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Egyptian media fake's John Kerry quotes

August 4, 2015 at 4:14 pm

The Egyptian media yesterday misquoted US Secretary of State John Kerry as saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organisation.

In a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday, New York Times correspondent Michael Gordon asked Kerry: “Do you consider the Muslim Brotherhood to be a violent and terrorist group, and do you think membership in the Brotherhood should be a jailable offence?” Kerry’s response was: “There is evidence of engagement in violence by certain people and certain leaders – obviously not everybody, not a whole group.” He then proceeded to emphasise tackling the Egyptian government’s human rights abuses, he said that it has to be done “while simultaneously fighting a pernicious entity called Daesh and pushing back against individual acts of terror that steal the opportunity for the full transition that we all hope to take place to do so.”

Not only did Kerry refuse to label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, but he also said the biggest threat to Egypt is the government’s human rights abuses which encourage individual acts of terrorism and Daesh.

Egyptian outlets which reported the false news:

  • Al Youm 7
  • Al Watan
  • Al Balad
  • Al Fagr
  • Al Masry Al Youm
  • Al Watan
  • Al Youm 7
  • Al Akhbar

It is not surprising that the Egyptian media falsely reported Kerry’s comments; it is notorious for equating Daesh with the Muslim Brotherhood, as per Egyptian state propaganda. Sameh Eid, a former Muslim Brotherhood member, has made that mistake himself saying the Brotherhood must be dealt with for their terrorist attacks in Yemen and Syria, confusing the movement for Daesh. He also claimed that Kerry’s rhetoric is useless as he believes the Brotherhood deals with the United States to destabilise Al-Sisi covertly.

This was reiterated by another former Brotherhood member, Kamel Helbawy, who said the US was aware of the Brotherhood’s so called terrorist activities and Kerry’s remark is proof of this.

Dr Said Ellawindy, an expert in international relations for the Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, also perpetuated the rumour and said that regardless of Kerry’s comments, US-Muslim Brotherhood relations will not be affected. Former chairman of the board of leading Egyptian papers Al-Ahram newspaper and current chairman of Al-Masry Al-Youm Abdel Moneim Said however strayed from the conspiracy theories saying Kerry’s comment marks an end in the tense chapter of American-Egyptian relations.

Even Egypt’s former representative to the UN Jalal Al-Rashidi commented on the false remark by saying that both Kerry and the American government are aware of the so-called Muslim Brotherhood terror threat.

This rumour was engineered by the main online and print news outlets in Egypt. Not only does this show that the Egyptian press is untrustworthy and incompetent, but also that it is largely politicised and would be quick to spread rumours that fit state propaganda rather than fact checking and delivering accurate news.