Britain Getting Tough on Muslim Brotherhood?
In a shocking but welcome development, the British government declared recently that it would order an investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood. The announcement came as such a jolt because the British government has long been suicidal and feckless in appeasing the radical Islamists in its midst (I've documented the saga of "Londonistan" with on-the-ground reports here, here and here, for starters).
Are the Brits finally waking up? Perhaps. Although its sudden announcement of possible Brotherhood crackdown has been criticized as being motivated by Britain's business relationship with Saudi Arabia, my hope is that David Cameron's government may be on the verge carving out a tough policy that stands in stark contrast to the Obama administration's dangerous, all-out embrace of the MB.
Here's more, from CNN:
British Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered an investigation of the Muslim Brotherhood over concerns about its alleged links to violent extremism, his Downing Street office said Tuesday.
Cameron has commissioned an internal government review of the "philosophy, activities and impact" on British national interests at home and abroad and the UK's policy toward the movement.
"The Muslim Brotherhood has risen in prominence in recent years but our understanding of the organization -- its philosophy and values -- has not kept pace with this," a Downing Street spokesman said in a written statement.
"Given the concerns now being expressed about the group and its alleged links to violent extremism, it's absolutely right and prudent that we get a better handle of what the Brotherhood stands for, how they intend to achieve their aims and what that means for Britain."
The review will be led by Britain's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sir John Jenkins.
Predictably, the Muslim Brotherhood--the granddaddy of al modern Islamic terrorist groups, as I laid out in my recent book, The Brotherhood--did not react kindly to the British government's announcement.
From the Jerusalem Post:
The head of the British branch of the Muslim Brotherhood warned on Sunday that Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement last week that his government would investigate the group’s activities in the United Kingdom could invite terrorist attacks against civilians.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Ibrahim Mounir, the Brotherhood’s most senior official in the UK, said that the government’s designation of his organization as a terrorist entity could be interpreted by its followers that violence was an option.
“If this [ban] happened, this would make a lot of people in Muslim communities think that [peaceful] Muslim Brotherhood values . . . didn’t work and now they are designated a terrorist group, which would make the doors open for all options,” Mounir told the newspaper.
When he was asked if he meant the group was open to violence, he replied: “Any possibility.”
“This would make more problems than we ever expect, not just for Britain, for all Islamic organizations round the world holding peaceful ideologies. If the UK makes this option, you can’t predict [what would happen] with Muslims around the globe, especially the big Muslim organizations close to the Muslim Brotherhood and sharing its ideology.”
In other words, just as in Egypt last summer, when the Brotherhood is backed against the wall, it resorts to what it knows best: violence.
As for ultra-secular, post-Christian Britain, although it is seriously late in the game and the Islamization process there is deeply entrenched, David Cameron's recent positive comments on Christianity and former Prime Minister Tony Blair's remarks this week warning of the threat of radical Islam were encouraging (albeit, again, far too late).