A Wildfire Hiding Beneath the Embers

Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, January 23

With the decline of the dream of a “world professor” and the dream of the return of the so-called caliphate, with the fall of their rule in Egypt in 2013, then Arab countries hastened to declare them a terrorist group, starting with the United Arab Emirates and ending with Saudi Arabia, which finally announced this, and accelerated it by eradicating them from the mosques, after that, the Muslim Brotherhood had no choice but to flee and disappear in some “European enclaves.” Little by little, step by step, the Muslim Brotherhood is finally coming down. This began with the fall of their regime in Egypt in 2013, followed by an Arab-wide crackdown on the movement and their designation as a terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. With nowhere else left to operate, the Brotherhood relocated its activity to various locations in Europe. Recently, some European countries have realized this danger and began shutting down mosques and charity associations serving as a cover for Brotherhood activity. Of note were the German and French governments, which declared a full-fledged war against extremist Muslim organizations and their cells in Europe. But in contrast to the French and German roles pressing the European Union to take a harsher stance against the Brotherhood, other countries are turning a blind eye to the problem. Britain, for example, has completely neglected the problem. Muslim Brotherhood cells — and radical groups, more broadly — have proliferated across the United Kingdom unabated over the past two decades. Two British prime ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, were the first to discover that there is no such thing as “moderate” political Islam: in all places where it is allowed to exist, its advocates end up rebelling against the state. While Cameron pledged to “drain the swamp,” his successor, Theresa May, didn’t take the same interest in the issue. Then, Jeremy Corbyn — perhaps the biggest proponent and defender of political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood — was elected to lead the Labour Party. Britain seems busy now dealing with the repercussions of Brexit and the onset of a new strain of the coronavirus, which has sent the country into a painful lockdown. But perhaps British officials should realize that under the soft embers there burns a strong fire that is waiting to erupt with might as soon as it possibly can. And it will ignite everything along its way. – Abdul Latif Al-Manawi (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)