In the latest report on Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s first trip outside the Gaza Strip, Jordanian media is reporting that Haniyeh was In the Sudan where meetings were held to discuss Hamas “joining the Muslim Brotherhood. According to a Maan News Agency report:
LONDON (Ma’an) — Hamas leaders are holding meetings in Sudan to discuss joining the Muslim Brotherhood, the London-based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Saturday. Some 59 members of Hamas’ Shura Council met in Khartoum to discuss creating a separate branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine, the report said. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met Muslim Brotherhood chairman Muhammad Badie on Dec. 26 during his visit to Cairo. A Hamas delegation, including Haniyeh and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal, is in Khartoum and met Sudanese President Omar Bashir on Thursday. In October, a Muslim Brotherhood delegation visited the Gaza Strip for the first time. The party had been curbed by US-aligned Hosni Mubarak but it has been empowered by a strong showing in elections since the president’s ouster. “
In fact, the Hamas charter already states states that it is ” is one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine” and an early media report indicated that shortly after Hamas took over the Gaza strip, Muslim Brotherhood representatives were present to review Hamas military formations. In 2007, a Hamas journalist acknowledged the role that the “international Muslim Brotherhood” has played in providing funds for the purchase of weapons and in 2008, an Israeli TV station reported that Muslim Brotherhood “representatives” had traveled to Gaza from Egypt through the open border to meet with Hamas. Hamas is supported financially and politically by the global Muslim Brotherhood and a NEFA Foundation report has documented the Hamas fund-raising activities of the Union of Good, a coalition of Islamic charities linked to the Brotherhood that provides financial support to both the Hamas “social” infrastructure, as well as its terrorist activities. Previous posts have also discussed the worldwide campaign orchestrated by the global Brotherhood against Israeli actions in Gaza during the 2008-2009 conflict with Israel. Anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement in Hamas media is commonly reported.
Previous posts have reported on other aspects of Haniyeh’s first trip outside of the Gaza Strip including the visit to the headquarters of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and his presence in Turkey for meetings with the Turkish Prime Minister and where he reportedly received a standing ovation from members of Erdogans AKP members at the Turkish parliament.