The Muslim Brotherhood, Back in a Fight to Survive

FAYOUM, Egypt — They hide in safe
houses on the outskirts of this city,
talk only fleetingly on cellphones and
avoid the cafes where they used to
meet. Heavy scarves obscure their
identities when they venture out to
join protests.
The leaders of the Muslim
Brotherhood, now outlawed, have
adjusted to life underground, even
while hundreds of their fellow
members have been arrested in this
city since the military deposed
President Mohamed Morsi, a
Brotherhood leader, and the Egyptian
government branded the group a
terrorist movement.
Yet, rather than crack and
disintegrate under the pressure,
members say, the group has fallen
back on the organizational structure
that sustained it for decades as a
banned and secretive movement. It is
becoming more decentralized, but
also more cohesive and rigid, as its
members abandon activities like
preaching and social work and shift
their attention to a virtually singular
goal: resistance to the military-
backed government.
Their focus, many Brotherhood
members say, is a protracted,
grinding struggle.NYTime