The Muslim Brotherhood denied on Sunday their Supreme Guide had called for a “holy Jihad” against Israel after a prominent Jewish human rights organisation called for United States President Barack Obama to sever all ties with the Brotherhood.
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International Jewish rights organisation, the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) condemned an alleged statement made by the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, that Jews spread “corruption on earth, spilled the blood of believers and in their actions profane holy places, including their own.” Badie was also reported to have called for Arab nations to resist Israel “through holy Jihad, high sacrifices and all forms of resistance,” accusing Zionists of only understanding the language of force.
Badie’s supposed statements were earlier reported by state-run Al-Ahram.
The founder and dean of SWC Marvin Hier, along with the associate dean Abraham Cooper, said Badie’s “rant confirms our long held view that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is the most dangerous anti-Semitic organisation in the world today.”
However the Muslim Brotherhood’s official media spokesperson, Waleed Shalaby, dismissed the accusations, denying Badie ever said such things. Badie himself was not available for comment.
According to Abdel Aleem Mohamed, a consultant and Israeli affairs expert for the Ahram Strategic Center, Badei’s comments, if true, were “very general, unacceptable and unscientific because like any other group of people, there are good and bad ones.”
Aleem Mohamed said any discussion of Israel from a religious standpoint yields no positive outcomes. “All the decisions and dealings with Israel are in accordance to international laws and treaties and as such it is also for our benefit to uphold these laws and treaties,” he said.
Since Morsy was elected president, he has refrained from directly mentioning Israel in his statements and public appearances. He has only briefly touched on Israeli relations through his comments surrounding international treaties and how he means to uphold them.
Badie is known for his controversial statements regarding Israel and the United States. In 1965 he was arrested and tried by a military tribunal as part of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s purge of Islamists. He served nine years before being released along with other Muslim Brotherhood members by Anwar Al-Sadat.
The SWC is one of the largest Jewish organisations in the world, with over 400,000 members.
