DAR AL ISLAM - EGYPT: MOSLEM BROTHERHOOD HAS NO RESPECT OR TOLERANCE FOR DEMOCRATIC OR WESTERN VALUES

Egyptian Islamists are not what they seem
''The Brotherhood is an historic hard shell movement that has no respect or tolerance for democratic or Western values.''
by ELI SCHWARTZ

A democracy exists when, if one party wins an election, it is perfectly possible for another party to win a later election. Not every election is a herald of democracy. The sad phenomenon ''one person, one vote, one time'' describes the death of democracy.

What comes to mind are recent suggestions that it might be well to negotiate, converse, or deal with what is described as the moderate Islamists in Egypt. Presumably, this is a party representing a movement toward democracy, independent of the Hosni Mubarak regime. However, a little deeper reading uncovers the hard fact that the Islamists are merely the fair face of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood is an historic hard shell movement that has no respect or tolerance for democratic or Western values. The founder of the Brotherhood, Hassan Al Bana, called for ''death for the infidels.'' The brotherhood's following is the progenitor of incidents (not at all approved by the average Egyptian) involving massacres of tourists or the assassination of Anwar Sadat. Of course the moderate Islamists talking to New York Times reporters or Harvard academics disavow any connection to such incidents. Nevertheless, the Islamists cannot deny their ideological roots in the Brotherhood.

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the Brotherhood maintains a devoted following. Its founder in 1928 placed emphasis on serving the poor, setting up clinics and schools. Such programs (followed also by Hamas, the Brotherhood's terrorist Palestinian offspring) developed loyalty in much the same way that Tammany Hall, the Democratic party machine, held power in New York for many years.

The New Islamists portray themselves as different from the Muslim Brotherhood. They abstain from its endorsement of direct violence against those who confront true Muslims. These evil forces include the Jews, ''the Crusaders'' (foreign Christians), and most dangerously, the apostates (Muslim rulers who consort with outsiders and do not fully apply Muslim law to the affairs of the state). Nevertheless, the New Islamists, while professing moderation, seek much the same final goals as the Brotherhood, the abrogation of Western influence and the establishment of an Islamic republic governed by Sha'ria, Islamic law.

The Islamist leaders, stemming from an educated dissatisfied class of professions, doctors, lawyers, and teachers make a good impression when speaking to Western friends. Part of what they say is flavored by the strong Oriental social rule of not to give offense. They may sincerely believe in a policy of moderation, but like Iranian intellectuals, they make the mistake of riding on the wing of the militant Brotherhood, whose record includes political assassination. One might give advice to Mubarak on gradually moving toward more democracy. But the Egyptians might well take care in opening up to the new Islamists, for in the end they are likely to be a stalking horse for the Muslim Brotherhood.




Pertinent Links:

1) Egyptian Islamists are not what they seem