JERUSALEM — The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamic terror group so dangerous that it’s banned in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt. This year in the U.S., Texas and Florida designated the group a foreign terrorist organization. In the coming days, the Trump administration is expected to do the same.
President Donald Trump’s executive order beginning the process of designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization follows a lengthy report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, known as ISGAP.
The report, nearly 200 pages long, argues that the Muslim Brotherhood has spent decades advancing what it calls a “civilization jihad” aimed at undermining democratic institutions in the United States and the West.
“This is an organization that believes in murdering Jews, destroying Israel, and destroying the United States of America,” said Dr. Charles Asher Small, the founder and director of ISGAP. “This is their objective.”
Founded nearly a century ago in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood now operates across the Middle East. Hamas originated as the group’s Palestinian branch, according to the report.
In November, Small appeared alongside lawmakers and scholars to warn that the Brotherhood is “more than halfway through” what ISGAP describes as a 100-year plan to erode democratic societies from within.
“They sponsor terrorism, murder, and mayhem across the planet,” said U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee at a recent Knesset prayer event. “They are a very negative and destructive force, and it’s very important for the United States to use its power and influence to call them out for what they are.”
The ISGAP report focuses heavily on what it describes as the Brotherhood’s influence operations in the West, particularly in academia. It alleges that groups such as the Muslim Students Association and Students for Justice in Palestine serve as vehicles for spreading the organization’s ideology. The report cites Students for Justice in Palestine as a major force behind violent anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.
Small pointed to the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City as evidence of what he describes as long-term political penetration.
“He came out of SJP,” Small said. “He was a student activist for Students for Justice in Palestine at Bowdoin College. It’s important for your listeners to understand that SJP comes out of American Muslims for Palestine, which is a Muslim Brotherhood-backed organization.”
Trump’s executive order states that Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt pose a threat to U.S. national security interests.
Middle East analyst Dr. Mike Evans said he urged the administration to expand the scope of the order to include Brotherhood-linked activity in Syria, Turkey and Qatar.
“The Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar funded and fueled terror — al Qaeda, the Taliban, Iran and Hamas,” Evans said. “These people hate us.”
At the state level, decisions by Texas and Florida governors to label both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as terrorist organizations are currently being challenged in court.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott cited past convictions tied to CAIR affiliates in defending the designation. “One of the founders of the Texas branch of CAIR was sent to prison for 65 years for financing terrorism,” Abbott said. “The fact of the matter is there are people associated with CAIR who pose a serious danger.”
Under Trump’s order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent must submit a joint report by the end of the year outlining next steps toward a formal designation.
The Muslim Brotherhood is already banned as a terrorist organization in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Syria, and Jordan. However, the ISGAP report says Brotherhood-linked organizations continue to operate freely in Turkey and Qatar, funding media outlets and political influence campaigns worldwide.
“Qatar is buying favor with the BBC, CNN, and other media outlets, including Al Jazeera, and it’s now into our political system,” Small said.
Evans said a formal U.S. designation would dramatically limit the group’s global reach. “It’s a game changer,” Evans said. “When you designate a terrorist organization, they can’t move anymore. They have no room to operate.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised Trump’s initiative and indicated Israel may follow with its own designation.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel warned that radical Islamist groups have been clear about their long-term goals. “We’ve seen the movements of radical jihadist groups who say very clearly that what they seek is the destruction of Western civilization as we know it today,” Haskel said.
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