Kerry Trying To Save Hamas, Restore Muslim Brotherhood

by Khaled Abu Toameh
July 31, 2014 at 10:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4557/john-kerry-hamas

Translations of this item:

There is growing concern in Ramallah, Cairo, Riyadh and Dubai that the U.S. Administration is working to prevent the collapse of Hamas.
"The Americans mistakenly think that moderate political Islam, which is represented by the Muslim Brotherhood, will be able to combat radical Islam. The Americans are trying to bring the Muslim Brotherhood back to the region." — Palestinian official, Ramallah.
The Iranians, with whom the U.S. is now negotiating on nuclear weapons -- amid fears in the Middle East that the U.S. will capitulate to Tehran's demands if it has not effectively capitulated to them already -- have now joined Qatar and Turkey in opposing any attempt to confiscate Hamas's weapons.
The Paris conference was actually a spit in the face to the anti-Hamas forces in the Arab world. By failing to invite the Palestinian Authority to the conference, Kerry indicated that he does not see any role for Abbas and his loyalists in a post-Hamas Gaza Strip.

The U.S. Administration's main objective in cease-fire talks is clearly to empower Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian branch, Hamas.

This is how the Palestinian Authority [PA] sees the recent efforts of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to achieve a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

It is no secret that the PA, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would like to see an end to Hamas's rule over the Gaza Strip. Moreover, they seem to support the idea of disarming Hamas as part of any agreement to end the current crisis.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been issuing strong condemnations of the Israeli "aggression" on the Gaza Strip over the past few weeks, is hoping that the war will result in the return of his loyalists to control the Gaza Strip or, at least to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Abbas and his Arab allies are not going to shed a tear if Hamas is removed from power and the Gaza Strip is demilitarized at the end of the war.

There is growing concern in Ramallah, Cairo, Riyadh and Dubai, however, that the U.S. Administration is now working to prevent the collapse of Hamas.

This concern was reinforced by Secretary of State John Kerry's recent tour of the region. His trip ended with last week's Paris meeting to discuss the Israel-Hamas war.

That Kerry chose to invite Qatar and Turkey -- the only two countries that support Hamas -- to the conference was received with anger and shock by the Palestinian Authority and its Arab allies.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shares a laugh with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Al Attiyah during cease-fire negotiations in Paris, on July 26, 2014. (Image source: U.S. State Department)

The Paris conference was actually a spit in the face of anti-Hamas forces in the Arab world.

By failing to invite the PA to the conference, Kerry indicated that he does not see any role for Abbas and his loyalists in a post-Hamas Gaza Strip. Kerry chose to conduct indirect negotiations with Hamas through their patrons in Doha and Ankara.

By ignoring Egypt, which considers Hamas a threat to its national security and has been conducting its own war against the Islamist movement over the past year, Kerry sent a message to the Arabs and Muslims according to which the U.S. Administration is on the side of the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies.

"Kerry is exploiting the war to restore the influence of Muslim Brotherhood in the region," charged a Palestinian official in Ramallah. "The Americans mistakenly think that moderate political Islam, represented by Muslim Brotherhood, would be able to combat radical Islam. The Americans are trying to bring the Muslim Brotherhood back to the region."

Another Palestinian official accused President Barack Obama and Kerry of organizing a "Friends of Hamas" conference in Paris. "How can you hold such a conference without inviting representatives of the Palestinian Authority and Egypt?" he asked. "Qatar and Turkey are happy to see the Obama Administration help them in their effort to save Hamas and embolden Muslim Brotherhood."

Alarmed by Kerry's alliance with Qatar and Turkey, Abbas flew earlier this week to Jeddah for emergency talks with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz.

According to a senior Abbas advisor, the Palestinian Authority president urged the Saudi monarch to exert pressure on the Obama Administration to keep Qatar and Turkey out of the picture.

