Muslim Brotherhood justifies violence, creates extremist environment

By Yara El Yamani

With the wave of terror attacks rising in European countries, academic researches started to surface about Muslim Brotherhood ideology and its connections with exporting terrorism across the world.

On Brotherhood activities in Europe, a study, conducted by Lorenzo Vidino the researcher at George Washington University said Brotherhood is striving to create a fertile environment of extremism in western countries and Austria in particular.

In that study which University of Vienna contributed, Vidino signaled that Brotherhood’s leaders in Austria raised funds for the Palestine based-Hamas movement and some terrorist organizations under the guise of humanitarian aid.

The researcher monitored that members of the group always sought to pictures themselves as oppressed victims and they also exploited anti-Muslim events to promote their ideology approaching violence.

Under the mottoes of “the Muslims are in danger” they campaign to their extremist discourse justifying violence acts initiated by them as a legitimate reaction to the provocative remarks made by westerners against Muslims.

As a result, Vidino alerted the growing threat posed by these dangerous concepts embraced by the group, highlighting the rising of terror attacks in Europe during the last five years.

In his 60-page study the monitor noticed that Muslim Brotherhood’s members adopted a contradictory and confused speech which is moderate in Europe and America, but it is radical in other places especially in the Middle East.

They purported to be tolerant in western communities, but that is different from their true face.

Vidino also pointed out to Brotherhood’s ideas which he saw they run into western principles particularly in the freedom of faith and the rights of women.

He mentioned as well that some media outlets in Austria warned of Muslim Brotherhood considering them as a formidable threat to the country, but security agencies have yet to make a decisive decision on Brotherhood’s activities.

In the conclusion of the study, the researcher published exclusive documents released by Austrian intelligence in which they uncovered that the members of the group are operating covertly across Austria and that will represent a major threat to the state.

The document warned that the country’s security agencies don’t have accurate databases for this group which will remain a serious challenge if an official decisive decision is not taken.