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Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-muslim-brotherhood-and-the-islamophobia-trap/
The Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamophobia Trap
(JNS-Israel Hayom) Jonathan S. Tobin - President Trump's plans to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group has the foreign-policy establishment wringing their hands at what they consider a blunder that will undermine U.S. influence in the Middle East and throughout the Islamic world. But such a move is long overdue. Founded in 1928, the Brotherhood is the granddaddy of all Islamist terror groups. At its core is an Islamist worldview that sees its purpose as an effort to reject liberal, democratic and more moderate strains of Islam, and to enforce a strict vision of the faith that is rooted in jihad and intolerance for modernity, seeking to impose Muslim religious law (Sharia) everywhere it can. The Brotherhood's core beliefs have never been a secret. Its long-term goal is the overthrow of the West, as well as of Israel. It spawned groups like Hamas and influenced the creation of al-Qaeda. The Brotherhood is the glue that unites Sunni Muslim terror groups in terms of ideas and action. The effort to maintain a distinction between the terrorists and the rest of the Brotherhood remains entirely artificial. The Brotherhood's social-action and political wings operate in such a manner as to support the same violent goals as the terrorists. Claims that this move is an expression of Islamophobia are not merely wrong; they are also slander of law-abiding American Muslims. The notion that an effort to limit the ability of radicals to operate freely harms all Muslims is false. Designation of the Brotherhood is common-sense security policy that aims at protecting all Americans, no matter their faith or background.