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Sounds of Silence: U.S. Islamists on the Egypt Revolution

Not a mention of the Egyptian revolution could be found on CAIR's website the week of the dramatic events in Egypt.

Not a mention of the Egyptian revolution could be found on CAIR's website the week of the dramatic events in Egypt.

by: 
Ryan Mauro

The removal of Egyptian President Morsi due to a popular revolution and broadly supported military intervention is the top news headline in the world. But if you look at the websites of some of the most powerful Muslim Brotherhood-originated groups in America, you’d think you dreamt it all. It’s like it never happened.

These groups react quickly. Whenever there is an opportunity to slam Israel, they don’t waste a moment. There was no delay it endorsing the revolution against Egyptian President Mubarak; the man standing in the way of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover. When protests erupted against Qaddafi and Assad, these groups rallied behind the Brotherhood-allied opposition.

On July 3, protests many times larger than those that brought down Mubarak took place in Egypt. The vast majority of the participants in the anti-Islamist movement are Muslims. Yet, this Muslim-led revolution against the Muslim Brotherhood hasn’t gotten the same reception.

Take a look at the websites of groups with documented (but denied) Muslim Brotherhood linkages. You will certainly not find a letter of congratulations to the Egyptian people. Nor will you find a press release, plans for a rally or a date for a fundraiser.

This is true of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America, North American Islamic Trust, Muslim American Society, Islamic Circle of North America, Islamic Relief USA, American Muslims for Palestine, etc.

There are two exceptions.

Ahmed Rehab is the director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR is a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity according to Brotherhood documents and federal prosecutors. Rehab deserves credit for his harsh criticism of President Morsi, though he argued against a crackdown on the Brotherhood and said the revolution could be “a blessing in disguise for the MB, after their advisors were leading them to destruction.”

The Muslim Public Affairs Council is the only national organization with Islamist links to fully endorse the revolution that replaced Morsi.

“We rejoice and celebrate the victory of the Egyptian people against the exploitation of religion to suppress the masses and rob them of their God-given freedom and dignity,” MPAC’s July 3 statement reads.

MPAC’s founders were members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and were close to its founder, Hassan al-Banna. A U.S. Muslim Brotherhood document from 1989 instructed members to reach out to one of MPAC’s founders, though the group did not appear in a 1991 list of U.S. Muslim Brotherhood fronts.

Its leadership praised Hezbollah and Islamist leaders like al-Banna in the 1990s, opposed the designations of Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups in 2003, and promoted the Brotherhood as a moderate force and potential U.S. ally in 2010. In a debate between MPAC and the Clarion Project in December 2012, its leader dismissed the suggestion that MPAC take a stand against the Brotherhood as “ridiculous.”

However, after our criticism of a church for hosting MPAC generated nationwide coverage, MPAC founder Maher Hathout said he was on the side of the opposition against President Morsi and the Brotherhood. At its 2012 conference, Hathout said that “we don’t want to enforce Sharia anywhere” and that Sharia’s penal code is unsuitable for today.

The silent organizations assure us that they have never had any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. Those that cite the facts are condemned as anti-Muslim bigots. These groups’ denials are debunked by their own obvious double-standard.