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Tuesday, 1 Aug 2006
This AlArabiya story quotes Ibrahim Al Masry, the second highest ranking official in Lebanon's Muslim Brotherhood, and it states that the MB local militia- dubbed the Fajr forces- are fighting the Israelis alongside Hezbollah. Basically, it is saying that the MB has joined the war, and it's ignoring the sunni/shia issue and uniting against the common israeli enemy.
This makes them the second regional branch of the egyptian founded and led MB to fight the israelis. The first is better known as Hamas.
August 1st, 2006 at 6:48 pm
Fighting, are they really fighting?
August 1st, 2006 at 7:05 pm
My dear young man,
Firstly thank you for your creative blog and your sense of humor; it’s a pleasant oasis these days. I also appreciate your insight into windows that are otherwise generally closed to us. Actually I prefer your humorous posts; your serious ones are quite depressing.
Both you and some your friends/contributors have argued that we in Israel have lost this war. As things stand we haven’t won it yet, and perhaps we will have to settle for something less than full victory, but we certainly haven’t lost.
We haven’t lost first and foremost because we cannot afford to loose. Your posts indicate exactly why we can’t afford to loose. For us it is an existential battle and if we had lost you know exactly what pictures you would be getting from Al-Manr and others right now.
We haven’t lost because the human cost to date, horrendous as it is, is thankfully limited given that we are at war and despite the barrage of rockets fired at us. It is also limited on the Lebanese side if you look at the statistics, discount disinformation (proportion of civilians & combatants) and consider the scale of munitions and physical damage - although each and every innocent soul is still a tragic loss.
We haven’t lost because the social costs are miniscule when compared to the social cohesion induced by the initial aggression and the first rockets and which continues to strengthen across class, ethnic, political and even, to some extent, religious divides. This stands in juxtaposition to the reports of “brotherly love” emanating from Lebanon and the sight of Lebanese refugees paying homage to “Big Brother” in Syria.
We haven’t lost because the economic cost is marginal. I won’t go into the details but suffice it to refer you to the US$/NIS rate and ongoing M&A activities (Hathaway-Iscar $4bn cash buyout, HP-Mercury $4.5bn, Sandisk-MSystems $1.5bn) which indicate that some important decision-makers don’t think we have lost or even that the risk-premium has changed significantly.
We haven’t lost because we haven’t waivered in our own moral stance, despite the cost. I know I will be flipping a few switches but nonetheless. We still count each and every one of our children as carefully as the racist caricatures portray us with money and mourn every single loss. Even on the other side, we generally mourn (I repeat mourn, not just regret) the loss civilian lives. We certainly educate toward that end. Whilst there are also political and PR considerations, we do this not as a tactic to find favor with good hearted souls who truly abhor violence and certainly not for the benefit of PC hypocrites who call for “proportionality” (ie not enough Israelis have been killed) but for our own good.
Our neighborhood is, to understate matters, ugly. I don’t have to tell you that. Inasmuch as we can effect matters we won’t let it get to our kids. We try to protect them not only from being killed but also from the other fallout of war. We try to avoid “collateral damage” both as a matter of principle (the “glorification of life”) and for the health and well-being of our own children and society.
To those who don’t get it, look at our Palestinian and Lebanese neighbors to get a glimpse of the impacts of the “glorification of death” on the wider society.
We haven’t lost because like in any poker game if you can spot the sucker then you can breath a sigh of relief. And at this table there is a long list.
Firstly there is Lebanon, but that the Lebanese bloggers have detailed that far more eloquently than I possibly could
Then there is Iran. Ahmadinejad played an “ace” too early and had it “trumped”. They face the UN/US on the nuclear issue with one less strategic card. It is not by accident that Iran is working so hard both to resupply HB and calling for a cease-fire for 2 weeks already (and getting nowhere except for the French). Then take a look at the terms the US wants for a ceasefire decision – sanctions on any country supplying HB, now who would that be? And with the Germans and possibly the French on board this time??? Not a very wise strategic move on their part.
