A Middle Eastern news portal tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood is reporting that the King of Jordan has said that the political arm of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood is part of the political life of his country. According to a Middle East Monitor report:
17 September 2013 Jordanian King Abdullah II has affirmed that he refuses to dismiss the role of the Muslim Brotherhood from the political process in his country.
Speaking to Chinese news agency, the King said: “The Islamic Action Front Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, forms a part of the political and social streams [in Jordan]. Jordan does not adopt a policy to dismiss any faction of any political movement.”
The King, who is on an official visit to China, continued: “We support openness in the political arena and we support the existence of all parties in the political process. Our nation hopes that all parties with real political, social and economic solutions to our problems take part in our political life.”
Ishaq Farhan, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, was one of the three founders of the Islamic Action Front, and a former education minister and senator. Mr. Farhan is also listed as a director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), founded in the U.S. in 1980 by important members of the Global Muslim Brotherhood who wished to promote the “Islamization of Knowledge.” IIIT was associated with the now defunct SAAR Foundation, a network of Islamic organizations located in Northern Virginia that was raided by the Federal government in March 2002 in connection with the financing of terrorism. In 2000, Mr. Farhan was denied entry to the U.S. after having had his visa revoked in the prior year without informing him. The New York Times reported at that time that unidentified American diplomats called Mr. Farhan a “moderating force” and that he “as kept a distance from the vociferous opposition to peaceful relations with Israel.” However, in 2003 a media report said that the IAF had “declared a jihad in favor of Iraq and Palestine if the US attacks Iraq.” More recently, after congratulating President Obama on his election, the IAF called his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan “a hostile step against the Arab and Islamic worlds. In 2009, the IAF also called Israeli actions in Gaza “the ugliest crime in history.”
At the end of August, the GMBDW reported that that the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood was boycotting municipal elections.
At the end of July, the GMBDW reported that the leader of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood had delivered speeches in which he called peace negotiations with Israel “a heresy, according to Islamic law” and that Palestine is “the graveyard of the Jews.”
In April, the GMBDW reported that a leader of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood had rejected agreements signed by the country’s king and the Israeli government and that leaders of the Brotherhood wold not meet U.S. officials.
In July 2012, the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood was involved in the cancellation of a scheduled attendance by a Jordanian delegation to an educational conference being held in Israel. In June 2012, the head of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood called the arrival of the latest convoy in Gaza “a new page of the Jihad against the occupation of the Palestinian territories. In May 2012, the Jordanian Brotherhood elected a new leader, described as a “hardliner.”
Extremist statements made in the past by the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood include:
- Praising Turkey’s decision to expel the Israeli ambassador and calling on Jordan and Egypt to do the same.
- Demanding punishment for those in Jordan who may have warned Israel about the terror attacks in Eilat.
- Calling the French ban on full face veils “the beginning of a dangerous battle.”
- Suggesting that Israel might be behind a bomb attack on an Egyptian Coptic church.
- Support for Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir, accused by the International Criminal Court of genocide in Sudan.
- Support for marriage of girls at age 15.
- Participation in incitement centered on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
- Calling on Palestinians to begin a “Third Intifada.”
- Calling for martyrdom over religious sites in Israel.
- Opposing a U.N treaty on the rights of women.
- Supporting a boycott on goods produced by “enemies of Islam.”
- Calling for more suicide attacks against Israel.
For a current analysis of the relationship between the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood and the government, go here.