-egypts-terrorist-camps-torture-rape-mass-murder/">here</a>), with a highlight on the role the Brotherhood played in inciting violence and the killing of peaceful protesters around Itthadiya Palace back in December.</p>
<p>Above and beyond the accusations of crimes against humanity that the lawyer-drafted complaint cited by El Watan levels against the Brotherhood, one need only look to the fate of Egypt’s Christian minority, who were especially targeted by the Muslim Brotherhood—and thus, by extension, their supporter, Obama—to see numerous examples of nearly every aforementioned definition of crimes against humanity, as follows:</p>
<p><b>Religious Persecution and Apartheid (see h and j)</b></p>
<p>Right after Morsi was ousted, the Muslim Brotherhood, including its supreme leader, Muhammad Badie, and its spiritual leader, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, as well as several of the other Brotherhood members mentioned in the complaint, publicly scapegoated the Christian minority for daring to support the popular June 30 Revolution (that is, for acting like equal citizens as opposed to cowed <i>dhimmis</i> as required by Islamic law).  The aftermath of the atrocities committed against the Copts are well known (to those who do not exclusively rely on the so-called mainstream media), and include the torching, destroying, and plundering of at some <a href="http://www.aina.org/news/20130818125428.htm">85 churches, some of which were ancient</a>.  Islam’s back flag was raised above some churches; <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/egypt-church-vandal-caught-in-the-act/">anti-Christian</a> <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/anti-christian-islamic-graffiti-vandalizes-egypt/">graffiti littered</a> the sides of other churches and Coptic homes.</p>
<p><b>Murder and Extermination (see a and b)</b></p>
<p>Among many others to be murdered in response to Brotherhood-incitement against the Copts, a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23662698">ten-year-old girl was shot and killed while walking back from Bible class</a>.  In the Sinai, a young <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/muslim-brotherhood-out-killing-christians-in/">Coptic priest was shot dead</a> in front of his church, while the body of another Copt was found mutilated and beheaded.  Four other Christians were slaughtered by Muslims in Luxor province.  Most recently, a church wedding was attacked, leaving, among others, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/murdered-christian-children-the-price-of-obamas-pro-brotherhood-jihad/">two girls, aged eight and twelve, dead and riddled with bullets</a>.</p>
<p>As for “extermination,” the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters have long been <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/egypt-christians-being-threatened-not-to-join-protests/">threatening the Copts</a> with annihilation if they ever opposed them.  Back in December 2012, Safwat Hegazi (a leading Brotherhood member named in the complaint, publicly declared during a Brotherhood rally:</p>
<blockquote><p>A message to the church of Egypt, from an Egyptian Muslim: I tell the church—by Allah, and again, by Allah—if you conspire and unite with the remnants [opposition] to bring Morsi down, that will be another matter [screams of "Allah Akbar!" followed by chants of "With our soul, with our blood, we give to you, O Islam!"]… [T]here are red lines—and our red line is the legitimacy of Dr. Muhammad Morsi. Whoever splashes water on it, we will splash blood on him” [followed by more wild shouts of "Allah Akbar!"]</p></blockquote>
<p>Around the same time, and more to the point, Dr. Wagdi Ghoneim—another vocal Brotherhood agitator who earlier <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/islamic-hate-for-a-dead-pope/">praised Allah for the death of the late Coptic Pope Shenouda</a>, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11699/islamic-hate-for-a-dead-pope">cursing him to hell and damnation</a> in a video he posted on YouTube—made another video telling Egypt’s Christians:</p>
<blockquote><p>You are playing with fire in Egypt, I swear, the first people to be burned by the fire are you [Copts].” … The day Egyptians—and I don’t even mean the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafis, regular Egyptians—feel that you are against them, you will be wiped off the face of the earth. I’m warning you now: do not play with fire!… What do you think—that America will protect you? Let’s be very clear, America will not protect you. If so, it would have protected the Christians of Iraq when they were being butchered!</p></blockquote>
<p>Ghoneim’s words have proven prophetic—an indicator that this Egyptian hatemongering sheikh, who was expelled under Hosni Mubarak, knows the conduct of America’s leadership better than most Americans.  Along with Iraq’s and Egypt’s Christians, he could have mentioned the Christians of Syria as well, who are being decimated thanks to Obama’s support for al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists, AKA, “freedom fighters.”</p>
<p><b>Deportation, Extortion, Kidnapping, and General Abuse of Copts (see c, d, e, f, g, and i)</b></p>
<p>Since the Muslim Brotherhood publicly denounced the Copts, entire towns and villages have been emptied of Christians—for example, more than 100 Christian families from El Arish. After mentioning the mass destruction of churches during <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=FsmJhedB5Zo">a recent conference</a>, and speaking of a different incident, Dr. Sherif Doss, an Egyptian activist, said, “But worst of all, about 140 families were evicted from their own homes; and worse still is that, not only were they thrown out of their houses, but their shops and properties were robbed and destroyed… General Sisi has promised to rebuild the churches and this takes time to be done. But we can’t wait all that time for those people destitute and in the streets, with no place to live and nowhere to work…. These people are in a very bad condition. If you go and see these villages, you will be amazed—it is as if a nuclear bomb exploded there. People burned and plundered their homes without mercy.”</p>
<p>Similarly, Muslim Brotherhood supporters are extorting Copts, rationalized in the context of <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/brotherhood-imposes-jizya-tribute-on-egypts-christians/">making them pay jizya</a>—the money, or tribute, that conquered non-Muslims historically had to pay to their Islamic overlords “with willing submission and while feeling themselves subdued” to safeguard their existence, as indicated in Koran 9:29.  For instance, the roughly 15,000 Christian Copts of Dalga village in south Minya province were recently forced to pay <em>jizya.</em>  In some cases, those not able to pay were attacked, their wives and children beaten and/or kidnapped.  As a result, some 40 Christian families had fled Dalga, joining the <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/the-mass-exodus-of-christians-from-the-muslim-world/http:/www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/the-mass-exodus-of-christians-from-the-muslim-world/">ever growing list of displaced Christians in the Middle East</a>.</p>
<p>Days before the June 30 Revolution, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/egypt-christians-being-threatened-not-to-join-protests/http:/almogaz.com/news/politics/2013/06/29/982481">letters addressed to the Copts threatened them not to join the protests</a> against Morsi, otherwise their “businesses, cars, homes, schools, and churches” might “catch fire”—which of course they all did. The message concluded by saying “If you are not worried about any of these, then worry about your children and your homes.”</p>
<p>Such threats, as mentioned, were hardly limited to anonymous letters.  During a TV interview, Sheikh Essam Abdulamek, a then member of parliament’s Shura Council, warned Egypt’s Christians against participating in the June 30 Revolution against Morsi, threatening them by saying “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=4fRFiXYB9Y0">Do not sacrifice your children</a>” since “general Muslim opinion will not be silent about the ousting of the president [Morsi].”</p>
<p>And the children of Copts have certainly been targeted—both during and after Morsi’s tenure.  Some, especially young girls, are regularly abducted, raped, and shamed into converting to Islam and “marrying” their rapists. Coptic boys have increasingly been abducted from the doorsteps of their churches and held for ransom. Recently, a 6-year-old Christian boy was murdered by his kidnapper—<em>after</em> the boy’s family paid the ransom.  (Read more about the <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/jihad-on-egypts-christian-children/http:/www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/jihad-on-egypts-christian-children/">jihad on Egypt’s Christian children</a>.)</p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p>In short, by simply focusing on the plight of Egypt’s Christians, almost every criterion found under the category of “crimes against humanity”—including murder, extermination, deportation, torture, rape, disappearance, apartheid and religious persecution—are met.</p>
<p>Only one is necessary for the charge to stick.</p>
<p>As for the Obama administration’s support for the Brotherhood, if most Americans are clueless or indifferent about it, average Egyptians have long known and resented it—hence the many large placards and signs held during the June 30 Revolution calling on Obama to stop supporting terrorism and calling on Americans to wake up.</p>
<p>One need only follow the words and deeds of <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/u-s-ambassador-to-egypt-muslim-brotherhoods-lackey/">Anne Patterson</a>, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/john-mccain-proves-u-s-leadership-allied-to-muslim-brotherhood/">John McCain, Lindsay Graham</a>, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/did-the-muslim-brotherhood-really-win-egypts-presidency/">Hillary Clinton</a>, et. al. to know that the U.S president is a firm supporter of the crimes-against-humanity-committing Muslim Brotherhood.</p>
<p>Of course, whatever the merits of El Watan’s report—here is another <a href="http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/58297">English-language article</a> talking about apparently a different complaint of crimes against humanity leveled against Obama by Coptic activists—all these complaints seem futile, as the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court.</p>
<p>However, all technicalities aside, the facts are clear: by any definition, the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters have committed numerous crimes against humanity in Egypt, especially in the context of the Christian Copts; and by its ongoing support for the Brotherhood, the Obama administration <i>is</i> complicit.   Remember this next time the Obama administration cites concerns about “human rights” violations as reason to involve the U.S. in war—as it <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/other-matters/u-s-hypocrisy-for-syrian-human-rights/">recently tried to do in Syria</a>, again, to support more Islamic terrorists who are committing even worse crimes against humanity.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p><em>Don&#8217;t miss Jamie Glazov&#8217;s video interview with Walid Shoebat about &#8220;Obama&#8217;s Disturbing  Brotherhood Ties&#8221;:</em></p>
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<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>.   </b></p>
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		<title>Exposed: Muslim Brotherhood Operatives in the U.S.</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Nov 2013 04:54:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infiltration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=209249</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A new list reveals the vast network of Islamist influence groups in America. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Muslim-Brotherhood-Egypt.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-209288" alt="Muslim-Brotherhood-Egypt" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Muslim-Brotherhood-Egypt-450x344.jpg" width="270" height="206" /></a>El Watan</i>, one of Egypt’s most widely circulated and read newspapers, published a report discussing the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence over the United States, especially in the context of inciting pro-Brotherhood policies against Egypt’s popular June 30 Revolution, which resulted in the ousting of Muhammad Morsi and the Brotherhood from power.</span></b></p>
<p>Titled (in translation), “With Names, Identities, and Roadmap…  <i>El Watan</i> Exposes Brotherhood Cells in America,” it’s written by investigative journalist Ahmed al-Tahiri, who begins the report by saying:</p>
