Muslim Brotherhood Targeting United Arab Emirates?

by Mudar Zahran

If the US has tolerated the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, why not in the UAE?

Last April, the United Arab Emirates started cracking down on Islamists operating there, and eventually arrested 60 of them. Shortly after that, Dhai Khalfan, Dubai's Police chief, started publicly warning of an "international plot" to overthrow the governments of Gulf states, saying the region needs to be prepared to encounter any threat from Islamist dissidents as well as Syria and Iran". Is the Muslim Brotherhood now ready to expand its dominance to oil-rich Arab nations after taking control of Egypt, the Arab country with the largest population?

In August -- in one of his many statements about the matter -- Khalfan said, "There is an international plot against Gulf states in particular and Arab countries in general." Khalfan was clear about the reason he thought the Muslim Brotherhood wanted to control Gulf states: Wealth. "This is preplanned to take over our fortunes…the bigger our sovereign wealth funds and the more money we put in the banks of Western countries, the bigger the plot to take over our countries."

Khalfan also posted on his Twitter account that, "since the Muslim Brotherhood has 'become a state,' anyone advocating its cause is considered a foreign agent."

Until last April, the existence of Islamist opposition groups in rich nations such as the UAE had not been an issue of attention to either the global media or even the UAE government itself; Khalfan admits he too -- as Dubai's top cop -- did not realize there were so many Muslim Brotherhood members in the Gulf states.

The Gulf News reported many in the UAE believe Islamists there had support of, and remained in touch with, the Muslim Brotherhood's "mother organization in Egypt," in spite of the the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leadership's denial of such ties.

The global Muslim Brotherhood's response to the arrests in the UAE suggest that the Muslim Brotherhood holds a sincere concern for those Islamists, particularly through media sources close to the Muslim Brotherhood; for example, the London-Based Al-Hiwar TV network has been airing shows in support of the Islamists arrested in the UAE. On one occasion, Al-Hiwar dedicated an entire 50 minute show to them.

In another show, where the phones are open for the public to call in live, the anchor said: "We would like to excuse ourselves for the last half hour of this show…as you know, this show is talking about Arab intifadas…let's dedicate the last half hour to the United Arab Emirates …to sympathize with those people inside the UAE, even if your cause is Syria (or anything else)…"

In addition, Al-Hiwar interviewed family members of the arrested UAE nationals, and later interviewed some of the Islamists stripped of their UAE citizenship on the basis of claiming citizenship in another country.

Al-Hiwar is based in London, UK; according to the Crehis Plethi website London, it is an important media center for the Muslim Brotherhood. The website even claims Al-Hiwar TV as the Muslim Brotherhood's "main medium."

The founder of Al-Hiwar Channel, Dr. Azzam Al-Tamimi, in an interview with the BBC show, Hardtalk, Al-Tammi said he would "sacrifice his life (for Palestine)" if he "has the opportunity."

In Front Page Magazine, Patrick Pool describes Al-Tamimi, who in fact published a book titled "Hamas from within," as a "well-known international Muslim Brotherhood operative and Hamas insider."

On September 20, the Gulf Times reported UAE Islamists had extensive co-ordination with Muslim Brotherhood members in a Gulf state, who have granted the UAE's Brotherhood approximately $2.7 million.

The UAE, an economically prosperous federation of states -- especially Abu Dhabi, which finances the others -- have established themselves in regional politics as the hub of moderation, with a particularly strong stance against terrorism, as a US Embassy cable confirmed. Disrupting that Island of moderation in the Gulf, in addition to seizing the country's vast wealth, would be a convenient victory for the Muslim Brotherhood, now in charge of one of most populous nations of the Arab and Muslim world, Egypt -- as well as placing the organization one step closer toward establishing its broader goal: an Islamist empire.

The US administration's tolerance of -- and often even support for -- Islamists' hijacking the Arab revolutions, is another attraction for the Muslims Brotherhood: if the US has tolerated them in Egypt, why not UAE? In addition, the UAE's proximity to Iran has always been a threat to the prosperous UAE's stability; the Muslim Brotherhood might easily seek an alliance with Iran to destabilize the UAE -- especially given the constant tension between Iran and the UAE over three UAE islands occupied by Iran since 1971.

Ironically, Azzam Al-Tamimi, whose TV network is advocating the case for the detained Islamists in UAE, can be seen in this video expressing his "gratitude" to Ayatollah Khomeini -- the late leader of the Islamic revolution of Iran -- for the Yaoum Al-Kudos [the Jerusalem Day].

The Muslim Brotherhood has proven itself a strategically patient radical organization that thinks long-term. It has been trying to take control of Egypt since 1928. Now that it does control Egypt, other countries, such as the UAE and Jordan, may already be on its list.

Mudar Zahran

Source: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3370/muslim-brotherhood-united-arab-emirates

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.