Kerry in Egypt

[karynnj]

Here is a link to the old DU thread if you did not see it - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=273&topic_id=171292&mesg_id=171292

I figured I should include it as this may well become a major topic and pulling them together seemed a good idea. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=273&topic_id=171292&mesg_id=171292

There are many articles today, the one I thought most interesting was written by Ed Husain about the Arab Street reaction to Kerry meeting with the Brotherhood - that will have about 40% of the seats in their legislature.

[div class = "excerpt"]
There is much anger among many Egyptian secular liberals about Senator John Kerry’s meeting with leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo on Saturday. Soon, in Washington, DC, Republican lawmakers will chide Senator Kerry too. I am no friend of the Muslim Brotherhood, but old policies of isolating the Muslim Brotherhood are no longer viable in the new Middle East.

Meeting only with secular Egyptian leaders such as presidential candidates Mohamed ElBaradei or Amr Moussa yields very little political profit for the United States, and results in a net loss of remaining credibility for Egypt’s secularists. By meeting with Islamists, the United States ensures political gains for the short to medium term.

However unpalatable, and whatever the disagreements and complaints, the Muslim Brotherhood has won roughly 40 percent of the vote in the first round of parliamentary elections. As such, they are an elected, legitimate political force. Soon, we will hear howls of anger from some in the U.S. Congress, media, and think tank circles about why the Muslim Brotherhood should be shunned. They will argue that the Brotherhood supported the Nazis (so did former Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat, who later made peace with Israel); that it is anti-American (true, but all the more reason to love-bomb them); and that it created Hamas (it did, but it does not control Hamas and closer ties with Egypt’s Brotherhood can result in greater influence over Hamas terrorism).

As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a senior U.S. statesman, Senator Kerry’s words and cautions are important. In meeting with the Muslim Brotherhood, he sets a new and brave precedent.

http://blogs.cfr.org/husain/2011/12/11/was-senator-kerry-right-to-meet-the-muslim-brotherhood/

Having watched the Republican audience cheer Gingrich on as he called his irresponsible claim that the Palestinians are a made up people - saying it was just truth - and that he was a "historian", you know that this really is a brave action on the part of Senator Kerry, who is likely to be flamed by many Republicans. A historian should know that it is the history of the people, not the history of the name that matters. The facts are that there were Arabs living in Israel proper who fled in the 1948 war of independence who had lived for generations there - some taking their keys intending to return.