<blockquote><p>In the context of <i>El Watan’s</i> ongoing investigation concerning the Brotherhood’s cells and lobby inside America that support the regime of the ousted [Morsi], and which intensified their activities to attack and defame the June 30 Revolution, informed sources have disclosed to <i>El Watan</i> newspaper the names and cell entities of the Brotherhood and their roadmap of activities all throughout the United States of America.</p>
<p>The sources said that these organizations, which are spread throughout the States, agitated for and were supportive of the decisions taken by Muhammad Morsi’s project to “<a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/exposed-president-morsis-brotherhoodization-plan-for-egypt/">Brotherhoodize</a>” and consolidate power [in Egypt] and gave a favorable opinion to the general American public that Morsi’s decisions were welcomed by the public [in Egypt]. Following the June 30 Revolution, these groups launched a malicious war in order to incite the American administration to take hostile decisions against Egypt, with the aim of bringing back the Brotherhood to the power.</p></blockquote>
<p><i>El Watan</i> then goes on to name names, saying that the following activists and entities are Brotherhood operatives working within the United States (reproduced verbatim):</p>
<p>• Union of Egyptian Imams in North America, represented by Sheikh Muhammad al-Bani</p>
<p>• The Egyptian American Foundation for Development</p>
<p>• Dr. Khalid Lamada, New York</p>
<p>• Dr. Hassan al-Sayah, Virginia</p>
<p>• The Egyptian Network in America, led by Dr. Muhammad Helmi</p>
<p>• Dr. Akram al-Zand, Sa’ad Foundation</p>
<p>• Muhammad al-Khashab, Head of ART channels in America</p>
<p>• Sameh al-Henawi, member, Business Association of America</p>
<p>• Dr. Hany Saqr, member, Egyptian Association in America</p>
<p>• Dr. Khalid Hassan, Maryland</p>
<p>• Dr. Muhammad Abdel Hakem, Seattle</p>
<p>• Dr. Ahmed Ismat al-Bendari, President, Islamic Society of America</p>
<p>• Walid Yusari, Chicago</p>
<p>• Ahmed Shadid, New Jersey</p>
<p>• Ahmed al-Hatab, Indiana</p>
<p>• Dr. Muhammad Morjan, Boston</p>
<p>• Ramadan Ridwan, Houston</p>
<p>• Ahmed Fayez, Las Vegas</p>
<p>• Dr. Amru Abbas, member, Egyptian Foundation in Michigan</p>
<p>• Dr. Safi al-Din Hamed, Pennsylvania</p>
<p>• Dr. Hamdy Radwan, North Carolina</p>
<p>• Ahmed Shehata, Director, Egyptian American Organization for Democracy and Human Rights</p>
<p>• Dr. Iman Shehata, New York</p>
<p>• Dr. Muhammad Amru Attawiya, member, Organization of Islamic Relief in the United States</p>
<p>• Dr. Khalid al-Sayes, member, Rebuilding of Egypt Foundation</p>
<p>• Dr. Tariq Hussein, member, American Islamic Relations Council (CAIR)</p>
<p>• Dr Hisham al-Gayar, member, Egyptian Foundation, Michigan</p>
<p>• Amin Mahmoud, Maryland</p>
<p>As a most recent example, <i>El Watan</i> quotes from an American op-ed published on October 16 (just two days before the publication of the <i>El Watan</i> report itself).  Titled “<a href="http://thehill.com.nyud.net:8080/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/328631-egypt-100-days-later">Egypt: 100 days later</a>” and written by Ahmed Shehata of the Egyptian American Organization for Democracy and Human Rights, the piece appeared in <i>The Hill</i>, the Capitol’s most widely circulated newspaper, published specifically for Congress.</p>
<p>The op-ed is certainly a prime example of pro-Muslim Brotherhood propaganda that actually tries to “shame” U.S. policymakers into returning the Brotherhood back to power in the name of “democracy.”</p>
<p>Key excerpts follow:</p>
<blockquote><p>While the U.S. must consider its own interests in the region, it is baffling and disheartening to think the current administration would choose to discount the suffering that continues to occur on a daily basis as well as the complete violation of democratic principles which it espouses to the rest of the world….  As this past week marked 100 days since the coup and the lives of the Egyptian people continue to be sacrificed, the United States cannot be silent any longer for the sake of their own interests and convenience….  To that end, Egypt represents a golden opportunity for the U.S. to uphold democratic values by pushing for the reinstatement of the democratically elected government, despite their shortcomings. This would aid tremendously in showing the world that, above any one particular physical interest, stands the mantle of freedom and the rule of law.</p></blockquote>
<p>Anyone familiar with the real happenings of Egypt knows that Shehata’s assertions are complete opposites of the truth: the military ousted the Brotherhood in response to the will of millions of Egyptians—the people, the <i>demos</i>, as in<i> demo</i>cracy—who took to the streets protesting against the totalitarian Morsi government.  Moreover, it is the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters who have been committing numerous human rights atrocities—including the <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/murdered-christian-children-the-price-of-obamas-pro-brotherhood-jihad/">slaughter and persecution of Christians</a>, the <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/inside-egypts-terrorist-camps-torture-rape-mass-murder/">torture and murder of many Egyptians</a> (including <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/brotherhood-torture-chambers-finally-exposed/">before the revolution</a>), and the destruction and torching of some 85 Christian churches.</p>
<p>Shehata seems to think that, if the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters terrorize, murder, destroy, persecute, and betray their nation—which is precisely why tens of millions of average Egyptians rose up against them (though you might not know that following <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/exposed-al-jazeera-airs-fake-brotherhood-injuries-and-deaths/">Al Jazeera-led Western media</a> that distorted the popularity of the revolution)—as long as they won “elections” (<a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/did-the-muslim-brotherhood-really-win-egypts-presidency/">which from the start many authorities insisted they didn’t</a>), then that is all that matters; and, if need be, the U.S. must war with Egypt’s military and people on behalf of the ousted terrorists—all in the name of “democracy” and “human rights,” as Shehata’s U.S.-based Brotherhood front is laughably called.</p>
<p>That such a shameless piece of Muslim Brotherhood propaganda can be published in the most influential and widely read Capitol Hill publication certainly goes a long way in validating <i>El Watan’s</i> claims that the Brotherhood has its tentacles all around the United States’ points of influence.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t miss <strong>Jamie Glazov&#8217;s</strong> video interview with <strong>Walid Shoebat</strong><em> about the Muslim Brotherhood&#8217;s infiltration of the Obama administration: </em></p>
<p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ihfr-yx5aB4" height="315" width="420" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>The Morsi-Zawahiri Connection</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/the-morsi-zawahiri-connection/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-morsi-zawahiri-connection</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Oct 2013 04:51:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[al Qaeda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Shocking claims from a former jihadist group leader. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_208593" style="width: 270px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/rg7nptun.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-208593" alt="rg7nptun" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/rg7nptun.jpg" width="260" height="200" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Nabil Na’im</p></div>
<p>More people, and from the least expected places, are stepping up to confirm that the now ousted Brotherhood-government of Morsi in Egypt was closely working with al-Qaeda and other jihadi/terrorist organizations in the Sinai — and all with U.S. support.</p>
<p>Nabil Na’im, the former leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group (where Ayman Zawahiri was before merging with al-Qaeda), recently made such <a href="http://dostor.org/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9/299535-%D9%86%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%84%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%89-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B8%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D9%89">scandalous allegations</a>, especially concerning the relationship between the United States government and the Muslim Brotherhood during a televised broadcast of On TV.</p>
<p>Among other things, he asserted that Egyptian “reconciliation with the Muslim Brotherhood is nothing but a conspiracy by the American administration,” and that the Brotherhood, when in power, had betrayed Egyptian sovereignty, adding that ousted president Morsi granted Egyptian citizenship to more than 60,000 Palestinians.</p>
<p>Concerning the former Brotherhood government’s relationship with al-Qaeda and Hamas, Na’im said that Egyptian security possesses phone recordings that took place between Morsi and Ayman Zawahiri, the Egyptian leader of al-Qaeda.</p>
<p>Indeed, there appears to be <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/new-evidence-ties-ousted-morsi-government-to-al-qaeda/">a long paper trail between Morsi and al-Qaeda</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, the ex-jihadi confirmed that “Hamas is the head of the snake in the Sinai,” and that the Brotherhood is a close collaborator with the jihadis and terrorists in Sinai.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>Understanding Egypt&#8217;s Second Revolution</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/andrew-harrod/understanding-egypts-second-revolution/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=understanding-egypts-second-revolution</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Oct 2013 04:13:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Harrod]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[islamist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Revolution]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Where the U.S. went wrong. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/anti-morsi.si_.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-206248" alt="anti-morsi.si" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/anti-morsi.si_-437x350.jpg" width="306" height="245" /></a>The Egyptian military’s recent removal from office of Egyptian President <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18371427">Mohammad Morsi</a> “was not a coup,” judged the former United States Air Force lieutenant colonel and Middle East expert <a href="http://www.francona.com/index.html">Rick Francona</a>, but rather the “people rising up.”  Francona spoke at Washington, DC’s <a href="http://press.org/">National Press Club</a> during an October 1, 2013, panel featuring national security experts who had just completed a three-day visit on behalf of the <a href="http://www.westminster-institute.org/">Westminster Institute</a>.  The panel expressed dismay that the United States was not properly responding to developments in country described by Westminster Institute executive director <a href="http://www.westminster-institute.org/about/">Katherine Gorka</a> as “pivotal” to American interests in the region.</span></b></p>
<p>Retired United States Army Major General <a href="http://www.standupamericaus.org/about-sua/general-vallely/">Paul E. Vallely</a> referenced a popular Egyptian understanding of Morsi’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12313405">Muslim Brotherhood</a> (MB) government’s fall as a “second revolution” following the “first revolution” ousting Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak.  Katherine’s husband, counterinsurgency expert <a href="http://www.defenddemocracy.org/about-fdd/team-overview/sebastian-gorka/">Sebastian Gorka</a>, noted that a petition presented to Morsi calling for early elections had gathered <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23131953">22 million signatures</a>.  Subsequently an <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/07/egypt-protest-photos-night/66762/">estimated 33 million</a> had taken to the streets to call for Morsi’s removal in early July 2013 in a <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html">country of 85 million</a>.</p>
<p>Vallely’s army colleague, the former colonel and military commentator <a href="http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/authors/detail/colonel-kenneth-allard-us-army-ret">Ken Allard</a>, discussed a popular Egyptian perception of MB as “terrorists” given their treatment of women and minorities.  Francona in particular cited anti-Christian violence by MB supporters that destroyed <a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3992/egypt-christians-ethnic-cleansing">1,000 Christian homes</a> after Morsi fell.  Allard likewise discussed the delegation’s meeting with the Coptic Church’s <a href="http://copticchurch.net/topics/pope/pope_tawadros_ii.html">Pope Tawadros II</a>, a man “who watched his churches burn.” Many Egyptians additionally felt that the MB in power merely “governed for themselves,” Sebastian Gorka related.</p>
