The Involvement of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine 1945-1948

The fate of Palestine was one of the principal issues with which the Muslim Brothers Society in Egypt was engaged from its first years, and its involvement reached a climax during its armed intervention in Palestine in 1948. From the early stages of the Society’s birth, its leaders, in particular Hasan al-Banna, endeavoured to take advantage of xenophobic feelings, and Palestine under the British Mandate, sponsoring the Jewish enterprise, was perfectly tailored for this purpose. However, it was not until the second half of the 1930s, during the Arab Rebellion in Palestine, that the Society could make the most of the situation. Indeed, the extension and consolidation of the Society during the late 1930s came as a result of its support of the Arab Rebellion, together with the ripe political, social and ideological conditions which developed in Egypt at that time. Further, although this Society had been formed with religion as its basis and did not consider itself a political entity, it found itself entering into the political arena in Egypt through its campaign in support of the Arab Rebellion in Palestine. 1