Important elements of the global Brotherhood continue to expound themes about the ongoing Gaza crisis identified in earlier posts including accusations of Israeli massacres, a “War on Gaza”, and comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany. Mohammed Mahdi Akef, the leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, employed two of the three themes in comparing Israel’s actions to the Nazis during World War II and referring to a “barbaric Zionist war on the Gaza Strip”:
Lashing out at the Zionist air land and sea offensive on the Gaza Strip, Akef compared it to the Nazi”s strikes of the Second World War. The only difference between the Second World War and the barbaric Zionist war on Gaza Strip is that the Zionists launch a war against unarmed people who have- if any- some primitive weapons. Akef pointed out that the target of the ground invasion of Gaza is to achieve targets that the air strikes failed to achieve, namely stopping the Strip”s missile fires and attempting to topple Hamas government, under international, US and European connivance plus connivance of some Arab countries to give the Zionists sufficient time and a political cover-up to continue this criminal assault. Regarding the attitude of Muslim and Arab governments, the Muslim Brotherhood Chairman said their attitudes are marked by a shameful silence and passivity, if not support and conniving with the enemy. He said the Arab and Muslim rulers are only begging for a resolution from the Security Council which is fully controlled by the US President.
Dr. Abdullah Al- Turki, the Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, employed the massacre theme and went beyond even the Nazi analogy by calling Israeli actions “the worst in the wars faced by humanity throughout history”:
In a call addressed to un secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, Turki called on the international organization to halt the Israeli massacres that conflict with all religions and human values. Entire members of some families in Gaza died under israeli shelling, bombs and missiles, he said noting that more than 500 palestinians had martyred and about over 2500 had been injured. He also said that Israel, which does not respect religions and religious values, had destroyed 12 mosques in Gaza, describing the israeli practices as the worst in the wars faced by humanity throughout history.
The UAE cabinet, headed by Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum the UAE leader who financially supports the European Muslim Brotherhood, condemned Israeli “genocide”:
The United Arab Emirates cabinet on Monday condemned the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza Strip, the WAM news agency said in a statement. The cabinet, headed by Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, Prime Minster and ruler of Dubai, expressed its solidarity with the Palestinian people and sympathy with “victims of the Israeli aggression that has killed hundreds of innocent women and children,” the statement said. “The cabinet condemns Israel’s aggressive attack on the Gaza Strip, which is an outrageous violation of international law,” according to the statement, issued after a cabinet meeting. The cabinet supports ongoing international and Arab efforts to broker a ceasefire.
Finally Dr. Muqtedar Khan, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood linked Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy and often described as a leading moderate, described the thousands of rockets fired by Hamas into Israel as “a few rockets” while joining the chorus of massacre accusations.
As I listen to the statements from the Bush administration, which blames Hamas alone for all the violence, and the Messiah himself holidaying in Hawaii, I am amazed at the complete lack of humanity in their response. There is absolutely no iota of sympathy, or regret or grief for those who died. It is as if their hearts are made of stone. Terrorism is not just threatening lives but is slowly destroying the humanity of these nations. Hamas shot a few rockets into Israel; but that is who they are and that is what they do — they are a terrorist organization. Israel and the U.S. are supposed to be democracies that care about human rights. But when they massacre hundreds of people and their citizens watch in silence, no protests, no shock, then there is something fundamentally wrong.