On June 30th 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood suffered its worst blow since its inception in 1928: the ousting of Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian president. The dream, to attain power, had brewed for 80 years and had suddenly mushroomed into a reality only to be shattered overnight, reverberating aftershocks the Brotherhood may never emerge from. Soon afterwards, while Egyptian security forces pursued the group for the violence it inflicted after Morsi's ousting and the Rabaa Square dispersal, Egyptians' hatred towards the group intensified. Without any doubt the Brotherhood lost the support and the respect of many Egyptians forever. Several more blows hit the Muslim Brotherhood hard leaving it flailing. First, Egypt declared the organisation a terrorist group; Saudi Arabia labeled it as such, too. Then, UK Prime Minister David Cameron ordered a probe into the Brotherhood in Britain and its seeming association with extremism. In Kuwait, a proposal to disband the Eslah, the Brothers' Kuwaiti charity, is being disputed in court, while the Canadian MP, Brad Butt, presented a petition to the Canadian Parliament asking it to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group. This momentum seems to be growing. More hardships ensued. Kuwait extradited Mohammed el-Qabouti, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, who was wanted for inciting violence in the August 2013 violent events in Egypt. Then the Lebanese government banned Ahrar 25 TV Channel, a Muslim Brotherhood channel founded after June 30th but has been removed off all frequencies of Nile Sat and Gulf Sat since. Still, these events leave the Muslim Brotherhood down but not out. Yes, a ripple effect has resonated across the world deeming the Brotherhood's ideologies questionable, but the Brotherhood is proving to be by far more powerful than anyone realized. Historically the Muslim Brotherhood has, along the last six decades, established presence in most of the Arab countries; many European ones, in particular Germany, Britain, Belgium, as well as Turkey; and of course the United States, that in addition to its support of and presence in such countries as Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Brotherhood infiltration is apparent across the globe. The Brotherhood can be found in Syria and Saudi Arabia though now banned in both countries; in Morocco, under the Justice and Charity Group, which supported Morsi's winning the presidential race openly; in Algeria, where it is part of the political discourse; in Libya, where it has lost the election but is fighting to seize power; and in Kuwait under the Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM), a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Though the Muslim Brotherhood maintains a low profile in Jordan, it has a strong hold on unions, in particular the teachers' union where it won 70% of the seats during the last election. Arguably, this presence across the Arab World gives the Muslim Brotherhood the backbone on which it stands. And then there is Qatar. Though at odds with many of the Gulf States, Qatar continues its full support of the Muslim Brotherhood. On April 2nd, the Qatari prince arrived in Sudan, to support the Islamist government there of Omar Bashir with a one billion dollar donation. Qatar also remains the haven where fleeing Brotherhood members reside, and its Al Jazeera Media Network continues to be an ongoing supporter of the Brotherhood cause, that in spite of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the Emirates' recall of their envoys to Qatar. Turkey has come out in full support of the Muslim Brotherhood. After the June 30th revolution in Egypt, Turkey became "the regional hub for the Muslim Brotherhood's international organization." Turkey held several meetings to counter attack Morsi's ousting proving Erdogan's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The White House remains in contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, and it hasn't designated it a terrorist group thus far. Observers say that the Muslim Brotherhood seems to have established a foothold in some corners of Washington, according to political commentator and co-founder of Al-Dostur Party Wael Nawara. "The Department of Homeland Security and other ant-terrorist intelligence agencies seem to have some form of ‘cooperation' with the Muslim Brotherhood," he wrote in Al-Monitor. Again, though down, the Brotherhood is not out yet. Its demise is nearing though. The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Egypt, exported to the world from Egypt, and now, having been exposed and banned in Egypt, will be exposed and hence banned around the world, too.
