Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a declaration on Tuesday designating the Muslim Brotherhood and Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist groups and transnational criminal organizations — a move that some lawmakers are pushing on the federal level.

The proclamation would ban both groups from buying or acquiring land in the state and allow the state’s attorney general to sue to shut down the two groups, and potentially impose fines on those involved.

Abbott’s proclamation notes the Muslim Brotherhood’s support to groups, including Hamas, that conduct terrorism in various countries, some of which have already been designated as terrorist groups, and that a series of countries have already imposed restrictions on their local Muslim Brotherhood branches.

The proclamation describes CAIR as a “successor organization” to the Muslim Brotherhood and an effective front group for Hamas in the United States and accuses the group of seeking to spread Sharia law in the country by infiltrating public office and other areas of public life.

It also notes that CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas financing case, and that a series of senior CAIR members have been involved in promoting or financing terrorism.

Responding in a statement on X, CAIR accused Abbott of doing the bidding of Israel and AIPAC donors and described the proclamation as defamatory.

“Unlike Mr. Abbott — who unleashed violence against Texas students protesting the Gaza genocide to satisfy his AIPAC donors — our civil rights organization is an independent voice that answers to the American people, relies on support from the American people, and opposes all forms of unjust violence, including hate crimes, ethnic cleansing, genocide and terrorism,” the group wrote.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a candidate for Texas attorney general, praised the announcement, saying he would enforce it if elected, and that CAIR should also be proscribed at the federal level.

“We must fully enforce and duplicate terror designation efforts at the federal level including strict immigration policy, stripping CAIR’s [501]c3 [tax-exempt] status, vet and remove Sharia,” Roy said.

Efforts to designate the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have seen little public progress at the federal level, both in Congress and in the executive branch.

Texas has become a particular locus of anti-Sharia law activity over concerns about a project to develop a new Muslim-focused community, known as EPIC City. The Department of Justice investigated the project for religious discrimination, but the DOJ ended its probe finding no wrongdoing. Texas has passed several laws designed to impede the project.

The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Ohio branch moderated an online event last week featuring a Hamas official designated as a terrorist by the Treasury Department, as well as other Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members.

The Beirut-based think tank Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations hosted an event in Arabic last week titled “Palestinians Abroad and Regional International Strategic Transformations in Light of Operation Al-Aksa Flood,” using Hamas’ name for its Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.

Among the speakers at the web conference was Majed al-Zeer, who was designated by the Treasury Department in October 2024 as “the senior Hamas representative in Germany, who is also one of the senior Hamas members in Europe and has played a central role in the terrorist group’s European fundraising.” 

Al-Zeer said that “the resistance” is key to maintaining the momentum of a “strategic shift” in how Europe and the world views the Palestinian issue.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad financier Sami al-Arian, a former University of South Florida computer science professor who was deported from the U.S. in 2015 due to his ties to the terrorist group, said on the same panel as Al-Zeer that “the overall Palestinian situation is much better strategically than it was before the flood [Oct. 7].”

CAIR-Ohio Director Khalid Turaani moderated one panel with commentary provided by Ziad el-Aloul, who is active in several Hamas-affiliated organizations in Europe, including the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, which was designated a terrorist group by Israel in 2021 for its work on behalf of Hamas. More recently, PCPA was found to be involved in facilitating the Global Sumud Flotilla that attempted to sail to Gaza with climate activist Greta Thunberg on board.

Another speaker in the Turaani-led panel expressed hope that the Turkish army would deploy in Gaza and fight the IDF.

The CAIR-Ohio director’s participation in a conference with senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad figures came two months after Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) called for an IRS investigation into the organization and the revocation of its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, citing alleged “ties to terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.”

CAIR did not respond to a request for comment. 

A new lawsuit filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago branch last week alleges that Northwestern University violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by adopting time, place and manner restrictions on student protest and requiring students to watch an antisemitism training video.

The plaintiffs include Northwestern Graduate Workers for Palestine, a doctoral student who “is not Arab, Jewish, or Muslim, but publicly associates with these students” and a doctoral candidate of Syrian and Palestinian descent. 

Title VI prohibits institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating based on a person’s race, color and national origin — understood to include both Arabs and Jews — though the lawsuit claims that “Antizionist Jews are also a cognizable ethnic group” under the statute. The suit also accuses the Chicago-area school of violating Title VI by discriminating against those who “associate with” Jewish and Arab students “who oppose or criticize Zionism.”

The suit, filed in federal court in Illinois, claims Northwestern violated students’ rights by requiring them to agree to the school’s code of conduct, which now incorporates the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, as well as mandatory bias training that includes a video on antisemitism created in collaboration with the Jewish United Fund, the city’s Jewish federation. 

The training is required to be completed by Monday, or students will be prohibited from registering for classes for the winter term.

The plaintiffs claim that the mandate to watch the JUF video, which includes information on the ties between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, has “caused Arab individuals and those who support them injury in the form of emotional distress.” The two doctoral students, who are considered student employees of the university, also claim the training, which is required for their employment, violates the Illinois Worker Freedom of Speech Act.

