skip to main |
skip to sidebar
5:33 PM
Reut R. Cohen
The UCI History Department, MESSI, and two UCI research centers are bringing to campus a representative from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Click here for a selection of quotations from the leadership of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood showing their support for violence.
Here is some information about the Muslim Brotherhood from discoverthenetworks.org:Founded in 1928 by the Egyptian activist Hasan al-Banna, the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood is one of the oldest, largest and most influential Islamist organizations. Egypt has historically been the center of the Brotherhood's operations, though the group maintains offshoots throughout the Arab-Muslim world -- including in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, the Palestinian territories (Hamas), Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Sudan -- and is also active in the United States and Europe. Islam expert Robert Spencer has called the Muslim Brotherhood "the parent organization of Hamas and al Qaeda."
The Brotherhood was founded in accordance with al-Banna's proclamation that Islam be "given hegemony over all matters of life." Accordingly, the Brotherhood seeks to establish an Islamic Caliphate spanning the entire Muslim world. It also aspires to make Islamic (Shari'a) law the sole basis of jurisprudence and governance. Toward this purpose -- encapsulated in the Brotherhood's militant credo: "God is our objective, the Koran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, struggle is our way, and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations" -- the Brotherhood since its founding has supported the use of armed struggle, or jihad. The Brotherhood supports the waging of jihad against non-Muslim "infidels," and has expressed support for terrorism against Israel, whose legitimacy the Brotherhood does not recognize, and against the West, particularly the United States.
From the UCI School of Social Sciences:Title: Religion and Democracy in the Middle East
Office: International Studies
Event Date: 10/8/2008 - 10/8/2008
Details: The Department of History, Middle East Studies Student Initiative (MESSI), Center for Research on International and Global Studies (RIGS), and Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies (CGPACS) present:
"Religion and Democracy in the Middle East: A New Generation of the Muslim Brotherhood Takes the Stage" with Ibrahim El Houdaiby, leading young member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Cairo
Wednesday, October 8, 2008,
1:00-2:30 p.m.
Humanities Instructional Building, Room 135
El Houdaiby will discuss the history and current positions of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the situation of democracy in Egypt today, the rise of a new generation of secular and religious cyber-activists, the challenges and successes they've encountered in struggling for democracy, and the role of U.S. policy in furthering or stifling democracy in the Middle East.
Ibrahim El Houdaiby is a leader of the emerging generation of political and social activists associated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest religiously-founded group of its kind in the Middle East. He is a board member of ikhwanweb.com, the Muslim Brotherhood's Official English Website. A graduate of the American University in Cairo, he holds a B.A. in political economy, and is currently working towards an MA in Islamic Studies at the High Institute of Islamic Studies in Cairo. He is a freelance columnist and researcher, with published articles and research papers in Arabic and English periodicals and journals. His Arabic works were published on IslamOnline.net, IkhwanOnline.com, Weghaat Nazar Monthly, Contemporary Muslim Quarterly, Al Badeel Newspaper and Al Dostoor Newspaper. His English works were published in th Guardian, Daily News Egypt, Jewish Daily Forward, World Politics Review, CommonGroundNews.org, Conflics Forum and CEPS.
This event is free and open to the public. For further information, please contact Mark LeVine, 949.824.8304.
12 comments. Leave a comment:
This is DISTURBING!!!!!!!!!
Who in the hell gave this guy a visa???
Reut,
2 questions:
1 Was the Muslim Brotherhood involved in the assassination of Anwar Sadat. I have seen conflicting reports.
2 Was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem part of the Brotherhood? I am referring to the Mufti who spent the WW2 years in Berlin and was an ally of Hitler.
gary
Hi Gary,
Haj Amin Al-Husseini was definitely a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Husseini helped to orchestrate the Farhud pogrom against Iraqi Jewry in the early 1930s. This was a Nazi pogrom carried out by Iraqi Muslims that receives little attention. More than 2,000 Jews were injured and nearly 300 were killed. Many Jews became homeless as their homes were looted and torched by mobs. Women were raped, children were burned alive. This was the pogrom that caused Iraqi Jews who never wanted to leave Iraq to immigrate to Israel. Al-Husseini also sent Muslim soldiers to assist Hitler in murdering Jews and other minorities in Nazi Europe. The mufti was also involved in the Armenian genocide.
The Muslim Brotherhood became increasingly hostile towards Sadat, who wanted to make peace with the Israelis. Sadat became the enemy of the Muslim Brotherhood. Most sources suggest that Sadat was murdered by the violent Islamist group Tanzim al-Jihad on October 6th, 1981.
