Print
EmailMar. 30, 2017
Trump reportedly backing off of executive order
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has been responsible for many political assassinations, attacks on churches and violent uprisings over the years. Known as the “Ikwan,” or “Brothers,” in the Middle East, they are feared by religious minorities of Christians, Shiite Muslims and Yazidis.
President Trump has decided not to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, at least for now, according to published reports citing pressure from the U.S. State Department and the King of Jordan.
Anonymous sources told the Washington Times that the administration “backed down from a plan to designate the Brotherhood” after an internal State Department memo advised against it.
The State Department’s argument – put forth in a memo to the White House – comes down to a belief that there is actually more than one Brotherhood and that one side is not as bad as the other because it works through democratic processes in the Middle East, the Washington Times reports.
Yet, it’s always been known that the Brotherhood operates on multiple levels.
According to scholar Martin Kramer, the Muslim Brotherhood from its early days had “a double identity.” Kramer, as quoted by Discover the Networks, writes:
“On one level, they operated openly, as a membership organization of social and political awakening. [Founder Hassan] al-Banna preached moral revival, and the Muslim Brethren engaged in good works. On another level, however, the Muslim Brethren created a ‘secret apparatus’ that acquired weapons and trained adepts in their use. Some of its guns were deployed against the Zionists in Palestine in 1948, but the Muslim Brethren also resorted to violence in Egypt. They began to enforce their own moral teachings by intimidation, and they initiated attacks against Egypt’s Jews.”
