'Palestinians paying for Nazi crimes'

Muslim Brotherhood official tells Washington Post US, Europe 'exported Hitler's conflict to our land'

Yitzhak Benhorin|Published: 05.14.11 , 21:26

WASHINGTON- "My dream is to live together as we did before the state of Israel. We lived in peace. We were never in conflict. Americans and Europeans exported the conflict created by Hitler to our land," said Essam El-Erian, a senior member of the Muslim brotherhood's Egypt branch.

In an interview with the Washington Post, El-Erian calimed his organization does not threaten Israel, and is not interested in annulling the peace accord with the Jewish State.

Commenting on the ongoing clashes between Israel and the Palestinians, El-Erian noted that Israel was punishing the Palestinians for the Jewish Holocaust during World War II.

Muslim Brotherhood members in Egypt (Photo: AFP)

"The Holocaust was a massacre against a race, against a religion—it is a really big crime, but we were never accused of it. Why do the Palestinians pay the price of Nazis?" he said.

El-Erian stressed that the Muslim Brotherhood has no intention of canceling the peace treaty with Israel.

"A new parliament would make that decision. The army says frankly, and we say it also: We cannot cancel a treaty by a verbal decision. Treaties have regulations and must be respected from both sides. When one side doesn't respect the treaty, the international community must obligate it to do so."

The Muslim Brotherhood official accused the American administration of being biased in favor of Israel and warned the Americans that if they don’t reevaluate their policy in the Middle East, they might "lose" the region.

"We are not threatening Israel. Israel is hurting itself by its policies. It is discriminating inside Israel against Arabs. Israel is not under threat from Arabs—it is under threat from inside Israel, from its leaders like (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Foreign Minister Avigdor) Lieberman. It is under threat from Israelis," he said, adding, "I studied the society of Israel, I know everything about this fight and this state. My dream is that we are not going to destroy Israel. If it didn't revise its policy and its policy against Arabs and Jews, it can destroy itself."