Then of course there is Syria. Assad is sitting with a short hand and trying to bluff his way out. Assad today is almost hysterical. I’m sure you can deal with this topic better than me but it does appear that his underwear is getting rather damp. Actually the threat of a serious force on the Lebanese-Syrian border and the sanctions issue is a real existential political and economic threat to his regime (and significant compensation to the Lebanese if it comes off). They desperately need an unconditional cease-fire, but it sure doesn’t look like they are getting one. They should have listened and stopped the “sh*t” at the beginning.
And then there is HB. Where to start? Lets put it this way, from night one despite the bravado, after dealing the cards they have been screaming like “the fix is in, the fix is in, we stacked the cards and the f*ing American/Crusader satans let the f*ing Israeli/Jewish satans shuffle the pack, void the hand and let us take our chips off the table”. As you know it doesn’t work that way in this neighborhood and you have to play with what you have in hand. They have not thrown in their hand yet. They might yet even try to call us this round (they might yet fire some more/other missiles) but they will primarily try to hole up, sit it out, hide some chips under the table, stage a parade somewhere and claim victory and then play a few hands with other Lebanese factions to get their new recruits in practice and pray real hard that Iran will manage to resupply them. And the chance of them recognizing that the Imam let them down again and that Nasrallah is a false prophet? We all know the answer to that.
Oh yes, the Palestinians. They are still under the table trying to set it alight. They still haven’t worked out why the box of matches they keep under Assad’s chair won’t light.
Who knows, maybe one day we might even have a friendly game of cards in this neighborhood but that will require a total reshuffling of the pack.
August 1st, 2006 at 7:18 pm
lol well thats nice that they can put aside thir differences. Dont worry they will be back to killing eachother before israel finishes lebanon
August 1st, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Reality Check,
‘Oh yes, the Palestinians. They are still under the table trying to set it alight’. Remember the Fulgham book “It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It”?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0449000966/102-7165558-4914539?v=glance&n=283155
Well, the Palestinians never put it on fire - it was already on fire when the Israelis ethnically-clensed them in 1948! Poor people have literally being fighting with stones and matches against the bombs and funds supplied to Israel by the US. If it was not for US ‘charity’, Israel would have been a failed state long ago!
Unfortunately, Israel has lost the war. In 20 days, you are still unable to displace a small army of 3000 people shooting home-made chinese firecrackers into Israel. Not with all the laser-precision bombs made in Seattle! The invasion of Lebanon and the carnage is on every TV screen in the world. That, in my lexicon, is a lost battle already.
August 1st, 2006 at 7:21 pm
http://www.iran-resist.org/article2436
in english the past history Hizbollah vs france
this explains what, and I regret our politics not being hard on hezbollah and iran theocrathies
August 1st, 2006 at 7:53 pm
#4: “That, in my lexicon, is a lost battle already.”
The opera ain’t over till the fat Arab lady blows herself up.
August 1st, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Interesting. I guess pieces of shit of a feather, and all that. (French Trader, as horrible as that was, I will be laughing for hours!)
August 1st, 2006 at 9:14 pm
When you try to avoid killing civilians, it takes a little longer to kill HB terrorists.
Bear in mind that Israel would have pulled back completely if HB had released the captured soldiers….but I doubt that will happen now. Personally, I doubt if the soldiers are still alive, or if alive have been so badly mistreated that HB CAN’T give them back.
Just as aside: Do you think the kidnapped soldiers are being fed Kosher meals. Have they been given a copy of the Torah? Are they permitted to worship? I know that they wish they were in Gitmo right now.
August 1st, 2006 at 9:44 pm
So SM, what happens when MB attacks from the Sinai? Does Mubarak let them and risk a casus belli that violates the treaty w/Israel or does he reign them in? He doesn’t have the faction situation Lebanon has, so he can’t say “it ain’t me, it’s MB, and I can’t stop them!”
August 1st, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Sandmonkey,
You actually have a guy on your blog using a name “Thank God I’m not Egyptian” you should be very proud of your Israeli origins
August 1st, 2006 at 9:54 pm
“Just as aside: Do you think the kidnapped soldiers are being fed Kosher meals. Have they been given a copy of the Torah? Are they permitted to worship? I know that they wish they were in Gitmo right now.”
