Tariq Ramadan Says Morsi Overthrown By US-Zionist Conspiracy

Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Tariq Ramadan has penned a long article in which he not so subtly implies that the overthrow of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was orchestrated by a conspiracy involving the US and Israel together with what he alleges to be their Salafist allies. The article does not lend itself to excerpting so understanding Ramadan’s position will necessitate reading it in is entirety:

9 July 2013 I never shared the widespread ‘revolutionary’ enthusiasm. Nor did I believe that events in Egypt, any more than in Tunisia, were the result of a sudden historical upheaval. The peoples of these two countries suffered from dictatorship, from economic and social crisis; they rose up in the name of dignity, social justice and freedom. Their awakening, their ‘intellectual revolution,’ and their courage must be saluted. But to accept or justify a simple-minded, linear explanation of the political, geostrategic and economic issues would have been totally unconscionable. Nearly three years ago, in a book and then in a series of articles, I alerted my readers to a body of troubling evidences, and to the underlying geopolitical and economic considerations that were often missing from mainstream political and media analyses, and that insisted on submitting the euphoria that accompanied the ‘Arab spring’ to critical analysis.

The Egyptian army has not returned to politics for the simple reason that it has never left. The fall of Hosni Mubarak was a military coup d’État that allowed a new generation of officers to enter the political scene in a new way, from behind the curtain of a civilian government. In an article published on June 29 2012 I noted an Army high command declaration that the presidential election was temporary, for a six-month to one-year period (its title made the premonition explicit: ‘An election for nothing?’). The American administration had monitored the entire process: its objective ally in Egypt over the past fifty years has been the army, not the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). The latest revelations (see the International Herald Tribune , July 5, and Le Monde, July 6) confirm what was already clear: the decision to overthrow President Mohamed Morsi had been made well before June 30. A conversation between President Morsi and General al-Sisi indicated that the head of the country’s military had planned the overthrow and imprisonment of the president weeks before the popular upheaval that would justify the military coup ‘in the name of the people’s will.’ A clever strategy! Orchestrate demonstrations involving millions of people in order to make believe that the army truly cares about the people! Coup d’État, second act.

Read the rest here.

Given the unproven conspiratorial nature of what he believes to have taken place, the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch finds it ironic that Ramadan complains about being “dismissed as a conspiracy theorist.” Although couched in what might be described as leftwing political analysis, Ramadan’s theorizing could also be seen to fit what Syrian-born scholar Bassam Tibi has described as  an “Islamized antisemitism” which he says is characterized by the view that Jews are conspiring against Islam and that they employ “Zionism” as a means to further their goals. As Tibi writes, since America is seen to be ruled by Jews, a “US-Zionist” conspiracy is often seen to be operating behind the scenes. For example, in 2006, Ramadan had alleged that Israel:

…..imposes its conditions on the United States as well as Europe. And all of this with the arrogance of an innate, absolute and sovereign right. In the corridors of Washington or Brussels, everyone knows, everyone keeps silent..