What I mean is the Sunni are who the Muslim Brotherhood look for Support and in Syria they are at least 60% of the population. Now the majority of the Sunni do NOT support the Muslim Brotherhood but that is NOT the same as saying the Muslim Brotherhood do NOT look to the Sunnis for their support (And supports the rights of the Sunnis for the same reason).
For more on Hama see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hama_massacreWe have to remember the ruling elite of Syria are NOT considered true Muslims by either the Sunnis or Shiites (Through the Shiites have shown more tolerance of them then the Sunni religious leadership). The leadership is Alawi, which is considered a derivative of Shiite Islam but with heavy Christian background (Often called "Little Christians" by other Muslims for the Alwai celebrate Christmas, Easter, and Epiphany). This gives the Alawi an advantage over people of other religions, but since the Alawi is only 15-20% of the population (barely outnumbering the Christians in Syria) religious tolerance is the norm, given that over 60% of the population is Sunni Muslim. Furthermore, like the Druze, the Alawi do NOT accept converts, so their religious minority status is permanent (And more to do with their tribal connection then any religious background).
Given this background, the ruling family of Assad have been very careful when it comes to religion. Under the rule of the Assad family (Father, Hafez 1974-2000, son, Bashar 2000 till present) religion has NOT been the ground for any conflict, unless it also affected the SECULAR STATE. This is where the Muslim Brotherhood came in, they were the main opposition to the rule of Assad. In 1980 the Muslim Brotherhood was viewed more a a secular opposition that had religious overtones then any religious opposition (That has since changed but was NOT the rule in 1980). Even today the Muslim Brotherhood is the main opposition in Egypt, tolerated do to the widespread support the Brotherhood has, but banned from even providing aid in disaster (Which it did several times prior to the ban, faster and more effectively then the Government in the case of several well known disasters in Egypt, including helping the survivors of a massive Train wreck).
Now the Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni Religious radical group, and has existed since at least 1928, but officially prefers peaceful opposition. While violent acts have been traced back to the Muslim Brotherhood, the traces have been more in the nature looking for others involved in a particular act then in anything the Muslim Brotherhood did as a whole.
The reports on the Muslim Brotherhood reminds me of the reports on the "Molly Maguires" of the late 1800s in Pennsylvania. The Molly Maguires kept being traced back to the Hibernians, but was clearly independent of the Hibernians (if the Molly Maguires existed at all, the evidence was weak but people were hanged anyway). The opposing view (Supported by the fact that if someone was NOT associated with the Hibernians but tied in with some criminal act, charges were dropped in favor of prosecuting people who were tied in with the Hibernians) is that Irish Coal miners would join the Hibernians to be a member of that still existing social organization. The problem with the Hibernians from the Coal Mine owners point of view was that many Irish miners joined the Hibernians, and once members would meet other miners and discuss what they had in common, which was a lack of any rights and how to get those rights, which was a union. Thus the Hibernians were tied in with unionization efforts, done NOT by the Hibernians themselves but by people who joined it as a social organization and then talked about what they had in common, which was a lack of a union. Almost all unionization efforts were tied in with social organization in the late 1800s and as such such social organization were hated by mine owners and other people who opposed unions (Another example of this was the Homestead Strike, which was lead by the same people who joined and formed all of the Social Clubs in Homestead).
The whole drive of the Molly Mcquires seems to have been an effort to drive the Hibernians out of the Mining areas, leaving just the church as a point of unionization (And the Church had to walk a very fine line do to this opposition by mine owners to any support for any effort at unionization AND the people going to that church demand for a Union, a good bit of the Anti-Catholic Movement of the late 1800s had more to do with making sure Catholic Priest and Churches were NOT used as bases for unionization efforts). At least 20 men were hanged for being members of the Molly Maguires in 1877.
I point out the Molly Maguires for their were "Religious Radicals" (Catholic Miners, associated with a Catholic organization, the Hibernians, which often used Catholic Churches as meeting places to form a Union) of their day and the treatment of the Molly Maguires echos in Hama in that the same accusations were made in BOTH CASES. I.e. a series of bombings, an attempt at killing of a high ranking official (Assad himself when it came to Hama) and finally a harsh clamp of the opposition as a bunch of Radical Religious radicals.
Now there are differences, Assad was probably attacked by a group within his ruling circle in some sort of coup attempt (Some of the Murders alleged to have been done by the Molly Maguires benefited NOT the miners by the person who would buy most of the Anthracite mines in a years AFTER the Molly Maguires were executed). Thus there were inside acts going on in both cases, ts independent of the Muslim Brotherhood when it came to Assad and Independent of the Molly Maguires when it came to the mine owners.
Furthermore in both cases there was a reported increase in bombings in the years just before the HAMA was destroyed and the Molly Maguires were executed. In both cases you had increase activities of security personnel in those areas, in the exact areas of the increase bombings (and both the Syrian Security Services AND the Pinkertons were known to use bombs). Afterward in both places there was a complete security clampdown, so if anyone wanted to do anything they were told in Pennsylvania that they could also be railroaded for murder and in Syria their town could be destroyed. Opposition in both cases was suppressed, but Union still tried to unionize the coal fields (And did so successfully in the 1930s) but waited till it was safe for them to do so, do to the weakness of the people who opposed them. In the case of Mine Workers that took a switch in Government (The passage of the Wagner Act in the mid 1930s). In the case of Syria only time will tell, but the son is NOT the father but the Son has the support of Iran and right now Iran is viewed as the main opposition to Israel and the US, thus I do NOT see the Muslim Brotherhood opposing Syria (and that will last as long as the Muslim Brotherhood see Syria as a Ally against the US and Israel NOT as an opposition as the Muslim Brotherhood views the present Egyptian government).
Thus the situation in Syria since 1980 is a lot more complex then Pennsylvania in 1877. The Egyptian opposition (the Muslim Brotherhood) see Syria as an Ally against an common enemy, Israel and the US, NOT as an enemy. As long as Syria stays as the major opposition on the border of Israel, the Muslim Brotherhood will support them, thus opposition is positional NOT confrontational. The Muslim Brotherhood would like more rights to the Sunni Majority, but not at the cost of Civil War in Syria. Thus peaceful opposition is in the best interest of the Muslim Brotherhood. Thus as long as Syria opposes Israel, the Muslim Brotherhood MUST support Assad, but any peace deal will undo that need and the Muslim Brotherhood will turn to opposition. Furthermore any peace deal may have people inside the Brotherhood feel that they MUST do something. Thus it man NOT be in the best interest of Assad and his family to have peace with Israel and as long as Syria is opposing Israel, no one in the Muslim Brotherhood feels a need to overthrow him and his family.
More on the Druze:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DruzeMore on the Alawi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawismhttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-alawi.htmMore on Assad:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafez_al-AssadThe son:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashar_al-AssadThe Muslim Brotherhood:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_BrotherhoodSyria:
The Ayyat Egypt Train Disaster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Ayyat_train_disasterMore on the Molly Maguires:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Maguireshttp://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmolly.htmhttp://www.visitjimthorpe.com/new/history.htm#handprintPinkertons and his bombing of the home of Jesse James's Mother:
http://www.whitsett-wall.com/Westfall/Westfall_Old_West_III.htm
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