HAMAS, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State
by Christopher W. Holton
New developments in the Middle East are focusing attention on the Muslim Brotherhood’s role in Jihadist terrorism.
These new developments are particularly important because there is legislation in Congress aimed at designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO):
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/68/text?format=txt
There should be no controversy over the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. The Muslim Brotherhood is in fact the forerunner of all Sunni Jihadist organizations.
Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood has been directly involved in Jihadist terrorism. It was the Muslim Brotherhood that formed HAMAS (an acronym for “Islamic Resistance Movement”), the Jihadist terrorist organization that seeks to replace Israel with an Islamic state ruled by sharia. Here are some key passages from the HAMAS charter:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”
The HAMAS charter also directly ties HAMAS to the Muslim Brotherhood:
“The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine. Muslim Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization which constitutes the largest Islamic movement in modern times. It is characterised by its deep understanding, accurate comprehension and its complete embrace of all Islamic concepts of all aspects of life, culture, creed, politics, economics, education, society, justice and judgement, the spreading of Islam, education, art, information, science of the occult and conversion to Islam.”
HAMAS itself is in fact designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department and has been since 1997:
https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm
The HAMAS charter identifying the terrorist organization as part of the Muslim Brotherhood is particularly important in light of recent events. Many Leftist and Islamist sympathizers in the West view HAMAS with a degree of sympathy, largely due to anti-Israel sentiment. They view HAMAS as an enemy of Israel, but not necessarily an enemy of the U.S. or other Western nations.
The latest intelligence should put that notion to rest forever. Reports from the Egyptian Sinai peninsula which borders Israel indicate that HAMAS is providing support to Islamic State (ISIS) Jihadists in the area. BreitBart.com has the details:
The point here is that the Islamic State is at war with the United States and the entire West. There is no way that anyone can say that the Islamic State is not an enemy of America. And HAMAS is aiding and supporting our enemy.
Given the fact that HAMAS is the Muslim Brotherhood, there is now a direct tie between the Muslim Brotherhood and the most active, most violent worldwide Jihadist terrorist organization.
How much longer must we wait to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization?
