Ted Cruz Renews Call to Designate Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Group

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Source: PJ Media, BY PATRICK POOLE SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

Amidst a highly visible reelection campaign, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) renewed a call last week for the Muslim Brotherhood to be designated a terrorist organization.

This follows the Trump administration’s designation earlier this year of two affiliates of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood — Hasm and Liwa al-Thawra — as terrorist organizations:

Last year Cruz introduced S. 68, calling on the State Department to designate the group. The Senate bill is co-sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore and Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson:

Among other issues covered in Cruz’s speech was his support for the Trump administration’s move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. After that announcement, the Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement declaring the U.S. the “enemy of the Arab world.”

The Muslim Brotherhood has bragged about heavily lobbying Congress to prevent any designation, as well as spending $5 million to derail designation efforts:

Just last year, an Arizona man Ahmed Mohammed el-Gammal was convicted of material support for terrorism for assisting a New York college student’s travel to Syria to join ISIS. El-Gammal admitted to being a Muslim Brotherhood supporter, and prosecutors claimed he used a fellow Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood contact living in Turkey to assist the NY student in crossing the border to Syria and joining an ISIS terror training camp.

Also last year, I reported details in my exclusive threepart interview in Cairo with Egyptian terrorism expert Khaled Okasha, the former head of counterterrorism in the Sinai. Okasha traces the origins of Hasm and Liwa al-Thawra to the efforts of Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau leader Mohamed Kamal. Kamal was killed in a shootout with police in October 2016. Okasha explained that the terror groups are still under the effective control of the Muslim Brotherhood after Kamal’s death.

As I’ve reported here at PJ Media previously, many of our Middle East allies, including Israel, have already designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization:


Following Israel’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Shin Bet announced that the group was behind a July 2017 terror attack on the Temple Mount that killed two Israeli police officers:


A number of Western governments have also expressed concerns about the hostile actions of the Muslim Brotherhood and corrosive effect the group has in Western society. In same cases, some countries are now denying citizenship to immigrants for their ties to the Muslim Brotherhood:

Given the few legislative days left in the current Congress, it’s unlikely either Cruz’s Senate bill or the companion House bill will be considered this year.

However, given evidence that the Trump administration already has in its possession about the Muslim Brotherhood’s terror support, the Treasury and/or State Department could designate the group at any time.