The advisor said that Saudi Arabia voiced support for demands to demilitarize the Gaza Strip as part of any cease-fire agreement. "Demilitarizing the Gaza Strip would mean the end of Hamas," the advisor said. "The Egyptians, Saudis and other Arab countries also share this view. They are also upset with Kerry's effort to rely on Qatar and Turkey to solve the crisis. These two countries are interested in keeping Hamas in power."

Abbas and the PA continue to insist that any solution to the current crisis be achieved only through Egypt, which is interested in seeing an end to Hamas' rule over the Gaza Strip.

But the Obama Administration obviously does not share this view. It has chosen a different path -- one that would result in keeping Hamas in power and empowering the Muslim Brotherhood at the expense of moderate, pro-Western Arabs and Muslims.

Palestinian officials in Ramallah made it clear this week that they no longer trust the US Administration because of Kerry's attempt to "appease" Qatar and Turkey at the expense of the Palestinian Authority and Egypt.

"Someone needs to remind Kerry that Qatar is not the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinians," said a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah.

Another official, Ahmed Majdalani, warned that the Palestinians and Egyptians wouldn't allow Kerry to "bypass" their leaders and meddle in the internal affairs of the Palestinian people.

By siding with Qatar and Turkey, the Obama Administration is effectively expressing its opposition to the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the Obama Administration now finds itself on the same side with Iran, which is also vehemently opposed to disarming Hamas.

By turning its back on the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the Obama Administration has paved the way for Iranian intervention in the conflict.

The Iranians, with whom the U.S. is negotiating on nuclear weapons -- amid fears in the Middle East that the U.S. will capitulate to Tehran's demands if it has not effectively capitulated to them already -- have now joined Qatar and Turkey in opposing any attempt to confiscate Hamas's weapons.

On Wednesday, a senior Iranian military official, Gen. Qassem Slimani, issued an unprecedented warning against any attempt to disarm Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip.

"Disarming the (Palestinian) resistance groups is an illusion and it will not happen," he said.

Such a warning would not have been issued had the Iranians not sensed weakness on the part of the Obama Administration. Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and their patrons in Qatar, Turkey and Iran are clearly satisfied with the way the Obama Administration is handling the conflict.

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Related Topics: Palestinian Authority

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Comment on this item

16 Reader Comments

Kris Kristian • Aug 5, 2014 at 06:21

It is time for the Americans to wake up and impeach Obama for what he is doing to Israel and the moderate Arab world.
He and Kerry are busy helping Iran to develop the nuclear bombs which they intent to use against Israel as they have said many times before.
They are helping Hamas to strengthen and possibly supplying Hamas with weapons.
They have alienated Saudi and other Arab states.
The propaganda and TV and media news from Hamas, has created more hatred of Jews and Israel.
The Catholic archbishop and other Christian leaders in South Africa have condemned Israel, but have never condemned the terrorists for the rocket attacks.

The only TV station that has told the truth, is AlJazeera which has mentioned the fact that only women and children are shown as being killed or injured.
And the figure of casualties is also a big question. Where are the men of fighting age?
How many of them are really the majority of those killed?

The media uses pictures taken from Syria and claims those are from Gaza.
They even used a photo of a Jewish family, Fogel, who were murdered by Hamas terrorist who slaughtered the parents in their sleep, and decapitated a 3 month old baby.
This was shown with the caption 'THIS IS WHAT THE IDF DOES'
But they forgot to remove the Mezuza from the door in the room, which shows it was a Jewish family murdered by Hamas.

And Israel are called "war criminals" by the churches.
But why don't they say anything about the thousands of Chrisitians slaughtered by Islamists in Iraq, Egypt etc. where even their churches were destroyed?

