Top Hamas representative in W. Bank says PA leadership also stands to lose from Islamists' rise to power in Arab world: "Any victory for the Muslim Brotherhood is a victory for Hamas."
Posted on 12/03/2011 9:49:53 AM PST by SmithL
Israel is the biggest loser from the strong showing of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Egyptian parliamentary election, Hamed Bitawi, a top Hamas representative in the West Bank, said Saturday.
Bitwai's comment came as Hamas expressed relief over the Muslim Brotherhood victory.
The Muslim Brotherhood triumph in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco elections comes on the eve of preparations for celebrations marking the 24th anniversary of Hamas's founding in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas supporters said that the rise of their political allies to power in the Arab world was "the biggest birthday gift for Hamas" on the anniversary of its establishment.
They said that in addition to Israel, the Palestinian Authority leadership also stands to lose from the results of the elections in the Arab world.
Hamas leaders expressed hope that Egypt's policy toward their movement in particular and the Israeli-Arab conflict in general would change to the better in wake of the Muslim Brotherhood's success.
Bitwai said that Hamas was not surprised by the Muslim Brotherhood gains in the election "especially in light of the suffering of the Muslims over the past decades at the hands of the dictatorial regimes."
Bitwai praised the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood for stating that they were in favor of reconsidering the peace trey between Egypt and Israel.
The Quds Press news agency quoted Bitawi as also hailing the Muslim Brotherhood's stance against the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
"Israel is the biggest loser in these elections," he added.
Earlier this year, Hamas welcomed the downfall of Hosni Mubarak's regime, which it had considered hostile toward the movement.
Hamas leaders had accused Mubarak's regime of participating in the blockade on the Gaza Strip by refusing to reopen the Rafah border crossing.
The new military regime in Cairo has been more friendly toward Hamas. The Rafah terminal has been reopened and Hamas prisoners have been released from Egyptian prisons.
Moreover, Hamas leaders have since been welcome in Egypt as VIP guests - much to the dismay of the PA leadership.
Hamas is hoping that a strong presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in parliament and perhaps in government would bring about a complete change in Egypt's policy toward the Palestinians, said a Gaza-based academic.
"Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and any victory for the Muslim Brotherhood is a victory for Hamas and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip," he told The Jerusalem Post.
Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy chairman of the Hamas "political bureau," was quoted over the weekend as saying that the victory of Islamic groups in the Egyptian parliamentary election would reflect positively on the Palestinians.
"With the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt will return to its original role of fully supporting the Palestinian cause," Abu Marzouk said. "This serves the interests of Hamas and the Palestinians."
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, said that his movement was encouraged by the rise of Muslim Brotherhood supporters to power not only in Egypt, but also in Tunisia and Morocco.
Barhoum said that the results of the elections in these countries would strengthen Hamas in the face of Israeli, American and European efforts to isolate the movement.
We have the Muzzie Bros. and Co. running Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Gaza, and Lebanon. Now they are trying to take over Syria and Jordan.
‘Israel biggest loser from Muslim Brotherhood win in Egypt’
No they are second. The biggest losers are Coptic Christians. The genocide against them will escalate as it has done with Abyssinian Christians in Iraq.
Surprised? Not.
One’s in charge of the greatest country on earth. What else would you expect? All by design.
I imagine the Egyptian Christians and all women living there might argue with this headline.
In the run-up to World War 2, Chamberlain got his “peace in our time” by selling out the Czechs in Munich to Hitler in 1938. Peace lasted until 1 September 1939 when Hitler rolled into Poland. We are long past the “Munich Moment” in this run-up to war. The clock is ticking down on the 21st century's 1 September 1939 equivalent that will have huge and unknown ramifications for the world. No one knows what will happen, but it will NOT be good.
I agree with you only not just Coptics,but any religion other than Isalm is the real loser.
I don’t know if Egypt has figured it out yet , but they just voted for war.
Hope the dumb ass Egyptians like living under their new dark age government
Sorry, Egypt is the biggest loser. Israel is also a big loser, but Egypt will get a lot worse before it gets any better.
And looking back, the biggest mistake we seem to have made was on the “hearts and mind” campaign. We took the heart of the middle east but we didn’t take the middle east’s hearts out of deference to the Saudis. We should have pushed for pluralism, for separation of Mosque and state, for the ideals that made the west rich and powerful and strong. “cultural sensitivity” - what is that, really? Here in the US it is a Native American crying in a commercial, tribes living in camps selling jewelry or operating casinos, Chinatown and little Tokyo. Why we deferred so much to the ME dictators is beyond me - we believed our own BS about respecting foreign cultures. Hey we can respect them only so much. When they enslave people for the color of their skin, when they kill rape victims for adultery, when they blow up ancient statues that nobody prays to for fear of idolatry, we don’t need to respect that part of their culture. We should immediately begin a Liberalization campaign, leaflets, books, radio broadcasts and the like. It may take years or decades but that part of the world needs reform or else it will always be backwards.
Egypt is a particularly problematic spot because they have almost nothing to give the world. Tourism? Textiles maybe. Agriculture perhaps. But their natural resources they will need internally, and they won’t become a giant exporter of technology or anything anytime soon. Too backwards, poor and lacking infrastructure and stability to attract foreign investment. The place is a mess that will get messier.
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Why not? After all, Carter already set the precedent for this.
It (Israel’s loss) is not specifically due to ‘Muslim Brotherhood gains’ in the Egyptian parliament first-round elections, for the party aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood did not, alone, gain a majority of the contested seats - it gained less than 40%.
The more difficult “loss” was that Salafist parties more extreme than the Muslim Brotherhood did much better than expected, gaining more than 20% of the contested seats.
THAT fact, and the fact that it provides for a near 60% super-majority (if such returns are copied in the remaining parliamentary elections) if the parties of the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood form a coalition; and the fact that such a coalition will make for an even more extremist government than would one set by a mere Muslim Brotherhood majority - are the facts that comprise the real “loss” to the possibility of continued peaceful Israeli-Egyptian relations.
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