Introduction

In the political struggle that has been ongoing in Egypt since the July 2013 removal of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) regime of president Muhammad Mursi, between supporters of Defense Minister Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi and the MB and its supporters, antisemitic discourse has played a part. Each camp accuses members of the other camp of being Jewish and of implementing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

One manifestation of the current regime's de-legitimization campaign against the MB is comparing them to Jews and Zionists. The press associated with the regime has claimed that that the global MB resembles global Zionism, and that its schemes are the same as those of the Protocols. It has also claimed that MB founder Hassan Al-Bana was Jewish, as well as several other movement leaders. A number of Facebook pages depict MB members as Jews masquerading as Muslims, and feature images of Mursi in Jewish garb and MB symbols emblazoned with Stars of David.

MB supporters invoke this charge as well, portraying members of the current regime, chiefly Al-Sisi himself and president 'Adly Mansour, as Jews implementing the Protocols.

The following are examples of these mutual accusations:

MB Opponents: They Are Like Jews And Zionists

Salafi Preacher: The MB Is Implementing 'The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion'

One of the claims MB opponents have made since the movement's removal from power in July 2013 is that it is implementing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In an interview with CBC TV in late July 2013, Salafi preacher Dr. Osama Al-Qawsi made this claim, and added that this is despite the fact that the Zionists have distanced themselves from the Protocols.[1]

‘Al Wafd’ Article: ‘The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion’ – The Secret To Understanding Current MB Activity In Egypt

In an “investigative report” in the daily Al-Wafd, Magdi Salama also argued that the MB was implementing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and cited a few examples. He wrote: "Whoever reads the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which were formulated by the priests of global Zionism 116 years ago, and then scrupulously examines what the MB is currently doing in Egypt, discovers something grave: The MB is implementing the Protocols to the letter!

"In their Protocols, the Zionists are mainly concerned with destroying governments in every country, sowing the seeds of strife and quarrel in all countries and changing the [atmosphere] in the countries from one of tolerance to one of political and religious radicalism. This is precisely what the MB has currently undertaken to do in Egypt. The leaders of global Zionism stress the need to control people the way one controls herds of lowly cattle, to use their expression, so they can be moved around like chess pieces. This is precisely what the MB are doing by [invoking their] principle of hearing and obeying the movement's [General] Guide.

"The Ninth Protocol talks about deceiving the public with mendacious slogans, and this is precisely what the MB does with its sit-down strikes, [like those it held] in Raba'a [Al-'Adawiya] and Al-Nahda [Square], when it emphasizes that these sit-down strikes are on behalf of Islam and the shari'a and [constitute] sacrificing oneself for the sake of Allah, while in actuality this is political activity that is completely unrelated to religion or self-sacrifice on Allah's behalf.

"Those who were astounded by Muhammad Mursi's victory in the Egyptian presidential [elections] should read the Tenth Protocol of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, because it exposes the big secret behind Mursi's attaining the Egyptian presidency and also exposes the secret behind Israel's joy at Mursi’s victory. This Protocol says: 'We will prevent people with common sense from leading, keep them back, and never allow them to make plans of their own. The mob (so the Protocol says) has become accustomed to leaning our way [to the Jews]; we provide it with money in exchange for its obedience. By such means we will create a force so blind that it will never be able to reach any decision without the guidance of our representatives, whom we appointed to lead it'…"[2]

Roz Al-Youssef Article: The MB – A Masonic Zionist Organization; Founder Hassan Al-Bana Was Jewish

An article in the Egyptian daily Roz Al-Yousef from August 2013 claimed that MB founder Hassan Al-Bana was "a Moroccan Jew planted by the Freemasons in order to found the movement." The article relies on statements by Egyptian intellectual 'Abbas Mahmoud Al-'Aqqad from 1949, according to which Hassan Al-Bana's parents were Jewish and he was not Egyptian but rather a Moroccan who escaped to Egypt during World War I. According to the article, the Jewish movements in Egypt headhunted him and gave him a home and job. His name was originally Hassan Ahmad 'Abd Al-Rahman and his father added the name Al-Bana (which means 'mason' in spoken Arabic) on orders from the Jewish Egyptian Masons so that the Masonic order would have an Arab chapter. The article states further that Al-Bana was born in Al-Bahira, the largest Jewish area in Egypt, which is home to the tomb of Rabbi Ya'akov Abuhatzeira, and that most of the Jews of Al-Bahira originally came from Morocco and converted to Islam, including the Jewish grandfather of Hassan Al-Bana, who was a Sufi (Muslim mystic). According to the article, Al-'Akkad also said that Al-Bana used to convene his students on Tuesdays and explain Islam from a Jewish perspective.

