The Muslim Brotherhood Society

While the Vatican and the nations of the world cater to the dictates and desires of  the Palestine Liberation Organization, assuming that their support will eventually bring peace to Palestine, another, less publicized organization, lurks in the background totally opposed to all efforts to negotiate peace with Israel and dedicated to the destruction of Israel despite public statements to the contrary by the PLO.

(See essays Rewarding Terrorism and Palestinian Benefits Following Terrorist Acts).

The Muslim Brotherhood Society was founded in 1928, took an active part in the war of 1948, established branches throughout Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem and a membership in the hundreds of thousands.  Through the wars of 1967 and 1973 and a number of charities, the brotherhood expanded its influence throughout Palestine mostly in the northern and southern towns and in Gaza City. Since 1948, “the society considers all of Palestine to be Muslim land and holds that Israel has no right to exist.”  Today it is a major political force opposing the PLO.  (See Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza).

“Muhammad Hamid Abu-al-Nasr, the general guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, stresses that no one group of people has the right to claim that they can ‘concede or abandon territory or a homeland or conclude deals’…[the] ‘abandonment or the conceding of one inch of territory would be treason.  To allow an alien entity to share our land would be even more serious than treason.’”

Another powerful brotherhood leader is Ahmad Yasin, who as “the head of the Islamic Center in the Gaza Strip, summarizes the Muslim Brotherhood’s position toward the PLO as follows: ‘The PLO is secularist.  It cannot be accepted as a representative unless it becomes Islamic.’… [The Brotherhood’s support of Yasir Arafat is] … proportional to Arafat’s support for the Islamic idea.’”  And how does the brotherhood present their views to the world?  Applying the concept of taqiyya, which “in Islam justifies concealing the true beliefs if expressing such beliefs would harm Muslims.  The following excerpts from an interview given by Yasin reflect his mastery of political ambiguity:

                Q.  Do you want a Palestinian state from the river to the sea?

                A.  I want a Palestinian state.

                Q.  What are its boundaries?

                A.  Palestine has well-known boundaries; these are the borders of the Palestinian state.

                Q.  Where is Israel then?

                A.  Israel is in Palestine.

                Q.  Can you clarify your concept of the Palestinian state?

                A.  The Palestinian state must be founded on every inch of Palestine that we liberate, but without      

                      conceding the rest of our rights.

                Q.  Do you recognize Israel?

                A.  If I recognized Israel, the problem would be finished, and we would have no rights left in Pal-     

                      estine.

                Q.  But if Israel withdrew from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, would you recognize it?

                A.  When it withdraws, I will say.

                Q.  But at that time, should it be recognized?

                A.  I leave this matter to the representatives of the Palestinian people.

                Q.  Who are they?

                A.  Those whom the Palestinian people will elect.”

With such broad and extensive clarification, could there be any further questions?

The major players in the Middle-East terrorism killing game are Hamas, Fatah, al Qaeda, and Islamic Jihad.  There are a number of smaller splinter groups that do not necessarily have the membership and finances of the larger organizations, but the hatred is there.  It matters not to the unfortunate victims of this hatred if their death is the result of the more professional killers or by a copycat terrorist.  The result is the same: death by murder.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the religious factions of the PLO spawned Hamas and the armed wing of Hamas, the ‘lzz al-Din alQuassam Forces, introduced suicide bombers.  In a masterstroke of double-speak, the PLO publicly decried the bombing of innocent Israeli citizens while paying the families of the terrorist suicide bombers “compensation” for their losses.

In 1988, the PLO publicly recognized Israel’s right to exist.  Hamas, however, opposed the 1993 peace accords and dedicated themselves to the destruction of Israel.  They decreed that Palestine is an Islamic homeland that can never be surrendered to non-Muslims and that it is the religious duty for Palestinians to destroy Israel.

And there we have all of the elements of a religious war.  History has taught us that of all the wars fought by mankind, the most bloody and destructive are the religious wars.  The terrorists in Palestine, and elsewhere in our world, have repeatedly demonstrated their ability and dedication toward upholding these beliefs.  This view is easily confirmed.  If we return to the European continent during the 16^th century, South Germany suffered through 150 years of religious wars starting in 1524.  During 1562-1598, France and the Huguenots fought a religious civil war.  The Thirty Years War followed.

In 1618 there was a general European war resulting from German Protestant princes, allied with France, Denmark, Sweden and England against the Catholic princes of Germany against The Holy Roman Empire, the Hapsburgs, including Austria, Spain, Bohemia, most of Italy and South Netherlands.  In 1635, exhausted by the carnage and with a general desire for peace, the Peace of Prague appeared to reconcile the Protestants and the Catholics.  Unfortunately, France thought otherwise and spread the war to the Low Countries, Italy, Scandinavia, and the Iberian Peninsula.  Ultimately, with Germany in ruins, The Holy Roman Empire a political shell, and the Hapsburg power at the start of a long decline, conflict ended in 1648 with France emerging as the chief power of Europe, a circumstance that would lead to future wars.  There were earlier religious wars, such as the 110-Year war between the Swedes and the Goths, and any number of later wars by religious groups, but the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries illustrate the devastation that such wars bring to the world.

Today, the world is little different.  When World War I ended, Great Britain was given the Palestine mandate to manage and oversee.  In 1948, when the United Nations created the state of Israel, Britain relinquished its mandate reluctantly and prepared to withdraw its forces.  Before they could leave Palestine, Arabic forces attacked the British and the infant government of Israel.  During the ensuing 56 years, the Arab nations, the local Palestinians and the terrorists have repeatedly attacked Israel.  Despite severe losses, Israel has successfully defended itself and in the process inflicted serious losses on Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians.  The, so-called, occupied lands are the lands retained by Israel after they defeated the Arab armies.  Much of the captured territories have been returned to the Arab and PLO aggressors.  Encouraged by Israeli efforts to comply with world opinion, the terrorist bombings continue.

One thing is clear.  If there is anything that history has taught us is should Israel be unsuccessful in defending its sovereignty and be unfortunate to suffer only one defeat at the hands of the terrorists and their supporters, Israel as a nation will cease to exist. 

Prepared from material extracted from Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza, by Ziad Abu-Amr; Backgrounder executive summaries as published by The Heritage Foundation; Imprimis, prepared by Hillsdale College; Sea Power, April 2002 issue; The Highline, October 2001 issue; various issues of the Bergen Record; http://www.msnbc.com/news and http://encarta.msn.com; Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite 2004 CD; and War and other referenced essays prepared by the writer in 2001-03.

May 2004      

LFC