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Muslim Brotherhood-Hamas Revelations

(Jerusalem Post) Zvi Mazel - New revelations throw a startling light on how the Muslim Brotherhood worked hand-in-hand with Hamas during the mass demonstrations that brought about the fall of Hosni Mubarak's regime. According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, quoting a high-ranking security source, Egyptian homeland security head Khaled Tharwet gave Khairat el-Shater - no. 2 in the Brotherhood's supreme guidance office - transcripts of five phone calls between Brotherhood members and Hamas leaders intercepted during January 2011. The Brotherhood wanted Hamas to put added pressure on security forces by contributing to the general turmoil. Another goal was to secure the release of extremists imprisoned in Wadi Natrun prison - most notably Mohamed Morsi, who was to become Egypt's president a year later. From the transcripts, it appears that the Brotherhood knew in advance about the protests which erupted on Jan. 25 - and participated in the planning. In a call on Feb. 2, when the mass protests are reaching a paroxysm, an agitated Brotherhood member asks a Hamas official, "Where are you, I don't see any of your people." The official replies, "Don't worry, we are behind the museum [the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square] with our slingshots at the ready." On Feb. 11, after the resignation of Mubarak, a senior Brotherhood member tells the Hamas official, "You have helped us and we owe you." These conversations put a whole new slant on the revolution narrative. Far from having waited a number of days before joining the protests, the Brotherhood participated from the very beginning. Hamas terrorists, too, were right there in Tahrir Square, agitating and taking part in attacks on public institutions. Egyptians are increasingly uneasy about the links between the Brotherhood and Hamas. The latest revelations add fuel to the fire. The writer, a fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is a former ambassador to Romania, Egypt and Sweden.
2013-05-03 00:00:00
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