CAIRO: A Muslim Brotherhood official told Bikyamasr.com on Tuesday evening that so such reported “crucifixions” of anti-Brotherhood and anti-President Mohamed Morsi protesters ever took place in front of the presidential palace. “This is simply not true,” said the official who asked not to be named as he could not speak in an official capacity for the Islamic group. “I have seen the reports, but none give any details except to quote one reporter who claimed they took place. There was some violence, but we have not, nor will we ever support that sort of action.” Still, the news took the right-wing American media by storm this week, with numerous outlets, from The Christian Post to Jihad Watch and Frontpage Magazine, reporting that the “radical Muslim Brotherhood is crucifying” people. All the reports refer to a Sky News Arabic correspondent in Cairo confirming protesters part of the Muslim Brotherhood “crucified those opposing Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi naked on trees in front of the presidential palace while abusing others. Likewise, Muslim Brotherhood supporters locked the doors of the media production facilities of 6-October [a major media region in Cairo], where they proceeded to attack several popular journalists,” reported Raymond Ibrahim in a guest column for The Investigative Project on Terrorism. No protester or official Bikyamasr.com spoke to could confirm that such acts of violence took place. Eyewitnesses at a number of palace protests told Bikyamasr.com that protesters outside the presidential palace became “angry and began fighting, but nobody was stripped naked and crucified.” Ibrahim and others, in “describing” the events, which a date was not given, use the alleged incident to launch diatribes and attacks, attempting to warn the world of the “threat” of the “radical Muslim Brotherhood.” In all the links given, including to local Egyptian media, again the “evidence” refers to the Sky News reporter, but further details are not found. And all the websites given are vehemently opposed to the Morsi presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood official believes the reporting of so-called “crucifixions” and anti-Christian actions by Morsi and his government, “are intended to spark something in the West and get them to hate us. But people are not so ignorant and they look for evidence, actual evidence, so we must find this before creating the witch hunt that they have created.”