The Muslim Brotherhood is extremely repressive. They aim to impose brutal sharia law and engage in violence against democratic nations. They are the godfathers of organizations like Hamas and al-Qaeda.
For this individual to come out and attempt to present this organization as a fair, honest group is despicable.
Had this been an academic debate, it would have actually been something worth listening to. Instead, it will likely paint a rosy picture of an organization we know to be vile and disturbing.
I'd like to say I am surprised that UC Irvine invited a member of the Muslim Brotherhood to speak. Nothing shocks me anymore where UC Irvine is concerned. My alma mater disgusts me.
Thanks, Reut. You are correct, UCI is a disgrace.
Gary, if they're such a disgrace, does that mean you'll be returning your next paycheck?
Reut, will you be burning your degree?
Bryan,
Please do not take offense, but your comment doesn't warrant a serious response.
Regards,
Reut R. Cohen
Response to my pal, Bryan:
No, I will not return my paycheck because I earn it (small as it is). As you know, I am just a part-timer at UCI. I choose to stay there (until they fire me) because:
1 It gets me out of the house for a couple of hours every day.
2 It pays for my beer.
3 I enjoy the teaching.
4 I enjoy pushing the buttons of the left-wing academics.
5 I believe in the positions I am taking against the anti-Semitic and anti-American rants put on by the MSU at UCI and the passivity of the UCI Administration in the face of hate speech.
Well said, Gary!
Today, Ibrahim Al-Houdaiby, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, appeared at UCI. He was invited to UCI by the Center for Research on International and Global Studies and the History Department. His topic was Religion and Democracy in the Middle East. Al Houdaiby portrays himself-and the Muslim Brotherhood as moderate and seeking to establish understanding between Islam and the West. They are opponents of the current Egyptian Government. The event took place as part of a class by Professor Mark LeVIne, a Middle East expert who is considered sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. (His critics consider him anti-Israel.) Members of the public were invited to attend the talk and the question and answer session. Aside from the students in the class, most of the attendees were Muslim students with a handful of Jewish members from the community. There were no incidents or heated exchanges.
Prior to the event, the Brotherhood's website, Ikhwan Web.com, posted an article describing opposition to the appearance. The article linked to a Frontpage.com article. (Al-Houdaiby is a member of the Ikhwan Board.)
Due to my class commitments, I arrived about 30 minutes late, and shortly before the conclusion of Al-Houdaiby's remarks. I was able to attend the Q&A, however. My question was one of the last because Dr LeVine wanted to give his students the chance to ask questions first in the limited time.
I would have liked to claim that I was the only skunk at the garden party, but a few students voiced skepticism about the Brotherhood in their questions about women's rights, the alleged role of the Brotherhood in the assassination of Anwar Sadat and other issues. One young lady described herself as a Coptic Christian and voiced concern about their rights in a Muslim society. (Coptic Christians are a religious minority in Egypt.)Al-Houdaiby denied any Brotherhood invovement in the Sadat assassination and tried to reassure the Coptic lady about the situation in Egypt.
He insisted that the Brotherhood seeks democracy in Egypt.
While Al-Houdaiby speaks fluent English, he tends to speak quite fast and gives lengthy answers that tend to ramble, so (at least for me), it is difficult to follow his monologue. In his statements, Al-Houdaibi insisted that the Brotherhood renounces violence, condemned 9-11 and only seeks understanding with the West.
When I was called upon, I explained that I had arrived late and may have missed remarks that would pertain to my question, which was related to a Muslim Brotherhood memo dated May 22, 1991. I was holding a copy of the memo and passed English and Arabic copies up front for Mr Al-Houdaiby and Dr LeVine.
I digress at this point to explain this memo to the reader. The memo in question is entitled: An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America-5/22/1991. It was written by Mohamed Akram and consists of 18 pages in English. It is addressed to several Muslim groups in North America. This document is stamped, "US v HLF (Homeland Foundation) and bears prosecution exhibit number 003-0085, which identifies it as a government exhibit in the the Homeland Foundation prosecution. It is now in the public venue.
I directed Mr Al-Houdaiby's attention to page 7 of the document, section 4, which is entitled: "Understanding the Role of the Muslim Brother in North America". I then read aloud the passage, which follows below:
"The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process' with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim's destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack. But, would the slackers and the Mujahedeen be equal".
