It takes a certain kind of Jewish publication – such as New York’s Forward – to publish an article by the Muslim Brotherhood’s political bureau chief. They should be commended for opening the lines of dialogue:
The Muslim Brotherhood is not pushing for radical change in Egypt. Aware of political realities, we decided to contest only 10,000 of the 52,000 seats the government announced are up for grabs in the local councils, so as not to provoke the regime into fixing the final results and to allow for coordination with other opposition groups. Realizing our responsibility as the country’s largest opposition group to defend the rights of minorities and vulnerable groups in Egyptian society, our lists included candidates from different economic and social classes, as well as women and Copts.
The ruling National Democratic Party, however, has clearly not seen our campaign this way. The government took its crackdown on democracy a step further than it had in previous elections. Instead of just rigging elections as it traditionally has, the regime banned opposition candidates from registering to run for election at all.