Exposing Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood: Jihad Against Jews, Judaism, and Israel

From a CRUCIAL NEW REPORT ("Hitler Put Them in Their Place: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’s Jihad Against Jews, Judaism, and Israel"), released February 22, 2011, by Dr. Harold Brackman, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Senior Historic Consultant:

...In Their Own Words:

THE DEATH CULT: “Degradation and dishonour are the results of the love of this world. Therefore, prepare for jihad and be the lovers of death. . . . Death is an art, and the most exquisite of arts when practiced by the skilful artist.”
———Brotherhood Founder Hassan al-Banna (c. 1940)

VIOLENCE: “History does not write its lines except with. Glory does not build its lofty edifice except with skulls. Honor and respect cannot be established except on a foundation of cripples and corpses.”
———Brotherhood Leader and Osama bin Laden’s Teacher, Abdullah Azzam (2003)

DEMOCRACY: “Democracy contradicts and wages war on Islam. Whoever calls for democracy means they are raising banners contradicting God’s plan and fighting Islam.”
———Brotherhood Supreme Spiritual Leader, Mustapha Mashour (1981)

KILL THE JEWS: “The Versailles Treaty was a disaster for the Germans as well as the Arabs. But the Germans know how to get rid of the Jews. . . . the Germans have never harmed any Muslim, and they are again fighting our common enemy who persecuted Arabs and Muslims. But most of all, they have definitely solved the Jewish problem. Arabs! Rise as one to protect your sacred rights. Kill the Jews wherever you find them. . . . God is with you.”
———Brotherhood Ally, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni (1943)

HITLER’S FINAL SOLUTION: “Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them—even though they exaggerated this issue—he managed to put them in their place.”
——————Muslim Brotherhood’s Current Spiritual Head Yusuf el-Qaradawi (2009)

THE FUTURE OF PEACE: “There is no dialogue between us [Muslims and Jews] except by the sword and rifle. . . . [We pray Allah] to take this oppressive, Jewish, Zionist band of people. . . . do not spare a single one of them. . . . count their numbers and kill them down to the very last one.”
———Muslim Brotherhood’s Current Spiritual Head, Yusuf al-Qaradawi (2009)

PLANS FOR AMERICA: “[North America is] a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the
believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”
———Member of the Brotherhood U.S. Shura Council, Mohammed Akram, from a secret memo (1991)

WAR WITH ISRAEL: “[We will] continue to raise the banner of jihad against the Jews, [our] first and foremost enemies. . . . . resistance is the only solution against the Zio-American arrogance and tyranny, and all we need is for the Arab and Muslim peoples to stand behind it and support it. . . . We say to our brothers the mujahideen in Gaza: be patient, persist in [your jihad], and know that Allah is with you.”
———Current Brotherhood Supreme Leader, Mohamed Badi (2010)...

Follow the link to download this impactful report, which presents an "unsanitized history of the Muslim Brotherhood," and traces the evolution of its beliefs, goals and tactics. It presents an unflinching look at the Brotherhood's genocidal Jew-hatred and sheds light on The Brotherhood's global reach and its emerging impact on Egypt in the balance. (Includes full citations of the original sources for the above quotes.)

See this previous posting about the deceptive face presented by Muslim Brotherhood apologists in The West.

The Coming Plagues of Egypt

From BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 131, February 21, 2011, by Dr. Mordechai Kedar*:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In Egypt, there is almost no social contract to govern the conduct of its citizens – as there is in democratic societies. The norm, then, is to behave without inhibition, and violent confrontation is usually the standard response to conflict. With Mubarak out of the picture, and with the behavior of democratic society not yet learned, it seems likely that in the near term Egypt will be a society plagued by political intrigue and instability – providing alarming headlines almost daily. The governments of the world must be alert and vigilant for developments that could threaten the Suez Canal, the peace with Israel and regional stability.

...The citizen in a democracy imposes upon himself a strict etiquette: not to push; not to steal; not to harass women and girls; not to harm or insult others; to stop at a red light, even if it is three o'clock in the morning; not to cheat in business; to hold the door open for the person behind you; to stand in line; not to behave in a socially unacceptable manner; and other such dos and don'ts which the citizen in a democratic society feels obligated to abide by at every moment. He upholds these rules not out of fear of the regime (which is in no way intimidating), but out of self-discipline and conviction that only thus can a society run smoothly.

Thus, a democratic society is one that is based upon the self-restraint of its citizens, and this self-restraint allows society to live a life of freedom and comfort...

In Egypt, however,...there is no such social contract – no rules, no laws, no restraints and no self-dictatorship. Each person does as he chooses at any given moment with no self-restraint or consideration for others, unguided by even the most basic rules of conduct. A red traffic light is a mere recommendation; bribery is the norm; anyone can build what he wants where he wants; any manager can appoint his sons, daughters and brothers-in-law to any position under him, irrespective of their qualifications; and resorting to violence against the weak is widely prevalent. The individual feels free to act on his impulses and is not required to answer for his actions and misdemeanors.

