Quote Originally Posted by AmericanPride View Post
2. The 'mass base' (I don't like this term personally, as I believe its too broad) supports the MB because of widespread disenfranchisement in Palestine, Egypt, and Syria. Continued US favor of the regimes in Israel and Egypt reinforces anti-US sentiment in the general population.
I just got back from visiting Syria and conducting research for my master's thesis. I was there for a month. I had some great conversations, especially with a bunch of different young folk from different backgrounds. I even was able to breach their thoughts on the Asad government and the Muslim Brotherhood. While not claiming a complete knowledge of the thoughts of everyone in Syria, the overriding opinion I heard on the M.B. was, no matter what people thought of their political agenda, the problem with them is they commit violence within Syria. They kill their own. If for no other reason, the violent acts committed within their own country by this group was enough to turn everyone I talked to away from them. So I don't think the "mass base" does support the M.B. in Syria. This is not to say that some people don't envision an Arab Union or an Islamic Union as a solution to the imbalance with Israel and the rest of the area, but going through the M.B. is not something that is seen as favorable.
And disenfranchisement (about participation in politics or something like that?) is not a big deal for people because (and this was also universal) the current government keeps the population (individuals and their families) safe against aggressions (bombs) from Israel (which are made and financed by the US). It's that simple.
Also, I think it would be helpful to frame differences between the M.B. in these different countries and areas (you should include Iraq too-one of the Sunni political parties is said to be a spinoff, sorta like Hamas). I think the M.B. in Egypt is a world apart from Hamas in Palestine, partly because of history and partly because of real-time circumstances.
The anti-US sentiment is against the US government, not the people of the US. And yes, the tilted bias towards Israel by the US is the direct reason for this feeling. They call the US "the mother of Israel".