… that would be, of course, to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch.
As I mentioned Friday evening, the Brotherhood’s sharia guide, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, returned to Egypt on Friday to the cheers and genuflections of hundreds of thousands. As I’ve suggested before, as between Iran 1979 and today’s Islamist Turkey, I expect Egypt to regress more along the lines of Turkey, albeit on a faster track. But Qaradawi’s appearance certainly does throw a wrench into the theory that Egypt won’t reprise Iran because there is no obvious, Khomeini-like charismatic figure to take over the revolution. Comparatively speaking, with his media ventures (the weekly al-Jazeera sharia show and Islam Online in particular), his academic credentials and output, his following among Sunni Muslims (far more numerous than Shiites), his many prominent offices, his Brotherhood PR engine, and his admirers in the Middle East, Europe and the U.S., Sheikh Qaradawi is a far more formidable figure than Ayatollah Khomeini appeared to be in 1979.
At Big Peace, the blogger al-Mutarjim is still working on a translation of the sheikh’s full speech from Friday, but he has posted an excerpt — Qaradawi’s exhortation to Hamas and call for the conquest of Jerusalem:
A message to our brothers in Palestine: I have hope that Almighty Allah, as I have been pleased with the victory in Egypt, that He will also please me with the conquest of the al-Aqsa Mosque, to prepare the way for me to preach in the al-Aqsa Mosque. May Allah prepare the way for us to (preach) in the al-Aqsa Mosque in safety–not in fear, not in haste. May Allah achieve this clear conquest for us. O sons of Palestine, I am confident that you will be victorious.
In another worrying sign, there are indications coming out of Egypt and Israel that the Egyptian military provided security for Qaradawi’s appearance before the throng. This, you might say, is to be expected in a potentially unstable situation with the government in flux and a throng of hundreds of thousands (at least) gathered in Tahrir Square. But the reports further suggest that the military let the Muslim Brotherhood take the lead in orchestrating Friday’s events and that opposition leaders who are not Islamists were not permitted to speak. I am not in a position to verify or disprove these reports, but if they are true that would be very ominous indeed.
Where is an unmanned drone when we need one?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseConclusion: Israel must prepare now for the war in which it will retake the Sinai and Gaza. Israel will not be able to tolerate a militarily powerful, well armed and trained (by the USA)fanatical Muslim enemy à la Iran on its very borders. This is becoming clearer with each passing day--nay, with each hour that passes.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe President has the absolute worst foreign policy/ national security advisers that could possibly be assembled - Dan Shapiro, Samantha Power, and Ben Rhodes
Feb 14, they were apparently putting it out in off-the-record meetings that Washington had nothing to do with stirring the pot in the Egyptian uprising “It didn’t originate in Washington, it came by surprise, they didn’t expect it.”
Of course this is the opposite of the NYTimes 2/16 piece on the secret report Obama commissioned in August which Samantha Power, Dennis Ross and Gayle Smith were responsible for generating on the Middle East. Their report concluded that unrest was inevitable if there were not sweeping political changes.
So which is it, foregone conclusion or unforeseen surprise events?
That just makes me suspect Washington had a hand in the Egyptian uprising all the more.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBefore panicking, let's not loose sight of the fact that Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi is 84. He's got the same problem Mubarek had: installing a legitimate successor.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseActually the ones that banned others from coming on the stage whether they were the Google Executive Wael Ghoniem or other figures, were the Muslim Brotherhood security team. Any picture of the stage will show you that quite clearly.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou might be interested in this video from Al Jazeera immediately after his speech. Hundreds of thousands are chanting after his speech: “To Jerusalem we are going … Martyrs in the millions”
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And apparently Glenn Beck is just a conspiracy theorist.
Will Kristol apologize?
Doubtful.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI believe Jimmy Carter can put the Muslim Brotherhood asunder with but a wave of his Mighty Hand.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI am sure there is a Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington behind every bush in Egypt. After all, that is what the MSM and BO tell us. This Qaradawi is just a radical in the vein of John Handcock.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseQuickly: this is your last chance to send Egypt a few more billion.
Pretty soon, you might be asked "didn't you know the money was going directly to terrorists?".
Today, you can still claim ignorance.
Think of it this way: anything and everything that advances Egyptian "democracy" (surrender to shari'ia and the MB) hastens the death of a few million Egyptians, because I don't think Israel has the stomach to send yet another generation of their children to fight yet another war.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSince Obama's Muslim sympathy is unmistakable, this time, Israel may decide to finish the game.
"Before panicking, let's not loose sight of the fact that Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi is 84. He's got the same problem Mubarek had: installing a legitimate successor."
Yep no need to panic we all know what happened in Iran after the then 77 year old Khomeini took over, how hard it was to find a successor and how it caused the Islamics to lose power after he died in 1989 and Iran is now secular again. What? It's not secular now and Khomeini didn't have a problem who would have thought that could happen.
Oh thats right Khomeini is what a real dictator is like, not to say Mubarek was a Saint, but come on how many did he kill staying in power during the revolution? 1,000; 2,000 maybe 3,000? nope less then 300. Now lets compare that to Assad in Syria in 1982 when the Muslim Brotherhood staged an uprising:
"According to Amnesty International, the Syrian military bombed the old city center from the air to facilitate the entry of infantry and tanks through the narrow streets; buildings were demolished by tanks during the first four days of fighting. Large parts of the old city were destroyed. There are also unsubstantiated reports of use of hydrogen cyanide by the government forces.[1] After encountering fierce resistance, Rifaat's forces ringed the city with artillery and shelled it for three weeks."
Yeah now notice what they did, had the Army surround the city and used artillery on it for 3 straight weeks. The body count?
"Estimates of casualties vary from an estimated 7,000 to 35,000 people killed, including about 1,000 soldiers.[1] Robert Fisk, who was in Hama shortly after the massacre, estimated fatalities at 10,000.[11] The Independent estimates death toll as up to 20,000.[12] According to Thomas Friedman, he heard through friends that Rifaat had later boasted of killing 38,000 people.[13] Amnesty International initially estimated the death toll was between 10,000 and 25,000, the vast majority innocent civilians.[14]
Reports by the Syrian Human Rights Committee estimate "over 25,000"[15] or between 30,000 to 40,000 people were killed.[16][17] The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood also suggests a figure of approximately 40,000 victims.
Twenty years later, Syrian journalist Subhi Hadidi, wrote that "under the command of General 'Ali Haydar, besieged the city for 27 days, bombarding it with heavy artillery and tank [fire], before invading it and killing 30,000 or 40,000 of the city's citizens - in addition to the 15,000 missing who have not been found to this day, and the 100,000 expelled." [18]"
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See the difference between guys like Mubarek and guys like Khomeini and Assad. Let someone like them into power and this cleric fits the bill and watch the blood flow when someone tries a revolution on him.
History is a wonderful predictor of the future
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