Not too long ago I watched the exchange of War prisoners between HB and Israel and looking at the coffins I could tell how those dead bodies were treated before they were killed.
stop the B.S.
August 1st, 2006 at 10:00 pm
Informative, but rather boring… Can anyone enlighten us as to where the “tipping point” is before IS goes nuclear? I (for one of probably many) hope IS waxes HB ass and doesn’t have to resort to that level of response, but Iran is still full of piss and vinegar and shows no real sign of backing down.
Hell, for that matter, what’s the US tipping point on the same issue?
August 1st, 2006 at 10:50 pm
issue next 08/31/2006
La résolution 1696, adoptée par 14 voix contre une, celle du Qatar, « exige que l’Iran suspende toute activité d’enrichissement et de retraitement, y compris la recherche et le développement, ce qui doit être vérifié par l’AIEA »
then chapter VII of UN chart :
http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/chapter7.htm
August 1st, 2006 at 11:29 pm
SM, wasn’t it you who suggested an alliance between “the west” and sunis to fight the shia?
There goes that idea, at least for now.
Once this conflict is off the front page, I’m confident the Arab sects will go back to being fierce enemies as acting as they currently are in Iraq.
August 2nd, 2006 at 1:35 am
“Can anyone enlighten us as to where the “tipping point” is before IS goes nuclear?”
Pretty far if the US remains fairly rational, but if some city gets nuked- if the nuke cat is out of the bag, coupled with America public frenzy for immediate and a final response, then it’s matter of how long the president can withstand that kind of pressure.
It seems that’s what the mad Mullahs are kinda hoping for, so obviously they will get the first glass parking lot. And I think if we ever get to that point, that we shouldn’t do half ass job- Iran can serve as permanent monument and reminder of why NPT should be considered a serious agreement. Or for whatever reasons it’s just the beginning of long period of hell in which nukes are the one of the weapons commonly used- or in other words the Moon becomes a kinder environment in which to live. The silver lining to this horrible new reality is we wouldn’t be shy about making Orion spaceships:
http://www.unmuseum.org/orionproject.htm
And any person could probably buy their own personal nuclear reactor.
August 2nd, 2006 at 4:19 am
Who is this idot talking about Palestinians “fighting with stones and sticks against weapons supplied by US”? You mean fighting with weapons supplied by English against old rifles smuggled from Europe, or made in kibbutz workshops? The problem is so many of those idiots - they say the overall intelligence of the planet is constant, and population grows.
Regarding MB fighting alongside Hezb, I think that it is clear that the worst thing that can happen to an average Arab is a defeat of Israel. It is clear that Hezb, MB, Wakhabi, more secular parties like PLO and Ba’as, and others, will start murdering everyone who is not their supporter the moment the flow of money and support for “fighting Israel” dries out.
I think every Arab with civilian qualification should pray for the wellbeing of Israel 5 times a day, not out of sympathy, just out if fear to have to explain how come your knowledge go past Koran citations and AK-47, while some angry MB are crushing your testicles with wices.
August 2nd, 2006 at 5:18 am
Sandmonkey, please keep going. Best M.E. blog since The Religious Policeman shut up shop.
Has anyone heard from Nasrallah recently? He seems conspicuous by his absence from the media, let alone the ‘war zone’.
Do you think the Syrians have told him to shut up?
August 2nd, 2006 at 7:22 am
article 41
“The Security Council may decide what measures not involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.”
this is sufficient to make fall the mollah theocraties,
their economie is weak , oil money goes to subvention for hezbollah and different forms of rerrorism in europe, africa, and central asia
and a majority of poeple inside Iran is fed up with theocratie, lack of liberty, no good wages, though Iran is the 2nd great oil reserv with Urss
August 2nd, 2006 at 7:28 am
and naturally , I ment terrorism in Irak and middle East
August 2nd, 2006 at 11:21 am
Good point Gryphon.
August 29th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
IKhwanweb is the Muslim Brotherhood’s only official English web site. The Main office is located in London, although Ikhwanweb has correspondents in most countries. Our staff is exclusively made of volunteers and stretched over the five continents.
The Muslim Brotherhood opinions and views can be found under the sections of MB statements and MB opinions, in addition to the Editorial Message.
