Al-Jazeera Employees Arrested for ties to Terrorism

His name is Peter Greste and he is a news correspondent for Al-Jazeera. He and at least one other Al-Jazeera employee – possibly four total – were detained for ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. In Egypt, that means they’re tied to a terrorist organization.

Peter Greste: Arrested.

Peter Greste: Arrested.

Via the AP:

The network said Monday that four of its Cairo team – correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, and cameraman Mohamed Fawzy – are in custody since Sunday night.

Al-Jazeera says it’s demanding their immediate release.

The ministry says only two Al-Jazeera staff were arrested, an Australian journalist and a second person, a Brotherhood member. It says they were meeting at a five-star Cairo hotel that is used to “spread rumors harming national security.”

Egypt’s military-backed government has long accused Al-Jazeera of bias because Qatar is perceived to have supported the Brotherhood.

Perceived to have supported? Such a statement is willful ignorance at best.

Al-Jazeera is based in Doha, Qatar, which is not a large country. Yusuf al-Qaradawi – the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader – has not only found safe harbor in Qatar for decades; he’s had his own show on al-Jazeera for years as well.

Oh, and as recently as earlier this month, it was reported by the World Tribune that Qatar has become the new safe haven for Muslim Brotherhood members fleeing Egypt.

Nearly one year ago, we learned that Al Gore’s CURRENT TV was being sold to Al-Jazeera and turned into Al-Jazeera America. The roll out of the new network was celebrated by both Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

Egypt is showing the west how it’s done. Instead of wringing our hands over whether or not al-Qaeda was involved in this or that attack, the Muslim Brotherhood should be identified as the root of the problem. Once that happens, it becomes much easier to link individuals and entities to terrorism. Until that happens, the west will continue to lose battles.

Imagine the al-Qaeda stigma being attached to the Muslim Brotherhood. In the U.S., dozens of groups and individuals would begin falling like dominoes.

In the U.S., such a dragnet could even ensnare Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain.

print

,