In regard to “propaganda”, I believe that, beyond the MB, Egyptian people have been eating “propaganda” from the state owned media for so long that the issue of “Palestine” has become more than an Islamist issue.
It is on the ground in every household, in every political section and generally on the street. The April 6 Movement (which is generally the socialist youth) participated in a march on Thursday (Nakba, celebration of the egypt Israel war?) to Gaza (A March to Palestine it was referred to).
This isn’t just about Islamists, this is about the ideas of the entire population. They have lived under this propaganda for their entire lives (keeping in mind that the largest part of the population is under thirty). They do not even recognize it as “propaganda” from the state anymore, but as a collective memory of the people.
For them, Israel is “Apartheid”, keeping the Palestinian Arabs separate and outside of the greater state of Palestine (keeping in mind that the idea of Israel as a state exists, but the idea of a Greater Palestine w/people allowed to return to the territory is the one that these “youth” buy into).
Two states is not an issue of two nations for them. They are thinking in bigger terms (two states in one state, but that any existence of those as one “arab” and the other “jewish” is ‘apartheid’). The disintegration of Israel is not a matter, necessarily, of physical force, but of population.
Of course, the Israelis are mindful of this and so are we. Which means that, no matter what is done to recognize the “Palestinian state”, the end of hostilities will not come and all of these states will remain “at war” with Israel. Because, as noted, the end state is not Israel living in peace in the Middle East, but Israel gone.
The question now is what sort of game is the greater government playing? Do they believe that they can move the MB to basically control or force Hamas to actually submit to negotiation? When, in truth, this is the MB playing the administration and the last one as well.
I do believe we have been infiltrated (kind of like the Communists who were telling FDR and then trying to tell Truman that Uncle Joe was not dangerous right before Stalin ordered the barbwire fence to be installed across the territory he held to become the Iron Wall). Have we determined that we are going to play the same double game or are the people in the administration naively going along with this?
It is too difficult to say (though ideologically, I lean towards naivety or at least very foolish).
I am now leaning towards the idea that the putting off of elections in Egypt was possibly the most naive thing that we had pressed for. The parties that would be the “other” in egypt are squandering positions or at least have given the MB political coverage on this issue to the point that they have little or nothing to offer that is truly separate from the MB. Only details of whether there is a minimum or maximum wage, whether this or that ministry is in whose technical hands.
The MB has consolidated their hold over the education system and will continue to do so as the process moves forward. They are pushing for a parliamentary government, as opposed to a Presidential one, giving the parliament and the Prime Minister (who will only be selected with the approval of the MB block in government) with cabinet control. Including the ministry for Religious endowments that controls the placement of Imams in the Mosques.
Interesting that the SCAF have issued an order recently re-opening 48 previously closed Churches. Also that the Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar has called a great meeting of all of the Sheikh’s to discuss how they are going to approach the teachings of Islam. To get a central idea (because, once upon a time, the University of al Azhar at Cairo was the teaching center of Islam – but also where many of the preachers who came to the Qutbist school came from).
Is this the MB getting ready to take control of the message? Or, are the Imam’s in the street demanding separation from the state of religion, the one’s protesting it? And what, if anything, do we expect to get from this if we are supporting the MB in the move to control this aspect of “the message”? Because, that is MB’s central idea, to preach the “right way” of Islam.
From this perspective, it is difficult to tell who is the right section to support. Separate the mosque from state and force the MB to fight for each one the old fashion proselytizing way or let them take it so that we have a way to influence it (a naive concept, but interesting)?
Is this us hoping to influence the message of Islam? And, what are we sacrificing in supporting it? The MB are old hands at playing this game. They have survived at least four, if not five, Egyptian governments/rulers by supporting and then opposing whomever is most useful to their survival.
They are “turning Egypt to Islam”. Even the young people who left to go to school in the US at the end of the 90′s, returned in early 2000′s to discover Egypt had become “veiled” and “less open”.
What I also want to know is, are we sacrificing once again, real liberals and potentially real freedom and democracy for some nebulous support of the MB? Even if it puts us opposite of the MB, what good does it serve to continuously support totalitarian ideology?
This entire thing has me continuously wondering WTF are we doing?
Support “self determination” was code for supporting what ever mass of tyrannical scum bags could drag themselves to power and rule over the people with the people cheering on their own enslavement.