The article also relies on a book by MB scholar Muhammad Al-Ghazali, whom the article claims was kicked out of the movement because he knew the truth about its leaders. In the book, Al-Ghazali claimed that MB leaders Al-Bana and Hassan Al-Hudaiby were Masons. In addition, the article states that there were lawsuits against Al-Bana in Egypt that proved he was of Jewish origin and that accused him of distorting the Koran, including one by a lawyer named Farag Zaki Ghanem who demanded that the MB be disbanded and banned from political activity or religious ritual in Egypt.

The article concludes: "These facts lead to one question: Is it not [time] for Arabs and Muslims to take a unified stand regarding this Masonic, Jewish, Zionist organization that hides behind the name 'Muslim Brotherhood' and strives to spread fitna, schism, and conflict among Arabs and Muslims, as it does in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria, in addition to the terror cells that they plant in the Arab Gulf states to topple their regimes and seize power there[?] Is it not time for Arabs and Muslims to put the MB on the opposing side and make a decision to eliminate its flawed ideology, so as to rid the ummah of their goals and devilish plans? ..."[3]

Preacher Sheikh Mazhar Shahin, the imam of the Omar Makram mosque near Al-Tahrir Square, known for his opposition to the MB, argued that the MB is a Masonic terror organization of Jewish origin, and added that the MB's Raba'a Al-'Adawiya symbol (four fingers raised on a yellow background) is actually a Masonic symbol.[4]

Similarly, Egyptian artist Shams Al-Baroudi claimed that the MB members were Donmeh Jews, which is a derogatory term the Turks gave to a Sabbatean sect whose members act outwardly Muslim but secretly continue to practice Sabbateanism.[5]

The MB And Their Supporters Compared To Jews On Social Media

Various pages on Facebook compare the MB to Jews and Zionists. These pages have posted various images associating the MB with Jewish symbols. For example, a Facebook page named "Jews Masquerading as Muslims" posted the following image:

Did you know that MB founder Hassan Al-Bana was of Jewish origin? (Facebook.com/yahood.egypt, May 30, 2013)

As well as this picture:



(Facebook.com/yahood.egypt, December 25, 2013)

In the image below, the MB, Zionists, and Christians are shown to be "trading in the religion": "Hassan Al-Bana used the Koran for political goals"; "Theodor Herzl used the Star of David for political goals"; "Richard the Lionheart used the Cross for political goals." At the bottom there is a picture of ousted president Mursi dressed as a Hassidic Jew with the caption "Jews masquerading as Muslims."



(Facebook.com/yahood.egypt, December 23, 2013)

The next image shows a doctored MB symbol: the Koran that appears in the original symbol is replaced with a Star of David; the phrase "and prepare",[6] beneath the swords, is replaced with the word "and lie"; and the name "Muslim Brotherhood" is replaced with "Zionist Brotherhood"





Original MB symbol (right) along with the doctored version ( Facebook.com/yahood.egypt, December 24, 2013)

The Facebook page "The Criminal Brotherhood" featured the following pictures:



( Facebook.com/Ekhwan.Criminals, July 7, August 15, 2013)

Another page called "The Criminal Brotherhood Betrays The Homeland" featured the following image, which shows "the Egyptian people" trampling "the criminal Brotherhood":



( Facebook.com/elkhan303, November 7, 2013)

Demonizing Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi By Depicting Him As A Jew

Derisive pictures of Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi depicting him as a Jew appeared on a Facebook page titled "The Protocols of the MB, Salafist, Khawarij[7] and Wahhabist Elders" that is identified with the Tamarrud movement, which played a major role in Mursi's ouster. Al-Qaradhawi serves as chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. Although not a formal MB member, he is one of its prominent supporters and has influence on its members.