Items posted under “other views” are usually different from these of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Ikhwanweb does not censor any articles or comments but has the right only to remove any inappropriate words that defy public taste
Ikhwanweb is not a news website, although we report news that matter to the Muslim Brotherhood’s cause. Our main misson is to present the Muslim Brotherhood vision right from the source and rebut misonceptions about the movement in western societies. We value debate on the issues and we welcome constructive criticism.
http://www.ikhwanweb.com
Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed Habib, First Deputy of the Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, affirmed that the artificial uproar over the feared establishment of a so-called religious state and the related allegations concerning a resulting threat to Copts’ rights and to arts and creativity, following the big Brotherhood electoral victory in the latest legislative elections in Egypt, is no more than an artificial, unfounded controversy.
He talked about the Brotherhood’s vision of the political and economic reform, how to bring about development in its broadest sense, the Brotherhood’s relations with the U.S. administration and other topics that we discussed with him in this interview.
Q: The latest period has witnessed a clear ascendancy of the Muslim Brotherhood on the political scene as a result of which it garnered 88 seats in the People’s Assembly -Egypt’s parliament. What are the issues that the Brotherhood will be interested in raising in the People’s Assembly?
A: I would like first to confirm that the presence in the People’s Assembly of 88 Muslim Brothers will not substantially affect the form or composition of the assembly where the ruling party enjoys, in its own words, a more than comfortable majority. The difference there is that the debate will be serious, the discussions will be fruitful and constructive and the oversight and law-making roles will be more distinguished. This could have a favorable effect on the decisions of the People’s Assembly, enhancing its effectiveness and restoring citizens’ confidence in it.
Regarding the main issues that preoccupy the Brotherhood deputies, they revolve around three major questions:
First, the question of political reform and constitutional amendment, bearing in mind that it represents the true and natural point of departure for all other kinds of reforms;
Second, the question of education, scientific research and native development of technology since this constitutes the mainstay of resurgence and the basis for progress and advance.
Third, the question of comprehensive development in all its dimensions: human, economic, social, cultural, etc.
In this regard, we cannot fail to emphasize the societal problems from which the Egyptian citizenry suffers, i.e. unemployment, inflation and increasing prices, housing crisis, health problems, environmental pollution, etc.
Q: There are some people who accuse Muslim Brothers of being against arts and creativity and are concerned that your deputies in parliament will take an attitude against everything implying culture and creativity. What do you think?
A: In principle, we are not against culture, arts and creativity. On the contrary, Islam strongly encourages refining the public taste and confirms the need to shape one’s mind, heart and conscience in such a way as to bring forth man’s potentialities and prompt him to invent and innovate in all fields of life. There is no doubt that the atmosphere of freedom is conducive to a creative culture and creative arts, particularly if the latter express the daily concerns of the citizen and the challenges he faces and if they reflect the values of society and the public morality observed by people of good nature and sound minds.
On the other hand, the atmosphere of dictatorship and despotism produces a kind of culture and art that is more inclined towards abject trivialities, indecencies, depreciation of people’s minds and deepening their ignorance. A nation that is capable of innovation and creativity is necessarily capable of bringing about resurgence, advance and progress. Some people consider that creativity is born from the womb of suffering. Every society has peculiar cultural identity and has its values, traditions and customs. I think it is the right of the people’s deputies, or rather their duty, to maintain that peculiarity and to play their role in bringing to accountability those bodies or institutions that promote pornography, homosexuality or moral perversion under the guise of creativity. It is essential to subject those so-called creative works to examination and review by specialized and expert people in various fields. Ultimately, it is the judiciary that has the final say as to whether or not those works should be allowed.
Q: Do you have an integral program for the uplifting of the political and economic situation of Egypt?
A: We believe that the political reform is the true and natural gateway for all other kinds of reform. We have announced our acceptance of democracy that acknowledges political pluralism, the peaceful rotation of power and the fact that the nation is the source of all powers. As we see it, political reform includes the termination of the state of emergency, restoring public freedoms, including the right to establish political parties, whatever their tendencies may be, and the freedom of the press, freedom of criticism and thought, freedom of peaceful demonstrations, freedom of assembly, etc. It also includes the dismantling of all exceptional courts and the annulment of all exceptional laws, establishing the independence of the judiciary, enabling the judiciary to fully and truly supervise general elections so as to ensure that they authentically express people’s will, removing all obstacles that restrict the functioning of civil society organizations, etc.
