The Muslim Brotherhood Split on Hamas

In a round-table blog discussion on Bitter Lemons, Saad Hattar describes a growing “schism between radical figureheads and moderates” in Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood over their relationship with Hamas. Meanwhile, a similar debate is occurring within the country’s ”most influential” party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF). As with the Muslim Brotherhood, more radical members of the IAF seek closer ties with Hamas but face opposition from moderate members.

In response, Mohamed Abdel Salem explains how Egypt would never allow such ties to exist between the Egyptian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Egypt recognizes that both parties would like to create institutional ties and has therefore made their position very clear that such a relationship would be unacceptable. So far, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has observed the red line drawn by the Egyptian government.