U.K Muslim Brotherhood media is reporting on comments by Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood leader Rachid Ghannouchi in which he said that Israel is undergoing an “again process” and that a “transformation” of support for the Palestinians is beginning to occur. According to the report in the Middle East Monitor:
The leader of the Tunisian Al-Nahda (Renaissance) movement, Sheikh Rashid Al-Ghannouchi, has said that the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, “is compatible with Israel’s aggressive nature”. He believes that the Zionist state is undergoing an “ageing” process due to the perceived risk of the Arab revolts and their positive impact on the Palestinian cause. peaking to Quds Press, Mr. Al-Ghannouchi condemned the latest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip: “Aggression against the Palestinians is not something new as this is the nature of Israel; it grew up on aggression and cannot exist without it. The more that its victims are determined to resist, the more it increases its aggression, because the Israeli entity is going through an ageing process and sees that the only way to restore its confidence and the confidence of its sponsors and supporters is through increasing its aggression. We do not expect Israel to stop such behaviour, because it is normal for it to behave in such a way.” Al-Nahda’s leader denied claims that the Arab revolutions work against the Palestinian cause. “One of the reasons for Israeli aggression is the danger of the Arab Spring and it’s positive influence on the Palestinian issue,” he said, “so it is trying to discourage the Palestinians from taking advantage of the momentum provided by the Arab Revolutions.” What can the revolutions offer the Palestinian cause? “These revolutions are still concerned mainly about their domestic affairs. However, indications are that an important transformation is starting to appear; capitals in the Arab Spring countries have received Palestinian leaders of the resistance, with representative offices being opened in a number of cities, but the main concern of the Arab revolutions is essentially internal at this stage.” Mr. Al-Ghannouchi criticised the rhetoric of some writers and politicians that political Islam has come to power in the Arab Spring countries based on a political deal with the West under which a concession about the Palestinian cause has been made. “This is nonsense being spouted by losers; those who have failed to compete with the Islamists at the ballot box have nothing better to do except to promote such myths. No one can deny the Islamists’ support for the Palestinian issue; many of the other political groups sold the Palestinian cause, but the Islamists are the ones who have returned the Palestinian issue to the forefront of events.”
In a May 2011 interview, Ghannouchi called for and predicted the end of Israel.
Rachid Ghannouchi (many spelling variations) is the leader of the Tunisian Islamist movement known as Nahda (aka Ennahda, Al Nahda) and can best be described as an independent Islamist power center who is tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood though his membership in the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) and his important position in the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), both organizations led by Global Muslim Brotherhood Youssef Qaradawi. An Egyptian news report has identified Ghannouchi as a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood “abroad.” Ghannouchi is also one of the founding members of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi organization closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and dedicated to the propagation of “Wahabist” Islam throughout the world. Ghannouchi is known for his thinking on the issue of Islam and citizenship rights. Earlier posts reported on the return of Mr. Ghannouchi to Tunisia following his long exile in the UK. Other posts have detailed his extremist background.
Three days ago, Ghannouchi was hosted in Tunisia by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), an important part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.