...In democratic societies, groups develop codes of conflict management through legitimate means such as debate, public organization and peaceful demonstration. Everyone abides by the same "rules of the game" which enable all groups, even if they differ in worldview and agenda, to coexist and conduct open, fair and non-violent public debate among themselves. In contrast, in a society lacking democratic experience there are no political rules, no limitations, no restraints or constraints. Groups tend to enter into violent confrontation on every issue. In fact, the Egyptian regime executed heads of the Muslim Brotherhood, while the Brotherhood and other organizations assassinated President Sadat, ministers of the Interior and police officers.

Egyptian society has just been released from the grip of Mubarak's regime. The current situation in Egypt resembles a pressure cooker whose lid has been suddenly removed. The general population's awareness of legitimate tools for conflict management have yet to form, and each group sets demands, develops expectations and is prepared to launch a struggle – sometimes violent – to realize its aspirations.

Instances of assault on police stations, looting of museums, government offices and supermarkets and even sexual assault (as CBS's Lara Logan experienced) are the result of such lawlessness, and such behavior may prevail in Egypt for some time. This is similar to what we witnessed in Iraq after the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Terrorist attacks by Islamic groups should not be ruled out either.

The army has now suspended the constitution for six months in order to impose order; in other words, to put the lid back on the pressure cooker. Nevertheless, Mubarak's National Democratic Party, the Wafd party, the Nasserites, the Socialists, the Communists, the extremist religious groups, of course, and the various "Muslim Brotherhood" Islamists will all attempt to pull in their own direction. ...Such internal struggles could create a political vacuum, drawing in foreign interference. Iran, Hamas, Hizballah and al-Qaeda are all waiting to be “called-in” for assistance by one or another Egyptian faction. Much the same happened in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam's regime in April 2003, and to this day the Iraqi domestic political system has not yet stabilized.

The army will endeavor to lower the flames, or smother them, should they get too high. While the army has thus far not expressed any desire to take power into its hands permanently, it is certainly possible that after whetting its appetite the army will "discover" a taste for ruling, and Egypt will revert to the rule of generals.

The Muslim Brotherhood have now demanded a repeat of the elections for the Legislative Council (Majlis a-Sha'b), held last November, whose results were clearly "fixed" by Mubarak's regime. The Brotherhood won only one seat out of 454, when their electoral strength might have earned them over half the seats. If the army responds to their demands and holds fair elections, we might see an Egyptian parliament with an Islamic majority, such as in Turkey, which will appoint a government with an Islamist agenda. An Islamist president elected in fair elections together with an Islamist parliament might change the constitution to prevent the passing of the country into secular hands, as was done in Iran after the 1979 Islamist revolution.

The coming period could indeed be one of social and political unrest in Egypt, with governments rising and falling, an elected parliament unable to function, a military refraining from taking power despite its authority to do so and politicians forming and rapidly changing allies within a short period. We may also witness a series of political assassinations, as the quarreling camps seek ascendancy.

This situation of unrest could awaken within many Egyptians the wish to bring to Egypt a strong and dependable figure, with a clear, unwavering agenda. The choice will probably be one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as Sheikh Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Al-Qaradawi is a celebrated Egyptian in the Arab and Muslim world, an eloquent speaker, well-read and knowledgeable, and a practically-permanent guest on the "Shari'a and Life" program on Aljazeera TV. Already this past weekend, he was back preaching in Cairo, and could yet be called upon to rescue Egypt from chaos, leading the country in the Islamist direction.

In the near term, then, Egypt will likely be a society plagued by a whirlpool of political intrigue and instability – providing alarming headlines almost daily. The governments of the world must be alert and vigilant for developments that could threaten the Suez Canal, the peace with Israel and regional stability.

*Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a 25-year veteran of Israeli military intelligence, is a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

Israel: A unique Western Ally

From YnetNews, February 18, 2011, by Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger:

The seismic developments in Egypt and throughout the Arab Middle East highlight Israel's unique contribution to vital US interests.

The significance of Israel's strategic added-value is underlined by uncertain and shifty Arab ideologies, policies, alliances and allegiances, by the increasing vulnerability of pro-US Arab regimes, the intensifying unruly nature of Arab societies, the exacerbation of Islamic terrorism, the Iranian nuclear threat, the deepening penetration of the Arab Middle East by Russia and China, the recent erosion of the US posture of deterrence and the expected US evacuation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Israel's reliability, capability, credibility, stability, democracy and non-conditional alliance with the USA are anomalous in the Middle East.

Egypt - a beneficiary of billions of dollars and state of the art US military systems – enhances strategic ties with North Korea, Russia and China, agitates the Horn of Africa and Sudan, consistently votes against the US at the UN and institutionalizes hate-education. A post-Mubarak regime could overtly join an anti-US axis.

Iran's Shah had access to the most advanced US military systems. However, the Shah was toppled; from a staunch US ally, Iran was transformed into the most effective anti-US regime in the world.

Libya's King Idris granted the US, in 1954, the use of Wheelus Air Base, which became the largest US Air Force base outside the USA. In 1969, Colonel Qaddafi overthrew King Idris and Wheelus serviced the Soviet Air Force.

Turkey shifted, in 2002, from a corner stone of the US and NATO posture of deterrence to a major pro-Russia supporter of the anti-US Iran-Syria axis.

Jordan –a recipient of US foreign aid – was one of only two Arab regimes which supported Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Jordan's port of Aqaba became Saddam's most critical route of supplies during the preparations for the 1991 US-Iraq War.

