May 22, 2012
FSM HOT TOPICS
Muslim Brotherhood's MidEast Meddling and Machinations
by THE GLOBAL MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD DAILY REPORT February 22, 2011
The Turkish government has released its investigation into the Gaza Flotilla which resulted in a violent altercation with Israel naval forces last June. After describing what it views as Israel human rights and humanitarian abuses in its Gaza policies, the report presents the following and only description of the background to the flotilla:
It is within such a context that a multitude of NGO‘s from a variety of countries came together in a coalition to help alleviate the alarming humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The principal Turkish NGO within the coalition was ―İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri Vakfı‖ (the ―Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms‖—IHH), which enjoys consultative status within the UN ECOSOC and performs humanitarian activities in over 120 countries worldwide since 1992. The coalition organized an international and multi-faith convoy of ships laden with certified humanitarian aid. The ships set sail in May 2010 from different countries.
In contrast, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) has recently published an almost hundred page report titled “Turkey, the Global Muslim Brotherhood, and the Gaza Flotilla” which provides extensive background on the years leading up to the flotilla. The JCPA report abstract states:
There is strong evidence for Turkish governmental involvement in the Gaza flotilla incident, with Turkish government support channeled through the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood network. Since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood. The IHH was not acting alone but rather was an integral part of a Turkish Muslim Brotherhood network.
With respect to the Global Muslim Brotherhood, report’s second conclusion states:
The Gaza flotilla incident brought into sharp focus an even more significant long- term development: the growing relationship between the Erdogan government and the Global Muslim Brotherhood, which has given rise to some of the most notorious Islamist terrorist groups – from al-Qaeda to Hamas. Since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood, while the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip acted as the main axis for this activity.
Read the rest here (pdf).
GlobalMB @ February 21, 2011
Arabic language news is reporting that Yemeni MP’s and politicians are calling for the closure of Al-Iman University, associated with Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood leader Adbul-Majid al-Zindani (aka Abd al-Majid al-Zindani), a US designated terrorist. The report says that the University fosters and funds terrorism and provides students with arms and explosives. The university is said not to be under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Yemeni President is reported to have intervened to protect al-Zindani and hindered US efforts to arrest or assassinate him. In addition, the Jerusalem Post reported that al-Zindani appealed to end the current protests in Yemen:
Another appeal to end the protests came from Yemen’s most prominent religious figure, Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, who is close to Saleh. The United States considers him an al-Qaida-linked terrorist.”Change by street protest is rejected. It leads to chaos,” al-Zindani said.
A previous post reported on the role of the Islah Party, the local Muslim Brotherhood organization in Yemen, as part of what was described as a “cross-ideological inter-party coalition.” Zindani is one the most important leaders of Islah who has been the head of the the party’s Shura (advisory) council for at least three terms. The U.S. Treasury Department has designated Zindani as a terrorist and describes him as a “loyalist” and “spiritual advisor” to Osama Bin Laden. A 2007 Jamestown Foundation report further explains Zindani’s terrorist activities:
According to a statement from the U.S. Treasury Department, al-Zindani’s involvement with al-Qaeda includes recruiting, purchasing weapons and acting as a spiritual leader for the movement, as well as acting as a contact for Kurdish Iraq’s Ansar al-Islam. The Yemen government has ignored appeals from Washington for the arrest of the sheikh and the seizure of his assets (Arab News, February 24, 2006). Al-Zindani was recently identified in a U.S. federal court as the coordinator of the October 2000 suicide attack in Aden harbor on the USS Cole. A two and a half year-old lawsuit filed in Virginia by the families of the 17 servicemen killed in the bombing has recently finished by finding the country of Sudan responsible for the attack, opening the way for compensation payments from the US$68 million in Sudanese assets frozen by the U.S. government. The suit also alleged that al-Zindani selected the two suicide bombers that carried out the strike, although the sheikh was never charged by Yemeni authorities with complicity in the attack (The Virginian-Pilot, March 12). Yemen’s minister of foreign affairs, Dr. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, welcomed the decision, ignoring the alleged role of al-Zindani, while declaring the verdict proof that Yemen was in no way involved in the attack on the U.S. destroyer.
Also, the Jeruslaem Post reported in April 2006 that Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal had met with Zindani at a fundraising event at the Hamas office in Yemen. The report stated that at the event, Zindani “praised Hamas suicide bombers and and called on his followers to donate money to assist the Palestinian people.”
In addition to his leadership of the Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood, Zindani also has strong links to the global Muslim Brotherhood including serving on the board of global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi’s Union of Good Hamas fund-raising organization and his relationship to Muslim Brotherhood figure Zaghloul el-Naggar of Egypt. The connection with el-Naggar is based on both men’s position as leading exponents of the so-called “scientific basis of Islam.” As the Jamestown report explains:
Al-Zindani is also a leading exponent of the scientific basis for Islam, as outlined in various passages of the Quran that the sheikh interprets as descriptions of everything from black holes to photosynthesis. Last December, al-Zindani, a former pharmacist, claimed to have developed a cure for HIV/AIDS. Unlike other HIV/AIDS medicines, the sheikh’s discovery allegedly has no side effects while eliminating the disease in men, women and even fetuses. Al-Zindani asserts that he will reveal the herbal formula for “Eajaz-3″ once a copyright has been obtained. Although the sheikh claims the inspiration of his creation “came from God,” no proof of the cure’s effectiveness has yet been presented (Yemen Observer, December 19, 2006). In the last few months, five Libyan children receiving treatment for HIV at al-Zindani’s al-Iman University have been deported in response to allegations of Libyan assistance to Shiite rebels in Yemen’s Sa’ada province (Yemen Observer, March 6; Terrorism Focus, February 20).