We cannot forget in this regard the need to make constitutional amendments, including modifying the text of article 76 of the Constitution with a view to ensuring equal opportunities and free and true competition among all citizens, through the annulment of all impossible conditions that were arbitrarily inserted in the latest amendment of that article - conditions which have emptied that amendment from its substance. The reform should also include changing the wording of article 77 of the Constitution so as to limit the tenure of the presidency to just one four-year term, extendable only by one more term; changing the articles which grant the president of the republic absolute and unlimited powers and establishing his accountability before the legislative council in view of the fact that he heads the executive branch of government.
As to our program for reviving the economy, it comprises several basic mainstays:
1. Reviewing the role of the public sector and the privatization process;
2. Providing social welfare through the subsidies scheme and the restoration of the institution of Zakat (poor dues in Islam);
3. Reforming the State’s public finance (public expenditures, fiscal policy, public borrowing, deficit financing);
4. Correcting the monetary policy track;
5. Balanced opening up to the world economy (liberalization of foreign trade, promoting exports and foreign investments);
7. Intensifying popular participation, through providing support to local councils and reinstating the rights of Islamic Wakfs (religious endowments);
8. Seeking urgent solutions to the unemployment problem till grow becomes self-propelled;
9. Supporting the private sector as a spearhead for the realization of development objectives;
10. Confronting corruption decisively; and
11. Catching up with scientific and technological progress.
Q: The political reform program put forth by Muslim Brothers does not differ from those of other political parties, what is then the advantage of your program?
A: Muslim Brotherhood shares most elements of political reform with other political and national forces. This is due to the joint efforts that political parties and forces have deployed during the past decades, which had culminated in the adoption in 1997 of a common document for political reform called “Political Reform and Democracy”.
Certainly, there are differences among political formations as to the priority to be assigned to those elements, as well as the mechanisms to be employed. There is also a semi-agreement among all political forces on the need to introduce some constitutional amendments- as was mentioned earlier- although some secularists want to change the Constitution in a comprehensive and drastic way, including article 2 of the current Constitution which states that Islam is the official religion of the State and that the principles of Islamic sharia (law) are the main source of legislation. Such a change would be in complete conflict with the desire of the entire people, who are characterized by their strong religious attachment and their willingness to be governed by the provisions of Islam. We must not, however, forget the belief and morality dimension which the Muslim Brotherhood insists on observing in their practice of politics as well as its compliance with Islamic legal rules and precepts such as the discipline of jurisprudence dealing with priorities and balances, etc.
Q: Some segments of the elite in
Egypt and abroad are worried that the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to establish a theocracy. How would you react to that?
A:This concern stems from a wrong understanding of the nature of Islam. To those who speak about a religious state, in the same ecclesiastical meaning given to it in Europe in the middle ages, when the church had hegemony over a State’s authorities, we wish to say that the issue here is completely different.
The Muslim Brotherhood has gone through the latest legislative elections on the basis of a clear-cut program under the slogan “Islam is the Solution”, given the fact that Islam, as Imam el-Banna said, is a comprehensive program that encompasses all aspects of life: it is a state and a country, a government and people, ethics and power, mercy and justice, culture and law, science and justice, resources and wealth, defense and advocacy, an army and an idea, a true belief and correct acts of worship (Imam el-Banna’s Teachings Message). In fact, this conforms fully to the Constitution which states, in its second article, that the State’s religion is Islam and that principles of Islamic sharia (law) are the main source of legislation. We say that the State that we want is a civic state, i.e. a state of institutions, based on the principles of constitutional government.
