A media campaign was launched against Ibrahim Al-Hodeiby (Member of Ikhwanweb Board) upon his invitation to speak at the University of California in Irvine.  Al-Hodeiby was accused of spreading false news about the MB and of Naziism while the university was accused of supporting Islamic radicals who revere Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Qaeda.

MB leader Mohamed Gamal Hishmat described the accusations as "lies that we shouldn"t pay attention to because anyone who attacks Israel is accused of being a Nazi," explaining that their aim is to blackmail Al-Hodaiby.  Hishmat also condemned the continuous attempts to stir doubts about the movement and link it with terrorism, despite its clear path, to further constrain it.

Al-Hodaiby was invited by the Department of History and Middle East Studies, The Center for Research on International and Global Studies (RIGS), and the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies (CGPACS), to give a speech on "Religion and Democracy in the Middle East" on Wednesday, October 8.  According to the invitation, El-Hodaiby will be addressing the MB movement"s past and present, the current situation of democracy in Egypt, the emergence of a new generation of Islamists and Secularists, and the U.S. role in either hampering or promoting democracy in the Arab World and the Middle East.

Al-Hodaiby earned his Bachelor"s in Political Economy at the American University in Cairo and is currently doing his Master"s at the Islamic Studies Institute in Cairo.  He has published several articles and writings on a number of sites and in research centers.