ASHRAF RAMELAH
In late December 2010, the Tunisia uprising was sparked by a
tragic public suicide-burning of a twenty-something street vender in an
act of civil disobedience. Instantaneously, media commentary like
wildfire around the world labeled this event "Arab Spring," branding it
the beginning of a struggle for democracy in the region. Correspondents
in the tumultuous Middle East barraged the airwaves with the fast
impression that this dreadful incident had value in leading to freedom
in that part of the planet, and the image of this terrifying catalyst
went viral.
The public gripped on to the horrifying image and romantic notion of
the throes of youth in revolt projected daily, accepting it without
question as the inclusive narrative.
Desperation in a street of an Arab-Muslim city, by no means novel,
was now predicted to be the trigger for a wave of revolutions to come
which in reality would have nothing to do with gaining freedom.
Extreme behavior, in this case burning flesh, reflected Tunisia's
saturation of agents working the streets and fomenting rebellion to
finally override its movement for change. In shadows surrounding the
world's focus, parallel truths worth telling were never explored. This
led the West to wrongly interpret the character of the protests upending
dictators. The media unfolded details and shaped them with the bias
used to minimize Gaza's rocket launches into Israel and spotlight
Israeli retaliation as insensitive aggression.
Within a few days after the Tunisian set himself ablaze hordes of
pro-democracy youths gathered in the streets. The first state to mimic
Tunisia was Egypt, thirty-seven days later. Three weeks after that,
Mubarak toppled, opening the door to worse conditions for those seeking
freedom. The dominos affect was now underway, and in short order
revolutionary fervor flared in Yemen, Libya, Syria, Jordan, United Arab
Emirates, Morocco and Algeria. Most of these countries at the time of
the upheavals reveal the Muslim Brotherhood political apparatus was
operating on the ground -- recruiting, smuggling arms, increasing
personal wealth -- and waiting in the wings for such an opportunity to
grab as this.
With eleven million people, Tunisia was geographically a perfect
testing ground - a type of pilot program for a Muslim Brotherhood
lurking behind naïve Arab-Muslim rebels enraged with dictator, Zine El
Abidine Ben Al, and his regime. The Brotherhood-backed Renaissance Party
in Tunisia fueled the dissent. The Muslim Brotherhood political arm
directed the outcome toward themselves as beneficiary of power and
became the sole choice for Tunisians in open "democratic" elections.
As the first power-play of an encompassing shift (away from
democracy) in the region was now underway here, the Muslim Brotherhood,
perhaps merely a tool, prepared to take over a youth movement
snowballing by cyberspace communiqués. Soon after, more uprisings sprung
up to protest other Middle East dictators. The real story is now
evident in Egypt where the controlling Muslim Brotherhood is fully
exposed as an enemy of the people (the genuine opposition) and their
pursuit of democracy, which they rode to power.
Now Tunisia, since December 18, 2010, and Yemen, since January 27,
2011, have Islamic Shariah-leaning governments -- franchises of the
Muslim Brotherhood and a trademark of Brotherhood takeovers. Rule by the
Muslim Brotherhood has been made to appear moderate and pro-democracy
in relation to the Salafi and Wahabi factions.
Fighting tribes and Brotherhood jihadist factions pushed Libya's
uprising against dictator Gadhafi which hit the news in February 2011,
less than one month of the Yemen rebellion. In Libya, success for the
Muslim Brotherhood required an intervention by the international
community (Sarkozy suddenly sensitized to the poor oppressed Libyans)
conducted by NATO to crush Gadhafi. The result was "democratic"
elections bringing about the "imposed" will of the Muslim Brotherhood
(with rigged elections like Egypt) and the power grab of Brotherhood
member, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional
Council.
Timing was important for the Arab Spring jihadist surge orchestrated
by the Muslim Brotherhood, assisted, in this case, by NATO aiding the
rebellion. Libyan citizens suffered persecution under Gadhafi's regime
for more than forty years before this blueprint of the "Arab Spring" was
executed. Bear in mind that wacky Gadhafi -- friend to world leaders
such as Berlusconi, Sarkozy and Trump -- had been welcomed by taxpayers
in the West with security details for his absurd overnight stays in
Italy, France and the US not long before NATO attacked him in March
2011. Gadhafi pitched his personal portable guest quarters (a tent) in
the public gardens of Rome, Paris and New York, less than seven months
of the West's unexpected reversal of Gadhafi's good fortune.
