Gamal al-Banna, scholar and younger brother of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, in an interview with Egyptian newspaper AlMasry AlYoum, rejected the idea of of Egypt as a 'civil state with an Islamic reference.'  Al-Banna said that such a concept was a fallacy as such a state would become a religious state.  He stated that the religious outlook would win out over the civilian outlook, if such a system were ...

During a Policy Forum at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, chair of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at Sciences Po Giles Kepel and Dr. Martin Kramer, the Washington Institute's Wexler Fromer fellow discussed the future of the Arab uprisings.  Kepel pointed tothe Arab people's economic grievances, frustrations over rampant corruption and the expiration of the Islamist threat as reasons for the revolution.  He also noted the differences between the Tunisian ...

Former Tunisian interior minister Farhat Rajhi warned that if the Islamist group Ennahda were to win in an elections, Ben Ali loyalists would stage a coup.  He said the 'people of the coast,' referring to Ben Ali loyalists with their main power base around the coastal city of Sousse, would not allow their power to be taken away.  The Ennahda group could poll well in the conservative south of the ...

On Wednesday, Fatah and Hamas signed the proposed reconciliation agreement in Cairo following final negotiations. The deal has been heavily criticized by the Israeli Government, who is currently withholding $90 million in  tax revenue owed to the Palestinian Authority. Israel collects nearly a $1 billion annually in tax revenues  and customs on behalf of the PA. The revenue is transferred in accordance with terms of the Oslo accords. Hamas has announced ...

On Tuesday, the United States Institute of Peace, the National Democratic Institute, the Solidarity Center, and Human Rights Watch hosted a live video-conference with senior representatives of the Bahraini opposition including: Khalil Almarzooq, a leading member of the Al Wefaq Islamic National Society and its bloc’s official spokesperson; Dr. Muneera Fakhro, parliamentary member and senior leader of the leftist Wa’ad party; Mohammed Al Maskati, head of the Bahrain Youth Center ...

The New York Times reports that the agreement reached by Fateh and Hamas to form a unity government was influenced by regional changes created by the Arab Spring. Specifically, unrest in Syria may deprive Hamas of its external headquarters; while, a new Egyptian regime may open the Gaza-Sinai border. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has argued that unity was needed to give legitimacy to Palestinian Authority's push for statehood before the ...

Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have reportedly reached a deal to end their four year dispute according to Egyptian and Palestinian officials.  Meetings between the officials of the two groups took place n Cairo under Egyptian auspices.  The tentative plan calls for the formation of a single caretaker government with presidential and parliamentary elections to follow in a year's time.  Key questions over the control of rival security forces ...

The Pew Research Center published a poll on Egypt's political outlook on Tuesday, offering the "first credible" statistical insight of the political trends in post-revolutionary Egypt. Researchers conducted personal interviews with 1,000 Egyptian adults between 24 March and 7 April. Generally, the poll shows a highly favorable view of the military, and split support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the April 6 Movement and Ayman Nour's Al-Ghad party. The ...

On Thursday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a discussion with Iranian Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi about her new book, The Golden Cage: Three Brothers, Three Choices, One Destiny about the Iranian revolution and the struggle of activists and the human rights movement. Jessica Matthews, President of the Carnegie Endowment made opening remarks and Karim Sadjadpour moderated the event. To read full notes, continue below or click here for ...

Writing in the International Herald Tribune, Jean Marie Guéhenno asserts that the 'Arab revolutions are beginning to destroy the cliché of an Arab world incapable of democratic transformation."  In place of this narrative, she states, a new one is building and that the source of the revolutions stems from a thirst for Western style freedoms "mobilized by Facebook and Twitter."  She refutes these claims and states that the revolutions are "about ...

Rajaa Basly, writing at the Arab Reform Bulletin, discusses the role Islamist party, al-Nahda, has played in the revolution thus far and what it's future contributions look like.  Basly states that while the party did not play a role in the uprisings that overthrew President Zine Ben Ali, it has since become an influential player, especially now that it has joined the Committee for the Protection of the Revolution ...

Jordan's main Islamist opposition party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), has been largely silent over the past months during Jordanian street protests.  However, the party has moved to the forefront of protests having rallied a 1,000 person-strong demonstration in Amman this past Friday, reports Karen Leigh of TIME Magazine.  Another Friday protest also turned violent as pro-monarchists clashed with Salafi jihadists in Zarqa.  Anti-regime protests in the Kingdom had been spearheaded ...

On Monday,  Senator John McCain (R-AZ) expressed his fears that a stalemate has developed in Libya which could "open the door for radical Islamists to come in and hijack this revolution."  He called for the U.S. to revive air attacks to incapacitate Muammar Gadhafi's forces.  He also discussed the need for a strategy to oust Gadhafi from power: "Now we are faced with a situation where we hope Gadhafi will ...

Morocco's King Mohammed VI pardoned 92 political prisoners on Thursday and commuted the sentences of 53 others.  Five death penalty sentences were commuted along with 37 life imprisonements.  A large number of persons either fully pardoned or commuted are Islamists.  The government announced the measure as a "prelude" to more thorough review of the cases of political prisoners in the country.  The release of political prisoners was a key demand ...

Former Israeli Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich, wrote a feature in Foreign Affairs describing Israel's current posture toward Syria. The piece does not mention Israeli President Shimon Peres' recent statement on Syrian democracy being in Israel's long-term interests. In contrast, he highlights Israel's anxiety over the volatility in Damascus, particularly the threat of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover.

A post at Democracy Digest discusses whether or not Turkey is still a model for democracy in the Arab world.  Several commentators and analysts have pointed to Turkey under the rule of the  AKP as proof that Islamist based parties can respect and promote democratic norms.  This argument is extended to demonstrate that fear of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and other Islamist parties across the Arab world is misplaced. ...

Protest leaders and organizers are calling for mass demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to protest the decreasing responsiveness of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) as one youth leader put it.  The National Association for Change (NAC) joined the call for protests stating its frustration at the perceived slow pace of efforts to prosecute former regime officials for their role in violently suppressing the protests.  They ...