The Muslim Brotherhood's role in the Arab Spring and Western concerns

¶ … history of the Brotherhood group, its goals, how the Muslim Brotherhood acted as a either a catalyst or just a participant in the uprisings, what the group has done since Arab Spring, and the concerns of Western governments (including Israel) regarding the Brotherhood.

Catalyst or Participant

Post-Arab Spring Actions

Western Concerns

The Muslim Brotherhood

The Arab Spring of 2011 began when citizens in Tunisia and Egypt organized peaceful protests in the capital cities of Tunis and Cairo. The protests ranged in both size and expectation, but they shared a common goal. All of the protestors, regardless which country they were protesting in, wanted to see regime change. The primary reason for this was that they saw the then current regimes as catering to their own needs rather than those of the people. The protests did, in some cases lead to the desired changes, but they also had other outcomes also. One of those which was somewhat disturbing to the West was that a group called the Muslim Brotherhood started to gain support from people in many of the countries, and they were seen as possible leaders of the groups. This paper details the history of the Brotherhood group, its goals, how the Muslim Brotherhood acted as a either a catalyst or just a participant in the uprisings, what the group has done since Arab Spring, and the concerns of Western governments (including Israel) regarding the Brotherhood.

History

The Muslim Brotherhood is not an organization that has been newly formed during the events of the Arab Spring as many Westerners may think. This is a group of individuals, initially formed by Hassan al Banna (White, 2012, 266), that was organized in the 1920's in Egypt (Teitelbaum, 2011). The group was originally formed to throw off an early oppressor of the natives in Egypt that had been ruling from afar for more than two centuries -- the English. Al Banna organized the group as both a political and a minor terrorist front that would cause confusion in the ranks of the English and also begin to organize political aspirations in Egyptian leaders. The Brotherhood was partially successful in this is initial endeavor, because the British did allow the people to have more of a say in the politics of the country (Teitelbaum, 2011). However, the British did not relax control over their various territories until after World War II (for the most part), so the people of Egypt had to wait for self-rule.

The organization also has a significant history in other countries such as Syria and Jordan where they also attempted to throw off imperialist, Western rule (Teitelbaum, 2011). The Syrians had a monarchy that was endorsed by the European governments, so it was not interested enough in the welfare of the people. The Muslim Brotherhood have worked for the past 60 plus years to turn Syria back to its fundamentalist roots which is a major goal of the organization.

Goals

White (2012), in his book Terrorism and Homeland Security, writes that the Muslim Brotherhood was "designed to recapture the spirit and religious purity during the period of Mohammed and the four rightly guided caliphs. The Brotherhood seeks to create a single Muslim nation through education and religious reform" (266). These are the two primary stated goals of the organization. The Muslim Brotherhood believes that the different countries that make up the Middle East will one day become a single nation which is guided by the fundamentalist teachings of Allah.

From the beginning the group has worked behind the scenes in Egypt to obtain its two major goals. The group is funded by wealthy fundamental imams and religious zealots (much like Osama bin Laden) to organize a political organization which operates within the established government of Egypt (Stilt, 2010). The goal here is to influence the government through the use of political power rather than through terrorist means. As a matter of fact "in the November-December 2005 lower house parliamentary elections, independent candidates from the Muslim Brotherhood running with the slogan "Islam is the Solution" gained eighty-eight of 454 seats in those elections, many more than the other opposition groups combined" (Stilt, 2010). This was a triumph of the organization that the Brotherhood had formed over a period of more than 80 years of activity among the people of Egypt. The group was successful because the people did not see the affluence that Mubarak had promised them, so they started to believe that they would be better served by a group that espoused closer government ties to their religion. This was the precursor for the uprisings that began in December of 2010 in Tunisia and would spill into Egypt in January of 2011.

Post Arab Spring

The Muslim Brotherhood does not appear to be what many of the Western countries once feared which is another burgeoning terrorist organization. However, this is not a comfort to many Western powers because other groups began as relatively peaceful political parties and became more militant later. The goals of the Muslim Brotherhood have remained consistent, as far as researchers can determine, throughout their history. They are a group which seeks to enact change through non-violent protests and governmental action. This is exactly what the leaders of the group have tried to do since the Egyptian protests resulted in the ouster of Mubarak and the temporary military-controlled government. Speaking of these groups, Etzioni (2011) said "Illiberal moderate" also pertains to several Islamist groups, associations, and political parties in the region, such as those parts of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Jordan that currently reject violence even as they seek to base governance on Shari'a." The term that Etzioni uses here speaks of a group that does not espouse the tactics of their more radical fundamentalist brothers (such as overthrow through violence), but they do want the new governments to take a more conservative stance. The religious goal is one that is paramount to the Muslim Brotherhood, and they would have the country return to strict Sharia law rather than the Westernized version of legislation.

The Muslim Brotherhood has also been a prominent actor in the struggle that continues in Syria. The Syrian government has refused to bow to the wishes of the people like those which have instituted regime change, and they have used harsh tactics to quell any uprisings. The Muslim Brotherhood from other areas has come to the aid of members in Syria to help foster what they see as needed change (Bae, 2011). Unfortunately, the nonviolent methods of the Muslim Brotherhood do not work against the armed forces of the Syrian government.

Western Concerns

The country that watches the events happening in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries is Israel. The government in Israel is worried that the Brotherhood is not as peaceful as they have made it seem, and that they are waiting to obtain power and start another war with Israel. The government in Israel remembers that "Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al Banna (1906-49) said he learned a great deal from the Nazis about the effectiveness of propaganda in spreading hatred of Jews" (Patterson, 2011). This type of vitriol is common to Israel, but they can see a time when the Muslim Brotherhood achieves their goals (a combined Arab nation) and becomes too strong for Israel to combat. The Brotherhood has never made its animosity toward Israel a secret. "In 1979, the Brotherhood took an openly hostile stance toward Sadat's agreement with Israel at the Camp David Accords" (Stilt, 2010). This continues to be a problem for the nation of Israel as the nations which have realized regime change reform.

The United States, as well as other Western nations, ha the same concerns. The possible threat of a strong, unified, fundamentally driven Arab nation is that there would continue to be terrorism against the West. The goal of the Western nations is to continue the good relations that they preciously enjoyed with Mubarak and some of the other leaders in the region. However, if the Muslim Brotherhood gains political control of these nations that might prove difficult. The Muslim Brotherhood wants to return rule of Arab countries to fundamental Islam and that could set those countries at odds with Western countries that were once global partners. The largest concerns are the security threat that this could pose and the loss of oil from the region that the Western countries desperately need. This loss of Middle Eastern goods could prove to be a devastating blow to Western economies.

Conclusion

The Muslim Brotherhood is an Arab organization unlike many that have arisen from the region. The leaders preach nonviolence and governmental intervention. However, their history shows a group that seeks the strict reading of Sharia law which can sometimes run counter to the freedom of certain groups (such as women). Thus, although the goals of the group seem sound, there are still danger signals which people within the Middle East and Western democracies are feeling. The Muslim Brotherhood does not seem to have been an initiator of the unrest in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries in 2011, but they have taken advantage of the upheaval. The Brotherhood seeks to fill the void left by the deposing of former leaders.

This could be a problem in the future, but it is difficult to evaluate what level of concern Western nations and Israel should have. The Brotherhood has a history of animosity toward Israel, but they have not actively pursued actions against that country. The Brotherhood has always been careful to follow a peaceful, political path. The problem is that this could be more damaging in the long run than terrorist actions.