Iraq was pro-Western until the1958 anti-Western coup. However, Saddam Hussein – who ruled Iraq since 1979 - gained the confidence of the US. Therefore, he benefitted from a shared-intelligence agreement, the transfer of sensitive dual-use American technologies and $5BN loan guarantees, until his invasion of Kuwait.

Yemen was assisted by the US in its war against Aden and has benefited from US foreign aid. Still, Sana'a supported Saddam's invasion of Kuwait and hosts anti-US Islamic terrorists, while occasionally fighting them.

Saudi Arabia depends on the US for its survival in the face of lethal regional threats. The 1991 and 2003 US Gulf Wars were largely induced by the concern of a Saddam takeover of Saudi Arabia. However, Riyad bankrolls the operations of anti-US Islamic organizations in the US and anti-US Islamic terrorists.

Israel, on the other hand, was described by the late General Alexander Haig, who was a Supreme Commander of NATO and a US Secretary of State, as

"the largest US aircraft carrier, which does not require even one US soldier, cannot be sunk, is the most cost-effective and battle-tested, located in a region which is critical to vital US interests. If there would not be an Israel, the US would have to deploy real aircraft carriers, along with tens of thousands of US soldiers, which would cost tens of billions of dollars annually, dragging the US unnecessarily into local, regional and global conflicts. All of which is spared by the Jewish State."

For example, in 1970, pro-Soviet Syria invaded Jordan, threatening a domino scenario into the oil-rich Persian Gulf. The US military was preoccupied with Vietnam and could not deploy troops to Jordan. Israel was asked to mobilize its military, and the Syrian invasion was rolled back. Thus, Israel denied the USSR a major coup and spared the US a potential economic disaster, without deploying a single US soldier.
General John Keegan, a former chief of US Air Force Intelligence determined that Israel's contribution to the US intelligence was "equal to five CIAs."
Senator Daniel Inouye, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and former Chairman of the Intelligence Committee:

"The intelligence received from Israel exceeds the intelligence received from all NATO countries combined."

He assessed that Soviet military hardware which was transferred, by Israel, to the USA (P-12 Soviet radar in 1969, Mig-21 and Mig-23 Soviet fighter aircraft in 1966 and 1989 respectively, etc.) tilted the global balance of power in favor of the USA and amounted to a mega-billion dollar bonus to the USA.
In 1981, Israel bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor, thus sparing the US a nuclear confrontation with Iraq in 1991 and 2003. In 1982 and 2007, Israel demolished Soviet surface-to-air missile batteries operated by Syria and a Syrian-Iranian-North Korean nuclear reactor in Syria. The battle tactics – which were the first ever to penetrate such advanced Soviet/Russian defense systems - were shared with the US Air Force, enhancing the US military edge over Moscow.

In 2011, US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan benefit from Israel's experience in combating Improvised Explosive Devices, car bombs and suicide bombers.

The Jewish State constitutes the most advanced battle-tested laboratory for US military systems. The F-16 jet fighter includes over 600 Israeli-induced modifications, which saved the manufacturer billions of dollars and many years of research & development. Hundreds of additional US military systems, operated by Israel, generate similar benefits, according the US defense industries a global competitive edge and expanding US export and employment.

Upgrading the current mutually-beneficial US-Israel strategic cooperation is required in light of the aforementioned benefits, and in response to the turmoil in Egypt and its potential regional ripple effects, while the US lowers its military profile in the region. For example:

• Upgrading the port facilities of Ashdod for use by the Sixth Fleet;
• Pre-positioning, in Israel, US homeland security systems, combat aircraft, missiles, tanks and armed personnel carriers, which would expedite US missions to preserve pro-US Arab regimes;
• Constructing, in Israel, US military facilities;
• Establishing a bi-national defense industrial cooperation fund, leveraging each country's competitive edge.

Enhancement of US-Israel strategic ties is natural and imperative in light of Israel's capabilities and the unique US-Israel common denominator: shared-values, joint-interests and mutual-threats.

Unrest Spreads Through Arab World: Interactive Map

See this useful graphic summary of the state of play in the Middle East from The Israel Project.

WAKE UP! Islamism is bringing the frog to the boil.

From Pajamas Media, 19 Feb 2011, by Rachel Lipsky:

One positive outcome to draw from Egypt’s crisis is the public’s elevated awareness about the Muslim Brotherhood. It is now clearer to many that the Brotherhood’s members are exploiting our open societies and political system right here in our own communities.

The media’s role in deflating the Brotherhood’s dangerous agenda is profound. But other segments of our society are equally guilty. And so, to learn how steadily and consistently the West is losing to a totalitarian political doctrine, read this account. On the surface it may seem an insignificant episode, but assuming it is the model for interfaith or “twinning” devotees, it should be illuminating.
On Dec 4th I attended an interfaith event about which I wrote an article on Pajamas Media, “Where Islamism starts, Interfaith Dialogue Stops.”
At the event, I wanted to share a quote from a document stating the mission of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S: “a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within [...].”
To my dismay, as I was about to read the quote, the host, Rev. Yorty, wouldn’t allow me to do so, stating that he did not want to discuss politics. However, he and his cosponsor guest, Reform Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld, allowed other participants to defame Israel with impunity. For them, criticizing Israel did not seem to fall under the rubric of “discussing politics.”
I left the room, not imagining that within weeks I would face these individuals with such low moral standing yet again.
But on January 29th, two Muslim Brotherhood affiliate organizations — the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA) — invited and sponsored Imam Rauf as a keynote speaker at the University of Buffalo. And who do you think participated in the interfaith panel session along with Imam Rauf? You guessed correctly. The same Presbyterian Pastor Thomas Yorty and his cosponsor Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld, who joined Imam Rauf to discuss “how Americans of all faiths can work together for lasting peace.” They both spoke favorably of Imam Rauf and supported the work of MPAC. Overall, the interfaith session was devoid of any theological substance. Instead, the same superficial clichés often repeated during these events were offered yet again with petty statements like “We need to improve our knowledge of other people’s religions.” Of course, during the first event I tried to “improve our knowledge” of the political tenet of Islam, but to no avail. They sabotaged critical thinking and rejected any dissent from their rigid narrow-minded creed.

