West, allies targeting Islamic political groups, sowing regional discord

If the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was not a clear enough sign, one has only to look at the EU's July condemnation of the Hezbollah - Shia Lebanese political faction which entertains strong links to Iran and its government as they both share the same ideology and goals in the region - to realize that all Islamic factions, Shia and Sunni alike, have become the target of a new political inquisition.
 
While sitting at completely different poles of the politico-religious spectrum, both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hezbollah are being demonized and vilified by the media. In order to better justify its very public stoning of the two groups, their political nemesis is accusing them of harboring terror agendas and in-factions within their ranks.
 
In a matter of months, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood went from being the country's ruling party, with not only a ruling president but a parliamentary majority, something that even deposed-President Hosni Mubarak never could achieve, to a renegade faction the media are portraying as an amalgam of religious fanatics with criminal tendencies.
 
In Lebanon, the Hezbollah, a faction led by Hassan Nasrallah, a prominent political figure adored by millions, has been declared by the EU a terror organization on account it sided with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against the Free Syrian Army - a loose coalition of militias supported by Western powers.
 
As the net is tightening around political Islam, driving its supporters and militants into hiding, western powers and their allies in the region are risking to radicalize an entire movement, giving extremist groups the very opportunity they have been so patiently waiting for.
 
History has proven that repression, and especially religious repression, will only give birth to radicalization. By preventing the Middle East from find its political footing, the West will only succeed in fueling the fire of extremism as repression will give way to hatred and a thirst for retribution.
 
The case of the Muslim Brotherhood
One of the oldest political factions in the Middle East, the Muslim Brotherhood, was founded in 1928 as the largest Pan-Arab, Pan-Islamic organization in the region.
 
Ironically enough, the Muslim Brotherhood was one of the first political organizations in the Arab world to promote democratic values based on the application of and respect for Sharia-Quranic laws.
 
Now it is important to understand that Sharia Law is not, as media has been trying to promote, a violent and barbaric ruling system. The Sharia system is based on the teachings of the Quran and the Hadiths, organizing and legislating all aspects of one's life, from the way one conducts one's business to laws on inheritance, marriage, divorce, the taxing system and women’s rights.
 
Sharia has been widely misinterpreted by certain regimes in the region, mainly Saudi Arabia, as they seek to use religion as an oppressive tool against their people to assert their own power.
 
While Sharia should have been used as the base for a fair and impartial ruling system, regimes used it to enslave their fellow nationals and instill fear.
 
The Muslim Brotherhood was born from the understanding that all Arab nations carried a common denominator, Islam, and as such should seek to stand united in the face of hardships to flash a brighter light over the region.
 
The aim was never to rule over, but rather to unite nations, the very base of the Pan-Arab movement.
 
If the Egyptian Brotherhood was driven underground by former President Hosni Mubarak, it is because its very ideology carried the seeds of democracy, not because it sought to indoctrinate the nation.
 
Forced to abandon all political ambitions, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood became a social movement focused on organizing social programs and alleviating poverty.
 
Well-organized and fiercely dedicated to their cause, the Brotherhood bode its time.
 
In the chaos of 2011, the Brotherhood was the only faction which carried enough support and legitimacy to rally around its banner a profoundly divided and undecided Egypt. From the trauma of autocracy the Egyptian nation pinned its hope on the Brotherhood, confident the group's alliance of religion and politics would prove a winning combination for the nation.
 
And if the Opposition is now arguing the Brotherhood was angling Egypt toward a perverse form of theocracy, thus justifying its decision to scrap the new constitution, one needs to remember that rather than impose its views on Egypt, the Brotherhood asked Egyptians to choose their new Sharia-based constitution through a popular referendum, in perfect keeping with democratic standards and tradition.
 
Yet, the Opposition decided following the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi that this piece of legislation was not legitimate.
 
Across the Middle East, a witch-hunt against the Muslim Brotherhood has begun, with unprecedented ferocity. In Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, Islamists are being hunted down, torn apart by the media.
 
Isolation of a political Islam
Rather than allow the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic political denominations to join mainstream politics in keeping with democratic values, western nations and their allies have chosen instead to declare war on political Islam, driving a wedge within countries across the region.
 
By essence, democracy cannot rhyme with political repression. In a democratic society, all parties and all views should be allowed to exist and co-exist peacefully, so as to enrich national debate and permit ideas and ideologies to mature and develop.
 
As of July 3rd, the Muslim Brotherhood has not been allowed to exist. Instead, its supporters have been shot dead, its newspapers, TV and radio stations have been taken off the air, journalists have been threatened, beaten up and imprisoned, very much in line with the former regime's modus operandi.
 
As the Brotherhood is weathering attacks in Tunisia, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the group has been forced to act on the defensive, looking for new alliances to secure its position.
 
As the Brotherhood will face more sustained attacks from its enemies, its moderates will be forced to take a stand back in favor of more belligerent figures. Just as a government will turn to its military in a time of war and crisis, the Brotherhood will be forced to turn to some of its more radical personalities as it will fight for its survival.
 
This could actually allow radical in-factions to emerge from the moderate mainstream movement of the Brotherhood and lead to a broad radicalization.
 
Should the Brotherhood find itself cornered, its leaders might feel forced to seek alliances outside.
 
This could prove to be the opportunity that groups such as al-Qaeda have been waiting for. Known to use unrest as a catalyst, al-Qaeda could seek to become the armed arm of the Brotherhood, an alliance of convenience brought about by repression.