Monday, May 15, 2017

Shadi Hamid and William McCants interview Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leader

You have to watch this interview to believe it. You discover first that neither of the two can ask questions in Arabic although both impressed the viewers by using the word "thank you" in Arabic. No easy task.  But the interview accomplishes this: they keep referring to the moderation of the brotherhood and the leader talked about the non-violence of the brotherhood, and the entire discussion assumed that Nusrah and ISIS and the rest only carried arms after the regime used force. So the followers of Bin Laden and Baghdadi were pacifists until the regime resorted to force?  Were they also secular prior?  The other thing is that the leader of the Brotherhood (who was treated like Hollywood treats the Dalai Lama) basically admits the obvious: that while the Brotherhood does not have an "official" (wink wink) militia in Syria among the rebels, they have authorized their followers to join the "Shields" among other militias.  It also reveals how much the discourse and propaganda of the Brotherhood is shaped by its interest in Western governmental approval (and of Qatari funding of course).