On the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Muslim Brotherhood chose to accuse the U.S. of “American terrorism against millions of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq.” On their movement’s social media channels, under headlines accompanied by matching hashtags of #terroristusa, members of the Muslim Brotherhood continued to castigate the U.S. regarding its operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the entire Middle East but especially regarding the Palestinians.
In order to connect their posts with the September 11 attacks, the Muslim Brotherhood referred to the words of Osama Bin Laden: "I swear by God Almighty, who raised the sky without pillars, that neither America nor anyone living there will ever dream of security before we actually experience security in Palestine.”
As for the Palestinians, it should be recalled how on that heinous September 11, 2001, when the world at large was in shock from the terrible attacks, Palestinians took to the streets by the tens of thousands in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria to celebrate the death of thousands of Americans. Those Palestinian locals shouted for joy, praised Osama Bin Laden, handed out sweets, and said “This is a gift from Bin Laden.”
Subsequently, the Muslim Brotherhood made a point of proclaiming a baleful message: “Again... the spirit of Bin Laden is threatening America.” With that message, the Muslim Brotherhood meant to say that although the U.S. had eliminated Bin Laden, and even eliminated his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, the spirit of jihad persisted and was threatening the U.S. By way of justifying an attack on the U.S. and casting doubt on the American narrative, the Muslim Brotherhood emphasized that —
“It makes no difference what the true story of September 11 is. America remains terrorist and is the source of all the evil and terrorism in the world…”
The statements of the Muslim Brotherhood prove the charge that despite attempts to disguise their intentions, they still support jihad against the U.S. in specific and against the West in general. The Muslim Brotherhood is a worldwide extremist movement waging a “sophisticated jihad” in many countries and thus undermining Western nations from within.
This movement, which engendered the murderous Hamas terror organization as a sort of “Palestinian branch” of itself, also indirectly brought Al Qaeda into existence through a separate Palestinian agent by the name of Sheikh Abdullah Azzam.
What connection exists between the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda?
Abdullah Azzam, a senior official of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded the Al-Qaeda organization and served as a guide and a kind of mentor to Bin Laden. He distributed fatwas (Islamic religious rulings) to young Muslims who traveled to Afghanistan for the fight against the Soviets during the 1980s. According to Azzam, every Muslim worldwide is obliged to fight the “sacrilegious” West.
Al-Qaeda grew on the foundations of the Muslim Brotherhood. The ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood and of Al-Qaeda are no different in their aims: They both wish to establish a global Islamic caliphate by means of persistent warfare against the West.
However, over the years and especially after the attacks of September 11, the Muslim Brotherhood has been attempting to distance itself from such jihadist organizations as ISIS and Al-Qaeda for fear of incurring backlash from Western countries and of being labeled a supporter of terrorism.
The Muslim Brotherhood is trying to retain its political presence in the Western countries and to use them as a broad arena for activities that will spread its influence, increase its power, and conquer the West “noiselessly.”
They have favored a sophisticated jihad, supporting terrorism from the sidelines and undermining the West quietly from within. Nonetheless, the Muslim Brotherhood — like the jihadi organizations ISIS and Al-Qaeda — sees the establishment of an Islamic caliphate as the ultimate goal.
A Muslim Brotherhood member and former Egyptian parliamentarian, Sliman Salah, wrote last May in the Qatari daily A-Sharq: “The arrogant West does not understand that the Muslims will continue waging jihad, as their Quranic duty, until Allah is victorious.”
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Salah’s column in the Qatari daily calls upon the West to abandon its arrogant attitude toward the Muslims and to understand that if Muslims wish to attain heaven, their Islamic identity requires them to fulfill a certain earthly role, which includes jihad in the cause of victory for Allah.
Eran LahavSalah also emphasized that “jihad is a simple weapon. The power of faith is stronger than the weapons of the West.”
- Eran Lahav is a researcher at the Israel Defense and Security Forum - the IDSF, specializing in terrorism, global Jihad and Iranian proxies, an entrepreneur and podcast host.