<p>As a result, the Egyptian military commander General <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19256730">Abdul Fattah al-Sisi</a> spoke of a “civil war” absent Morsi’s removal in a meeting with Gorka and the other panelists.  This was particularly true given that there was “no impeachment vehicle” in the old Egyptian constitution, as Vallely noted, a provision now contemplated for a <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/357010/egypts-new-draft-constitution-some-steps-forward-many-flaws-nina-shea">new constitution</a>.  The “Egyptians are more united in” supporting the military’s actions “than we might think,” Francona judged.  Everyone with whom the delegation spoke similarly surprised Sebastian Gorka because they “sounded like they were coordinating their message” but were not.</p>
<p>In contrast to MB, the Egyptian people had a “level of trust” in their military, Allard observed, because conscription meant that the military “in Egypt…is us.”  Given what Vallely described as a “great relationship” between the Egyptian and American militaries, Allard also noted that Egyptian military leaders had learned to respect civilian authority from American training.  Egyptian military leaders, Francona noted, for example, argued that the Egyptian military does not have a history of attacking the populace. Rather, after the military intervention against MB the “people felt comfortable going out into the streets.” El-Sisi’s personal qualities, meanwhile, struck Sebastian Gorka as “really sterling stuff” and he wished “to have some generals in the US military” like El-Sisi.</p>
<p>The Obama Administration’s unwillingness to support the popularly-backed Egyptian military has the majority of Egyptians “very upset with the United States,” according to Vallely.  Egyptians were “incredulous” towards current American policy in the Middle East, according to Francona, and asked Americans “why are you doing this to us now,” in Sebastian Gorka’s words.  “Friends do not treat friends this way,” Allard quoted Egyptian military leaders as saying, who wondered along with other Egyptians why the United States would not oppose MB.  In this respect of American support for MB, Ambassador Anne Patterson “was a hot topic” in Egypt, Vallely observed.  Yet to such Egyptian criticism of American support for MB, Francona retorted, “Why did you elect them?”</p>
<p>Egyptians complained about Americans who “push everything in our eyes” on to others with respect to democratic development, Vallely added.  Yet the message reported from Egypt by Sebastian Gorka was “don’t judge us by your criteria” when evaluating the Egyptian military’s action.  After all, America’s own democratic development was a long process involving events such as a civil war.</p>
<p>Speculating about the motives behind current American Egypt policy, Allard wondered it resulted “by agenda or by design” or was just “totally inept.”  Sebastian Gorka in particular could not believe one American government analyst’s view that MB “will save us from Al Qaeda,” even though the two groups merely differ in tactics, not strategic goals. For Allard, a media that had transformed from a “watch dog” to a “lap dog” aggravated poor policy formation.  In this vein Sebastian Gorka noted one incident in which media coverage showed violence in a public square while a man living there filmed it at peace with his smartphone.  With respect to public relations, though, Francona critiqued that the Egyptian military was “not doing a good job selling” its position.</p>
<p>Yet the panel agreed that Egypt, beset by multiple problems, needed all the help it could get.  Allard noted that banks refused to exchange his Egyptian money after leaving Egypt because economic conditions there made an exchange rate impossible to determine. Sebastian Gorka as well observed “absolutely empty” hotels in Egypt, a sign of how that country’s critically important tourist industry was suffering, in part due to travel advisories from various governments.</p>
<p>“What came up more than anything was Libya,” Vallely remembered from the trip.  Egypt’s border here was “highly exposed,” raising concerns expressed by the investigative reporter <a href="http://www.kentimmerman.com/">Ken Timmerman</a> in the audience that Libya could become a “staging ground” for weapons and terrorists.  Vallely as well analogized the Sinai to southern Lebanon as a terrorist base and MB tactics of winning popular support with aid efforts to similar Hezbollah tactics in Lebanon. In contrast, “Israel is the least of their worries,” was how Francona assessed Egyptian threat perception.</p>
<p>The lack of American support had serious consequences in this situation.  Without American logistical support, for example, the Egyptians could not use their AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to monitor the Libyan border.  Egyptian military leaders had also noted that Apaches would enable “precision attacks” on “bad guys,” Sebastian Gorka said.  The lack of American logistical support also meant that Egypt could not operate its recently delivered F-16 fighters, while older American-made F-4 Phantom fighters were no longer operational due to unavailable spare parts.  Thus the Egyptian military had to resort to using Egypt’s stock of Soviet-built MiG-21 fighters, a measure that presented the possibility of Russia renewing its influence in Egypt with logistical support for this weaponry.</p>
<p>Loss of American influence in Egypt was no trivial matter, for this country is the “center of gravity” for the region, Sebastian Gorka reminded.  Despite the global attention given to recent events, “Syria is practically irrelevant compared to Egypt,” he noted, citing Egypt’s population and the presence of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_University">Al Azhar University</a> in Cairo, Sunni Islam’s leading theological center.  Allard worried about the United States being “in danger of losing a strategic ally” in both the “East-West” dimension with respect to Israel as well as the “North-South” dimension with respect to the Nile.  Vallely as well noted the importance of the Suez Canal that Egyptian officials vowed to protect.</p>
<p>Sebastian Gorka also recalled Egypt’s role as the birthplace of the MB, an organization that works “hand in glove with Al Qaeda.”  The West, meanwhile, is “losing Turkey” as a country which Islamist forces have “taken back in time” to before the legacy of Ataturk.  Thus Sebastian Gorka advocated international efforts should to counteract this development by making Egypt a “modern Muslim state.”  “We will be safer,” he said, if Egypt rejects MB.</p>
<p>Perhaps Francona best summarized the panel’s theme.  Egyptians know the importance of Egypt, he said, but “they wonder if we know.”</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>A Christian Pogrom in Egypt</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/a-christian-pogrom-in-egypt/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-christian-pogrom-in-egypt</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Sep 2013 04:22:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[attack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christians]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The unprecedented purge following Morsi's ouster is only the tip of the iceberg. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/churchInteriorBurntChurchWide_0.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-204838" alt="churchInteriorBurntChurchWide_0" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/churchInteriorBurntChurchWide_0.jpg" width="280" height="193" /></a>Originally published by the <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3977/egypt-nigeria-attacks-christians">Gatestone Institute</a>.</em></p>
<p>On July 4<sup>th</sup>, the day after the Egyptian military liberated the nation of Muslim Brotherhood rule, Christian Copts were immediately scapegoated and targeted.  All Islamist leaders—from Brotherhood supreme leader Muhammad Badi, to Egyptian-born al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri, to top Sunni cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi—made it a point to single out Egypt’s Copts as being especially instrumental in the ousting of former Islamist president Morsi, ushering in a month of pogroms against the nation’s Christian minority.</p>
<p>Among other things in July, unprecedented numbers of Christian churches were attacked, plundered, desecrated, and torched.  According to one Egyptian human rights lawyer, &#8220;<a href="http://www.aina.org/news/20130818125428.htm">82 churches, many of which were from the 5th century</a>, were attacked by pro-Morsi supporters in just two days.&#8221; Al-Qaeda’s flag was raised above some churches; <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/egypt-church-vandal-caught-in-the-act/">anti-Christian</a> <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/anti-christian-islamic-graffiti-vandalizes-egypt/">graffiti littered</a> the sides of other churches and Coptic homes.  Due to extreme anti-Christian sentiment, many churches ceased holding worship services until recently.  Dozens of Coptic homes and businesses were also attacked, looted, and torched.</p>
<p>In the Sinai, a young <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/muslim-brotherhood-out-killing-christians-in/">Coptic priest was shot dead</a> in front of his church, while the body of Magdy Lam‘i Habib, a Copt, was found mutilated and beheaded.  Four other Christians were slaughtered by Muslims in Luxor province.  Whole towns and villages have been emptied of Copts, including more than 100 Christian families from El Arish in the terror-infested Sinai.</p>
<p>Due to the many death threats to Coptic Pope Tawadros II, for a time he left the papal residence at St. Mark Cathedral—which was earlier <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/scandal-morsi-government-permits-savage-attack-on-st-mark-cathedral/">savagely attacked</a>, when Morsi was still president—and temporarily ceased holding services.</p>
<p>The rest of July’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and country in alphabetical order, not according to severity:</p>
<p><b>Attacks on Christian Worship: Churches and Monasteries</b></p>
<p><b>Guinea</b>:  During a mob-led frenzy, Christians and their churches were <a href="http://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2013/07/2629362/">savagely attacked</a> in the Muslim-majority nation, with some 95 Christians slain and 130 wounded.  In Nzérékoré, five churches as well as the homes of pastors were attacked by Muslim mobs. One priest recounted the violence:  “The two Catholic and Protestant churches have all been ransacked and burned… Almost all the houses and shops belonging to Christians or people affiliated with Christians, have not escaped the fury of the attackers.” Similarly, the Catholic area, including the quarters of the nuns, was looted before being torched.  In Moribadou, the violence lasted three days and saw some 10 churches destroyed.</p>
<p><b>Indonesia</b>:  According to the Annual Report published by IndonesianChristian.org, a Protestant organization monitoring the nation’s Christian community, the pressures against Christian communities in Aceh &#8220;have become intolerable. Within a year, with non-existent legal pretexts, <a href="http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Aceh,-increasing-intolerance-against-Christians:-17-house-churches-closed-28502.html">17 house churches have been closed</a>: these also include Catholic chapels. The Islamization of the province continues, just as promised by the governor Abdullah.” The forced closure of places of worship and threats against Protestant congregations, says the text, &#8220;increase unabated… The behavior of local authorities is a potential threat to the tolerant atmosphere we see deteriorating over time.&#8221;  Behind this upsurge is the aforementioned current governor of Aceh, Zaini Abdullah, who earlier spent years in exile in Sweden for his Islamist and separatist activities. During his election campaign, the Islamic politician frequently said that &#8220;he would not hesitate to apply the Koranic laws in the province.&#8221; Months after his victory and his words have become reality.</p>
