Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group that had worked with the Biden administration, as a “foreign terrorist” organization along with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Abbott’s proclamation also designates both of the groups as “transnational criminal organizations.” The Texas governor’s designation authorizes heightened enforcement against both organizations and their affiliates, as well as blocks them from purchasing or acquiring land in the state, according to a news release.
“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 statement. “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. Today, I designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.”
“These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas,” Abbott continued.
CAIR said in part of a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the organization is “an independent American civil rights organization that has spent 30 years protecting free speech, advancing religious freedom, and promoting justice for people here and abroad.”
“We have consistently condemned all forms of unjust violence, including hate crimes, ethnic cleansing, genocide and terrorism. In fact, we condemn terrorism so often that ISIS once put a target on our national executive director,” the CAIR spokesperson added. “Although we are flattered by Greg Abbott’s obsession with our civil rights organization, his publicity stunt masquerading as a proclamation has no basis in fact or law. By defaming a prominent American Muslim institution with debunked conspiracy theories and made-up quotes, Mr. Abbott has once again shown that his top priority is advancing anti-Muslim bigotry, not serving the people of Texas.”
The Department of Justice is currently probing whether CAIR, which the agency had previously linked to Hamas, should continue being eligible to receive taxpayer funding, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported in July.
CAIR describes itself as a “leading advocate for justice and mutual understanding,” and refers to its mission as aiming to “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims,” according to the organization’s website.
The Biden White House previously worked with CAIR in 2023 while developing the nation’s first-ever national strategy aiming to crack down on anti-Semitism. The Biden administration announced in December 2023 that it had cut ties with CAIR after one of its top executives claimed he was “happy” to see Hamas’ Oct 7. terror attack against Israel that year, the New York Post reported.
Deborah Lipstadt, who served as the Biden administration’s U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism, said in a June 2023 exclusive interview with the Jerusalem Post that she was attempting to give CAIR a “chance to change.”
Additionally, Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton have publicly called for the Treasury Department to probe CAIR, claiming that the organization may be receiving funds or being directed by Hamas or other terrorist organizations, Fox News reported in October.
Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 in Egypt by Hassan al Banna, and is the oldest contemporary Islamist movement in the world, according to an August 2017 report from George Washington University.
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