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Caroline Rausch • Aug 2, 2014 at 06:45

First if all, Israel does not kill women and children, Hamas intentionally kills women and children, and Islam has been killing women and children for centuries -- it's part of their culture. There are several ways these Gazan civilians could have been protected -- they could have been put into the miles of concrete tunnels where they would have been safe from the bombs -- but Hamas refused to allow this. Or the children (and their families) could have been taken to some of the many luxury hotels sprinkled around Gaza where they would have been comfortable and safe. Also there are several gleaming new enormous shopping malls in Gaza full of food and clothes and everything else -- just give the Gazans access, no need for Gazans to go without food or good beds and spend sleepless nights, but Hamas does not want them to be safe.

The civilians are used as propaganda cannon fodder so Hamas will have something horrendous to blame israel for -- no Muslim ever blames himself for anything, it's always someone else who is the bad guy. As so succinctly explained by Wafa Sultan in her book "A God Who Hates", the Muslim male is the product of a culture that does not know how to take responsibility and which does not hold him accountable for his failures. In an attempt to avoid facing his inferiority and failures, the Muslim man plays the game of "killer and victim". He is the victim, and the whole world is out to get him.

Muslims have always divided the world into two -- themselves and others -- they are reasonable, peaceable and upstanding believers while everyone else is a thoughtless, wicked and heretical terrorist. They are the victims, the others are the killers. But although they have accused the entire world of conspiring to wipe them and their religion out, it is the Jews who have been their scapegoat.

Islam's general attitude toward the Jews helped Muslims construct their "conspiracy theory", which has kept Muslims inside the straitjacket in which Islam has imprisoned their minds, and they use it as a weapon against anyone who tries to cast doubts on the credibility and morality of Islamic teachings. With the aid of this weapon, they have been largely successful in duping the whole world and attaining their objectives.

As a young man, Mohammed was in awe of the Jews --- they were God's Chosen People, the Arabs were not. The Jews and Christians believed in one almighty God, the Arabs had multiple gods. The Jews and the Christians had a Holy Book, the Arabs did not. His first wife, Khadischa, was a Christian, and he learned bits and pieces of the belief of the Jews and Christians from some merchants he met while guiding his wife's caravans from country to country, and from some Christian slaves, but without ever understanding the true message of the Bible. He decided to write a book for the Arabs and plagerized much he had heard about from bible stories, but also from many Arabian poets and historians of former years and other sources. He put everything he knew through the prism of his own conceptions and produced the Koran. And he gave the Arabs one god -- named Allah, the moon god -- who had been the chief god of the religion of his tribe.

Always in the back of his mind he wanted to incorporate the Christians and the Jews into his religion to give it credibility. In Medina where he sought refuge because the Meccans wanted to kill him, believing him to be insane, about half of the population were Jewish and they welcomed him as a refugee. In Medina, Mohammed changed and became a warlord, attracting to himself all the petty criminals and misfits for miles around and he began raiding the caravans carrying goods back and forth to Mecca. He kept 1/5 of the spoils for himself, the rest was divided among his new "believers" who were just plain thugs. The Jews in Medina were excellent metal workers and jewellers and made his weapons for him. He thought that they, believing in One God, would accept his new religion of One God, but when they politely refused and said they preferred to remain with their own Holy Book and their own Holy God, Mohammed was offended and began to hate them and see them as enemies. It was then that he started to attack the Jewish conclaves, robbing and murdering them, and this has never stopped down through the centuries. Anyone who does not accept Islam, or leaves Islam, must be killed -- it's a personal offence to Allah (who was Mohammed's alter-ego).

So the hatred of the Jews springs from envy -- they were in every way superior to the Arabs around them in the Mecca and Medina when Islam had its beginnings, and they are so also today.

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Hamdy • Jul 31, 2014 at 19:28

One of the (bad) characters of human beings is to make mistakes. One of the (good) characters of the same species is to learn from mistakes.
Well, it seems the Americans are not learning from "their" mistakes. They repeat the same mistake again and again.

