In A Murderous Middle Class, AS picks up the wrong emphasis.
These "Islamist Institutions" are a longtime source of the political strength of the Muslim Brotherhood and similar groups, apart from generalized distaste for the Arab dictators. A 'stranglehold' on the poor is now a studied approach, part of the al-qa'ida doctrinaire, three-step plan to take over the world, even.
It is no mistake that when the US military started making incursions into the "Sadr City" slums, to provide security and services from the State, that Muqtada appears from Iran to violently protect his turf, for instance.
Lebanese Hezbollah does the same thing. Hospitals by day and terrorism by night day. Sadr did the same thing, as early as the fall of 2003 - posting his militia at the hospitals!
The Islamists run a number of similar institutions throughout the Arab world -- be it in the slums of Casablanca, the overfilled streets of Gaza City or the Sunni-dominated western part of Baghdad. They are always there were the governments have most failed their people. They offer healthcare, education and when someone is in trouble and needs it, a loan or legal help. -Speigel