In the Q&A last session with Imam Rauf, a question was asked about persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Pastor Yorty responded: “Christian persecution is not a topic I know much about.” If the pastor knows nothing about his fellow Christians (hundreds of thousands of murdered Christians in the past three decades), how can he be trusted on interfaith dialogue between Muslims and Christians?
The rabbi’s response to the same question was that Christian persecution in the Middle East is NOT religiously oriented; rather, it’s all political. For example, he stated that Christians who left Beit Lechem did it because of “political fear.” Unfortunately, this stunning response was not followed with any evidence.
Next, a question was asked about the rise of the new anti-Semitism. Rabbi Rosenfeld responded that “lousy economics” has been the reason for the hatred, assuring the mostly Muslim audience of some 150 individuals that anti-Semitism is currently “much less than ever before.” The rabbi also blamed the media for exaggerating anti-Semitism. Surely, the “rabbi” is unaware that his statement is strongly contradicted by the FBI, the CIA, and the U.S. State Department.
The same Rabbi Rosenfeld showed no inhibition in mocking his political opponents. He referred to those who raise the alarm on the supremacist doctrine of Islam as “wacko” and “extremists” and even asked his embracing audience: “don’t you have to laugh at some of these people?” The rabbi’s partner, Pastor Yorty, used the word “haters” to describe opponents of his views.
I primarily attended this event to hear what the controversial Imam Rauf had to say. Yet I found the comments of the pastor and the rabbi more distressing. This is not because Imam Rauf has gone through an epiphany and now displays a drastic change of heart. After all, I have heard the imam a few times throughout the years, at the Chautauqua Institution, and I am used to his polished tone and deceptive language.

What I did not anticipate was the eagerness of Jewish and Christian clergy leaders to capitulate to a mostly Muslim audience [some of whom] believe in a doctrine of Islamic world conquest supported with a dogma which aspires to destroy our way of life, a real threat to our liberties in our Western civilization.

These two clergymen ignored and belittled the horrific suffering of their own people. The persecution of Christians by Muslims was not an issue the pastor “knew much about,” and new anti-Semitism, instigated mostly by Muslims, was “much less than ever before,” merely exaggerated by the media. Of course, anyone who follows world affairs, even occasionally, knows how ludicrous their claims are. These two individuals preferred ingratiating themselves in front of their Muslim counterparts rather than challenging this particular audience to defend the rights of religious freedom and stand up against persecuting people with differing religious views. These clergymen and those who support them betray their communities by ignoring the looming issues and declaring platitudes, all under the name of progressiveness and multicultural understanding.
The organizer of this program is the president of MPAC Western New York chapter and on their national board. In Feb. 2008, Dr. Khalid J. Qazi ran a similar program titled “Understanding Islam,” together with the aforementioned Rev. Yorty. There, Mr. Qazi falsely asserted that Israeli laws institute hate, that Jews rejoice when Palestinians are murdered, and that Jews “got all the goodies after World War II.” While he persistently attacked Israel and Jews, he barely addressed the topic of “Understanding Islam.” Additionally, in the MPAC newsletter of April 2009, Qazi asks “how and why the world could stand by while the state of Israel is subjecting Palestinians to a Holocaust in their own homeland.”
In spite of these outrageous and offensive statements by Dr. Qazi, he still has been accepted by his Jewish and Christian counterparts — while, at the same time, they demonstrate contempt toward their opponents, who are genuinely concerned about what Dr. Qazi and his like really are all about.
Lt. Col. Allen West, newly elected Republican congressman from the state of Florida, shared his concise assessment of political Islam during a panel discussion on the topic. “This is not a religion,” he said, that “you are fighting against. You are fighting against a theo-political belief system [... and] until you get principled leadership in the United States of America that is willing to say that, we will continue to chase our tail, because we’ll never clearly define who this enemy is.”
The question for Rabbi Rosenfeld, Rev. Yorty, and their supporters is: how can they label people with differing viewpoints, or anyone challenging their views, as “extremists” and “wackos”? Is this an honest dialogue? Where is the “principled leadership” among Jewish and Christian clergy who would take the politically incorrect stand and clearly spell out what we are up against? We need ordained religious leaders with intellectual honesty to come forward and let their voices be heard.

