“Some U.S. diplomats and intelligence officials,” the Washington Post reported not long ago, believe the Muslim Brotherhood’s “influence offers an opportunity for political engagement that could help isolate violent jihadists. ‘It is the preeminent movement in the Muslim world,’ said Graham E. Fuller, a former CIA official specializing in the Middle East. ‘It’s something we can work with.’ Demonizing the Brotherhood ‘would be foolhardy in the extreme,’ he warned.”

Right. Well, is it “demonizing” to quote them?

Here is Ragab Hilal Hamida, a member of the Egyptian parliament from the Muslim Brotherhood, in an interview with a recent interview with an Egyptian newspaper:

Question: Does it make sense to you that a Muslim should claim that the Koran incites to terrorism?!
Hamida: I said these things in an [Egyptian] parliament session dealing with the Inter-Arab Agreement on Combating Terrorism. … [The term] “terrorism” is not a curse when given its true meaning. [When interpreted accurately,] it means opposing occupation as it exists in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq!… From my point of view, bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri and Al-Zarqawi are not terrorists in the sense accepted by some. I support all their activities, since they are a thorn in the side of the Americans and the Zionists… [On the other hand,] he who kills Muslim citizens is neither a jihad fighter nor a terrorist, but a criminal and a murderer. We must call things by their proper names!
Question: Do you regard the Palestinians who are prepared to sacrifice their lives as terrorists?
Hamida: Yes. According to the shari’a, a Palestinian who is prepared to sacrifice his life deters the enemy, in the way [sanctioned by the Koran]: “Make ready against them your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah knows.”
This Palestinian is therefore [called] a terrorist, but he does not care that he is called a terrorist, since the Koran calls him so! We must realize that all religions forbid the killing of Muslim citizens. But anything related to countering occupation – is not a crime or [an act of] violence, but rather jihad or “terrorism” in the sense of deterring and scaring [the enemy], and this is emphasized by the language and by shari’a!

MEMRI has more of the interview here. (Hat tip to Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch.)