by Leslie S. Lebl in AC Democracy
Many Westerners interpret Hamas’ hatred of Israel as the result of a struggle over land or the alleged cruelty and debasement of Israel’s occupation of Gaza (even though Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005). However, an important driver of this hostility is the Islamist ideology and strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is the Palestinian chapter. Although its antisemitism is rarely mentioned, it plays a crucial role in the Brotherhood’s ideology and strategy.
The face of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States is the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Self-advertised as a Muslim civil rights group, Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism notes that “it is through an obsessive, venomous focus on Israel that CAIR has sustained its lengthy record of antisemitic rhetoric.” In 2009, the Federal Bureau of Investigation suspended all formal contacts with CAIR due to its ties with Hamas. The prohibition had little effect, however, as CAIR remains a prominent political player: senior U.S. politicians, including Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), spoke at the 2021 fundraising banquet for CAIR’s Chicago chapter.
Nor does CAIR hide its anti-Israel bias, calling for an immediate ceasefire after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and accusing Israel of war crimes. “CAIR is fulfilling the role for which the Muslim Brotherhood founded it at the outset—to be apologists for terror, especially from Hamas,” stated Rabbi Yaakov Menken, managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values.
As the case of CAIR shows, antisemitism is an integral part of Brotherhood ideology. It also acts as the accelerant of the fire that aims to destroy America. The protests and riots since October 7, 2023, in the United States and Western Europe offer a concrete and alarming example of how this works.
See the full article in AC Democracy
Photo Credit: Global Panorama on Flickr
