By: Nihad Mustafa
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, is introducing a bill to officially declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
This move is part of a decade-long campaign led by Cruz to designate the group as a terrorist organization. He believes his move is necessary to impose sanctions on the global Islamist network that spawned Hamas and other groups that threaten American interests. Cruz stated that Hamas, which the United States already designates as a terrorist organization, is part of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to its charter.
What’s new in the bill is that it adopts a new “bottom-up” strategy to first identify Muslim Brotherhood branches that explicitly engage in terrorism before designating the entire organization. This approach aims to overcome democratic opposition and avoid potential criticism of prosecuting branches of the group that were not directly involved in violence.
Cruz was joined in sponsoring the Senate bill by several Republican senators, including Tom Cotton, John Boozman, Rick Scott, Ashley Moody, and Dave McCormick. Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart and Jared Moskowitz also introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives, furthering efforts to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
Cruz emphasizes that the Muslim Brotherhood remains committed to overthrowing and destroying American and other non-Islamic governments and poses a grave threat to US national security interests. He emphasizes the need to blacklist the Muslim Brotherhood to halt its support for terrorist groups.
The bill states that “Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to its charter, which describes Hamas as one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine.” The bill also states, “On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists committed the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, which included the murder, kidnapping, or disappearance of at least 53 American citizens.”
It states that “the Muslim Brotherhood operates as a global organization, providing material support to its branches in countries and regions by providing political support, financial resources, training, services, specialized advice, and communications assistance.” The text of the bill also states that “the Muslim Brotherhood branches have sought to destabilize U.S. allies and partners throughout the Middle East.”
Concurrent with Cruz’s move, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, providing additional momentum to the effort to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
The new US move against the Brotherhood comes as part of an ongoing Arab and European pressure campaign to besiege the group, drain its resources, and crack down on its tools. Press reports suggest that the Brotherhood’s file will soon reach the European Parliament, in a swift response to last week’s French move.
After chairing an urgent meeting of the National Security Council on July 7, French President Emmanuel Macron directed his government to take new measures aimed at drying up the Muslim Brotherhood’s funding sources and expanding sanctions against it.
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