Paul Cooper
This popular post was first published here on April 23, 2011.
Our mainstream media and political leaders rolled the dice on Egypt and the Middle East by backing the overthrow of the Mubarak government. They didn’t gamble with their own money though, they gambled with the lives of innocent people throughout the region. Now their recklessness has proven dangerous as the Muslim Brotherhood has finally admitted they are aiming to bring violent extremes of Sharia to the people of Egypt and a sure destruction to relations with Israel. How many times were we told not to worry about Egypt? How many times were we told that the Muslim Brotherhood wasn’t so bad? How many times were we told we were watching a pro-democracy movement in Egypt that had nothing to do with the spread of radical Islam? How many times were we told that Israel and America had nothing to fear by an Egyptian leadership change? Well the mainstream media, the Left, and the like were all wrong. They were dead wrong and now we know it.
The independent news source Al-Masry al-Youm reported last week that Muslim Brotherhood leaders have finally admitted to wanting Egyptian government to be based on Sharia law:
Mahmoud Ezzat, the Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy Supreme Guide, said in a forum held in the Cairo district of Imbaba on Thursday that the group wants to establish an Islamic state after it achieves widespread popularity through its Freedom and Justice Party. Meanwhile, Brotherhood leader Saad al-Husseiny, said at the forum that the group aims to apply Islamic legislation and establish Islamic rule.
The reaction by moderates and Coptic Christians is near panic. Even some of them had been convinced or at least hoped that the Brotherhood had changed its ways. With these recent revelations, Christian groups in Cairo are canceling Easter service invitations to Brotherhood members. Abdel Maseeh Baseet, the pastor of the Church of Saint Marie in Mostorod, Egypt said we now know the true plans of the Brotherhood and it’s time for the rest of us to realize it:
This way of thinking is rejected both locally and internationally. The world is not ready for a Taliban-style state.
Maybe not surprisingly, but sadly, some on the Left continue to defend the Brotherhood regardless of recent revelations. They are ignoring moderate and Coptic Egyptians and blaming America instead.
The Brotherhood is more likely to remain moderate if the U.S. takes what is perceived in Egypt as a reasonable stance on the Israel-Palestine question. We push the Egyptian public toward fundamentalism with actions like our recent veto in the U.N. Security Council of a draft resolution that would have criticized Israel for its civilian settlements in the Palestinian territory… – John Quigley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So the Brotherhood, according to the Left, is actually moderate, but if they become radical it is because America has pushed them to it. Why? Because we have the audacity to support Israel. Exactly how different are such views from Jeremiah Wright claiming that 9-11 was America’s chickens coming home to roost? I guess when the true Left discovers they are wrong they just double down on anti-America and anti-Israel speech.
The Brotherhood’s deputy Supreme Guide Ezzat also said that “enforcement of Sharia punishments will need time and will only come after Islam is planted in every heart and masters the life of the people.” Such comments should awaken all in the so-called liberal and progressive world to the real mindset of Islamists. They don’t simply want freedom of religion. Devout and committed Muslims want Islam to be “planted in every heart” and for us to accept our slavery to Allah. (That goal is not limited to Egypt or the Middle East, that is the Islamists’ desire for the entire world – including America.)
The good news is that these statements by the Brotherhood are waking up some in Egypt who previously thought the organization should get at least some power in government. If enough people find out about the Brotherhood’s comments then they may lose a chance at power (which is why the Brotherhood now claims the press misrepresented their comments). Of course, the problem is that these statements are being ignored by much of the press. So our media and leaders’ silence could actually help the Brotherhood take power and implement Sharia.
Brotherhood leadership could mean the destruction of Egypt’s relations with Israel and even the death of moderate voices in a once moderate Egypt. So why doesn’t the media and government shout this news from the mountain tops? Because they don’t want to be shown for being wrong – even if it means being dead wrong.
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