If individuals like these clergymen, who are enamored with their alleged “partners for peace,” genuinely want to know “how Americans of all faiths can work together for lasting peace,” for a start, why not discard the politically correct drivel and deal with the vital issues no matter how unpleasant and disturbing they are? I question whether there would be interfaith sessions and “twinning” projects if educated people of courage seriously challenged many of the thorny issues related to the political doctrine of Islam[ism].

For now, interfaith dialogues provide quenching Kool-Aid for spineless leaders as the innocent masses remain oblivious and in danger — while the Islamists laugh all the way to Mecca.

Tariq Ramadan: Western Apologist for Islamist Totalitarianism

Now that the pot is boiling throughout the Middle East, the stirrers in the West are out in their suave suits, trying to hoodwink us into being relaxed about the threat of totalitarian Islamism.

Tariq Ramadan: apologist for his grandfather, Hassan al-Banna, founder of Islamist totalitarianism and terrorist "martyrdom"

In an op-ed in the New York Times, 8 February 2011, Tariq Ramadan writes of his grandfather, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood:

"...The writings from between 1930 and 1945 of Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Brotherhood, show that he opposed colonialism and strongly criticized the fascist governments in Germany and Italy..." [It's in the New York Times, so it must be true...ha-ha-ha!!]

However, the Muslim Brotherhood, which was the brainchild of al-Banna, was totalitarian, extreme, violent and racist from its beginnings in 1928. It's slogan was and is:

 "God is our purpose, the Prophet our leader, the Qur'an our constitution, Jihad our way and dying for God's cause our supreme objective."

Hassan al-Banna: facsist lover of death

Al-Banna's goal was not restricted to Egyptian politics nor Islamic scholarship. He wanted no less than global dominance, and preached a love of death to achieve it. Does this sound like "anti-colonialism"?...

"...we will not stop at this point [freeing Egypt from secularism and modernity], but will pursue this evil force to its own lands, invade its Western heartland, and struggle to overcome it until all the world shouts by the name of the Prophet and the teachings of Islam spread throughout the world. Only then will Muslims achieve their fundamental goal… and all religion will be exclusively for Allah."

(Habeck, Knowing the enemy - p. 120)

My brothers! The ummah that knows how to die a noble and honourable death is granted an exalted life in this world and eternal felicity in the next. Degradation and dishonour are the results of the love of this world and the fear of death. Therefore prepare for jihad and be the lovers of death. Life itself shall come searching after you. ...You should yearn for an honourable death and you will gain perfect happiness. May Allah grant myself and yours the honour of martyrdom in His way!

From al-Banna's treatise on Jihad.

...so much for "anti-colonialism"...

As for al-Banna's so-called criticism of Fascism, see the Encyclopedia of the Middle East background to the man:

The growth of the Muslim Brotherhood was accompanied or caused in part by the fact that Al-Banna associated it with the German Nazi party and the Third Reich. From the ideological point of view, the Jew hatred, authoritarianism, addiction to violence and desire to defeat the British of both the Muslim Brothers and the Nazis were quite enough to make the two movements find common cause.

The Brotherhood’s political and military alliance with Nazi Germany blossomed into formal state visits, de facto ambassadors, and overt and covert joint ventures. The Muslim Brotherhood transformed Nazi anti-Semitism into a Muslim version, providing Arab translations of Mein Kampf (translated into Arabic as “My Jihad”) and other Nazi anti-Semitic works, including Der Sturmer hate-cartoons, adapted to portray the Jew as the demonic enemy of Allah rather than the German Volk.

When World War II broke out, al-Banna worked to firm up his alliances with Hitler and Mussolini. He sent them letters and emissaries, and urged them to assist him in his struggle against the British and the westernized regime of Egypt's King Farouk. The Intelligence Service of the Muslim Brotherhood vigorously collected information on the heads of the regime in Cairo and on the movements of the British army, offering this and more to the Germans in return for closer relations.

Jimmy Carter sued for deception and fraud

From a Press Release, February 2, 2011, by David Schoen and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, co counsel for the Plaintiffs:

An historic class action suit has been filed against former President Jimmy Carter and the Simon & Schuster publishing company alleging that Carter’s book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, contained numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author’s agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information as advertised...

... The lawsuit contends that Carter, who holds himself out as a Middle-East expert, and his publisher, intentionally presented untrue and inaccurate information and sought to capitalize on the author’s status as a former President to mislead unsuspecting members of the public.

...The complaint notes that after the book’s publication some of Carter’s closest aides, including distinguished public officials and scholars personally involved in the events described, condemned the book as untruthful.

Despite being presented with irrefutable proof that many of representations in the book are false, the defendants have refused to make any corrections.

Attorney Darshan-Leitner stated that:
“The lawsuit will expose all the falsehoods and misrepresentations in Carter's book and prove that his hatred of Israel has led him to commit this fraud on the public. He is entitled to his opinions but deceptions and lies have no place in works of history.”

Attorney Schoen stated that:
"It is, indeed, a sad day for all of us as Americans, when a former President demeans the dignity of his office by intentionally misstating critically important facts concerning events of great historic significance and public interest, simply to advance a personal anti-Israel animus and to foster the agenda of the enemies of Israel who pump so much money into the Center which bears his name."

A copy of the complaint is available here.

Qaradawi: Egypt's Khomeini?

From the Rubin Report, Friday, February 18, 2011, by Barry Rubin:

Friday, February 18 may be a turning point in Egyptian history. On this day Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the best-known Muslim Brotherhood cleric in the world and one of the most famous Islamist thinkers, will address a mass rally in Cairo.

