THINK-ISRAEL |
It is profoundly disconcerting to read media reports of the unseemly competition between the US and Western governments to curry favor with the Muslim Brotherhood in the wake of its electoral victory in Egypt. There are chilling parallels between such behavior and the disastrous European policy of appeasing the Nazis which paved the way for World War II.
What those attempting to embrace the Muslim Brotherhood fail to comprehend is that this organization represents one of the most fanatical and dangerous of the radical Islamist groups in the region, with a dark record of violence and terrorism imbedded in its DNA. It is rabidly anti-Western, anti-Christian and anti-Semitic, is committed to imposing sharia law and a global caliphate — and willing to employ any means to further its objectives.
To this day, the Brotherhood credo remains: "Allah is our objective, the Koran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our way and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations."
In Brotherhood eyes Osama bin Laden was a "sheikh" and they condemned the US for assassinating him. A few weeks ago the current Brotherhood leader, Muhammad al-Badi, proclaimed that the genocidal Hamas, which the Brotherhood spawned, should be regarded as a role model for Islamic piety.
If the terms evil and criminal have any meaning, they would surely apply to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Today, aware of the desperate need for US and Western economic support, it tactically moves into a duplicitous "stealth jihad" mode, speaking with a forked tongue and feeding the foreign media with self-portraits of moderation that are totally divorced from reality.
It reassures Western politicians and media that it will adhere to all prior international treaties. But its deceitfulness is exemplified by subsequent announcements that as the peace treaty with Israel was never endorsed by the people, it must be submitted to a referendum. The Muslim Brotherhood to this day repeatedly vows that it will never recognize a Jewish state and fully endorses the murderous policies of Hamas.
DESPITE ALL this, the US administration, mindlessly seeking a rationale to engage with the Brotherhood, has welcomed the "democratic" elections in Egypt, stressing the need to respect the will of the people while disregarding the radical Islamic and fascist nature of the Brotherhood.
According to The New York Times, the administration is promoting the line that the Brotherhood seeks to "build a modern democracy that will respect individual freedoms, free markets and international commitments, including Egypt's treaty with Israel." Some apologists even go to the absurd lengths of describing the Brotherhood as the Middle East equivalent of the European Christian Democrats.
They also seem to forget that no Islamic regime has ever voluntarily relinquished power. They refuse to face the reality that, akin to Hamas in Gaza and the Nazis in Germany, both of which gained a parliamentary majority in their respective elections, once in power the Brotherhood will destroy the opposition, impose sharia law and intensify the persecution of Christian Copts and all infidels. In the course of time they could make Mubarak's autocracy seem like a liberal paradise.
Foreign Relations Committee Chair Senator John Kerry, who formerly described Syrian dictator Bashar Assad's regime as "reform-minded" and enthusiastically supported "engaging" Iran, is not renowned for excessive wisdom in his observations concerning the Middle East. Now, in relation to the Brotherhood, he says that "the US needs to deal with the new reality... and it needs to step up its game" and "figure out how to deal with democratic governments that don't espouse every policy or value you have." He even suggested that the Obama administration should emulate President Reagan's policy of "outreach" to the Soviet Union. Yet Reagan continuously assailed the undemocratic behavior of the Soviet Union, repeatedly referring to it as the "Evil Empire." His tough approach was a major factor in the ultimate collapse of Communism.
Even more staggering were recent reports in the Indian media alleging that the Obama administration is employing Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Brotherhood's spiritual leader, as an intermediary to mediate in secret talks with the Taliban. This evil man, previously denied entry into the UK and the US, openly supports the global caliphate, issued a fatwa (Islamic religious ruling) in 2003 calling on the faithful to kill US troops in Iraq, and endorses Hamas and suicide bombings (which he describes as "martyrdom in the name of God"). He praised Hitler for carrying out the will of Allah by implementing the Holocaust and now prays for Allah to kill all Jews, saying "count their numbers and kill them down to the last one... do not spare a single one." For the US to have direct dealings with such a person is mind-boggling.
CLEARLY, THE West is obliged to retain diplomatic relations with a radical Islamic Egyptian government, as it does with other dictatorships and tyrannies. But it must not provide it with an imprimatur to oppress its citizens or deny their human rights. The concern is that despite the disastrous outcome of the previous US efforts to "engage" with the Iranians and Syrians, the Obama administration seems once again bent on a path of appeasing the Brotherhood which will undoubtedly only embolden them to promote global jihad even more aggressively. In doing so, the US will once again be abandoning its allies — the more moderate Arab states and Israel.
To make matters worse, the State Department appears to be ingratiating itself with the Brotherhood by condemning the Egyptian military for not stepping aside sooner and handing over the reins of power to the Brotherhood.
One would obviously not expect the US administration to feel more enamored with the Egyptian military than we are, but to take sides in such a situation and support the "democrats" — the Islamic fascists — is surely madness. Despite our distaste for the military, it probably represents the only barrier against Egypt becoming a fanatical Islamic dictatorship.
Needless to say, this has major implications for us. We may soon discover that the Obama administration is obliged to further distance itself from Israel in the US national interest of appeasing the Islamists.
There are chilling parallels today with the late 1930s, when Czechoslovakia was pressured to make way for "peace and stability." We must remind the world that appeasing the Nazis had the opposite effect and merely empowered Hitler, encouraging him to make additional demands which culminated in war.
We were then very fortunate to have a leader of the caliber of Winston Churchill, whose determination ultimately brought about the downfall of Nazism and prevented the total collapse of Western civilization.
Alas, President Obama is no Churchill and if he considers it expedient even now, before the elections, to grovel to Islamic fascists, we have even greater grounds for concern as to what he is likely to do if reelected.
These issues should be considered now before it is too late, and every effort made to convince Americans of the folly of appeasing radical Islamic groups.
Isi Leibler was involved in the struggle for Soviet Jewry. From Australia, he made aliya in 1999. He has held senior roles in the World Jewish Congress, including chairman of the governing board and senior vice president. He is a regular columnist for The Jerusalem Post and Yisrael Hayom.
His website can be viewed at
www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He may be contacted at ileibler@netvision.net.il
This article was published January 18, 2012 in the Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=254223
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