Subcommittee on Terrorism: Muslim Brotherhood Part I

House Permanent Select Committee on IntelligenceSubcommittee on Terrorism, HUMINT, Analysis, and Counterintelligence April 13, 2011 Opening Statement Chairwomen Myrick

...Central to this discussion is the Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood was dedicated to implementing traditional Islamic sharia law, in opposition to British imperial rule.

...However, the depth of the Brotherhood’s commitment to non-violence is unclear. It may renounce violence as a means to gain power in Egypt, but don’t forget that it is the parent organization of the Palestinian Hamas, which pledges its commitment to violence against Israel in its founding charter. In addition, the Muslim Brotherhood’s most influential theologian, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, has sanctioned attacks on American forces in Iraq, endorsed Palestinian suicide bombings and recently proclaimed his wish to kill a Jew before he dies. It is this man whom the Brotherhood brought to Tahrir Square for the first Friday sermon after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February.

I believe we must also look beyond tactics—whether they are violent or non-violent—and explore the root issue, their core beliefs and ideology. The 9/11 Commission Report states that "our strategy must match our means to two ends: dismantling the al-Qaeda network and prevailing in the longer term over the ideology that gives rise to Islamist terrorism.” That is why I believe that when we talk about the threat the Muslim Brotherhood poses, we must not merely look at whether they are violent or non-violent.

We must also look at the extremist ideology they espouse and whether it leads to radicalization and ultimately acts of terrorism. My own view is that some of the avowed changes in the Muslim Brotherhood are merely superficial. Their abandonment of violence is arguably for tactical reasons, and I suspect that it is still opposed to genuine pluralism and the protection of minority rights.

For example, non-Muslims and women are not afforded the same rights as Muslim men under the Muslim Brotherhood’s way of thinking. We need to examine closely whether its true goal of instating a worldwide Islamic regime is still in place. Mustafa Mashhur, the reported leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from 1996 until 2002 wrote that “jihad for Allah is not limited to the specific region of the Islamic countries, since the Muslim homeland is one and is not divided.”

...the Department of Justice produced clear evidence in the Holy Land Foundation Trial—the largest terrorism finance trail in American history—that showed that the Muslim Brotherhood is in America and outlined how it operates here. Our witnesses today will be able to shed some light on the evidence produced in this trial and explain how the Muslim Brotherhood operates behind the scenes.

Watch session on C-SPAN.