Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's investment authority GAFI hosts forum with China to link business, innovation leaders    CBE governor meets Beijing delegation to discuss economic, financial cooperation    Egypt's Gypto Pharma, US Dawa Pharmaceuticals sign strategic alliance    Egypt to unveil 'national economic development narrative' in June, focused on key economic targets    Egypt's Foreign Minister calls new Somali counterpart, reaffirms support    Italy's consumer, business confidence decline in April '25    "5,000 Years of Civilizational Dialogue" theme for Korea-Egypt 30th anniversary event    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Angola's Lourenço discuss ties, African security in Cairo talks    Two new recycling projects launched in Egypt with EGP 1.7bn investment    Egypt's ambassador to Palestine congratulates Al-Sheikh on new senior state role    Egypt's TMG eyes $17bn sales from potential major Iraq project    Egypt's Health Min. discusses childhood cancer initiative with WHO    Egypt pleads before ICJ over Israel's obligations in occupied Palestine    Asia-Pacific stocks rise on Wall Street cues    Egypt's EDA discusses local pharmaceutical manufacturing with Bayer    Sudan conflict, bilateral ties dominate talks between Al-Sisi, Al-Burhan in Cairo    Egypt expresses condolences to Canada over Vancouver incident    Cairo's Madinaty and Katameya Dunes Golf Courses set to host 2025 Pan Arab Golf Championship from May 7-10    Egypt's Health Min. strengthens healthcare ties with Bayer    Egypt's Ministry of Health launches trachoma elimination campaign in 7 governorates    EHA explores strategic partnership with Türkiye's Modest Group    Between Women Filmmakers' Caravan opens 5th round of Film Consultancy Programme for Arab filmmakers    Fourth Cairo Photo Week set for May, expanding across 14 Downtown locations    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Ancient military commander's tomb unearthed in Ismailia    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM praises ties with Tanzania    Egypt to host global celebration for Grand Egyptian Museum opening on July 3    Ancient Egyptian royal tomb unearthed in Sohag    Egypt hosts World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in Somabay for 3rd consecutive year    Egyptian Minister praises Nile Basin consultations, voices GERD concerns    49th Hassan II Trophy and 28th Lalla Meryem Cup Officially Launched in Morocco    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Paris Olympics opening draws record viewers    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Muslim Brotherhood: Playing victim
Published in Ahram Online on 19 - 06 - 2019

As soon as news broke of the sudden death of ousted president Mohamed Morsi during a court hearing on 17 June, Brotherhood officials and activists in Europe, Turkey and some Gulf countries, as well as human rights organisations opposed to the Egyptian government, lashed out at Cairo for causing his death.
The statements were many and diverse, but the common thread was that Morsi died as a result of the Egyptian authorities' neglect of his medical condition during his years in jail. Some even demanded an international investigation into the causes of his death.
Morsi had already been found guilty in two of the cases against him and sentenced to life. The Brotherhood and its supporters now want to capitalise on the opportunity to internationalise the cause of his death.
Experts agree that the group's latest actions conform to its long-standing habit of “manufacturing victimhood”. It is a habit that began following the assassination of the group's founder Hassan Al-Banna in circumstances that still remain a mystery.
According to one narrative, the Brotherhood's “Special Apparatus”, as its paramilitary wing was called, was involved in the assassination following a quarrel between Al-Banna and Abdel-Rahman Al-Sanadi, commander of the paramilitary wing, over the latter's role in the assassination of judge Ahmed Al-Khazindar.
Mokhtar Nouh, a lawyer and former Muslim Brotherhood member, points out that there was nothing suspicious about Morsi's death. He collapsed in full view of the courtroom after he had been on his feet addressing the court as a co-defendant in the case pertaining to espionage charges involving the Palestinian Hamas organisation.
The prosecutor-general's office immediately took all the measures necessary to put paid to any doubts and issued a detailed report.
A member of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), speaking on condition of anonymity, said that, contrary to rumours put about by the Brotherhood, Morsi had no problem accessing medical treatment and was in fact given special attention.
The EOHR member added that it was in no one's interest to neglect Morsi's health.
Nouh stresses the Brotherhood had consistently refused to appeal to the government or to President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi for an amnesty on grounds of ill health because the organisation refuses to recognise the post-30 June 2013 political order.
