{"id":3587,"date":"2021-10-02T13:40:48","date_gmt":"2021-10-02T08:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/?p=3587"},"modified":"2022-01-27T14:10:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T14:10:27","slug":"muslim-brotherhood-arrives-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/muslim-brotherhood-arrives-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim BrotherHood Arrives In India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Download the Report in PDF<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong> <\/h3> <\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We didn\u2019t realize we would be so Prophetic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The previous Report by DisInfo Lab on \u2018Kashmir Inc: a Conflict Industry\u2019 had indicated that  a tactonic shift taking place in Islamic world, where the Qatar-Turkey-Pakistan nexus (pronounced as cut<\/em>i<\/em>e<\/em>–<\/em>pie<\/em>?<\/em>) with the blessings of Muslim Brotherhood, a religio-political & radical organization based in Qatar, is becoming the new hub for radical Islamists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guess they heard us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB), laced with fake news and multiple afflicted \u2018news media\u2019 launched a campaign against India – targeting India\u2019s economic interests. A trend on Twitter #BoycottIndianProducts<\/em> was launched few days ago, and been going on since. While the nexus tried to give it a color that it was triggered by the unfortunate incident in Assam (which was deplorable, and the guilty should be brought to justice) \u2013 but be as it may, the trigger was mere excuse. This was not the first time the trend was attempted. It was started in 2018, and since then it\u2019s an annual ritual. The objective is to give it momentum gradually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since one incident won’t justify it, they needed the whole gamut of fake news and propaganda. As expected, a great deal of these handles are being run from Pakistan and Turkey, while the push seems to have originated from MB influencers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a twist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The target seemed India, but the actual target was Saudi. The campaign was essentially targeting Saudi and UAE, and particularly Prince MBS of Saudi for maintaining a good relation with India. However, the India relations are mere ruse. This was not one off campaign, and the QTP Nexus has been targeting Saudi and UAE, questioning their \u2018right\u2019 to be the leader of Islamic world. The idea is obvious – by discrediting MBS, the leader of Turkey Erdogan would be crowned as the rightful leader of Ummah. The Ertugrul Ghazi was prelude. The Ottoman Empire is in remaking! Well.. you get the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The twist gets deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India was not the only country targeted for this economic boycott. The campaign also targeted France, asking to boycott French products. This social media trend was not only in virtual realm. There is a solid economic logic behind it. By creating the subaltern culture of boycott through social media, they would also create a potent weapon. And once the QTP Nexus takes center stage in Islamic world, this would create an exclusionary economy of gigantic proportions. The economic power the nexus build will not only affect Muslim world but would dictate terms all over the world – in the name of accommodating this huge market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petro-dollars of Qatar (gas-dollars to be precise), may not last forever to sustain the radical Islamists of Muslim Brotherhood. They would need new economic logic to sustain their radical Ideas. This could be one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Part I<\/strong> <\/h3>\n

the Trend<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Chapter 1<\/strong> <\/h3>\n

#BoycottIndianProducts<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around Sept 26, a trend was observed on social media – #\u0645\u0642\u0627\u0637\u0639\u0629_\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0646\u062a\u062c\u0627\u062a_\u0627\u0644\u0647\u0646\u062f\u064a\u0629 (#BoycottIndianProducts). The trend was essentially in Arabic, except for few handles who also used the English language trend, which caught our attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turned out, from the past few days, some social media users in the Arabic world (essentially Egypt & Iraq), along with Turkish and Pakistani users were engaged in running coordinated campaigns #\u0645\u0642\u0627\u0637\u0639\u0629_\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0646\u062a\u062c\u0627\u062a_\u0627\u0644\u0647\u0646\u062f\u064a\u0629 (#BoycottIndianProducts) & \u0627\u0644\u0647\u0646\u062f_\u062a\u0642\u062a\u0644_\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0633\u0644\u0645\u064a\u0646 (#IndiaIsKillingMuslims), calling to boycott Indian products as a means to teach India a lesson. The call for ban has been brought about, citing atrocities committed against Muslims in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The trend was interesting, as it reminded us of a similar campaign launched through Arab World trending #IslamophobiaInIndia in 2019, in the aftermath of Tablighi Jamaat incident. The barrage of social media posts made it look like practically all of Middle Eastern nobility was upset, tweeting on the topic. However, as it turned out, most of these posts were fake. The Pakistani info-war machinery had impersonated scores of prominent Arabic royal families, including women, and creating fake handles in their name, was pushing this coordinated campaign. But the lies live longer in the age of social media. Despite getting exposed by several prominent fact-checkers, and despite the obvious role of Pakistani machinery, the \u2018perception\u2019 lived on. Islamophobia in India got stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, it would be only smart for the opponents to replicate the same campaign. However, upon digging it turned out an even bigger info-war against India, whose ripples would be felt increasingly in the course of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trigger or no Trigger?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While on the face of it, the #Boycott_Indian_Products felt like it was a reaction to the most unfortunate and condemnable incident in Assam (and we hope that the culprit be brought to justice soon), it became apparent that the trigger wouldn\u2019t have mattered. Given the overwhelming amount of fake news used in the campaign, it is obvious that the campaigners were waiting for an excuse. Any excuse. The one incident was pushed with an overdose of fake news – recycling all old and unrelated media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not a spontaneous reaction. The same campaign is being run for the last four years – starting 2018.  These campaigns (#BoycottIndianProducts) were launched earlier in Jan 2018; Feb 2019; and Sept 2020. However, so far it never got this much success. While the reasons are not clear, the Pak establishment \/Jamaat nexus was not effective \u2013 and may be hence the MB stepped in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How it started?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first account to have tweeted on the hashtag was \u201c@Doaa18895455211\u201d on September 23, 2021 (IST). The handle was created in July 2021, just two months ago. This was even before the Assam incident took place. As shown, this was an anonymous handle. The tweet <\/strong>can be accessed from the Web archive. [1<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The first verified handle to use the hashtag is Farouk Al-Dhafiri. Dhafiri is an Iraq-based researcher against the Iranian projects. He is also interested in therapeutic nutrition (from Twitter bio \u2013 Google translation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dhafiri has been an outright critic of the UAE and Saudi Arabia [2<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>. Dhafiri first tweeted on the hashtags #\u0645\u0642\u0627\u0637\u0639\u0629_\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0646\u062a\u062c\u0627\u062a_\u0627\u0644\u0647\u0646\u062f\u064a\u0629 & #\u0645\u0642\u0627\u0637\u0639\u0647_\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0646\u062a\u062c\u0627\u062a_\u0627\u0644\u0641\u0631\u0646\u0633\u064a\u0647334 (#Boycott_Indian_Products), (#Province_French_Products) on September 26, 2021 [3<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>. He even continued to tweet using the same hashtags after it became viral on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dhafiri\u2019s Tweet that further promoted the hashtag<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The thread was then picked up by some \u2018prominent\u2019 personalities, from \u2018researchers\u2019 to \u2018Scholars\u2019 to \u2018Media and Journalists\u2019 – all connected with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Chapter 2<\/strong> <\/h3>\n