<p><b>Nigeria</b>: Members or supporters of the Islamic organization Boko Haram set off <a href="http://morningstarnews.org/2013/07/churches-bombed-in-kano-nigeria-killing-45-people-christian-leaders-say/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MorningStarNews+%28Morning+Star+News%29">four bombs planted near three Protestant churches</a> in Kano city, killing at least 45 people.  Local Christians were meeting for Bible study at Christ Salvation Pentecostal Church when one explosion hit, and 39 bodies were recovered in the area; Christians were also meeting at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church when another bomb went off; and an explosion apparently targeting Peniel Baptist Church failed to affect the building.</p>
<p><b>PA Territories</b>: Nuns of the Greek-Orthodox monastery in Bethany sent a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urging him and other PA leaders to respond to the escalation of attacks on the Christian house, including the throwing of stones, broken glass, theft and looting of the monastery property.  &#8220;Someone wants to send us away,” wrote Sister Ibraxia to Abbas, &#8220;but we will not flee.” Added to complications, and as increasingly happens to other monasteries—such as a <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/christendoms-greatest-cathedral-to-become-a-mosque/">5<sup>th</sup> century monastery in Turkey</a>—a local Muslim family has, according to local Christians, “arbitrarily” claimed the monastery’s land.</p>
<p><b>Attacks on Christian Freedom: Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism</b></p>
<p><b>Pakistan</b>:  Asia Bibi, a Christian mother languishing on death row since June 2009 for allegedly blaspheming Islam’s prophet Muhammad, may have to wait another two more years before the appeal against her blasphemy conviction is heard.  In November 2010 she was <a href="http://barnabasfund.org/US/News/Archives/Aasia-Bibi-facing-at-least-two-more-years-in-Pakistani-jail-awaiting-appeal.html">sentenced to death</a>.  The chairman of the Human Liberation Commission in Pakistan has been lobbying the country’s chief justice for Asia’s appeal to be heard as soon as possible but has received no response.  Also, a Christian couple was arrested for <a href="http://morningstarnews.org/2013/07/more-christians-in-pakistan-accused-of-sending-blasphemous-text-messages/">allegedly sending blasphemous text messages</a> to a Muslim cleric in Gojra, where a week before a young Christian man was sentenced to life in prison on the same charge.  Shafqat Masih, 43, and his wife Shagufta, 40, who have four children between the ages of 5 and 11, were taken into custody on a complaint by Muslim cleric Rana Muhammad Ejaz, who alleged that he had received blasphemous text messages from Masih.  Gojra City police registered a case under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s widely condemned blasphemy laws for allegedly defaming Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. Conviction is punishable by death or life in prison, which is 25 years in Pakistan.</p>
<p><b>Iran</b>: Mostafa Bordbar, a Muslim convert to Christianity who, along with several other Christians, was arrested in December 2012 while celebrating Christmas, was tried in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. He is one of several Christian prisoners currently being held in ward 350 of Evin prison for their faith.  According to Mohabat News, the court registered the charges against him as &#8220;illegal gathering and participating in a house church.” If found guilty, he can be sentenced to anywhere from two to 10 years in prison.   Five years earlier, he was arrested for converting to Christianity and participating in a house church. His interrogator at the time <a href="http://www.mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=7122:christian-convert-tried-in-tehran&amp;catid=36:iranian-christians&amp;Itemid=279">charged him with &#8220;apostasy,”</a> a charge which still remains on his record.</p>
<p><b>Sudan</b>: Apparently responding to the vitality of the Christian church, Ammar Saleh, the head of the Islamic Centre for Preaching and Comparative Studies, chastised the government for not taking decisive action against Christians operating “boldly” and thus leading to the apostasy of many Muslim converts to Christianity.  According to International Christian Concern (ICC), Saleh “argued that anyone who believes there’s growth in Sudan’s Islamic faithful is ‘living on Mars,’ drawing attention to <a href="http://www.persecution.org/?p=46886">increasing proselytization and an exodus of Muslims to Christianity</a>…  He also stated that the government’s efforts to curb the rise of Christianity were timid as compared to efforts of missionaries to lead people to Christ.”  Meanwhile, according to ICC “Churches are being forced to close down, foreign workers are being kicked out of the country and Christians are constantly pressurized by the government and society in all kinds of ways, so much so that the recent increase in Christian persecution in Sudan moved the country from being ranked 16<sup>th</sup> on the 2012 Open Doors World watch List to 12<sup>th</sup> in 2013.”</p>
<p><b>Dhimmitude: A Climate of Hate and Contempt</b></p>
<p><b>Iraq</b>:  Kidnapped on May 27, the body of Salem Dawood Coca, a Christian, was found inside the truck he was driving when abducted.  According to AINA News, “The truck was booby trapped with explosives, and it is believed that he was forced to carry out a suicide bombing, but refused to do so. The kidnappers had contacted Mr. Coca&#8217;s family but had not demanded a ransom and <a href="http://www.aina.org/news/2013079163548.htm">described him as a ‘Christian infidel</a>.’”<b> </b>Mr. Coca leaves behind a wife and several children.</p>
<p><b>Kurdistan</b>: A Muslim ambulance driver <a href="http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Kurdistan:-%27Islamic%27-ambulance-driver-refuses-to-take-the-body-of-a-Christian-woman-to-church-28547.html">refused to transport the deceased body of a Christian woman</a> from the hospital to the church, citing that it was forbidden in Islam. According to Asia News, “The body of the Assyrian woman, who died last Sunday at Zarkari hospital in Erbil, had to be brought to the town of Ankawa, but the Muslim ambulance driver refused to drive to the church because it is &#8220;haram&#8221; (forbidden) in Islam.”  In traditional Muslim theology, being near the deceased body of an infidel is dangerous, as the <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/jihad-martyrdom-and-the-torments-of-the-grave/">torture reserved for them</a> could spread.</p>
<p><b>Nigeria</b>: Growing numbers of Christian girls in Muslim-majority areas, where the Islamic group, Boko Haram holds sway, are being abducted, kept in the homes of Muslim leaders and forced to renounce their faith.  According to Professor Daniel Babayi, secretary of the Northern Christian Association of Nigeria, the issue is getting worse:  “<a href="http://barnabasfund.org/US/News/Archives/Christian-girls-abducted-forced-to-renounce-faith-in-Northern-Nigeria.html">Christian girls below the age of 18 are forcefully abducted and made to denounce their faith</a>… They have been kept in the houses of emirs or imams. When we report to the police, they tell you there is nothing they can do. The police have become very helpless. In some instances, they are part of the conspiracy.”  Last year, Boko Haram had declared that it would begin doing precisely this—kidnap Christian women—as a way “<a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3033/muslim-persecution-of-christians-march-2012">to strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam</a>.”</p>
<p><b>Pakistan</b>:  Farhad Masih, a 16-year-old Christian boy, was arrested and beaten on the accusation that he was involved with a Muslim girl (which is forbidden in Islam).  A Muslim mob also tried to burn and loot his family’s house.  Local Muslim leaders have made several draconian stipulations, including that <a href="http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/3-christian-boys-were-killed-by-police-due-to-love-affair-with-muslim-girls/#sthash.cVlFOn5g.dpuf">the boy must either convert to Islam or die</a>.  The same thing happened earlier in April 2013, when three Christian youth were arrested, tortured, and killed by Pakistani police for allegedly having “love affairs” with Muslim girls.</p>
<p><b>Syria</b>:  According to the Assyrian International News Agency, the “Assyrian village of Tel Hormizd was attacked on Saturday, July 27 at about midnight. Fifty Arab Muslims on motorcycles entered the village and began a shooting rampage. According to residents, the <a href="http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/3-christian-boys-were-killed-by-police-due-to-love-affair-with-muslim-girls/#sthash.cVlFOn5g.dpuf">Muslims fired indiscriminately, wounding two Assyrians</a>, one of whom is still in hospital.”  Also, al-Qaeda linked rebel fighters abducted Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio, a prominent Italian Jesuit priest, most likely for <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/syrias-graphic-beheading-videos/">ransom or beheading</a>.  Ironically, Fr. Paolo had reportedly championed the uprising against Bashar al-Assad.</p>
<p><b>Nigerian Slaughter</b></p>
<p>July saw several atrocities during the jihad on Nigeria’s Christians, including:</p>
<p>• At least <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23498757">28 were killed in a series of explosions throughout a Christian neighborhood</a> in the Muslim-majority northern city of Kano.  The attacks happened in the evening while people were out “to enjoy the area’s nightlife.” The same neighborhood had been targeted in the past by Boko Haram.  The group has been responsible for the killing of more than 2,000 people; and although several nations have designated the group as a terrorist organization, the Obama government refuses to do so, even as <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/terrorism/234193-obama-administration-pressed-to-do-more-on-boko-haram-terror-designations-">several American policymakers push for the designation</a>.</p>
<p>• At least 30 Christian men, women and children were slain in three villages in southern Plateau state on June 27 by Islamic extremists suspected to be from outside of Nigeria who raided the villages massacring all in sight. Initially a Muslim spokesman for the military’s Special Task Force said the Christian residents of Magama, Bolgong and Karkashi were attacked by Fulani herdsmen “in apparent retaliation for cattle theft.” Later, however, the military said that many of the culprits were not even Nigerian.   “<a href="http://morningstarnews.org/2013/07/dozens-of-christians-killed-in-plateau-state-nigeria/">The number of Christians killed may be as high as 70</a>, as corpses of Christians killed while fleeing these attacked villages still litter the bushes,” said a witness. “The Muslim attackers chased their Christian victims on motorcycles and were killing them as they tried to escape. So many dead bodies have been recovered from the bush, and we believe that more may still be found….  So far, we have recorded over 100 houses that have been burnt down by the rampaging Muslim Fulani attackers in these villages.”</p>
<p>• According to <a href="http://www.christiantoday.com/article/nigeria.christian.girls.at.risk.of.abduction/33375.htm">Christian Today</a>, Boko Haram “has repeatedly attacked Christian communities and churches, most recently killing 40 at a boarding school in Yobe state on 6 July.  A dormitory was set alight in the attack and those fleeing gunned down.  A dormitory was set aflame while the children were sleeping; those trying to escape were gunned down.  A month earlier, 16 other students were shot dead in attacks on a secondary school in Yobe and another school in Borno.  True to its name, “Boko Haram,” or “Western Education is a Sin,” the group recently asserted, “Teachers who teach western education? <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/130715/boko-haram-leader-burn-schools-kill-teachers-no-ceasefire">We will kill them!</a> We will kill them in front of their students, and tell the students to henceforth study the Quran.”</p>
<p>• Islamic gunmen raided Dinu village in southern plateau state, a Christian village, on an early Sunday morning, before church services, <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/nigeria-muslims-slaughter-christians-before-sunday-church-services/">as increasingly happens</a>, and <a href="http://morningstarnews.org/2013/07/dozens-of-christians-killed-in-plateau-state-nigeria/">slaughtered six Christians</a>, a month after Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot another Christian to death in a nearby village and destroyed the churches of four villages.</p>
<p><b>About this Series</b></p>
<p>Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions, “Muslim Persecution of Christians”  was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two purposes:</p>
<p>1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.</p>
<p>2) To show that such persecution is not &#8220;random,&#8221; but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.</p>
