JEWS and ARABS from WW2 to 1979

The Muslim Brotherhood against Nasser

By 1945 the Muslim Brotherhood, born in Egypt, had branch organizations in Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In Egypt the brotherhood numbered around 500,000, many of them in the professions. And with the struggle of Palestinian Muslims against Jews in mind, Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the brotherhood back in 1929, now 39-years-old, created an Islamic military section within the brotherhood.

With the end of World War II and the defeat of Hitler, Egypt's brotherhood hoped that Europe's Jews would be content to re-establish their lives in Europe. The Brotherhood was disappointed. And they were annoyed by Egypt's Jews helping to smuggle arms to Jews in Palestine. They asked their government to restrict the activities of Jews in Egypt. They complained about Jewish influence with Egyptian newspapers and magazines. They called for a boycott Jewish products and anything promoting Zionism, and they claimed that no difference existed between Judaism and Zionism.

In 1948, when Britain granted independence to Transjordan and pulled out of Palestine, Egypt's brotherhood was delighted, and they sent thousands to fight against establishment of the Jewish state. So too did Egypt's government, and with the failure of those forces, al-Banna became more outspokenly critical of the government. Tensions increased between Egyptian authorities and the brotherhood. Cairo's chief of police was assassinated. The government blamed the brotherhood, and, on December 8, 1948, al-Banna was banished to Upper Egypt.

Al-Banna expressed defiance. "When words are banned," he said, "hands make their move." On December 28, Egypt's Prime Minister was assassinated, and blame was immediately attributed to al-Banna. In the months that followed, properties of the Muslim Brotherhood were confiscated and thousands of members were imprisoned. Al-Banna, now back in Cairo, was shot down on February 12, and he was left to bleed to death on the floor of a hospital. The assassin was believed to have been a government agent, but nobody was ever charged with the crime.

In Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood continued to flourish. They were members of the Armed forces, and in 1952 they joined in the overthrow of Egypt's monarch, Farouk (Faruq or Faruk). A honeymoon existed between the coup leaders and the Muslim Brotherhood. A decree in January 1953 that dissolved all political parties exempted the Brotherhood.

The President of Egypt was General Muhammad Naguib and the Prime Minister was Colonel Gamel Abdul Nasser. To the displeasure of the Brotherhood, Nasser sought secular solutions to the social problems faced by Egypt. The Brotherhood looked upon Prime Minister Nasser and his supporters as insufficiently devout. Nasser, moreover, was popular and was stealing some of the thunder that had been theirs.

Nasser responded to the hostilities of the Brotherhood by charging them with having set up an armed organization to seize power by force. On October 26, 1954, a gunman shot at Nasser as he delivered a speech in Alexandria. Nasser's government blamed the Brotherhood, and thousands of its members were rounded up. Of those put on trial, six were sentenced to death and seven others were sentenced to life imprisonment.

One of the many arrested and tortured was Yasser Arafat, age 25, who had grown up in Jerusalem. Arafat's father had worked in Cairo, where Arafat was born. Arafat's father and brother had been members of the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1948, at 19, Arafat had left his studies in Egypt to fight against Israel in a military brigade that had been organized by the Brotherhood, and he had participated in the Brotherhood's campaign of sabotage and ambush against the British along the Suez Canal.

Also in the wake of the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Nasser, Egypt's president, General Naguib, was accused of having been a tool of the Communists and the Muslim Brotherhood. On November 14, 1954, he was driven from the presidency by his fellow army officers, and Nasser became president.

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