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Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood

(Wall Street Journal) Bret Stephens - It's easy to be taken in by the Muslim Brotherhood: Eight decades as a disciplined, underground organization, outwardly involved in charitable social work, have made them experts at tailoring messages to separate audiences. Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949), the Brotherhood's founder, was an admirer of the fascist movements of his day, and he had similar ambitions for his own movement. "Andalusia, Sicily, the Balkans, south Italy and the Roman sea islands were all Islamic lands that have to be restored to the homeland of Islam," he wrote. "As Signor Mussolini believed that it was within his right to revive the Roman Empire...similarly it is our right to restore to the Islamic empire its glory." The Brotherhood's Kamal al-Hilbawi told Iran's Al-Alam TV earlier this month: "We think highly of a country...that confronts Western hegemony, and is scientifically and technologically advanced. Unfortunately, these characteristics can be found only in the Islamic Republic of Iran." Muhammad Badie, the Brotherhood's supreme guide, sermonized in October: "Resistance is the only solution against the Zio-American arrogance and tyranny....The improvement and change that the [Muslim] nation seeks can only be attained...by raising a jihadi generation that pursues death just as the enemies pursue life." In 2005, candidates for the Brotherhood took 20% of the parliamentary vote. Gamal al-Banna, Hassan's youngest brother, once told me they command as much as 40% support. Unless Egypt's secular forces can coalesce into serious political parties, the people for whom Islam is the solution won't find the fetters of democracy to be much of a problem.
2011-02-15 00:00:00
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