<p>Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who &#8220;offend&#8221; Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of <i>jizya </i>(financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like <i>dhimmis</i>, or second-class, &#8220;tolerated&#8221; citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.</p>
<p>Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.</p>
<p>Previous Reports:</p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-june-2013/">June, 2013</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/muslim-persecution-of-christians-may-2013/">May, 2013</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/muslim-persecution-of-christians-april-2013/">April, 2013</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-march-2013/">March, 2013</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/muslim-persecution-of-christians-february-2013/">February, 2013</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-january-2013/">January, 2013</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-december-2012/">December, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-november-2012/">November, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-october-2012/">October, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-september-2012/">September, 2012 </a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-august-2012/">August, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/12215/muslim-persecution-of-christians-july-2012">July, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/12045/muslim-persecution-of-christians-june-2012">June, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11930/muslim-persecution-of-christians-may-2012">May, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11713/muslim-persecution-of-christians-april-2012">April, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11604/muslim-persecution-of-christians-march-2012">March, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11373/muslim-persecution-of-christians-february-2012">February, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11152/muslim-persecution-of-christians-january-2012">January, 2012</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/10989/muslim-persecution-of-christians-december-2011">December, 2011</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/10922/muslim-persecution-of-christians-november-2011">November, 2011</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/10724/muslim-persecution-of-christians-october-2011">October, 2011</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/10504/muslim-persecution-of-christians-september-2011">September, 2011</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/10247/muslim-persecution-of-christians-august-2011">August, 2011</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-july-2011/">July, 2011</a></p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>A New Muslim Brotherhood Symbol: R4BIA</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dawn-perlmutter/a-new-muslim-brotherhood-symbol-r4bia/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-new-muslim-brotherhood-symbol-r4bia</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dawn-perlmutter/a-new-muslim-brotherhood-symbol-r4bia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Sep 2013 04:03:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dawn Perlmutter]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[black hand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[islamists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[R4BIA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=203449</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The rebranding of jihad. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/R4BIAwwww.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-203452" alt="R4BIAwwww" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/R4BIAwwww-345x350.jpg" width="276" height="280" /></a></p>
<p>There is a new Islamist symbol appearing in protests, on social networking sites and at demonstrations throughout the Middle East. The symbol allegedly originated as a four-fingered hand sign by pro-Morsi protesters during demonstrations in Egypt’s Rabia al-Adawiya Square. The hand gesture quickly evolved into an image of the hand commonly depicted in black on a bright yellow background. It is called the “R4BIA sign.” In English it is officially spelled in capital letters and the letter &#8220;A&#8221; is replaced with the number 4. It has become the symbol of the massacre of pro-Morsi supporters in Rabia al-Adawiya Square on August 14, 2013. This new sign already has its own history, legend and mysticism and it contains all the attributes that Islamists favor in their symbology, particularly martyrdom.</p>
<p>The design of the symbol has been endowed with characteristics of the sacred in Islam: the color yellow used in the background signifies the golden Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the hand depicted in the color black denotes the black cloth that covers the Kaaba. The official R4BIA website alleges that protesters originated the sign and explained the meaning:</p>
<blockquote><p><i>&#8220;This is the &#8216;Rabia sign.&#8217; &#8216;Rabia&#8217; means four or fourth in the Arabic language. The name of this square comes from Rabia al-Adawiya, a blessed lady among the pious servants of Allah. She received the name Rabia because she was the fourth child in the family. We use the sign to cherish her legacy.” “The second reason why this sign bears significance is the fact that Mohamed Morsi was the fourth President of Egypt after Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. We make the sign to remind people of his presidency.” “In addition, those who gather in Tahrir Square to support the military coup prefer the V sign made with the two fingers. We cannot be the same as those people. We use and spread the Rabia sign in order to distinguish ourselves from them.” </i></p></blockquote>
<p>According to the R4BIA website, the protestors who provided the explanation for the symbol were killed with hundreds of other Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had camped out in the tent city for weeks. The violent incident and the symbol that has come to represent it have been endowed with supernatural qualities. The number four has acquired mystical connotations signified by the name of the square, the succession of Egyptian presidents and the birth order of Rabia al-Adawiya.  The slain supporters have been bestowed with heroic status and the Islamist honor of martyrdom and are now referred to as the &#8220;Rabia Martyrs.&#8221;  A new Islamist legend was born out of the blood of Egyptian protesters. It would not be surprising if pilgrimages to Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque to commemorate the new martyrs occur each year on the anniversary of the violence.</p>
<p>The symbol is quickly evolving into a full-fledged R4BIA movement. A mythology surrounding the R4BIA martyrs is emerging. One of the new myths is that the blessings of the new martyrs are responsible for spreading the symbol beyond Egypt’s national borders to become the symbol of awakening to the global Muslim community. Although the new blessed martyrs are getting credit for spreading the message, they are receiving a lot of help from the Muslim Brotherhood propaganda machine and Turkish Islamists. A Turkish website R4BIA.com has been launched in three languages, Arabic, English and Turkish, explaining the origin of the symbol and promoting a R4BIA movement. R4BIA.com contains photos and videos of protesters and includes a R4BIA song whose lyrics are comprised of the writings of Sayyid Qutb, an influential leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and the father of violent Islamism.</p>
<p>The site also contains a video showing family photos and the letter written by senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Beltagy to his 17-year-old daughter Asma, who was shot and killed during the protests. The letter will become a classic in Muslim Brotherhood propaganda, as it includes a heart rending eulogy filled with the symbolism of female martyrs as brides of paradise when her father describes her death in a dream as a wedding.</p>
<p>A section of the website that reveals the true significance of the R4BIA symbol and the fledgling movement posits the question: “What is R4BIA?” The anonymous web master claims the responses were compiled from a selection of interpretations provided by Muslims around the world. They read:</p>
<p><i>R4BIA is a symbol of freedom</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the birth of a new movement for freedom and justice</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the birth of a new world</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the return of Muslims to world stage</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA means justice, freedom and conscience</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the place where the so-called values of the West collapsed</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA means the Egyptian heroes who became free by dying</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is Egypt, Syria, Palestine and the whole geography of Islam</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the name of those who wake all the Islamic world with their death</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the place of people who show the death is a revival</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is our daughter Asma</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the grandchildren of Hasan Al Banna</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the new name of our children who will change the world</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is a new breath to humanity</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is justice for everyone against rotten Western values</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the soul of a free man and a free woman</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the tear, the sadness, the sobbing</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the joy, the happiness, the good news</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the child, the woman, the young, the old</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is a man like a man</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is straight as an Aleef, humble as Waw</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is a pure martyrdom</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is a new world</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is Ummah</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is solidarity, togetherness, brotherhood</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is unification of Islamic World</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the shame of the accomplice of the massacres</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the end of munafiqeen who support the massacres</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the end of oil sheikhs</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the end of capitalists</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the end of Zionists</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the end of immoral press</i></p>
<p><i> RABIA is the arena of martyrdom</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is the mother of martyrs</i></p>
<p><i> R4BIA is a smiling martyrdom</i></p>
<p>Many activists on social media have confirmed that the sign originated in Turkey, which officially opposed the military coup in Egypt. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan was one of the first to promote the R4BIA hand sign during a speech on August 17 when he saluted crowds several times with the four-finger sign. Turkish footballers also began to use the hand sign after scoring goals, soon after the symbol became popular on Turkish social media. It used to take years, sometimes decades, for a symbol to achieve global recognition, however, in the age of technology, with Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the Internet, this new Islamist sign went viral in days. Although the R4BIA symbol may have originally signified solidarity with massacred protesters, the meaning and the imagery has rapidly been radicalized to embody the primary concepts of Islamist propaganda: honor, heroism and martyrdom in the goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate. Images of the R4BIA symbol now include the fingers being depicted as rifles, the hand holding the black flag of jihad and writing on the hand calling for an Islamic Caliphate.</p>
<p>Perhaps many of those holding placards, wearing t-shirts and raising the four-finger salute do not understand the radical implications. Similar to movie stars and students who wear keffiyeh scarves, they may just assume it’s a cool, hip solidarity thing to do. However, there is no doubt that the Muslim Brotherhood understands the significance of disguising their true Islamist agenda, which is why they rebranded their name to the Freedom and Justice Party and removed images of the Quran and crossed swords from their logo.</p>