It was 32 years ago almost to the day when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned in triumph to Tehran to take the leadership of that country. Qaradawi has a tougher job but he's up to the challenge if his health holds up.

.... Long resident in the Gulf, he is returning to his homeland in triumph. Through internet, radio, his 100 books, and his weekly satellite television program, Qaradawi has been an articulate voice for revolutionary Islamism. He is literally a living legend.

Under the old regime, Qaradawi was banned from the country. He is now 84 years old--two years older than the fallen President Husni Mubarak...

It was Qaradawi who, in critiquing Usama bin Ladin and al-Qaida, argued that Islamists should always participate in elections because they would, he claims, invariably win them. Hamas and Hizballah have shown that he was right on that point.

Symbollically, he will give the Friday prayer sermon to be held in Tahrir Square, the center of the revolutionary movement. The massing of hundreds of thousands of people in the square to hear Islamic services and a sermon by a radical Islamist is not the kind of thing that's been going on under the 60-year-old military regime that was recently overthrown.

The context is also the thanking of Qaradawi for his support of the revolution, an implication that he is somehow its spiritual father.

Qaradawi, though some in the West view him as a moderate, supports the straight Islamist line: anti-American, anti-Western, wipe Israel off the map, foment Jihad, stone homosexuals, in short the works.

One of Qaradawi's initiatives has been urging Muslims to settle in the West, of which he said, “that powerful West, which has come to rule the world, should not be left to the influence of the Jews alone.” He contends that the three major threats Muslims face are Zionism, internal integration, and globalization. To survive, he argues, Muslims must fight the Zionists, Crusaders, idolators, and Communists.

Make no mistake, Qaradawi is not some fossilized Islamic ideologue. ...He is subtle enough to sell himself as a moderate to those who don't understand the implications of his words or look beneath the surface of his presentation.

...It is Qaradawi, not bin Ladin, who is the most dangerous revolutionary Islamist in the world and he is about to unleash the full force of his power [of] persuasion on Egypt...

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: ...to be, or not to be?

A hopeful analysis from The National Review Online, February 16, 2011, by Duncan Currie:

Democratization will be a messy and turbulent process...

What is the best possible outcome in Egypt? Short term, the ideal scenario is a nonviolent, military-brokered transition led by a reformist government that will spearhead major constitutional changes, uphold the rule of law, nurture liberal institutions, promote democratic pluralism, safeguard basic freedoms, and maintain the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

But when exactly should the country hold fresh elections? That’s where things get trickier.

...Without adequate institutional and cultural underpinnings, democracy can rapidly deteriorate into soft (or rigid) authoritarianism. We should not be idealistically dismissive of the profound challenges of moving from dictatorship to representative government. Holding a free election tomorrow would not transform Egypt into New Zealand. The process of liberalization will unfold over many years, with plenty of setbacks along the way.

Had Hosni Mubarak been a different sort of autocrat — one who allowed for greater political and socioeconomic development — Egypt would be better positioned to make the leap toward democratic rule. Alas, the octogenarian despot chose to brutalize and imprison secular human-rights activists rather than let them foster civil society. This repression, along with a bevy of social and religious factors, helped the outlawed Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (EMB) — a Sunni Islamist group founded in 1928 — become the country’s biggest opposition movement.

Now we are confronting the same fears that Cairo shrewdly manipulated for decades. What if the Egyptian uprising triggers a chaotic chain reaction? What if the EMB seizes control? Won’t it turn Egypt into an Islamic theocracy and launch hostile actions against Israel? Won’t it disrupt trade flows — including oil traffic — through the strategically vital Suez Canal? ...These are the concerns that traditionally insulated Mubarak from serious U.S. pressure to reform.

...Here’s the discomfiting but inescapable reality: EMB members represent a sizable constituency, and they will exert substantial influence during the post-Mubarak transition. Neither the 83-year-old organization nor its grassroots followers can be airbrushed from the Egyptian political landscape.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is an important player in Egypt, and it is going to remain an important player,” says Marina Ottaway, a Middle East specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP). Yet Ottaway is quick to add that the EMB lacks both the popularity and the charismatic leadership necessary to establish an Iranian-style religious state. As anthropologist and regional expert Scott Atran has emphasized, the group does not command anything close to “mass support.” Its current prominence is largely a result of persistent government efforts to bludgeon the secular and liberal opposition.

CEIP vice president Thomas Carothers believes there is ample reason to hope that Egypt might follow the path, not of Iran, but of Indonesia — the most populous Muslim country on earth — which began its successful democratic transition in 1998. Writing in the online version of The New Republic, Carothers argues that “Egypt is not ripe for a radical Islamist revolution.” Islam scholar Reuel Marc Gerecht — a former CIA officer and author of an upcoming book on Middle East democracy — agrees: “What we are likely to see in Egypt,” he predicts in the New York Times, “is not a repeat of Iran, where fundamentalists took undisputed power, but a repeat of Iraq, where Sunni religious parties did well initially but started to fade, divide and evolve as the powerful Sunni preference for laymen of no particular religious distinction comes to the foreground.”

