The Brotherhood experience in Gaza...which the Egyptians failed to recognise

The experience of the Muslim Brotherhood's rule in Gaza should have been enough to convince the Egyptians not to vote for Mohammed Morsi, who gives pledges for fun, while he actually has nothing to offer. All he has to show is ideals that never built modern states or efficient institutions, and didn't even secure bread for the people. The Egyptians should have taken a look at the current conditions in Gaza after five years of Brotherhood rule, in order to think more about handing over the most prominent Arab state to a group that is interested in nothing but taking power and abolishing its political rivals, ruining any chances of peaceful change based on democratic concepts and ballot boxes. The future of Egypt is - without doubt - under serious threat in case Morsi is announced as president. The Brotherhood's experiences in power is not limited to Hamas in Gaza. Their stint in Sudan is no less disreputable, and ended with a split into two states only to ensure the survival of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's regime. It is however fair to say that this was not 100 percent Islamist-led, as it was based on an alliance between the military and Islamist groups. so it is decidedly unique. So it is only in Gaza where the Brotherhood have taken full power -- there are admittedly a lot of differences between Egypt and the Gaza Strip  -- but Hamas's experience in the Strip is fair evidence that the Brotherhood's first priority is to remain in power, even at the expense of citizens themselves. Five years after Hamas's "coup" in Gaza, the political problems of Hamas and the other Islamist groups that were involved have spread to Palestine's entire political spectrum. Hamas's efforts have served nobody but the Israeli occupation in the end, and now, the fear is that the Muslim Brotherhood "contagion" will reach Egypt... Dov Weissglass, chief of Ariel Sharon's bureau when the latter decided to withdraw his troops from Gaza in 2005 without any coordination with the Palestinian Authority, said in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the withdrawal was intended to enable Israeli control over the West Bank including Jerusalem. The question is: Was Israel unaware of Hamas's military presence in the strip when Sharon decided to begin the withdrawal? The answer is, it's needless to say that Israel was aware of Hamas's power to take over the Strip, and that its religious ideals including "Palestine is an Islamic endowment", would serve to ingrain the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem and the entire West Bank -- which is what unfortunately came to pass. After the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas could cooperate with the Palestinian Authority to end the armed chao, so Palestinian political institutions would not appear as responsible and effective, capable of building a peaceful state which imposed no threats to its neighbours. Hamas did completely the opposite, and encouraged the chaos until Palestine witnessed the coup of June 2007, which resulted in a split within the Palestinian ruling authority. Is there anything worse Hamas could do to the Palestinian cause? This disaster was accompanied by the absurd firing of missiles from Gaza against Israel, missiles that were once called the "deterrent" force against the occupation. These missiles were actually welcomed by Israel, as it didn't pose a serious threat to the so-called Jewish state, but gave the required justification for Israel to launch a war against Gaza in 2008. By the end of this war, Hamas described those who insisted on firing missiles as "traitors"!!. What was once considered patriotic was surprisingly turned into treason. After this war, Israel never tried to target Hamas leaders in Gaza, it had never considered the Brotherhood-associated group as an enemy. It is true that Israel targeted certain military figures from Hamas, but it was keen on keeping Gaza under the political and military control of the Brotherhood's wing in Palestine, as this would back Israel's allegations that the Palestinians don't have a clear vision for a Palestinian state. The fact is that this vision still exists, and is based on the two-state solution approved by the Palestinian National Council since 1988. Five years after Hamas's coup, which marked other major developments in the Middle East, the crisis has been transferred from Gaza to the West Bank. The international interest in the Palestinian cause is now at its lowest point, a fact we have to acknowledge, and the reason behind that is Hamas's rejection of the two-state solution. Hamas also refuses to admit the failure of its experience in Gaza, while the blockade is still in effect in the Strip, and the residents are getting poorer and more ignorant...but what can they do when the Brotherhood are looking towards nothing but gaining power, and not taking into account how they have let the Strip turn into a huge prison. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority is no more able to resume negotiations with Israel, in the absence of a main backdrop for talks, which is the borders of 1967. Now, it is very easy for Binyamin Netanyahu's government to embarrass the Palestinian Authority, as the leadership of the latter has devoted itself to blowing up personal and minor disputes with some PLO officials, while the Palestinian people are trapped in their own tragedy, as a nation denied of all its sovereign rights. This is the true image of Palestine after five years of the Brotherhood's rule in Gaza, and it seems like those who cast their votes for Mohammed Morsi in Egypt failed to see this. This is reflective of the required exploitation of the people's ignorance to hijack the Egyptian revolution by stealing the Egyptian presidency. The signs of this hijack are clear, as Morsi announced himself as president before the vote tally was completed. -- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.