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The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to Al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?
[Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs] Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi - While prominent voices in the West are calling for a new political dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood, in the Arab world many serious analysts warn about its continuing violent nature and global ambitions. This year, newly revealed federal court documents accepted into evidence during the trial of the Holy Land Foundation revealed the inner thinking of the Muslim Brotherhood about its global mission. An Arabic document discloses: "The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within." The Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda differ regarding tactics but share a common strategy. Al-Qaeda favors an implacable jihad to destroy the economies of the Western countries. The Muslim Brotherhood supports terrorism and jihad against foreign presence in the Islamic world, but its top priority is constructing a Muslim infrastructure in the West which will slowly but surely enable it to rule during the 21st century. As far as the final goal is concerned, there are no policy differences between al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. Both have the same objective: to place the entire world under an Islamic caliphate.