Indeed, the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam will militate against the imposition of a clerical regime in Cairo. Egyptian society has not produced a Khomeini-like figure, nor should we expect it to, given the nature of Sunni doctrine and tradition. Despite being “the mother ship of Sunni fundamentalism,” Gerecht notes, the EMB “has always had a tense relationship with Al Azhar, the great Sunni seminary of Cairo.” When Americans imagine the “Egyptian Muslim Brothers,” they may picture a bunch of bearded clergymen delivering fanatical sermons. Yet as Reuters correspondent Samia Nakhoul observes, the group boasts “an overwhelmingly lay leadership of professionals with modern educations — engineers, doctors, lawyers, academics and teachers.”

What is the Muslim Brotherhood?

From CBN News, Tuesday, February 15, 2011:

Walid Shoebat, who was once a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, has authored many books about Islam and the Middle East, including his most recent, God's War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy, and the Bible.

Shoebat was born in Bethlehem to a Palestinian family and was once a PLO terrorist. Now, as a Christian, he works tireless to educate people about the realities of the radical Islamic agenda.

Shoebat appeared on The 700 Club, Monday, Feb. 14, to talk about the Muslim Brotherhood, recent events in Egypt, and how the upheaval will affect Christians living in the region. Click play to watch.

Many foreign policy experts believe that the radical organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood will gain great influence with a change of government in Egypt.
This secretive group has had many Western observers uneasy for years. The Brotherhood was founded in 1928 in Egypt, with the goal of spreading Islamic sharia law worldwide and uniting all Muslim nations into one Islamic super-state.
Before Osama bin Laden formed al Qaeda, he belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood. So did his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The terror group Hamas also identifies itself as the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian branch.
Why is there such a draw to the Brotherhood? the group's official motto may tell the story. It reads:

Allah is our objective.
The prophet is our leader.
Qur'an is our law.
Jihad is our way.
Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.

The Brotherhood was eventually banned in Egypt, but for the past several decades has worked behind the scenes to the point where it's now considered the most influential Islamist organization in the world, with chapters in more than 100 countries.
The group's immediate goal is an Islamic state in Egypt and an end to that country's peace treaty with Israel.
What is the danger if the United States and other nations do not understand what the Muslim Brotherhood is all about?

UK’s Foreign Secretary Hague joins the ignorant Israel bashers

From JPost, 9 Feb 2011, by JONNY PAUL:

LONDON – British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned on Wednesday  ...that the public protests which have swept the Arab world could put the Middle East peace process in jeopardy.

...“This should not be a time for belligerent language,” Hague argued when asked about Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu call to prepare for “any outcome” and comments that he would “reinforce the might of the State of Israel” should it prove necessary. “It is a time to inject greater urgency into the Middle East peace process,” the foreign secretary told the Times.

...In an analysis, Michael Weiss, executive director of Just Journalism, a London-based independent research and media monitor organization focused on how Israel and the Middle East are reported in the media, said that a sense of “urgency” has always been integral to the peace process.

“I’m not quite sure what the foreign secretary meant by “inject greater urgency” into the peace process,” Weiss said. “A sense of ‘urgency’ has run through 40 years of international diplomacy and has yet to produce any real results.”

If Israel had to increase defense spending, in the event that its peace treaty with Egypt was annulled, would the British consider this a “belligerent” act? Weiss asked.

“Hague doesn’t seem to understand the context of Netanyahu’s remark. After Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt was signed, Israel’s defense budget dropped from 30 percent of its gross national product to 7%. If that treaty is dissolved – as the Muslim Brotherhood have already made clear they’d like to see happen – then clearly Israel will have to re-up its defense spending. Now that might be interpreted as belligerence by a British government that can now afford to share its aircraft carriers with France. But for the Middle East’s only democracy, it’s called sanity,” Weiss said.

Shoah survivors seek reparations from French railways

From JPost 15 Feb 2011, by JORDANA HORN:

NEW YORK – A new website ... is the latest line of attack in a longstanding quest of a group of Holocaust survivors to get reparations from the French national railway company that transported people to concentration and death camps during World War II.

SNCF transported over 75,000 people to such camps.

...SNCF has acknowledged its role in the Holocaust and has posted information relating to its WWII history on its own website, issuing its first formal apology for its role in the Holocaust in January, but has made no effort to pay reparations.

...“SNCF’s recent decision to issue its first ‘apology’ for its role in the Holocaust was a calculated gesture to ensure the company’s ability to compete for billions of American taxpayer dollars,” the website reads. ...
Thus far, however, SNCF has not been found liable for reparations in US courts due to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which sets limits on whether a foreign state can be sued in a US court.

As SNCF, a French national entity, has recently begun to bid for highspeed rail contracts in American states including California, Maryland and Florida, survivors have tried to pursue redress through legislative channels instead.

Recent developments include a bill introduced last week by Maryland state lawmakers, which would require companies bidding on mass transit rail contracts to disclose whether or not they were involved in transporting victims to German concentration camps.


...Federal legislation that would give US courts jurisdiction to hear civil claims against SNCF over its role in the Holocaust will be reintroduced soon, according to New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, whose first attempt to pass such a law never reached a vote.

“The legislation would simply preclude SNCF from raising the defense of foreign sovereign immunity and allow the survivors’ suit... to go forward,” Prober said. “This is not what the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act was intended to cover.”

Collective suicide of the West?