Here Comes the Muslim Brotherhood<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAs it turned out, most of the prominent handles pushing this narrative were related to the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhw\u0101n al-Muslim\u016bn). MB has been alleged to be linked to a number of terror acts including bombings and political assassinations in the past [4<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>. And its members have also been accused of supporting\/abetting terror activities including 9\/11. Several top functionaries of the organization are in the US Terror Watch List, and several of members remain on sanction list. MB is also believed to have inspired the formation of as many as 13 terrorist groups in Egypt [5<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup> and has also been banned in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, what is not so much acknowledged and appreciated is that the MB in essence was conceived as an instrument to \u2018infiltrate\u2019 Western society and provide an intellectual framework to radical discourse. The objective has been to monopolize the discussion of Islamic world and Muslim affairs by drowning the other voices. It has done so by adopting the \u2018appearances\u2019 and \u2018mannerisms\u2019 of the western world, including Western costumes (though essentially men). This was one of the core philosophies of its founder Hassan Al Banna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB also has several off-shoots in the USA and constitutes organizations like ISNA, MSA, CAIR, ICNA to name a few. [6<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, people in the Indian sub-continent were not very familiar with the MB, as its focus so far has remained West. MB\u2019s distance from South Asia could also be possibly out of turf respect to Jamaat-e-Islami, which carries the agenda of radical Islam in this part. While MB and its various fronts have been providing support to the Jamaat narratives, and several of the Jamaat fronts are well entangled with MB fronts in the US and elsewhere such as in Palestine [7<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>, Jordan [8<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>, and in Egypt (where it originated), so far MB did not take the matter of India in its hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This seems to be about to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anti-India trend seems to be led by MB, though a significant number of Pakistani 5th<\/sup> Gen Warfare (5GW) soldiers, who are perpetually rearing to go against India, have also contributed to this trend. And it was not MB\u2019s foot soldiers (key-board warriors), but some of who\u2019s who of MB that has participated in the campaign. The fact that the campaign was constantly targeting Saudi Prince MBS and French President Emmanuel Macron shows that despite targeting India, the MB did not lose sight of its core objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the key MB \u2018influencers\u2019 who led this psy-war against Dar-ul-harb (India) are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Mohamed Al-Sagheer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Mohamed Al Sagheer is the one who spearheaded the hashtag trend against India[9<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup> (and Saudi, and the UAE, and France and also Iran in some measures). Sagheer seems to have mastered the art of Twitter campaigns, particularly the boycott types. He is the same person who led the campaign to Boycott French Products last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sagheer is no small potato. He is amongst the Member of Board of Trustees of International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IUMS<\/strong> (Arabic: \u0627\u0644\u0627\u062a\u062d\u0627\u062f \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0627\u0644\u0645\u064a \u0644\u0639\u0644\u0645\u0627\u0621 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0633\u0644\u0645\u064a\u0646\u200e; al-Itti\u1e25\u0101d al-\u02bb\u0100lam\u012b li-\u02bbUl\u0101m\u0101\u02bc al-Muslim\u012bn<\/em>) is an organization of Muslim<\/a> Islamic theologians headed by Yusuf al-Qardawi, was founded in 2004, and headquartered in Qatar<\/a>. IUMS is described as the “supreme authority of the Muslim Brotherhood.”<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to Qardawi’s support for suicide attacks and execution of homosexuals, the IUMS was listed as a terrorist organization by various Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2017 [10<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>. He was also named as “the theologian of terror”<\/em> by the Irish media, is also banned from entering several countries, including the US [11<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>, UK [12<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup> and France [13<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>, despite holding a Qatari diplomatic passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sagheer was also Advisor to the Minister of Endowments and Deputy of the Religious Committee of the former Egyptian Parliament. Sagheer also appeared on the Al Jazeera for interviews in the past to call for the boycott of French products. [14<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was also alleged to be a member of Al-Jama\u2019a Al-Islamia, a terrorist organization in Egypt, responsible for Luxor Massacre in 1997. [15<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Sami Kamal El Din:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Another prominent MB influencer behind the #Boycott_Indian_Products is Sami Kamal EI Din, an Egyptian Journalist and Media presenter who currently lives in Istanbul, Turkey. Sami\u2019s past is stained, as he has been listed as a terrorist twice by the Egyptian regime [16<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>, second time under the leadership of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the sixth and current President of Egypt.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sami Kamal El Din\u2019s tweet on the hashtag<\/em>[17<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

