June 29, 2019

The American magazine Newsweek has published an article entitled “Banning the Muslim Brotherhood: a gift for both dictators and terrorists” by Galap Dalay, a visiting scholar at Oxford University, who sees the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation as a valuable gift from US President Donald Trump to all tyrannical regimes in the Middle East:

“At the behest of al-Sisi, the White House confirmed that the Trump administration is looking at ways to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation. This decision will represent an invaluable gift from Trump. Not just to the Egyptian dictator, but to all of the Middle East’s authoritarian regimes.”

The researcher commented: “It is clear that the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t meet the criteria that are laid out above. It isn’t only that the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t undertake violent actions against US interests: the movement renounced violence long ago.”

Dalay pointed out that groups linked to the Muslim Brotherhood are part of the political or governmental structure of many countries allied with America, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Morocco and Jordan, and the classification will affect relations between these countries and the US.

The article concluded that Trump wants the US to join Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, as well as Syria and Russia, in classifying the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation, which will satisfy Arab dictators and extreme right-wing elements in the West, but will not create stability and positive political change in the Middle East.