<p>The R4BIA sign is not a benign peace symbol; it is a symbol of resistance, Islamism, martyrdom, and a visual call to arms comparable to the black flag of jihad. The black hand on the bright yellow background is appropriately similar to highway warning signs that caution us against danger and indicate a hazard ahead on the road that may not be readily apparent.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>Morsi&#8217;s Boasts of a Pro-Brotherhood U.S. Come True</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/morsis-boasts-of-a-pro-brotherhood-u-s-come-true/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=morsis-boasts-of-a-pro-brotherhood-u-s-come-true</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Aug 2013 04:43:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Raymond Ibrahim]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Sisi]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Startling omens from the final dialogue between the ousted Islamist and General al-Sisi. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/obama-and-morsi-1.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-202557" alt="obama-and-morsi-1" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/obama-and-morsi-1-450x337.jpg" width="270" height="202" /></a>Originally published by <a href="http://blogs.cbn.com/ibrahim/archive/2013/08/26/morsis-boasts-of-a-pro-brotherhood-u.s.-come-true.aspx">CBN News</a>.</i></p>
<p>Nearly two months after Egypt’s June 30 Revolution, it is interesting to note how the final dialogue between ousted President Morsi and General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi—full of threats and vows of determination on both sides—have all come to pass, including in the very details, specifically the U.S. government’s role.  On July 5, the Arabic language, Egyptian newspaper <i>El Watan</i> published what it said were the final words between the two Egyptian men, as transcribed by an eyewitness, before the general put the president in prison.  (<a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/exposed-final-conversation-between-morsi-and-sisi/">Original and complete English translation here</a>.)</p>
<p>The relevant portions of the dialogue between Sisi and Morsi follow, interspersed with my retrospective observations where appropriate:</p>
<p><b>Abridged Exchange Between Morsi and Sisi</b></p>
<blockquote><p><b><i>Morsi</i></b><i>: What’s the military’s position concerning what’s going on? Is it just going to stand by watching? Shouldn’t it protect the legitimacy?</i></p>
<p><b><i>Sisi</i></b><i>: What legitimacy? The entire army is with the will of the people, and the overwhelming majority of people, according to documented reports, don’t want you.</i></p>
<p><b><i>Morsi</i></b><i>: My supporters are many and they won’t be silent.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>Morsi’s first threat is generic and subtle.  Not yet pushed to the brink, Morsi simply alludes to his “supporters,” who “are many and they won’t be silent.”  No word yet as to who these supporters are or what they will do.</p>
<blockquote><p><b><i>Sisi</i></b><i>: The army will not allow anyone to destroy the nation, no matter what happens.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>An early indicator of military resolve, one that, to this day, does not appear to have diminished.</p>
<blockquote><p><b><i>Morsi</i></b><i>: What if I don’t want to leave?</i></p>
<p><b><i>Sisi</i></b><i>: The matter is settled and no longer up to you. Try to leave with your dignity and tell those whom you call supporters to go back to their homes in order to prevent bloodshed, instead of threatening the people through them.</i></p>
<p><b><i>Morsi</i></b><i>: But this way it will be a military coup, and America won’t leave you alone.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>While technically a military coup, the military was reacting to a popular revolution: tens of millions of Egyptians—many more than in the original 2011 revolution against Hosni Mubarak—took to the streets for several days demanding new elections (as many Egyptians from the very start insisted that <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/did-the-muslim-brotherhood-really-win-egypts-presidency/">Morsi never even won the presidential election</a>).  And nearly two month later, months of <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/egyptian-military-warns-obama-supporting-terrorism-in-egypt-is-red-line/">intense pressure and threats</a>, the U.S., in Morsi’s words, certainly shows no signs that it will “leave you [Egyptian military] alone.”</p>
<blockquote><p><b><i>Sisi</i></b><i>: The people concern us, not America. And since you’ve started to talk this way, I’ll talk to you candidly. We have evidence to condemn you and to condemn many governmental officials of compromising Egypt’s national security. The judiciary will have its say and you will all be judged before the whole people.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>Once Morsi becomes more specific about who his supporters are—the United States, a foreign entity—Sisi also becomes candid, pointing out to him that the military has evidence to condemn Morsi and his Brotherhood cabinet.  In recent weeks and days, talk of this evidence has become more widespread.  According to many Egyptian political activists, the Brotherhood and the Obama administration made a deal, which has seen the exchange of vast sums of money, possibly at the hands of President Obama’s half-brother, Malik Obama.  Add to this the <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/obamas-brother-muslim-brotherhood-leader/">recent assertions</a> of Tahani al-Gebali, Vice President of the Supreme Constitutional Court in Egypt: “Obama’s brother is one of the architects of investment for the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood.”  Moreover, that the U.S. government, including ambassador <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/u-s-ambassador-to-egypt-muslim-brotherhoods-lackey/">Anne Patterson</a> and Senators <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/john-mccain-proves-u-s-leadership-allied-to-muslim-brotherhood/">Graham and McCain</a>, has been pressuring Egypt to release Morsi and other key Brotherhood figures, such as multimillionaire Khairat al-Shatter—even though they are also being held in connection to incitement and terrorism against Egyptian civilians—only validates the idea that imprisoned Brotherhood leadership, when tried, may well spill the beans as to the nature of the relationship between Morsi’s ousted government and the Obama administration, hence the reason the latter is so adamant about getting them released.</p>
<blockquote><p><i>[…]</i></p>
<p><b><i>Morsi</i></b><i>: Don’t think the Brotherhood is going to stand by if I leave office. They will set the world on fire.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>True, indeed.  While the Brotherhood’s media wing in Qatar, also known as “Al Jazeera,” has been blasting a 24/7 media propaganda campaign dedicated to demonizing the military and garnering sympathy for the Brotherhood—often by <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/exposed-al-jazeera-airs-fake-brotherhood-injuries-and-deaths/">flagrantly lying</a>—the Brotherhood and its supporters have quite literally been “setting the world  on fire,” most visibly in Egypt, where some <a href="http://www.aina.org/news/20130818125428.htm">80 churches and other Christian institutions</a>, not to mention government buildings, etc., have been set aflame.</p>
<blockquote><p><b><i>Sisi</i></b><i>: Just let them try something and you’ll see the reaction of the army. Whoever among them wants to live in peace, he’s more than welcome; otherwise, [if they try anything] we will not leave them alone. We will not single anyone out, and the Brotherhood is from the Egyptian people, so don’t try to use them as fuel for your disgusting war. If you truly love them, leave office and let them go to their homes.</i></p>
<p><b><i>Morsi</i></b><i>: Anyway, I’m not going, and the people outside of Egypt are all with me, and my supporters are not going.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>Again, Morsi indicates who his two main supporters are: “the people outside of Egypt,” that is, the United States, and “my supporters,” the Muslim Brotherhood and its many Islamist sympathizers in and out of Egypt.</p>
<blockquote><p><i>[…]</i></p>
<p><b><i>Morsi</i></b><i>: Okay, if I agree to be removed, will you allow me to travel abroad and promise not to imprison me?</i></p>
<p><b><i>Sisi</i></b><i>: I can’t offer you any promises. It’s the justice [department] that will pass its verdict.</i></p>
<p><b><i>Morsi</i></b><i>: Okay, if that’s the case, I’ll make it war, and we’ll see who will prevail in the end.</i></p>
<p><b><i>Sisi</i></b><i>: Naturally the people will win.</i></p></blockquote>
<p>The verdict is still out concerning the fate of Egypt.  For true to Morsi’s threats, the U.S. and the Brotherhood and its allies—from church-burning thugs in Egypt’s streets, to Al Jazeera’s media manipulations—are still trying to undermine the Egyptian people’s June 30 Revolution against the corrupt, Islamist rule of the Muslim Brotherhood.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>Copts March on Washington</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/faith-j-h-mcdonnell/copts-march-on-washington/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=copts-march-on-washington</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Aug 2013 04:37:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Faith J. H. McDonnell]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[copts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egyptians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Egyptian Americans protest Obama's and the media's support for the Brotherhood.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/marching-from-White-House-to-Washington-Post.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-202142 alignleft" alt="marching from White House to Washington Post" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/marching-from-White-House-to-Washington-Post-450x322.jpg" width="315" height="225" /></a>Hundreds of Egyptian Americans and their various supporters had barely turned the corner of Fifteenth Street, NW onto K Street in downtown Washington, DC last Thursday, August 22, before <i>Washington Post </i>writers <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/22/washington-post-lobby-locked-down-during-egyptian-anti-morsi-protest/">published an account</a> of the demonstration that had just taken place outside their doors. As <i>Post </i>staff began to recover from the trauma of their lockdown, looking through the windows and doors at signs uncomplimentary to both themselves and their beloved President, and of hearing themselves be described in chants as “supporting terrorists,” the protest moved uptown, with the end goal of the office of the military attaché at the Egyptian Embassy.</span></b></p>
<p>In their account, posted at 3:38 p.m., <i>Post </i>writers Max Fisher and Peter Hermann revealed that the newspaper building’s main lobby had been “shut down and no one was allowed in or out” during the protest. Why, one would have thought that the Muslim Brotherhood was marching on Washington! Oh wait, if that had been the case, <i>The</i> <i>Washington Post</i> would have invited them in for a cup of tea after their meeting with President Obama. At least the writers admitted that the protestors were peaceful as they chanted and waved signs.</p>
<p>The demonstration was organized by the national <a href="http://copticsolidarity.org/">Coptic Solidarity</a> organization to protest what they see as the Obama Administration’s and Republicans like Senators McCain and Graham’s <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/msm-blackout-egyptians-enraged-by-u-s-brotherhood-outreach/">blatant bias</a> towards the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Demonstrators also came to be a witness to the world, and particularly to Americans, of the <a href="http://juicyecumenism.com/2013/08/14/more-bad-news-from-egypt-muslim-brothers-and-other-islamists-wage-fresh-attacks-on-churches/">persecution of Egyptian Christians</a>. And they wanted to set the record straight about this persecution – the burnings of churches, convents, schools, Christians’ homes and shops, and the killing of Christians by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists in Egypt. These are <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/356195/egypts-christians-are-facing-jihad-nina-shea">deliberate acts of jihad</a> by Islamist supremacists, not random acts of violence by a disgruntled political party.</p>