A spokesperson for Northwestern declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. The university responded to the allegation in court filings that students must attest that they “have reviewed and agreed to abide by” the student code of conduct but “notably, the attestation does not require students to agree or enforce the substance or viewpoints expressed in the training. It merely confirms that they will comply with the university’s uniformly applicable policies — just as all students must typically do to maintain good standing.”

The suit further alleges that Northwestern implemented an “Intimidation Policy” in response to the disruptive anti-Israel encampment that overtook the university’s campus in May 2024 by now requiring “a reservation, advance notice, and a permit from the University’s administration” in order to table on university property and a permit to use devices that amplify sound, as well as limiting flyers posted outdoors to university bulletin boards. 

Students participating in the encampment engaged in several instances of harassment and intimidation of Jewish students, which were detailed by the House Committee on Education and Workforce when it called then-President Michael Schill to appear before the committee. Schill negotiated with the encampment and acceded to several of the student leaders’ demands, including allowing students to weigh in on university investments, which earned the praise of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and drew condemnation from Jewish leaders.

The requested remedies of the suit include finding Northwestern’s use of the IHRA definition, which labels some criticism of Israel as antisemitic, to be illegal and prohibiting the school from using it and for emotional distress damages for the plaintiffs. 

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) wrote to Kathy Goldenberg, the president of the New Jersey State Board of Education, on Monday urging the state to reject calls from the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for the state’s education boards to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League.

“This is a misguided demand aimed at undermining the work of a nonpartisan organization that has spent more than a century fighting antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and hate in all forms,” Gottheimer wrote. “It is imperative that as you work to ensure the integrity of education for our students, that you please also work to create inclusive environments for all, regardless of background. This means rejecting any suggestion by CAIR-NJ to end any formal partnerships with the ADL.”

The CAIR-NJ effort was prompted by a National Education Association move to cut ties with the ADL, which was ultimately blocked.

“Ending this partnership would result in the elimination of educational programs and resources that not only ensure Jewish students are included and recognized, but also fight hatred and intolerance of all kinds,” the New Jersey congressman continued. “Rejecting the ADL would send the wrong message to students and communities of all backgrounds, especially Jewish and Muslim students.”

Gottheimer highlighted that the ADL provides anti-hate and Holocaust education programs to more than 100 schools across New Jersey and that the ADL’s work has included fighting Islamophobia, homophobia and anti-Asian hate.

“Now is not the time to dismiss critical resources to combat anti-Jewish bias and Holocaust distortion,” Gottheimer continued. “Rather, educators should embrace them. I urge the State Board of Education to support New Jersey schools working with the ADL to promote inclusive, fact-based education that teaches students to reject hate in all forms.”

He noted, by contrast, that CAIR-NJ’s recommendations for schools promote a skewed and selective view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and brush off concerns about antisemitism, calling the group’s suggestions “not balanced education [but] one-sided activism.”

Gottheimer also noted that CAIR-NJ’s executive director dismissed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel while CAIR’s director praised the attack, leading the Biden administration to cut ties with the group.

And he noted CAIR-NJ has opposed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and New Jersey legislation codifying its use, falsely claiming that it prohibits criticism of Israel.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is urging the Trump administration to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) alleged “ties to terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood” and consider revoking the group’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. 

Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, announced on Tuesday that he had sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Billy Long requesting he look into “recent news and longstanding evidence” demonstrating CAIR’s reported terrorist connections.

“CAIR purports to be a civil rights organization dedicated to protecting the rights of American Muslims. But substantial evidence confirms CAIR has deep ties to terrorist organizations,” Cotton wrote. 

The Arkansas senator pointed to CAIR being “listed as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee” in the “largest terrorism-financing case in U.S. history,” as well as the group’s executive director Nihad Awad saying he was “happy to see” the Oct. 7 terror attack in a November 2023 speech.

Awad characterized Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel as Gazans “break[ing] the siege, the walls of the concentration camp.” 

“Government exhibits from the trial revealed that CAIR’s founders participated in a meeting of Hamas supporters in Philadelphia, where they discussed strategies to advance the Islamist agenda in America while concealing their true affiliations,” Cotton said, referring to CAIR’s participation in the 1993 Philadelphia Meeting, a gathering of top Hamas officials trying to find a path forward after the Oslo Accords. “These connections are not mere historical footnotes.”

“The Internal Revenue Code requires that 501(c)(3) organizations operate exclusively for charitable, educational, or religious purposes, and are prohibited from providing material support to terrorism. The IRS has broad authority to examine whether an entity’s operations align with its exempt purpose. Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and it should not subsidize organizations with links to terrorism,” he continued. 

Cotton went on to request that the IRS “immediately investigate CAIR’s compliance with section 501(c)(3), including a review of its financial records, affiliations, and activities.”

Reached for comment on the letter and Cotton’s allegations, a CAIR spokesperson told Jewish Insider, “Tom Cotton’s baseless demand that the IRS target a nonprofit organization based on debunked conspiracy theories is a political stunt straight from the McCarthy era and an un-American tactic carried out to shield the Israeli apartheid government from criticism.”