The greatest advantage the English had over all other empires was they listened to the "locals" and even took advantage of their experience and even utilised their expertise. They did that in India, south-east Asia and Africa AND in the Middle-East

Now, if USA is to regain some of its ability to maintain peace in the Middle-East, Americans should listen to the people who have been here well before anyone else... Israelis.

PS. I am not Jewish , I am not Israeli....I am an Arab

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Steve • Jul 31, 2014 at 16:22

Here is a thought. If members of the 'international community' are so aghast at the idea of Israel defending itself against Hamas, let them do this.
Come up with a credible plan for demilitarising Gaza, removing the tunnels, rockets, missiles and all the rest. Let them ensure, in whatever ingenious way, that Hamas cannot import any further weaponry from Iran or make home made rockets or tunnels. They would need a long term, credible presence there to do this. Then they can implement a plan for Gaza's long term economic recovery. No ceasefire without a commitment to removing security threats. If they are not prepared to do this, then they cannot credibly complain about Israeli self defence measures.

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James • Jul 31, 2014 at 13:53

The UN's focus on condemning Israel is pulling the U.S. into major trouble. The focus on Israel is a Trojan horse for enemies of the U.S. and the West to exploit for bringing down American and European civilization. The best way I know to remedy this destructive dynamic is to change the UN's focus from condemning Israel to a strict construction of the UN charter.

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Elisheva14 • Jul 31, 2014 at 13:14

The Obama/Kerry position has been revealing itself for awhile but still leaves us shocked. Truly this has been the pattern for the Obama administration. He openly supported Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Hamas is an arm of MB. They are also funneling money and arms to other related terrorist groups. They are helping Iran advance its cause of destroying Israel. It is hard for me to accept, but we should not be surprised. The end plan seems to be to destroy Israel. Obama's friends are well known. From the beginning he welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood to the White House. He is friends with Reverend Wright and many other radicals who are anti-Israel. My question is why so many Jews supported him and helped bankroll him. How did Obama deceive so many people for so long?

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arnonerik • Jul 31, 2014 at 13:00

The Obama Administration is already riddled with Muslim Brotherhood operatives. This has happened with the blessing and encouragement of the highest Administration officials. So it is no surprise that they would be working against the Egyptians, Saudis and the Emirates and against the interests of the people of the United States.
The only questions in my mind is who is using who, and will the One World "paradise" they are working for be the worldwide Caliphate or the Progressive dream.

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Michael Fruchtman • Jul 31, 2014 at 12:23

Can anyone answer WHY the Obama administration has favored the Muslim Brotherhood? It basically threw Mubarak aside for the Brotherhood, protested Egypt's uprising against the Brotherhood and its one man, one vote, one time behaviors, and now is trying to ensure Hamas's survival. What is the administration's motivation? What upside does it see for the U.S. and its allies through a relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood?

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Moshe

Michael Fruchtman • Jul 31, 2014 at 15:41

I'm waiting for Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia to bring Putin into the middle east. Obama is pushing them in Russia's direction.

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LindaK • Jul 31, 2014 at 11:45

One should be clear that the declaration that "moderate political Islam ... is represented by the Muslim Brotherhood" is a complete fallacy.

The MB is not moderate. Hamas is a MB group that is a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, a terrorist group that penetrated our borders and resides on our shores, as well. Both the MB and Hamas are Islamist groups, they are global jihadists who do not share our national security interests.

Calling the MB moderate is outright propaganda that distorts the reality of this group and misleads the reader as much as John Kerry does in embracing these enemies of state.

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Hanna • Jul 31, 2014 at 11:31

I guess in our nutty world everything is possible. It's hard to believe, but I read it black on white - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and, wait for it, ISRAEL on one side against Qatar, Turkey, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and wait for it again - the USA. Am I going nuts, or what? Hanna.

