ABDEL FATTAH AL-SISI

After the first Arab Spring revolution ousting Mubaric, a military dictator, the Egyptians elected a leader, Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi then abused his powers and tried to turn Egypt into a theocracy. Huge popular protests against the Muslim Brotherhood led to el-Sisi leading a military coup where the army took over the government. Then they held elections, el-Sisi resigned from the military, and ran for President and won by a large percentage even though a small proportion of the population voted.

He was one of the few Muslim political leaders who at that time called for reform of any aspect of Islam where reform and change are considered blasphemy and heresy by most Islamic theologians and clerics.

He was comparing the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS. H was trying to eradicate both organizations. Most Western leaders saw the Muslim Brotherhood as a less dangerous and less virulent organization than ISUS, HAMAS and other more overt terrorist organizations. Siri however has  perspective of owe 50 years of history with the Muslim Brotherhood, and although they have got through periods of claimed political participation and not terrorism, Sisi and other Egyptians observe that all of these more virulent terrorist troops share the same ideology and end goals as the Muslem Brotherhood, and all these terrorist groups have been outgrowths of the Muslim Brotherhood. H argues that the Brotherhood must be wiped out else there will be more and more terorist groups to replace those that we might destroy.

The Muslim Brotherhood which had been elected after the Arab Sprint deposition of President Mubarak, had then begun to institute their own religious philosophy into what was becoming a theocratic government. Rights of Christians, and other non-Muslims as well as moderate Muslims, together with women, democrats and advocates for human rights and freedom were trampled. 30 million people demonstrated in the streets and the nation was about to have a civil war when the military, under el-Sisi, deposed the Muslim Brotherhood government. When the Brotherhood took to the streets, many with weapons, there was a clash where almost 1000 Brothers were killed as were almost 100 police. The general was addressing the Egyptians and the rest of the world explaining the reason for breaking up the demonstrations.

After the first Arab Spring revolution ousting Mubaric, a military dictator, the Egyptians elected a leader, Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi then abused his powers and tried to turn Egypt into a theocracy. Huge popular protests against the Muslim Brotherhood led to el-Sisi leading a military coup where the army took over the government. Then they held elections, el-Sisi resigned from the military, and ran for President and won by a large percentage even though a small proportion of the population voted.

This was a remarkable public statement for its time. No other political leader of an Islamic country would dare claim that people have a right to be atheists. Very few would even suggest that people should be free to choose their own religion.

This is a classic Egyptian political technique. Egyptian political leaders espouse democratic values and endorse human rights, but control and regulate the actual exercise of rights so that “unacceptable” groups or people can never really assemble or protest. They make an application to demonstrate and find themselves arrested or “detained” so the Egyptians can say that no one is refused the right to assemble. Their permit was not denied.

He was one of the few Muslim political leaders who at that time called for reform of any aspect of Islam where reform and change are considered blasphemy and heresy by most Islamic theologians and clerics.

He was comparing the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS. H was trying to eradicate both organizations. Most Western leaders saw the Muslim Brotherhood as a less dangerous and less virulent organization than ISUS, HAMAS and other more overt terrorist organizations. Siri however has  perspective of owe 50 years of history with the Muslim Brotherhood, and although they have got through periods of claimed political participation and not terrorism, Sisi and other Egyptians observe that all of these more virulent terrorist troops share the same ideology and end goals as the Muslem Brotherhood, and all these terrorist groups have been outgrowths of the Muslim Brotherhood. H argues that the Brotherhood must be wiped out else there will be more and more terorist groups to replace those that we might destroy.