El-Din\u2019s propaganda efforts have rather glamorous history. He was accused of faking Egyptian intelligence official, called several Egyptian celebrities, asking them to downplay the announcement of shifting of US Mission in Israel to Jerusalem. [18<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup> TThen the video got \u2018leaked\u2019 to NYT, which did a story[19<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>. By one stroke, El-Din targeted Egypt, Israel, and the US \u2013 while getting prime coverage of the news in several media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His propaganda got him in a soup more than once. He was also forced to delete his YouTube Channel for spreading fake news, despite having \u2018millions of views\u2019, after a complaint was filed by the former Egyptian Parliamentarian Ayman Nour. [20<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan is a Syrian writer and journalist currently residing in Doha, Qatar. He has mainly done reporting on Taliban and Al Qaeda throughout his career. Other than #Boycott_Indian_Products, he was also enthusiastic about #Boycott_Iranian_Products #Putin_killer #India_kills_Muslims and so forth as he tweeted on these hashtags on September 29, 2021. [21<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States put Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan on its watch-list of for his suspected links with Al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood. [22<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zaidan has been a long-time Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera\u2019s Islamabad office [23<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>, during which he could get access to the top Taliban, Al Qaeda groups and even Osama Bin Laden [24<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>.  His affiliation with Al Jazeera may not be incidental, as will see in the next chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Yasser Abu Hilalah <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Another Al Jazeera luminary Yasser Abu Hilalah is a former Managing Director of Al Jazeera Arabic News (between 2014-18). He is a reporter, journalist and a writer and writes for various media houses such as Al-Rai newspaper, and Al Araby news.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hilalah was one of the key amplifiers of the hashtag campaign and retweeted the tweets of the media outlets which will be discussed in the subsequent chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Abu Hilalah is known to have ties with the officials of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and even shared platforms with them. On June 27, 2021, he attended an online event hosted by Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB) fugitive from Egypt, Ahmed Al-Baqari. The session was also attended by Khaled al-Mishri, former head of the Advisor State council of MB keeping in sight the Libyan general elections in 2021. [25<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Omar Abdulaziz<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Omar Abdulaziz is a Saudi Arabian dissident, video blogger and activist living in Montreal, Canada. He is quite active on social media and is a sympathizer of several terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, especially Daesh [26<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup>. Omar has also expressed support for the militant wing Hamas, another front of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Gaza and Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, he is a supporter of Islamic extremism and posting extremist videos on his Twitter and YouTube accounts. He is a critic of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) and was granted political asylum by Canada in 2014. [27<\/span><\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Chapter 3<\/strong> <\/h3>\n

the Sisterhood<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Role of Muslim Brotherhood affiliated News Media<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That many news media platforms have remained essentially propaganda\/ info-war instrument since eternity is no news. In the manner a news could be reported would determine how it would be received. At the same time, lots of neutral platforms get accused by one faction or other for being \u2018biased\u2019, if the content doesn\u2019t cater to the particular groups\u2019 taste. It is therefore extremely difficult to pinpoint\/expose the propaganda carried out through news media, let alone to document their biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, for precisely these reasons a set of guiding principles evolved within media fraternity, which might still be inadequate in addressing the slant and distortions; nonetheless creates some detriment to the outright propaganda. The principles include adhering to the value-neutral language and other editorial policies, and most of all a factually correct content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The adherence to fact is not limited to \u2018not publishing lies\u2019, but to provide all truth and nothing but the truth. This is where the role of several news media, prominently Arabic, came into question. The line between \u2018reporting\u2019 about the \u2018boycott\u2019 and actively \u2018promoting\u2019 it, got blurred, to put it mildly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While \u2018reporting\u2019 about the #Boycott_Indian_Products, most of the news platforms in question presented it as some kind of popular \u2018Arab anguish\u2019 against India, leaving out the key facts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n