From: The Australian February 15, 2011, by Melanie Phillips*:

THE future of Egypt following the departure of president Hosni Mubarak remains opaque.
No one can currently predict whether it will end up as a democracy with free elections, a military dictatorship, or an Islamic theocratic tyranny.

... the most frightening thing of all  ...[is] the way in which the West has sanitised the Muslim Brothers and even, in the case of the Obama administration, actually tried to push them into power.

When it wasn't flip-flopping over whether Mubarak should stay or go, the White House first said it wouldn't mind if the Muslim Brothers became part of the Egyptian government.

Then it urged the inclusion of "important non-secular actors" - code for the Muslim Brothers - in a "more democratic" Egypt. And then it was revealed that its proposal for the immediate transfer of power called for the transitional government to include the brotherhood.

What madness was this? The Muslim Brothers' goal is to Islamise the world. They are religious fascists. While certainly there are millions of Muslims around the world who do want to live under democracy, the Brothers are totally against any secular rule at all and stand for an extinction of human rights. They are fanatical Jew-haters. In the 1930s they were effectively created as a political force by the Nazi Party, with which they formulated a final solution for Palestine by ridding it of its Jews, an agenda continued today by their offshoot, Hamas.

Today, they are no less the mortal enemies of the free world. Their leaders have declared war on America, gloating that the US is "experiencing the beginning of its end and is heading towards its demise", and that "resistance is the only solution".

They support al-Qa'ida terrorism "against the Americans and the Zionists". They declared that after Mubarak they would dissolve the peace treaty with Israel.

They support Hezbollah, make overtures to Iran, and openly employ a strategy of simulating moderation to gain power though democratic means in order to destroy democracy.

If Egypt is eventually taken over by the brotherhood, Jordan will be next, and both will turn into Iran/Gaza in a matter of a few years. Oh, and the Brothers are also busy Islamising Britain and America. Yet on both sides of the pond, significant elements of the political and defence establishment have decided that the Muslim Brothers are basically peace-loving, sensible, pragmatic chaps who are useful allies against the men of violence.

...Has there ever been a civilisation more bent on collective suicide than the contemporary West?

*Melanie Phillips is the author of The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle over God, Truth and Power, published by Encounter

War crimes charges against Sandor Kepiro

From WJC, 15 February 2011:

In Budapest, a 97-year-old man was charged ...for allegedly committing war crimes during World War II. According to the charge sheet, Sandor Kepiro was complicit in the execution of four innocent civilians in Novi Sad, Serbia, between 21 and 23 January 1942, as the commander of a patrol... An estimated 1,200 civilians suspected of aiding local resistance fighters – many of them Jews and Roma – were rounded up and taken to the bank of the Danube to be killed. The victims, some still alive, had their bodies thrown under the ice of the frozen river. The Hungarian forces then shot into the ice to break it up. Most of the victims drowned. Kepiro's patrol was allegedly also responsible for the deportation in a truck of 30 people who were later executed, and for the killing of two brothers who tried to escape, bringing the number of victims to 36.

"The prosecutor's office is not investigating the Novi Sad Massacre in its entirety but only the actions of the suspect," the spokeswoman told AFP, noting that some 200 patrols, each made up of 10 to 12 people, had taken part in the mass killings, with only one under Kepiro's command...

Kepiro was convicted in 1944 and 1946 by a Hungarian court, but was never jailed and denied all the allegations against him. In 1996, he returned to Hungary after decades in hiding in Argentina. The case was reopened after a researcher of the Simon Wiesenthal Center discovered his whereabouts in 2006.  ...In 2008, Serbia's war crimes prosecutor called for a formal investigation into Kepiro's actions, estimating that he had "consciously and willingly taken part... in the murder of at least 2,000 Jews and Serbs" in Novi Sad...

"Egypt isn't moving toward democracy, it's moved into martial law and where it goes is now subject to debate."

From Reuters, 12 Feb, by Samia Nakhoul and Andrew Hammond* 2011:

...Behind the celebrations, there was a note of caution over how far the armed forces under Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's veteran defense minister, were ready to permit democracy, especially since the hitherto banned Islamist Muslim Brotherhood is one of the best organized movements.

"This is just the end of the beginning," said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Egypt isn't moving toward democracy, it's moved into martial law and where it goes is now subject to debate."

U.S. officials familiar with the Egyptian military say Tantawi, 75, has long seemed resistant to change.

Suleiman, a 74-year-old former spy chief, annoyed some this week by questioning whether Egyptians were ready for democracy.

Al Arabiya television said the army would soon dismiss the cabinet and suspend parliament. The head of the Constitutional Court would join the leadership with the military council.

The best deterrent to any attempt to maintain military rule could be the street power of protesters who showed Mubarak they could render Egypt ungovernable without their consent.

But as continued turmoil in Tunisia shows a month after the overthrow of the strongman there inspired young Egyptians to act, any government will face huge social and economic problems.

*Reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Edmund Blair, Marwa Awad, Yasmine Saleh, Dina Zayed, Shaimaa Fayed, Alexander Dziadosz, Sherine El Madany, Patrick Werr, Alistair Lyon, Tom Perry, Andrew Hammond, Jonathan Wright, Peter Millership and Alison Williams in Cairo and Christian Lowe in Algiers; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Louise Ireland.