Muslim Brotherhood Banned In Egypt

The Muslim Brotherhood political party has been banned in Egypt after a court ruling, accord to BBC News.

The party, which came to power after the Arab Spring following the ouster of long time Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, is now banned from participating in parliamentary elections in the Spring, the British news agency said.

“The government declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group in December. It was accused of orchestrating a wave of violence to destabilise the country after the military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. The Brotherhood has denied any connection to the jihadist militants based in the Sinai Peninsula who have killed hundreds of security personnel.”

The actions that got the Muslim Brotherhood banned from the political process in Egypt included violence and murder, the BBC said.

“Saturday’s ruling by the Cairo Administrative Court came after a report by its advisory panel that noted the FJP’s leaders had been accused, and in some cases convicted, of murder and inciting violence. A police investigation found the party’s headquarters and offices had been used to store weapons, it said.”

As a result, all of the Brotherhood’s weapons must be ceded to the government, the court said.

But the Muslim Brotherhood ban is not completely drowning out the voice of its supporters, at least not in nearby Jordan.

According to Reuters, the Muslim Brotherhood in that country is staging protests in support of Hamas, which itself is locked in a battle with Israel in a conflict that is entering its second month.

“More than 15,000 Muslim Brotherhood supporters gathered at a pro-Hamas rally in Jordan’s capital on Friday, with many chanting “death to Israel” and urging the militant Palestinian group to step up rocket salvos against Israeli towns and cities.

“The evening rally, the largest such protest in Amman in years, saw scores of masked youths dressed in the uniform of Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, stage a mock military parade to the cheers of a flag-waving crowd.”

Reuters said many of Jordan’s 7 million residents have some connection to Palestine, with many having either been exiled or related to those exiled as a result of the 1948 war that lead to the formation of the Israeli state.

Jordan, as is Israel, are both American allies, so it could get interesting to see how Jordan’s largest political party’s opposition to the war impacts U.S. foreign policy. It will also be interesting to see how the U.S. responds to the ban of a political party in Egypt following the nation’s Arab Spring fight for democratic representation, which led to the Muslim Brotherhood’s coming to power in Egypt.

[Image via Flickr Creative Commons]