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| Israel-Palestine |
| Muslim Brotherhood to Thwart Gaza Evacuation? (Debka) |
| 2004-07-14 |
| salt to taste EFL The business that brought him [Qaradawi] to London is revealed here exclusively by DEBKAfile's Middle East sources. The preacher placed before a World Muslim Brotherhood conference a working document drawn up at "a secret meeting of the movement" somewhere in the Middle East, calling on all brethren in the Muslim world to rise up and foil Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and, most of all, to combat any potential Egyptian or Jordanian role in its implementation. The Brotherhood was exhorted to resort "to all means available." . . . adding: "No power can prevent the Brotherhood from thwarting this scheme, even if it entails direct and open confrontation with the governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The struggle will be uncompromising." This is the first time . . . the Muslim Brotherhood . . . has crossed the line between radical doctrinal rhetoric and operational violence, threatening Israel, the Palestinian areas - and Arab governments too - with a campaign of terror. This sensitive information was relayed to two White House officials, Stephen Hadley and Elliot Abrams, when they met Sharon and other Israeli officials in Tel Aviv Tuesday, July 13, according to DEBKAfile's political sources. It explains the sudden absence of Egyptian emissaries from contacts with Sharon on the future of his disengagement initiative. Cairo, ever prone to Islamic fundamentalist outbreaks, is loath to take the lid off a fresh wave, especially during the potentially volatile period of regime transition from the ailing president Hosni Mubarak to his son Gemal. Jordan is likewise playing down its support for Sharon's plan. King Abdullah has enough worries from the danger of Iraqi guerrilla war spillover and clandestine al Qaeda activity without giving the Muslim Brotherhood's broad and influential Jordanian membership a pretext for opening yet another front against the throne in Amman. On the other hand, the Palestinian Hamas, Jihad Islami and factions of the popular resistance committees, are bound by the Brotherhood's decision to fight tooth and nail against Egyptian or Jordanian attempts to establish a security presence in Palestinian areas. This circumstance leaves former Gaza strongman Muhammed Dahlan with little option but to shelve his dreams of ruling the territory and return to his studies in London. |
| Posted by:PlanetDan |
| #5 Any arab with strategic thinking (now there's a phrase) realizes that Israel's plan to disengage from the Paleos and isolate them with a wall makes the effectiveness of the Paleos as a dagger in the underbelly of Israel minimal. The Paleos will just become a backwater in their designs on Israel. Since the Paleos are no longer useful idiots, their funding will dry up and they will be the forgotten |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-07-14 4:46:34 PM |
| #4 Muslim Brotherhood logic: "We want all of the Jews off of our land, or we will kill you all." "'Kay. We're out of here. See you around the oasis." "No! Come back or we will kill you all!" |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-07-14 4:36:14 PM |
| #3 I fail to see how the Moslim brotherhood could stop Israel from pulling out. Attacks won't do anything to stop it since the plan is announced the pullout won't be seen as appeasment. The attacks could however convince settlers to move quicker to get out of Gaza. Perhaps they are planning a charm offensive. Passing out flowers and singing songs to the settlers hoping to convince them to stay. |
| Posted by: yank 2004-07-14 3:40:16 PM |
| #2 Good assessment of Debka, Anonymoose. I also find their work to be a little too skewed by wishful thinking and unwarranted supposition. They manage some excellent scoops but tend to taint them with their own agenda a little much. This is the first time . . . the Muslim Brotherhood . . . has crossed the line between radical doctrinal rhetoric and operational violence, threatening Israel, the Palestinian areas - and Arab governments too - with a campaign of terror. Methinks another major crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood will be forthcoming in Egypt. No sense in letting them rock the boat during any power transition. It also appears as though the Brotherhood is about to piss off everyone and their grandmother. All the better I suppose, although one hopes the Palestinian people would realize how this merely foretells increased misery for them (difficult as that is to imagine). I suppose it will be hard for them to tell if conditions deteriorate since they are living in stone-age poverty already. At least a nice power struggle over the last few remaining chickens in the Palestinian coop will give their people ringside seats to view exactly why their so-called "state" continues to shrink in size and is no closer to manifesting politically after decades of bloody struggle. Anyone want to bet that a shred of this will get through to them? [crickets chirping] |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-14 2:45:26 PM |
| #1 Debka does get some interesting scoops, but boy howdy do they ever twist them up with their own wishful thinking. For example, they are good at analyzing the Byzantine plots of the various players in the middle east, but fall flat on their faces when trying to interpret the motives and actions of outsiders. And this skews their predictions, whenever an outsider is involved in the equation. They are not alone in this problem. The Israeli military was taken completely by surprise at how the Americans conducted their Iraq campaign, and how they followed that campaign up, and with such unpredicted success. The Israelis assumed that the Americans and the Iraqis would behave just like they and the Palestinians did. That their motives, techniques, tactics and strategies were the same. And they were terribly wrong. (The Isreali military was also horrified to discover that they had only miniscule penetration into US strategy and tactics--the US military, if it wanted to, could very effectively keep secrets from the Israelis. This resulted in their having to make a major commitment to ground intelligence in Iraq, with very little warning.) So, again, try to separate what Debka is objectively reporting from what they are assuming and projecting for the future. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-07-14 2:07:58 PM |