Today’s letters to the editor in the New York Times represent the wide swath of the US public that is behind the protesters in Egypt (82% according to a new Gallap poll). Of the five letters that were published, four of them call on the Obama adminstration to stand with the protesters and warn that “the United States is proving to be on the wrong side of history.” Here’s the fifth letter:
To the Editor:
Re “Militants, Women and Tahrir Square,” by Nicholas D. Kristof (column, Feb. 6): Yes, “it would be tragic if we let our anxieties” about whether a democratic Egypt might end up a more repressive country “impede our embrace of freedom and democracy.”
It would also be tragic if we failed to realize that the Muslim Brotherhood likely won’t deliver the democracy that the Egyptians (and we, on their behalf) crave.
Without some countervailing force, the Muslim Brotherhood is likely to use the democratic process to come to power, but to rule using fundamentalist Shariah law.
Because the Muslim Brotherhood is better organized than the many people on the street whom Mr. Kristof has interviewed, the masses’ good intentions and dreams for a vibrant democracy may prove irrelevant if the Brotherhood comes to power.
Amy N. Lipton
Greenwich, Conn., Feb. 6, 2011The writer is active in several pro-Israel organizations.
This is not an isolated example. Here is a video of Alan Dershowitz using the same line on CNN last week and Mona Eltahawy putting him in his place (starts around 2:15):
You would think the advocates trying to represent “the only democracy in the Middle East” would do a better job at actually representing democracy. But then again, Israel’s own democracy seems to be in question these days, so I guess these arguments make perfect sense.