Meanwhile, in mid-March 2011, it was now Syria's turn with one
significant difference. Freedom-loving words and videos of struggles
elsewhere did not spur their activity. Instead, the Muslim Brotherhood
struck directly against Assad's military and seeks today to grab control
of the state from Bashar Al Assad with no pretense of democracy or
freedom movement to ride. Although Assad is backed by Russia,
secularists, afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood gaining power, passively
support Assad getting caught in the cross fires of this battle. The
bloodbaths of Syria illustrate this end with Brotherhood-backed forces
ravaging villages as Christians flee Syria over the borders into
Lebanon.
Now the Muslim Brotherhood, jihadists with intentions frighteningly
clear, has solid control of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya. Despite
negative outcomes for human rights and democratic freedom in Arab Spring
countries resulting from the upheavals, the West (US) undercuts the
lesser evil with promised help to the anti-Assad fighters, and the
Brotherhood may soon gain Syria as well.
This perfect scenario spells regional success for the Muslim
Brotherhood which openly scorns the existence of the Jewish state. Now
they are at the helm of countries militarily surrounding Israel and
strategically critical to "liberate the land of Palestine." Assuming
Assad falls, Lebanon, now dealing with Iran's Hezbollah, and Jordan
could be next.
The Muslim Brotherhood receives economic and military support from
states outside the Arab Spring-state conflicts in order to hasten the
common goal of Muslim Brotherhood control. Saudi Arabia, center of
Sunni ideology and exporter of jihadist terror, often a safe haven for
Brotherhood members, functions here as a silent partner. Qatar, along
with the Saudis, is the main source of financing for the Muslim
Brotherhood.
The Magreb is the exception that illustrates the true motives of the
Muslim Brotherhood in the region. Outside strategic interests of the
Muslim Brotherhood, the Magreb suffered none of their interference and
remains relatively stable today gaining from the unhindered freedom
protests. Morocco and Algeria, two states aroused into protests at the
onset of the "Arab Spring," experienced no hijacking of its uprisings
and had few Muslim Brotherhood representatives within the Moroccan and
Algerian governments.
Moroccan freedom fighters rising up on February 20, 2011 ended with a
level of success by June 17 that year, forcing King Mohammed VI to
announce a proposal for constitutional reform. The King relinquished a
portion of his authority to the office of the Prime Minister and the
Parliament. In another major victory, Berber was made the official
language along with Arabic.
Near the time of Tunisia's incident, Algerians demonstrated in the
streets over food prices and unemployment which resulted in the death of
two protesters and ended by forcing the government to reduce prices of
basic foodstuffs. The upheaval continued into May 2012 followed by a
Parliamentary election devoid of Brotherhood tampering with an outcome
relatively promising for the people. The National Liberation Front
(FLN), a mix of secular and moderate Muslim candidates, won the majority
of seats (220 out of 463). Their party ally, the National Democratic
Rally, won 68 seats, and finally, the Islamist alliance of parties (with
Muslim Brotherhood elements) won the fewest number of seats at 48.
Now there are two options. NATO and the US can intervene in Egypt, as
in Libya, but this time for the cause of the legitimate
freedom-fighting opposition seeking to establish democracy against the
Morsi Brotherhood-backed regime. This would give the people of Egypt
real hope for universal human rights and true democracy. On the other
hand, the US can intervene in Syria (already promised by Secretary of
State John Kerry) to aid the cause of the Muslim Brotherhood overthrow
of the President and facilitate Muslim Brotherhood control of the region
vital to surrounding Israel.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Ashraf Ramelah is founder and president of Voice of the Copts, a human rights organization drawing
attention to the suffering of Coptic Christians in Egypt and educating
as to the chilling effect of Sharia (Islamic law).
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