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:
.@StateDept has designated Ismail Haniyeh, Harakat al-Sabireen, Liwa al Thawra, and Harakat Sawa’d Misr (HASM) as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. Full details: https://t.co/6rmZD6rogE
— State Dept CT Bureau (@StateDeptCT) January 31, 2018
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:
Reports On Creation Of Muslim Brotherhood Lobby To Prevent Trump Admin From Designating It A Terrorist Organizationhttps://t.co/XB5elZQHb0 pic.twitter.com/dHHor6JDmG
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) March 17, 2017
Senior Muslim Brotherhood official brags they spent $5 million in PR push to successfully stop US terror designation https://t.co/QaODZVPhli
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) June 23, 2017
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 three–part 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:
As America’s Arab Muslim Allies Move Against the Muslim Brotherhood, #SmartSet Doubles Down Support https://t.co/eaRC4TfUeo via @pjmedia_com pic.twitter.com/XvtHUKeiJx
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) June 23, 2017
Israel Bans the Muslim Brotherhood for Inciting Violence, Seeking to Replace Israel with Caliphate https://t.co/m5brzeBNKk #tcot
— PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) November 17, 2015
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:
Temple Mount Terror Attack Was Muslim Brotherhood Operation Shin Bet Says https://t.co/zD8WbxMmh0 via @pjmedia_com
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) August 25, 2017
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:
CIA Defends the Muslim Brotherhood as Western Intel Agencies Warn of Dangers, Support for Terrorism https://t.co/XIha1ado8l via @PJMedia_com
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) December 27, 2017
German Court Rejects Palestinian’s Citizenship Application Because of Muslim Brotherhood Support https://t.co/D9h7YQSWVg via @pjmedia_com
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) December 12, 2017
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.