Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Reevaluating Policy Towards Palestine

M.J. Rosenberg alerts us to a proposed change in the language of the FY2009 spending law that would allow the continuation of U.S. aid to the Palestinians if Fatah and Hamas form a unity government..

Don’t Abandon Afghan Democrats

In a New York Times op-ed, Nader Nadery and Haseeb Humayoon are concerned over President Obama’s new Af-Pak strategy as it “avoided any reference to democracy in Afghanistan..

This Week’s Events

10:00-11:00 Wilson: A Discussion with Wijdan Mikha’il Salim, Minister of Human Rights, Iraq 12:00-1:00 GWU: The Psychology of Occupation and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict..

Constructive Criticism for the Muslim World?

In the Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA officer who is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says the U.S. government should speak out forcefully on human rights issues in the Islamic world, because of our potential to influence debates in the region. “We — the West — are the unrivalled agent of change in the Middle East..

Islamist Parties and Democracy

Abu Khawla, a human rights activist, argues that Islamist parties like the Muslim Brotherhood can not be trusted to preserve democracy if they win elections. But they can’t just be shut out of the political process either. Instead, the most effective way to head off the Islamist threat, says Khawla..

Khalid Mishal on Hamas’ Growing Recognition

Paul McGeough has an interesting op-ed in the New York Times addressing the recent uptick in foreign delegation visits to Hamas’ Khalid Mishal. In an interview, Mishal stressed that despite this more active international recognition, “Hamas is not a card in anyone’s hand.” And despite certain changes to policy, i.e. accepting a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders and participating in Palestinian elections, as far as rewriting Hamas’ charter, which calls for the destruction of Israe..

Will You Be Angry? In Egypt, April 6 Falls Short of Hopes, Expectations

We welcome this guest post on the April 6 movement in Egypt by Chris Assaad, POMED’s Research Associate for Egypt and editor of our Egypt Country Page. ..

New Report on Revitalizing U.S. Democracy Promotion

Maria Figueroa Küpçü and Michael Cohen have just published a new report for the New America Foundation titled “Revitalizing U.S. Democracy Promotion: A Comprehensive Plan for Reform.” This analysis is focused on the “challenges facing America’s democratization agenda” as well as “the need to create a new division of labor in the foreign assistance bureaucracy, which will require a reconsideration of the panoply of existing foreign assistance programs.” In making their recommendations t..

More on Egypt’s April 6 Protest

Monday’s nationwide student-led protests and strike in Egypt turned out to be rather muted, as we mentioned earlier this week. Writing in Al-Ahram, Hossam Tammam accuses the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which did not take part, of being “too old school” to coordinate protests with other opposition groups. Tammam points to the group’s “strict hierarchy” and “far-reaching agenda” as reasons it sits out on ad hoc protests with narrow demands, such as the April 6th movement. “To add to the..

More Reactions to Obama’s Ankara Speech

As the dust settles from President Obama’s first address to the Muslim world from the Muslim world, commentators continue to take stock of its meaning and implications. In The Daily Star, Rami Khouri observes that Obama “made some important new statements and changes in style, while repeating some silly old bad habits and simplistic insults…he gets high marks for intent and execution, and medium marks for substance.”..

Anniversary of the April 6 Protests

On the one-year anniversary of the April 6 protests “Egyptian police were out in force to deal with a nationwide protest called by pro-democracy groups, arresting Islamists and containing small demonstrations in the capital.” The Muslim Brotherhood endorsed the protest, calling on people to ..

Talking with Hamas and the Taliban

In the New York Times, Roger Cohen discusses a recent interview with Recep Tayyip Erdogan where the Turkish PM called for a new balance in U.S. policy toward the Middle East and argued “Hamas must be represented at the negotiating table. Only then can you get a solution.” Cohen explains, “how Hamas is viewed is a pivotal issue in the current American Middle East policy review. The victor in 2006 Palestinian elections, Hamas is seen throughout the region as a legitimate resistance movem..

In Turkey, Obama Addresses the Muslim World

Helene Cooper at the NY Times reports, “[i]n a wide-ranging speech before the Turkish Parliament in the capital, Ankara, Mr. Obama extended his campaign of outreach to the Muslim world, painting himself as a man who understands it and would seek to build a bridge between Islam and the West.”..

Assessing Obama’s Policy Toward the Muslim World

At the Huffington Post John Esposito questions if President Obama’s strategy toward the Middle East really represents a significant shift in American foreign policy, suggesting “thus far, Obama’s track record is mixed.”..

Obama, Israel and Palestine

The latest edition of Bitter Lemons International focuses on the Obama Administration’s actions thus far in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...

POMED: This Week’s Events

Wilson: Islam(s) in Post-Soviet Eurasia: One or Many?..

No Space for Criticism in Tunisia

Slim Boukhdir is no stranger to repression of the press. The Tunisian journalist spent eight months in prison for his criticism of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ali. Boukhdir discusses the Tunisian President’s most recent intimidation of the press, which took place during his recent independence day address..

POMED Notes: Engagement and the Syrian Opposition

Hudson Institute hosted a conference today on U.S. engagement with Syria, and the afternoon session focused on Syria’s pro-democracy opposition movement. The panelists were Radwan Ziadeh, founder and director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies and a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights,..

How to Promote Democracy?

Additionally, citing the recent release of Ayman Nour in Egypt, they highlight the importance of vigorously defending democracy activists, even in countries to which we are “linked for security and other reasons.”..

Foreign Policy Leaders Call for U.S. Shift on Hamas

In the New York Times, Roger Cohen discusses a new report by a bipartisan group of foreign policy experts, including Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski among other big names, that calls on the Obama administration to “shift the U.S. objective from ousting Hamas to modifying its behavior..