The Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations were designated foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday.
“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Abbott said in a press release. “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable.”
Abbott argued in a proclamation that the Muslim Brotherhood was founded as a jihadist movement dedicated to establishing a caliphate and had already been banned or limited in Austria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates due to engaging in terrorism or destabilization.
He noted that branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as the Arms of Egypt Movement and Liwaa al-Thawra, had already been designated by the US as terrorist groups, as had Hamas, which was born from the movement’s Palestinian branch. The governor added that Hamas had kidnapped and murdered American citizens during the October 7, 2023, massacre.
CAIR, which has offices in Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth, was accused by Abbott of being a “successor organization” to the MB and being organizationally tied to Hamas as a front organization.
Abbott explained that CAIR was listed in 2007 as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case, in which the Texas charity and five of its officers were convicted of providing material support to Hamas. One of those men was Ghassan Elashi, who Abbott said was a founder of CAIR Texas. CAIR has denied that Elashi was ever an officer or employee of the organization.
The governor listed other supposed CAIR members who allegedly had ties to terrorist organizations, including Randall Royer, who pleaded guilty to aiding jihadists get to a Pakistani training camp, and Rabih Haddad, who was deported amid terrorism finance accusations. CAIR said previously that Royer was not employed by CAIR at the time of his actions, and Haddad was never charged and was never a CAIR employee.
Abbott’s office noted that the designation “authorizes heightened enforcement against both organizations and their affiliates and prohibits them from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas.”
The remark comes amid controversy regarding the development of the Josephine East Plano Islamic Center real estate development. Abbott warned in February that the “Muslim friendly” city could become a “sharia” city, and the project has been tied up with legal challenges and the halting of construction permits.
Other US lawmakers have sought legal sanctions on CAIR for Islamist terror ties
CAIR has been the target of other US lawmakers in recent weeks, with Texas Rep. Chip Roy introducing a November 4 bill to eliminate the tax-exempt status for radical groups tied to terrorist organizations, “such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations.”
“No organization with ties to terrorism should receive a tax benefit. For example, the Council on American-Islamic Relations should immediately be stripped of its 501(c)(3) status. CAIR has ties with Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other extremist organizations that routinely use violence and commit horrific acts to advance their political agenda. CAIR’s national executive director even praised Hamas’ barbaric October 7 attacks against Israel,” said Roy.
“CAIR and other non-profits with ties to terrorism should immediately be stripped of their 501(c)(3) status,” the Republican congressman said.
CAIR has previously stated that executive director Nihad Awad’s comments were taken out of context, in which he had ostensibly rejected radicals and expressed a preference for Hamas over the PLO prior to the creation of CAIR and before Hamas had committed its first suicide bombings.
One of the sponsors of Roy’s bill was Florida Rep. Randy Fine, who in June introduced a bill to designate CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization.
“Enough is enough. For far too long, groups like CAIR have operated in our country and on our college campuses, promoting violent radical ideologies and defending the indefensible. CAIR has no place in American society,” Fine said at the time.