I then asked Al-Houdaibi to comment and asked if this is the position of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Al-Houdaiby expressed wonderment at where I had obtained the document, declared it false and stated that it had already been revealed to be false adding that there is no Muslim Brotherhood in the US. He went on to state that it did not reflect the position of the Brotherhood and was against the words of the Brotherhood founder, Hasan Al-Banna. I then followed up by asking if one of the founding principles of the Brotherhood was the imposition of Islam worldwide under Shariah law. This he denied. I then pinned him down by asking if it was his answer to me that the document was a forgery, reminding him that it was a prosecution exhibit used in the above-mentioned trial. He insisted the document was false.
(I should add that I am paraphrasing his answers as I did not record them and I am writing from memory.)
At this point, LeVine suggested that since time was short, perhaps I could chat with Al-Houdaiby later, and he could point out in the Ikhwan website the document was refuted. I mentioned that I needed to rush off (since I had to take my mother to the doctor.) I then left at the conclusion of the talk while LeVine's class resumed. Al-Houdaibi was scheduled to meet informally with students later in the afternoon. I had no further exchange with him.
Was I satisfied with Al-Houdaibi's answer? No. I don't see how he could look briefly at the document as I read one paragraph and conclude that the document was fake. Of course, I would have liked to delve further, but in these forums, you can't hog the floor. I will check out Ikhwan in the coming days to see if this document is addressed.
If anyone is interested in reading the entire document (in Arabic or English), it can be found at:
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6386
gary fouse
fousesquawk
adj teacher
uci-ext
For the past couple of years, I have been writing about the outrageous events and speakers being brought to UC-Irvine by the campus Muslim Student Union. I have posted many of my comments on the Red County blog of Orange County, a center-right blog. This has led many back and forth exchanges with other Red County readers, most agreeing with my posts, some disagreeing.
One of the figures who has occasionally commented in defense of the MSU and accused its critics of being anti-Muslim is none other than the local attorney for CAIR (Council of Islamic American Relations), Todd Gallinger.
Guess who is running for the Irvine City Council.
Not only is Mr Gallinger running for the City Council, he is upset that one of the incumbents running for re-election, Dr Steven Choi, recently spoke to a group of people and warned them about voting for someone who is associated with a "dangerous" organization (Gallinger-CAIR). Gallinger and CAIR are demanding an apology from Choi, which Choi refuses to give.
(CAIR's website today is reporting that Gallinger has just received a telephone death threat from an unidentified person. If that is the case, I certainly condemn it.)
Here's my 2 cents worth. CAIR insists that it is a moderate group which represents mainstream Muslims. It says it condemns terrorism (in all its forms), which, in my view, is a convenient add-on that opens the door to equate Israel with Islamic terrorism. Its Communications Director, Ibrahim Hooper, has refused to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. In addition, CAIR has engaged in lawsuits on behalf of US Muslims alleging discrimination and racial profiling. One example is the case of the "Flying Imams".
Finally, CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Homeland Foundation charities case.
Gallinger himself has participated in some of CAIR's lawsuits including suits against the Dept of Homeland Security and the FBI over those agency's roles in alleged delays in processing citizenship applications of Muslims due to background checks.
He also was involved in a lawsuit against Yale University Press representing a group called KinderUSA and trying to stop publication of a book entitled; "Hamas:Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad", by Matthew Levitt, who is director of the Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence and Policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. This book linked KinderUSA to groups raising money for terrorism under the guise of charity. The case was settled in August 2007. An article from the New Haven Independent dated 5-9-07 by Paul Bass entitled; "Alleged terror front group sues Yale Press" may be found at the below website:
http://newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/05/hamas_terrorism.php
As for CAIR, it is fair and accurate to say that it is under a great deal of suspicion. Many of its critics charge that CAIR is connected to terrorist organizations overseas, which CAIR denies.
So, is CAIR a "dangerous" organization? I don't know, but I would be very comfortable in saying that CAIR is a suspicious organization.
Which means that I would not be voting for Mr Gallinger. But, of course, I don't live in Irvine anyway.
gary fouse
fousesquawk
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Susan
http://www.car-insurance-choices.com
Post a Comment
Comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated. Please stay on topic and avoid profanities unless it is relevant to the discussion. By commenting on the site, you agree that you are not impersonating anyone else and that you are solely responsible for the content you post. In commenting on the website you agree that you are not violating copyright or intellectual property rights of others. Spam and commercial posts are not permitted and will not be published. Disagreement and debates are welcome, but comments which are slanderous, demeaning, obscene, resort to ad hominem, and/or are of a threatening nature will not be published. Opinions expressed in the comments section do not necessarily reflect the views of the website’s author. The author of the website reserves the right to reject or remove comments at any time and for any reason.