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EmailThe Rapid Fall of the Muslim Brotherhood
The group in 2012 drew the support of 13 million Egyptian voters. Its core membership is now about 500,000.
A group called Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis, believed to have ties with Palestinian militants in Gaza, claimed responsibility for the attack. The Muslim Brotherhood was quick to deny any involvement and to distance itself from the perpetrators (though it did not condemn them). Regardless, Cairo and much of the public nonetheless blame the Brotherhood for the mounting violence in Egypt. Outrage directed at the once popular Muslim Brotherhood has finally prompted the government to bow to pressure and issue the terror designation.
The Brotherhood has fallen far since 13 million Egyptians voted its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, into the presidency in June 2012. Since Mr. Morsi’s ouster amid protests last summer, support for the Islamist group has continued to plunge and is estimated today to be down to a core base of about 500,000 people in a country of 90 million. The drastic drop in affection speaks volumes about the Brotherhood’s singular ineptitude during Mr. Morsi’s year in office and their continued refusal to accept Egypt’s current realities.
…Since Mr. Morsi’s removal, the Brothers have held almost daily demonstrations—often violent and always disruptive of traffic and normal daily life. Meanwhile, Islamist militants have stepped up their assaults around Egypt…
…For the first time in the Muslim Brotherhood’s 80-year history, the group’s struggle is not primarily with the state. During the Mubarak years, when the Brotherhood was banned and its leaders regularly detained, the majority of Egyptians sympathized with them as underdogs. These days, the Brotherhood’s quarrel is with the average Egyptian and the very people who once rooted for them…
Ms. Khayat is founder and chairman of an asset management company based in Egypt. She is also head of the economic committee of the Free Egyptians Party, a political party founded after the 2011 revolution.