Lawyer Amr Abdel-Salam offered testimony to the medical attention accorded to Morsi. Citing General Ihab Abul-Kheir, the former assistant to the interior minister who oversaw Morsi's medical treatment, Abdel-Salam said, “Morsi received comprehensive health and medical care during his detention at the hands of leading practitioners in all medical disciplines. Contrary to rumours, he was never deprived of medication. In fact, two officers were assigned to oversee his medical needs in order to preserve his health.”
The Brotherhood's victimhood discourse builds on four components. One is the politicised statements of condolences by foreign officials, especially the heads-of-state of countries hostile to Egypt such as Qatar and Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quick to charge his rhetoric with terms as the “martyr Morsi” and the “martyred president”.
The second involves commentaries by human rights organisations, most echoing the Brotherhood's narrative that Morsi died as a result of medical neglect for which the Egyptian government is responsible. One of the organisations involved is the Committee for Justice, a Geneva-based operation run by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) tow the same line and have echoed calls for an international investigation into the causes of Morsi's death and the conditions prevalent in Egyptian prisons.
Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) responded to tweets by Sarah Whitson, executive director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa Division, by saying her feeble claims confirm HRW's intent to continue to circulate falsehoods.
“It is amazing that Whitson posted her first tweet less than half an hour after the announcement of Morsi's death. In that tweet she concluded that he had died as a result of medical negligence without offering a shred of evidence to back her claim,” said SIS.
It added that the only authoritative information was to be found in the report released by the Egyptian prosecutor-general's office which contained initial findings into the cause of death and added that it would supply further details after an autopsy had been conducted.
The report, which refuted Whitson's claims, confirms “that her conclusions are nothing less than a tendentious attempt to precede events for political motives and that HRW has stooped to yet another level of baseness by exploiting the death of an Egyptian citizen to espouse political positions and criminal allegations without proof. Such behaviour has nothing to do with rights advocacy,” insisted SIS.
The third component of the victimhood discourse is the propaganda campaign launched through social media platforms using hashtags such as “martyred president”.
The fourth is mobilisation through funeral rites. Funerals have long served as chapter headings in the Brotherhood's narrative of victimhood. In this case, the group sees funeral and commemorative activities for Morsi as a means to re-establish its presence in the street and demonstrate that the organisation is still alive in Egypt.
Some analysts predict that the “Special Apparatus”, currently headed by Mahmoud Ezzat, will plot to avenge Morsi. They say such a scenario is consistent with Ezzat's ideas expressed, for example, in his first communiqué to followers as acting supreme guide and in his book The Jurisprudence of Popular Resistance to the Coup.
The book, circulated among the group's rank and file, condemns the Egyptian government, its security establishment and, indeed, Egyptian society, as heretic, and calls for armed resistance.
It has served as the group's ideological rationale for acts such as the assassination attempt against the Egyptian prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat and the murder of police and army officers.
Ezzat's book, which he signed using the moniker Papa Mahmoud, has become an ideological frame of reference for Brotherhood militant activity today, much as works by Sayed Qotb, such as Signposts on the Road, set the compass for Islamist violence in the 1960s.
Investigations have also revealed that the Brotherhood has circulated among its members in prison documents that furnish a theological rationale for condemning the Egyptian government as heretic.
One of these is a study by Abdel-Rahman Al-Barr, known as the Brotherhood mufti, which cites Sheikh Mohamed Al-Ghazali's commentary on the assassination of the Egyptian intellectual Farag Foda by Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya.
In Al-Ghazali's opinion it was not Foda's execution that was wrong but the fact that it was carried out by an agency other than the ruler (ie, the government). Al-Barr argued that since the ruler was unlawful and would not issue a judgement against himself, it was legitimate to fight him.
Maher Farghali, a specialist in Islamist groups, argues that Morsi's death serves the interests of the hardliners in the group who will try to use it to promote antagonism towards the Egyptian government and as a means to mend rifts in the organisation in favour of the hardliners and their appeal for vengeance.
Farghali adds that the Brotherhood, when acting out its victimhood discourse, generally turns to violence rather than taking a step back for introspection.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 June, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Playing victim


Clic here to read the story from its source.