The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) asks all Americans to contact the their U.S. Senators and Members of Congress to urge the Obama Administration to resolutely oppose the participation of the extremist, Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in any future Egyptian government. They should urge that the Obama Administration to give no legitimacy to this virulent, totalitarian, anti-American, anti-Israel Islamist group and to state clearly that only political parties whose platforms – not merely current public statements – conform to the norms of democracy, human rights and tolerance should participate in any future elections.

In your message, you might consider including some of the following points:

·       The Muslim Brotherhood, which collaborated with Nazi Germany, was the precursor of Al Qaeda.

·       Last year, its leader, Muhammad Badi’, spoke enthusiastically of jihad and called for a state based on Islamic law. He also spoke optimistically about the U.S. heading for a collapse.

·       The Muslim Brotherhood’s second-in-command, Rashad Al-Bayoumi, last week emphasized the priority the Brotherhood accords to abrogating the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty and even cited this objective as a prime purpose of its future participation in government.

·       The Muslim Brotherhood platform, leaked in August 2007, states that, under the Muslim Brotherhood, the president and legislative branch will be advised by clerics, who must approve decisions; non-Muslims will be barred from the presidency and that the presidency is unsuitable for women.

·       U.S. legitimizing the Muslim Brotherhood enhances its prospects of carrying out its aims and would turn Egypt from being a U.S. ally in to a U.S. enemy.

·       The Egyptian public has no experience of democracy and supports many illiberal, anti-democratic views and attitudes that might enable the Muslim Brotherhood to come to power: A 2007 University of Maryland survey shows that 67% of Egyptians favor all Arab countries untied as one Islamist state. A 2010 Pew poll indicates that 74% of Egyptians favoring the imposition of strict sharia (Islamic) law and 84% support the death penalty for those who convert out of Islam is supported by 84% of Egyptians. So a Muslim Brotherhood takeover is possible.

·       Were the Muslim brotherhood to take power, it would take control of the U.S.-armed and trained massive Egyptian army, which is twice the size of Israel’s, possessing ballistic missiles, chemical weapons, hundreds of U.S.-made warplanes, thousands of tanks and dozens of ships, purchased with over $40 billion of U.S. military aid.

·       The Iranian and Syrian regimes are crowing at the prospect of these developments, while Israel and Jordan are deeply concerned – doesn’t that tell us that events in Egypt may be moving in a terrible direction?

·       The U.S. should make clear that it will cut all aid to Egypt if the Muslim Brotherhood takes over.

·       Muhammad ElBaradei, who is seeking the presidency and is being supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, actively lobbied last year against the imposition of U.N. sanctions on Iran; has been a harsh critic of the U.S. under successive administrations; has said that “Israel is the number one threat to the Middle East given the nuclear arms it possesses”; justified Palestinian terrorism; said that the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty is only between Israel and Mubarak; and stated that he would recognize Hamas and end sanctions upon Hamas-controlled Gaza, which would facilitate Hamas’ efforts to bring in further offensive weaponry to be used against Israel.

You might want to summarize the points you make in the following manner:

·       Legitimizing the Muslim Brotherhood and a U.S. failure to make it clear that it will not tolerate an Islamist take-over in Egypt could do immense harm to American interests, Israel and the region. It could produce a new, powerful American and Israeli enemy, result in the destruction of the Egyptian-Israeli peace and the plunging of the region into enormous instability. The U.S. must oppose it clearly and declare it will cease aid to Egypt if this occurs.

Please urge Members of Congress to resolutely oppose the participation of the extremist, Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in any future Egyptian government.

House and Senate members can be reached through the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and through our website.