After more than a year, the White House finally responded to an online petition asking that the Muslim Brotherhood be declared a terrorist organization, and the answer is no.
“We have not seen credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood has renounced its decades-long commitment to non-violence,” the White House said in response to a “We the People” petition that garnered 213,146 signatures — more than twice the 100,000-signature threshold to trigger a response.
Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood shout slogans during an anti-Israel demonstration in the Jordan capital of Amman, Nov. 28, 2014. (AFP/Khalil Mazraawi)
The petition, which called for declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, was first posted July 7, 2013 and reached 100,000 signatures within 30 days.
The administration's response, in line with current U.S. policy on the Muslim Brotherhood, is now listed as the top item under “Recent Responses” on the White House petitions page.
“The United States does not condone political violence of any kind and we continue to press actors of all viewpoints to peacefully engage in the political process,” the response said. “The United States is committed to thwarting terrorist groups that pose a threat to U.S. interests and those of our partners.”
Earlier this year, several Republican members of Congress co-sponsored legislation for the Muslim Brotherhood to be declared a terrorist organization.
The original petition stated that the Brotherhood "has a long history of violent killings & terrorizing opponents. Also MB has direct ties with most terrorist groups like Hamas.”
Referring to the time in July 2013 when Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohammed Morsi was removed from power, it said: “The Muslim Brotherhood has shown in the past few days that it is willing to engage in violence and killing of innocent civilians in order to invoke fear in the hearts of its opponents. This is terrorism."
“We ask the US government to declare MB as a terrorist group for a safer future for all of us,” the petition said.
Both Hamas and Egypt’s Gama’a al-Islamiyya, which have had relationships with the Muslim Brotherhood, are on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.
