MEMRI VP Ambassador Alberto Fernandez: Crisis in Arab World Due to Local Reasons, Not Foreign Interference

MEMRI Vice President Ambassador Alberto Fernandez fended off Egyptian TV host Ahmed Moussa's allegations that the U.S. was responsible for the rise of terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The ideology of Jihadi Salafism is local, Ambassador Fernandez said. "Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the Arab world. Were all these people spies and agents of America?" The interview aired on Sada El-Balad TV on April 1, 2017.

Ahmed Moussa: "Would you be upset if I told you that America is the cause for terrorism in the world?"

Alberto Fernandez: "How exactly?"

Ahmed Moussa: "Who created Al-Qaeda?"

Alberto Fernandez: "Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden..."

Ahmed Moussa: "But who armed them in Afghanistan?"

Alberto Fernandez: "There was indirect arming by the Americans, through our friends in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and so on, of all the 'mujahideen' movements. Some of them turned into terrorists, while others, like Ahmad Shah Massoud, did not."

[...]

Ahmed Moussa: "But you, the Americans, played a role in arming (them). It was you - America - that created these organizations, and we are paying the price today. You made them strong. Let's admit that you played a part in training them. You supported these movements when you wanted to attack the Russians, but then these groups turned against Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and America."

Alberto Fernandez: "But the ideology of the Jihadi Salafism, or the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, is not an American ideology. It is a Middle Eastern, Arab, and Islamic Ideology. Hassan Al-Banna was not American. Sayyid Qutb went to the U.S. and came to hate it, back in the 1950's. He was against the Americans back in the 1950's."

Ahmed Moussa: "Right."

Alberto Fernandez: "Therefore, the ideology, the theory, is 100% local.

[...]

"There is no doubt that there is some negative foreign interference in the region. But I am convinced that the Arab Islamic crisis in the region is due 90% to local reasons, not foreign ones. We are constantly talking about foreign conspiracies, and blaming 'those people,' the foreigners. No! Unfortunately, the crux of the matter is the crisis of government, the crisis in respect for the state, the crisis of government in the region, among the Arabs and the Muslims."

Ahmed Moussa: "No. You helped. For years, consecutive American administrations helped it. They helped, for example, what you in America called the 'Arab Spring.' And we all see what happened to it.

[...]

"Today, Arab countries are paying the price for this mistake - The American interference in the affairs of Arab countries."

Alberto Fernandez: "But the reasons for the outbreak of what is known as the Arab Spring in 2010-2011... True, there was some foreign influence on what happened, but there were also local reasons, local conflicts, and the local challenges.

Ahmed Moussa: "I cannot deny that, but..."

Alberto Fernandez: "America did not change the region by itself. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Cairo, in Tunis, in San'a, in Damascus, and elsewhere. Were all these people spies and agents of America? No!"