<p>Christian and Muslim Egyptian Americans arrived at Lafayette Park, the prime protest location in front of The White House, close to noon, in over thirty buses. As each bus let out its passengers – men, women, and children – some that had left at the crack of dawn from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, South Carolina, and North Carolina, they quickly outnumbered any other protest taking place in the coveted arena, including a dozen or so anti-fracking demonstrators.</p>
<p>Such buses will soon be able to set their automatic pilot for Washington, DC. In April, before the “People’s Coup” of July, when millions of Egyptians brought about the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, the buses had rolled into town and a demonstration had begun in that very same spot and ended at the U.S. Capitol. They also came to Washington in October 2011, after the <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2011/faith-j-h-mcdonnell/coptic-christians-rally-for-human-rights/">horrific massacre at Maspero</a>. Coptic Solidarity promises that there will be more demonstrations.</p>
<p>This time, the feeling of the protestors and the message of their signs was even more urgent. Like their fellow Copts in Egypt, and like all Egyptians <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2013/faith-j-h-mcdonnell/hoping-against-hope-for-equality-in-egypt/">who supported the People’s Coup</a>, the Egyptian Americans now look to the Egyptian Army and General Abdel Fatah el-Sissi as the defenders of Egypt. They are outraged that the U.S. government continues to defend the Muslim Brotherhood and to insist that all of the Islamists should be included in the “democratic process” when these groups are perpetrating such evil in Egypt.</p>
<p>In addition to burning over 82 churches and other Christian institutions and schools, the Morsi-supporters have also burned Christian homes and businesses and killed many individual Christians, including a <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/muslim-brotherhood-accused-of-killing-10-year-old-christian-girl">ten-year-old girl</a> leaving Bible study, and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/06/egypt-coptic-priest-killed-sinai">shooting of a Coptic priest</a> and the <a href="http://facingislam.blogspot.com/2013/07/christian-man-kidnapped-and-beheaded-in.html">beheading of another Christian</a> in Sinai. The Brotherhood has also tortured and killed members of the police and armed forces. Egyptians are shocked that the U.S. would now consider stopping aid to Egypt, at a time when they finally have an opportunity to achieve true democracy and religious freedom, and <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2013/faith-j-h-mcdonnell/rep-louie-gohmerts-challenge-to-america/">rout out these terrorists</a>.</p>
<p>After a demonstration that included chanting slogans condemning President Obama’s foreign policy, particularly his support for the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood and his lack of support for General Sissi, the group moved on to <i>The Washington Post. </i>Egyptians are frustrated with the mainstream media in the West. The media, they believe, is simply parroting the talking points of the State Department and The White House. All of this was reflected in their signs, and was confirmed by <i>The Washington Post </i>itself in their breathless post-lockdown story.</p>
<p>Referring to signs such as “Respect the voices of 30 million Egyptians” and “When 33 million protest, it is not a coup!” denying that the takeover from Morsi was a coup, the <i>Post </i>writers downplayed these numbers. “While the number was surely lower than this, gatherings on June 30 and after are thought to have numbered in the hundreds of thousands and perhaps beyond,” they said.</p>
<p>The reporters quoted Salwa El-Gebaly of Gaithersburg, Maryland, who declared that “Egypt is doing the entire world a favor by getting rid of the extremists.” She had “argued” that “in time, the world would learn that the hundreds of deaths attributed to the recent government crackdown of pro-Morsi sit-ins were in fact caused by <a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3890/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-kills-own">Muslim Brotherhood ‘executions</a>,’” they continued, and said that “she, like others, expressed unhappiness for the violence in Egypt but said that the Brotherhood, and not Sissi or the military, was to blame.”</p>
<p>The journalists at the <i>Post </i>seemed shocked, shocked that the demonstrators “accused President Obama of directly funding the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist organization from which Morsi hails.” They noted that the Muslim Brotherhood “has seen hundreds of supporters killed or arrested in state security crackdowns this month.”</p>
<p>“Many of the signs at today’s protest argued that the Brotherhood is a part of al-Qaeda and that Obama’s support for the Brotherhood is equivalent to funding terrorism,” the <i>Post </i>writers mused, as if this was the first time it had ever occurred to them. “Although the U.S. has been at pains to maintain neutrality in Egypt’s deepening social and political divisions, it has been accused by both sides of secretly supporting the other,” their piece confessed. Actually, it seems more as if <i>The Washington Post</i> and other media have been at pains to maintain <i>the impression</i> that the U.S. has been at pains to maintain neutrality in Egypt’s divisions, when the truth is obvious to 33 million Egyptians.</p>
<p>The <i>Post </i>article closed by describing how one protestor carrying a poster of General Sissi sought to make eye contact with all of journalists watching from inside the building. “Whenever someone would acknowledge him, he’d smile, hold the poster next to his face and give a big thumbs-up for Sissi,” says the <i>Post.</i> In this closing incident, as throughout the article, the <i>Post </i>writers focused on the political aspect of the protest and not the other key reason why the demonstrators had come. The article omitted reference to the many, many photos of burned churches and of the faces of those killed – now joining Egypt’s long list of martyrs.</p>
<p>The <i>Post </i>did not even mention the striking model of a church – blackened with smoke and stained red – representing the dozens of churches burned, and the blood of Egyptian Christians killed, by the Muslim Brotherhood and by various other Islamists over recent years and over the centuries. The model church was carried lovingly in front of the lock-down crowd by two young men. It was on a platform with poles that rested on the young men’s shoulders in a way that called to mind the manner in which the priests of Israel are described in the Bible as carrying the Ark of the Covenant.</p>
<p>In what could possibly be construed as Divine coincidence or even Divine reassurance, a small lad carrying his own sign stood close to the church-bearers. His poster was a photograph of boys about his own age praying inside the scorched wreckage of an Egyptian church. The sign declared, “You can burn down our churches, but you can never touch our faith.” This is the true witness of the Copts’ march on Washington.</p>
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		<title>Hugging the Brotherhood to Death</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/how-obama-hugged-the-brotherhood-to-death-2/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=how-obama-hugged-the-brotherhood-to-death-2</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Aug 2013 04:24:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The Radical-in-Chief may have destroyed a terrorist group without even trying.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Egypt-Obama-Morsi.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-202199 alignleft" alt="Egypt-Obama-Morsi" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Egypt-Obama-Morsi-440x350.jpg" width="264" height="210" /></a>When the dust settles in Cairo, at least long enough to make out anything through the smoke and flames, it may turn out that the Muslim Brotherhood has suffered its worst blow at the hands of none other than Barack Hussein Obama.</p>
<p>The blow will not have been intentional. Like the killing of Bin Laden, a useful intervention carried out by Navy SEALS who were perhaps less than enthusiastic about Obama&#8217;s plan to use the civilian trial of the terrorist leader as a prop for dismantling the military tribunal system, it wasn&#8217;t something that he meant to do.</p>
<p>It just happened.</p>
<p>Obama could never have intentionally defeated the Muslim Brotherhood. But he may have just hugged it to death.</p>
<p>To understand the Middle East is to understand that the deaths of hundreds of protesters or massive street fighting don&#8217;t really matter all that much. Not in a region where Saddam Hussein or the butchers of Sudan could pile up enough corpses to start an entire country and still enjoy the support of the Muslim world.</p>
<p>The trick is killing the right people. Saddam Hussein killed Shiites and Kurds with religious and ethnic differences from the region&#8217;s Arab Sunni baseline. Sudan killed Christians and animists who are infidels and rebellious dhimmis making them even more foreign and more &#8220;killable.&#8221;</p>
<p>It is that foreignness which is all-important. Muslims are not supposed to kill Muslims unless they&#8217;re somehow &#8220;foreign&#8221; either by being members of a heretical sect or a different ethnic group. And if all else fails, they can be pawns of foreigners. That is why both sides in Egypt keep accusing each other of being Jews.</p>
<p>Osama bin Laden aimed at America to hit the House of Saud because it allowed him to charge the Guardians of Mecca and Medina with being American puppets.</p>
<p>That is the charge that has been laid against the Muslim Brotherhood. It is what makes killing them of no more note than a minor change in the weather. The only charge against the Muslim Brotherhood that matters is the charge of &#8220;foreignness.&#8221;</p>
<p>Obama&#8217;s embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood made them fair game in the Muslim world.</p>
<p>The military and the opposition understood immediately that the only way the overthrow of Morsi could be made palatable to most Egyptians was by portraying it as a fight not merely against the Brotherhood, but against a conspiracy between Washington and the Brotherhood. The Egyptian people might be divided on Morsi, but they could be united against Obama.</p>
<p>Their plan was to hang Obama around the Muslim Brotherhood’s neck.</p>
<p>The Muslim Brotherhood belatedly scrambled to portray the coup as an American-Zionist conspiracy, but it was late to the party. Tahrir Square had already been choked with banners demonizing Kerry, Obama and Anne Patterson for their support of the Muslim Brotherhood.</p>
<p>And the Brotherhood had trouble making the case that its downfall was a plot by Obama, when Obama kept insisting that the Brotherhood&#8217;s leaders needed to be released and returned to power.</p>
<p>Obama played beautifully into the opposition&#8217;s hands by denouncing Morsi&#8217;s overthrow and urging the release of Muslim Brotherhood leaders. It was a plan that made sense in Washington, which reflexively thinks in terms of issuing orders, but in Cairo it looked like the puppet master demanding the return of his puppets.</p>
<p>The Egyptian military had stepped in as a response to a national emergency dealing with foreign intervention in Egypt&#8217;s political system. The more Obama denounced the military&#8217;s actions, the more he was demonstrating that the Egyptian military had been correct to step in.</p>
<p>Despite his years in the Muslim world and his family connections, Obama had not really understood how Egypt worked. And his associates understood it even less. If they had, they would have pulled out Anne Patterson once she became a target and openly criticized Morsi for not listening to the demands of the protesters, while privately conveying a message of support.</p>
<p>Instead Obama hugged Morsi to death. And he&#8217;s still hugging Morsi to death.</p>
<p>The American emissaries who met with Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater in prison did it with as much fanfare as they could muster. The Muslim Brotherhood spokesman frantically tried to deny that the meeting happened or that Khairat al-Shater had been willing to even talk to Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, but that just made the Brotherhood seem like a bigger bunch of liars. And why else would they lie about a meeting with American diplomats unless they were trying to hide that they were really puppets of Uncle Sam?</p>
<p>Obama&#8217;s entire plan to bring the Muslim Brotherhood to power had laid the seeds of its destruction. The insistence on having Muslim Brotherhood members at the Cairo speech, the demand that Mubarak step down, the urging of rushed elections that benefited the Muslim Brotherhood; the entire process by which Obama helped the Muslim Brotherhood come to power became its indictment.</p>