Although the Jamestown report says that Zindani “has lately made a slight retreat from the Islamist global arena”, his activities represent one of the challenges to the notion that there is some kind of “firewall” between the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda/and or jihadist organizations.
GlobalMB @ February 21, 2011
Essam El-Erian.
Israeli media has reported on comments by an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader in which he said that a decision on the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty “belongs to the entire Egyptian people.” According to a report in the Jerusalem Post:
Muslim Brotherhood official says “decision on the treaty does not belong to the Brotherhood, it belongs to the entire Egyptian people.”
The Muslim Brotherhood on Friday said that any decision on the country’s peace treaty with Israel was up to the Egyptian people and it would not impose its view on them, Reuters reported.
“The decision on the treaty does not belong to the Brotherhood, it belongs to the entire Egyptian people,” said Essam El-Erian, a spokesman for the Islamist group, in an interview with Al Arabiya television. Erian did not set out the Brotherhood’s position on the accords.
An earlier post reported on comments by El-Erian that if President Mubarak were replaced, a referendum will be held to decide the fate of the 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Another post discussed comments by another Egyptian Brotherhood spokesman that that he would like to see the Egyptian people “prepare for war” with Israel.
It should be noted that the Muslim Brotherhood today has become a global network and that the Egyptian mother branch is not necessarily the most important part of the movement. Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi, close to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, is often referred to by the GMBDR as the most important leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, an acknowledgement of his role as the de facto spiritual leader of the movement. In 2004, Qaradawi turned down the offer to lead the Egyptian Brotherhood after the death of the Supreme Guide.
GlobalMB @ February 20, 2011
MEMRI has translated a Palestinian media report indicating that the Gaza Hamas Prime Minister has invited Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi to lead a public prayer in Gaza. According to the MEMRI translation:
Haniya Invites Qaradhawi to Lead Prayers in Gaza In a phone conversation with Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Clerics, Hamas Prime Minister Isma’il Haniya congratulated the Egyptian people for their revolution, and thanked Al-Qaradhawi for championing the causes of Palestine, Jerusalem and the lifting of the Gaza siege in his February 18 sermon in Al-Tahrir square. Haniya invited the sheikh to lead a public prayer in Gaza, expressing a hope that he would one day lead a prayer in Al-Aqsa. Al-Qaradhawi thanked him for the invitation and promised to work towards making his visit a reality. He wished the steadfast people of Gaza victory and liberation.
Source: Palestine-info.info, February 19, 2011
An earlier post discussed Qaradawi’s appearance in Cario’s Tahrir Square on Friday. MEMRI has subsequently posted a translation of his remarks containing details of that speech generally unreported by global media. For example
In a special mention of the Palestinian issue, Al-Qaradhawi asked the Egyptian army to open wide the Rafah crossing and to pray for the re-conquest of Jerusalem by the Muslims, so that he and the Muslims could pray in security at Al-Aqsa Mosque. This part of his sermon was cheered and applauded by thte crowd.He also said that he wants to give the Friday prayer sermon at Al-Aqsa mosque.
Qaradawi, a virulent anti-Semite is often referred to here as the most important leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, an acknowledgement of his role as the de facto spiritual leader of the movement. In 2004, Qaradawi turned down the offer to lead the Egyptian Brotherhood after the death of the Supreme Guide. Based in Qatar, Sheikh Qaradawi has reportedly amassed substantial wealth through his role as Shari’ah adviser to many important Islamic banks and funds. He is also considered to be the “spiritual guide” for Hamas and his fatwas in support of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens were instrumental in the development of the phenomenon. A recent post has discussed a video compilation of Qaradawi’s extremist statements. Qaradawi recently reiterated his support for suicide bombing in Israel and expressed his desire to die as a martyr “at the hands of a non-Muslim.” The GMBDR has been covering Qaradawi extensively in these pages for some time. Our coverage on him can be found here.
The Hamas charter states that it is ” is one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine” and an Israeli TV station has reported that in 2008, Muslim Brotherhood “representatives” traveled to Gaza from Egypt through the open border to meet with Hamas. An earlier media report indicated that shortly after Hamas took over the Gaza strip, Muslim Brotherhood representatives were present to review Hamas military formations. Last June, a Hamas journalist acknowledged the role that the “international Muslim Brotherhood” has played in providing funds for the purchase of weapons.The Global Muslim Brotherhood support Hamas through the Union of Good, a worldwide coalition of charities headed by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi.
GlobalMB @ February 20, 2011
Reprinted with permission from the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report.
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