Texas governor Greg Abbott designates Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as terrorist organizations.
Governor Greg Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, as “foreign terrorist” and “transnational criminal” organizations. The governor announced that this designation bans them from buying or acquiring land in Texas and also authroizes Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue the organizations to shut them down.
Engaging in terrorism
Abbott accused the Muslim Brotherhood of “engaging in terrorism or attempting to destabilize countries” and calls CAIR its “successor organization.” The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is a transnational Islamist group with offshoots including Hamas.CAIR, founded in 1994, is the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. It denies having any relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and states it has never been “an affiliate, offshoot, chapter, or agent of any foreign movement, organization, political party or government.” Earlier, Abbott signed bill banning banning so-called Sharia compounds — targeting a development in North Texas — and tightening restrictions on land ownership by foreign or criminally affiliated entities.
Not designated as terrorist organization by the federal government
Neither Muslim Brotherhood nor CAIR has been designated as a terrorist organization by the federal government. Earlier this year, Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn co-sponsored a bill that would require President Trump to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. The bill claimed the organization was trying to undermine American allies in the Middle East but didn’t elaborate on the organization’s activities within the US. The bill hasn’t advanced in the Senate.“Although we are flattered by Greg Abott’s obsession with our civil rights organization, his publicity stunt masquerading as a proclamation has no basis in fact or law,” CAIR stated. “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.”