Imam el-Banna states: “the principles of constitutional government consist of: maintaining all kinds of personal freedom, consultation and deriving authority from the people, responsibility of the government before the people and its accountability for its actions, and the clear demarcation of power of each branch of government. When a scholar considers those principles, he would clearly find out that they are all in full agreement with the teachings, disciplines and norms of Islam concerning the system of government. Consequently, Muslim Brothers think that the constitutional system of government is the closest system of government in the world to Islam. They prefer it to any other system of government.” (Message to the 5th Conference).
Q: Although the Brotherhood refuses to submit an application for the establishment of a political party under the pretext that the Political Party Committee is unconstitutional, some people submitted similar applications which were approved, what do you think about that?
A: Along with other political and national forces, we seek to amend or change the Political Parties Law. Consequently, the so-called Political Party Committee is unconstitutional and acts as both adversary and judge. It creates more problems than it solves and interferes in the internal affairs of parties in such a way as to paralyze their movement and curb their effectiveness. This is one of the reasons why those parties are weak and fragile. Furthermore, we don’t want to set up a political party to face the same destiny as existing parties. The problem lies in the general political atmosphere and unless that atmosphere is changed things will remain what they are now. Briefly, we want the party to be established when people want to have it established, just through notification.
Q: Your discourse sometimes mixes between religion and politics which means that you are neither purely religious people nor purely professional politicians. What is the nature of that dichotomy?
A:Politics is part of religion. I remember in this regard Imam al-Banna’s statement that “If Islam is something different than politics, sociology, economics and culture, what is it then?” He also says “A Muslim is not fully Muslim unless he engages in politics, thinks over the state of affairs of his Umma and concerns himself with it.”
Q: Some Copts in Egypt were so alarmed by the recent rise of the Muslim Brotherhood that some of them declared that they would leave Egypt as a result! What is the nature of the Brotherhood’s relations with Copts?
A: We consider our Coptic brothers as citizens enjoying all rights associated with citizenship and as part of the fabric of the Egyptian society. We consider them as partners in the country, in decision-making and in determining our future. Consequently, the basis for filling public posts shall be efficiency, ability and experience, not religion or beliefs.
On that basis, we see no justification or logic for the concern of some Copts over the rise of Muslim Brothers. But this is due to the bad political atmosphere in which the Egyptian people live and which has led to a general state of apprehension and tension. It has been aggravated by the self-imposed isolation of our Coptic brothers and their failure to integrate in public life.
From our side, we are conducting dialogues with them and are trying to take them out of their isolation, by encouraging some individuals among them to take part in the activities of syndicates, conferences and symposiums dealing with public affairs. In addition, we support some of them in legislative and syndicate elections.
Q: From time to time, the question of your relations with the U.S. surfaces. Do you have any relation with them? Have you contacted them through direct or indirect channels?
A:There is no relation whatsoever between us the U.S. There is no contact of any kind with them. We have repeated that several times before. We are not a state within a state and we are very much interested in reinforcing the independence and prestige of our State and in respecting its institutions. We cannot permit anyone to compromise that prestige nor can we allow ourselves to be a reason for that. If the U.S. administration wants to enter into a dialogue with us, they first would have to get the approval of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. And then what are we going to discuss with them?
Q: Your attitude with regard to Jews is not clear: at times you declare that you are not going to cancel treaties concluded with them if you take power, and at times you say that the holocaust is a myth, what is exactly your attitude?
A: The Zionist entity (Israel) has usurped the land of Palestine, the land of Arabs and Muslims. No proud people can accept to stay put when their land is occupied and their sacred places are assaulted. Resisting occupation is required by Islam and sanctioned by international law, agreements and customs. As to the Camp David Accord and the peace treaty that were concluded by Egypt with the Zionist entity (Israel) in the late 1970s, they are presumed to be thoroughly reviewed periodically by international lawyers, strategists and national security experts, taking into account the local, regional and international dimensions of the question. The outcome of their review should be submitted to the democratic institutions of the Sate for decision.
As to the reported statement describing the holocaust as a myth, it was not intended as a denial of the event but only a rejection of exaggerations put forward by Jews. This does not mean that we are not against the holocaust. Anyway, that event should not have led to the loss of the rights of the Palestinian people, the occupation of their land and the violation and assault of their sacred places and sanctities.
for more news and question about muslim brotherhood please visit http://www.ikhwanweb.com the only offical web site