Images: (Facebook.com/BrwtwkwlatHkmaAlakhwanWAlslfyynAlwhabyyn, February 9, 2014)



Image: (Facebook.com/ BrwtwkwlatHkmaAlakhwanWAlslfyynAlwhabyyn, August 4, 2013)

Mursi Supporters: The Coup Regime Is Jewish

Article On MB Website: Mursi's Ouster – An Implementation Of 'The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion'

MB supporters make similar accusations against their rivals. An article written by Maher Ibrahim Ga'awan, titled "A Gift of Coup for the Zionists," which was posted on websites identified with the MB, including on the website of the MB's Freedom and Justice party (which posted the article on November 2, 2013 but later removed it), reviewed the list of "gifts" received by the Zionists following Mursi's ouster:

"- The birth of a new partner and strategic asset for the Zionists with the slogan 'divide and conquer.'

"- Following the path of 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' in order to eliminate the Islamic project.

"- Restoring usurpation, tyranny, and oppression to Arab peoples, which causes Israel to grow and flourish...

"- Erasing the Islamic identity and attacking values, piety, decency and reform...

"- Changing the basic genetics of the people so they hate, curse, and kill each other, spy on each other, and gloat at each other.

"- Removing skilled people from their positions, unjustly and aggressively imprisoning them, and offering them up as a sacrifice to the Zionist masters...

"- Completely surrendering in order to please the enemy and receive his assistance and blessing...

"- Making Egypt openly subordinate to [the leaders] of global Zionism, since [the leaders of the coup] visit them, coordinate with them, operate according to their dictates, protect them, spread [their ideas], and make alliances with them against the forces of reform, in both word and action, planning and execution, secretly and openly...

"- Strengthening the ties between Cairo and Tel Aviv, carrying out tactical cooperation and merging the strategic interests of the [two] countries, and strategically coordinating joint military operations.

"- Relentlessly increasing Zionist aspirations in the Arab region.

"- Reviving Zionist plans that could not be executed except in a state of [Egyptian] surrender, so that plans such as Sinai as an alternate homeland [for the Palestinians], the plan [of a greater Israel] from the Nile to the Euphrates, besieging Egypt from the south, and normalization plans, are not far off.

"- Moving like a satellite in the Zionist-American orbit endlessly and eternally..."[8]

Egyptian President 'Adly Mansour Is Jewish

The claim that interim Egyptian president 'Adly Mansour was Jewish was heard back in early July 2013, the day after Al-Sisi declared Mursi's ouster and Mansour's appointment to president. The MB website quoted a post by Al-Jazeera host and MB sympathizer Ahmed Mansour on his Facebook page, which stated: "Those who think that the new Egyptian president is a Muslim – here is the truth about him. The new Egyptian president is an Adventist, which is a Jewish sect that tried to grow close to Christianity but the Coptic patriarch refused to convert them... Congratulations on your Jewish and Christian regime."



The post on Ahmed Mansour's Facebook page (July 4, 2014)



MB website quotes Ahmed Mansour: "A Jew On The Egyptian Throne" ( Ikhwanonline.com, July 5, 2013)

Al-Sisi And His Mother Are Jewish

Following a publication by an Islamic body called "The Islamic Monitor to Combat Media Fraud" websites identified with the MB contended that Al-Sisi's mother was a Moroccan Jewish woman named Malika Titani. According to their report, she received Egyptian citizenship in 1958 and relinquished her Moroccan citizenship in 1973 so that her son could go to military school.[9]

The website rassd.com, which is also close to the MB, claimed that Al-Sisi was Jewish based on a study by Kevin Barrett, an American researcher who converted to Islam, which was published in the U.S. paper Veterans Today on September 16, 2013.[10] Barrett also claims that Al-Sisi's mother is a Moroccan Jew named Malika Titani, which, according to Rassd.com, makes Al-Sisi Jewish and a Zionist citizen. The quoted study also claimed that Al-Sisi hides his Jewish identity and his ties to the "Zionist Entity", and added: "It is no surprise, therefore, that the Zionist ambassador called Al-Sisi 'a national hero of all Jews.'"[11]

The Egyptian daily Al-Wafd reported that, in late August 2013, the Egyptian administrative court began hearing a lawsuit by a man named Hamed Sadiq, demanding that Al-Sisi and Mansour's citizenships be revoked on the grounds that Al-Sisi's mother was a Moroccan Jew and that Mansour's mother holds U.S. citizenship.[12] One of the Egyptian news sites that quoted this story showed an image of Al-Sisi with a Moroccan flag in the background.



( Anfapress.net, August 23, 2013)

Endnotes:

[1] Al-Wafd (Egypt), July 31, 2013.