<p>The Muslim Brotherhood&#8217;s violent past was ugly, but terrorism is not the ultimate offense in the Muslim world. Muslims support terrorism when fighting foreigners or foreign influences. Treason, the willingness to become a foreign influence, is the ultimate crime.</p>
<p>If the Egyptian legal system, that the Muslim Brotherhood tried and failed to destroy, succeeds in convicting the Muslim Brotherhood of serving foreign interests in the court of public opinion, it will have dealt it a serious blow that the Brotherhood will spend a long time recovering from.</p>
<p>In Washington, Obama still continues misreading events as a military coup. The protesters parading around Cairo with Islamic photoshops of his face picked up from American conservative sites are a minor irritant to be dismissed with another of his condescending speeches as if they were Tea Party members. The problem is tackled with arbitrary denials of foreign aid, pressure phone calls and a touch of diplomatic isolation.</p>
<p>And the generals and liberals are laughing to themselves, the way that the Muslim Brotherhood leaders used to at their cleverness in tricking Obama.</p>
<p>Egypt&#8217;s new government knows that it won&#8217;t win over Obama any time soon. But it isn&#8217;t trying to. Instead its goal is to smash the Muslim Brotherhood, leaving it the only game in town. And then Obama can take it or leave it.</p>
<p>Osama tried to bring down Saudi Arabia by attacking America. The new Egyptian government is attacking America, domestically, to bring down the Muslim Brotherhood. It&#8217;s the typically indirect politics of a xenophobic region where not only don&#8217;t you see the knife coming, you also never find out why you were stabbed.</p>
<p>While Obama played checkers with the region, its power players had gotten out their chessboards and deftly checkmated yet another Western regime change project. With the typical slowness of the obtuse, Obama still doesn&#8217;t understand that he lost or what the game even was.</p>
<p>Obama and Kerry believe that they are men of nuance, but they are crude, loud and obvious compared to the men that they are up against who have outplayed them in Egypt and are ready to begin burying the rotting corpse of the Arab Spring beneath the Sinai sands.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>How Close Is the U.S. to the Muslim Brotherhood?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/magdi/how-close-is-the-u-s-to-the-muslim-brotherhood/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=how-close-is-the-u-s-to-the-muslim-brotherhood</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Aug 2013 04:20:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Magdi Khalil]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[washington dc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=201207</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The political alliance goes back in time much further than most Americans think. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/r.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-201277" alt="r" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/r.jpg" width="281" height="209" /></a>There is no question that the US and the Muslim Brotherhood have been engaged in a dialogue during the course of the so-called Arab Spring, in regards to the form and structure of government in Egypt and perhaps in the Middle East as a whole. But the real question, which is frequently asked, is what kind of a role did the US exactly play in the Muslim Brotherhood’s arrival to power in Egypt? Is the US actually working alongside the Muslim Brotherhood to shape the future of the Middle East?</p>
<p>As we tackle this thorny topic, we will have to examine two theories or interpretations of events; the first claims that everything that happened, and will happen, is the outcome of a US plan, years in the making, and designed to hand the region over to Islamists for disruptive purposes. It claims that the Arab Spring uprisings are scenarios planned meticulously by Intelligence bodies in Washington. This assumption is a typical conspiracy theory taken to an extreme, where the world is supposedly a malleable putty that the US is shaping at its will. Though there may be some truth to this assumption, it is extremely exaggerated, and is far removed from reality. The second theory, which I have heard repeatedly from D.C. politicians, claims that the US did not support the Muslim Brotherhood, but rather coped with the new reality in the Middle East to protect its interests. This theory is not realistic either, as it assumes that the US, which is a major Power, is content to sit meekly and watch from the sidelines as events unfold.</p>
<p>However, there is a third hypothesis that falls in the middle between these two unlikely theories, and which offers a sensible interpretation of concrete evidence and facts, some of which are known to the public.</p>
<p>First, it must be said that the US is not unacquainted with the Muslim Brotherhood, since the movement has had US-based activities, organizations and financial investments for more than five decades, particularly through its relationship with and presence in Saudi Arabia, which became its refuge after it fled from Egypt during Nasser’s rule. The Muslim Brotherhood sought to establish its presence in the American continent, starting with “The Muslim Students’ Association,” which was a small organization established in 1963. Later, they went on to establish bigger organizations such as the North American Islamic Trust in 1971; the International Institute of Islamic Thought in 1980; the Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood in America in 1980; the Islamic Society of North America in 1981; the Islamic Association of Palestine in 1981, which in turn established the Occupied Land Fund that later became the Holy Land Foundation; the American Islamic Council in 1990, and the American Islamic Society in1992. Furthermore, the international Muslim Brotherhood movement held its meetings several times in the US, specifically in the years 1977, 1978 and 1979. The Muslim Brotherhood had well known leaders in the US, such as Zaid Noman, Ahmed El Kady, Mohammed Ikram Elwani, as well as senior investors such as Youssef Nada.</p>
<p>Looking back, we can see that the starting point for the attempts to contain Islamist movements around the world, including the Muslim Brotherhood, was right after the events of September 11. As the first shot was fired in Afghanistan, the US began also to formulate a plan to deal with the Islamist dilemma from a political angle. An endless war was not a viable solution, and a political alternative was required in order to control the emerging phenomenon. The Bush Administration primarily thought that the lack of democratic political participation was behind the phenomenon of international terrorism, believing that these individuals were hunted in their countries, and after being forced to flee, they had directed their excessive hatred and violence at the Western World. The solution seemed clear enough then: to find a way to redirect and assimilate that excessive energy through a local political process that would both embrace and contain said individuals. Bush chose Iraq as a starting point for the democratization of the region and the creation of a new Middle East, where he had expected democracy to spread in a domino-like effect.</p>
<p>However, democracy failed in Iraq. On one side, it was thwarted by the unleashed sectarian strife monster, and on the other it met with stubborn and unanimous resistance from neighbouring countries, including Iran, which worked together to defeat Bush’s plan and stop the tide of American democracy from reaching its shores.</p>
<p>This plan’s failure was promptly followed by a hunt for a second alternative, and the idea to assimilate Islamists into their own countries through an Islamist rule of the region was born. In 2005, Ms. Condoleezza Rice, then the Secretary of State, made a speech in Cairo which suggested that the US did not mind if Islamists assumed power. This notion soon gained popularity, and dozens of seminars, conferences and meetings that took place in Washington, London, Madrid and Brussels started to promote in earnest the participation of Islamists in government. Many of these gatherings were funded through Qatar, with evident “green light” from the US. With the support of Qatari funds, Al-Jazeera Channel started to back the Islamist project, i.e., an Islamist rule via elections, until the Channel became the official media platform of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic movements in the region. The role played by both Qatar and Al-Jazeera expanded throughout the Arab Spring uprisings, seeking to speed up a “brotherhoodization” process that would reshape the entire region to reflect Muslim Brotherhood beliefs and practices. Later, they worked to engage the US in extensive dialogues about government requirements and structure, the conditions of Western cooperation, and particularly US-Muslim Brotherhood cooperation.</p>
<p>Since the collapse of Mubarak’s regime, Washington and Cairo had maintained contact as attested by frequent Washington-Cairo trips and intense phone consultations between the White House and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Guidance office in Al-Mokattam. It had reached a point where the almost nonstop contact became the subject of a widespread political joke among foreign diplomats in Egypt, who said that you can measure the time that passes between President Mursi issuing a decision and reversing it by the time difference existing between the Office of Guidance and the White House&#8211;the joke clearly speaks for itself.</p>
<p>In the beginning, the US terms were as follows: 1) to take into consideration American interests in the region; 2) to stay away from Iran; 3) to maintain the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty; 4) to resort to the ballots in political issues; 5) to take into consideration the rights of women and minorities. The Muslim Brotherhood agreed to all conditions, even if it was merely a form of dissimulation.</p>
<p>The outcome of the Gaza crisis increased the trust between Obama’s Administration and the Muslim Brotherhood, with Obama praising Mursi at length after the crisis was averted. In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood had offered what no other Egyptian president has ever offered to the US, pledging the following to Obama: 1) Hamas will not launch a single rocket, fire a single shot or conduct a single operation against Israel in the next four years, which represent Obama’s second term; 2) Egypt will monitor crossings and tunnels to ensure that no weapons are being smuggled to Hamas; 3) The US will be allowed to set up advanced equipment at the borders to conduct its own surveillance of the crossings; 4) In case the violence originating from Sinai gets out of control, American troops will be allowed to guard the Egyptian-Gaza borders. In a nutshell: To restrain Hamas and keep Israel from harm while the Muslim Brotherhood is let loose in Egypt to do as it wishes. Even worse, there are serious noises about Qatari/Egyptian/American discussions aiming to bypass the Palestinian Authority and open a dialogue with Hamas directly, followed by political talks which may lead to an individual peace treaty between Hamas and Israel.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, things are taking a different turn in Jordan with Prince Hassan’s statement about the West Bank being part of Jordan. Such statement may lead to future Palestinian migration to an alternative Jordanian homeland that would include the West bank, while the Gaza sector could end up back under Egyptian sovereignty, thus putting an end to the Palestinian cause. Some figures in Gaza who are known to cooperate with Iran have already rejected this Qatari project, led by Al-Zahar, Al-Jaabari and the Islamic Jihad movement. It has been suggested that Al-Jaabari has paid with his life for this conflict.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that while Mubarak had delivered the government into the hands of the military represented in the Military Council, the Military Council, in cooperation with the US, has handed the government over to the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak showed more intelligence in that regard, and had previous knowledge of the US intentions, as indicated by his statement to Dr. Hossam Badrawi that the US has been planning since 2005 for the Muslim Brotherhood to assume power in Egypt. The Military Council failed the people, perhaps because it made some sort of deal with the Muslim Brotherhood, or due to increased US pressure, or even because of poor political skills; what matters is that these factors combined have placed Egypt under the thumb of the Muslim Brotherhood.</p>
<p>It is up to Egyptians now to reshape history once more for the sake of the people, the homeland and the future, rather than the past. There is hope yet for their voice to be heard and for their will to prevail.</p>
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