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Arthur Taub MD PhD • Jul 31, 2014 at 11:14

It is abundantly clear that the only acceptable outcome of the current military operation is, minimally, the total disarmament of Hamas, and its palpable defeat and humiliation, as occurred during WWII with Germany and Japan, and not simply the temporary elimination of tunnels penetrating Israeli space. This may very well involve prolonged conflict and massive casualties, civil and military, and a period of Israeli military rule and true occupation.

The experiment, initiated by the late Prime Minister Sharon, of devolving from such occupation, has failed catastrophically. It is unthinkable for the West Bank. The "two state solution" is vacuous for an indeterminate period, and the status quo is the only one that can be contemplated.

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Alice Maxwell

Arthur Taub MD PhD • Jul 31, 2014 at 13:55

Hamas came into being to hobble Palestinian grab for lands and power. It was a competing group to what the Palestinians had at the time and was financed from Israel and the USA. Both nations thought they could control it and it might give them an advantage in the festering problems of contested ownership of The Holy Lands.

Like so many "counter schemes" in our Post War II scenarios, it did not provide relief to us but it did provide organization for those who oppose us, just as the CIA's AlQaeda has done for the rest of the Muslim world.

This is what happens when the politicians take control of a nation's security. They are so used to backroom solutions, that they lose sight of reality. They do not have to sit in "war rooms" and figure out how many divisions of men, now women will be necessary to save the border once they allow its breech or how much ammunition and guns will have to be employed when the enemy pours into your settlements, bombs your stores and cuts your supply lines. To the politician it is a quiet deal, safe from public scrutiny and if it works, you can trumpet it and lo, you are the leader of the Day! In other words, in politics, amorality works!

The floodgates have been opened for Islam and so those who were double agents are revealing their interests.

Once again the old maxims hold, especially for the stupid and ignorant. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. Hamas was devised to give opposition to a palestinian unity movement, to promote Islam and guess what, it is succeeding and all of you are aghast and surprised!

Whoops....a group's success doing what it trumpets it will do is what destroys peoples, beliefs, and the units they make to protect both!

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rena sharff

Arthur Taub MD PhD • Jul 31, 2014 at 16:36

I agree thoroughly with Arthur Taub's comment. There is no other solution. Hamas must be made to disarm, the tunnels eliminated and Gaza retaken. Nor should there be any consideration given to a "two state solution". Both Gaza and the West Bank must be under complete Israeli military control. The world, including the USA, will condemn Israel, but what else is new.

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Robert

Arthur Taub MD PhD • Jul 31, 2014 at 17:10

What is behind Kerry's latest stupid acts?
What Obama and Kerry fear is a palpable, publicly acknowledged Israeli victory, which would deride their role as peacemakers, (no one will ever be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for allowing Israel to defeat anyone) but also would likely drive neighboring Muslims into an even more destabilized frenzy. O & K would do anything to stop the fight before a decisive victory by Israel; it has worked for them and for other US presidents in the past. I worry that Obama might react petulantly to a Netanyahu victory by allowing Tehran to get a nuclear bomb -- that would fix Netanyahu good, and cement Obama's image and legacy forever.

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Jim

Arthur Taub MD PhD • Jul 31, 2014 at 20:08

The American administration seems to be bent on creating havoc around the world, and in America. The trouble in the Ukraine can be directly blamed on America trying to increase it's influence over Eastern Europe, without considering the consequences. "Freeing" Iraq and Libya from tyrannical rulers, has caused more deaths than the population of Gaza. Thousands of young South Americans are crossing into the U.S.A. and the immigration department can't cope with the numbers. Weekly we read about American school children being shot in their schools.
The Egyptians stood up to Obama and Kerry, and like spoilt children, they both spit the dummy, and have decided to back the wrong horse. America has no interest in "what happens next?" in regards to it's actions. Saudi wants rid of the Muslim Brotherhood, since they can foresee what will happen when ISIS and Hamas are encouraged by America to continue their reign of terror. Obama has no lasting legacy after two years in power, either at home or abroad. His support of a terrorist organisation, will ensure he will be remembered with revulsion.

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