Radical Islamist organization Muslim Brotherhood is infiltrating US colleges to ‘transform Western society from within,’ report warns
Jordanian supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood wave the Palestinian flag in Amman on August 8, 2014. AFP via Getty Images
A new report warns that the Muslim Brotherhood is halfway through a century-long plan to “transform Western society from within” by embedding its ideology and allies in American institutions, including college campuses.
Published Wednesday by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), the analysis urges the U.S. to designate the Islamist group as a terrorist organization to prevent further infiltration.
“We are now 50 years into the Brotherhood’s 100-year plan to entrench themselves in key institutions in the United States and other Western societies to undermine and destroy our democracy,” said ISGAP director Dr. Charles Asher Small. “This is not simply a political movement but a transnational ideological project that adapts itself to Western systems while working to undermine them.”
The 200-page report outlines the group’s so-called “civilization jihad” strategy, which it says targets educational institutions, government agencies, and other pillars of Western society. University campuses, the report argues, are a “strategic arena” for the Brotherhood. The Muslim Students Association (MSA), active at over 600 colleges—including Columbia University and NYU—is identified as a primary vehicle for influence.
The report also highlights Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which “cooperates with the MSA,” as particularly effective in advancing Brotherhood objectives related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. SJP has been linked to campus protests, including the violent Hamilton Hall riot at Columbia in April 2024.
“Designation as a terror organization is essential to safeguard our freedom and way of life,” Small said. “The Brotherhood has learned to use the very freedoms of democracy as tools to erode it from within, exploiting the tolerance and openness of liberal societies as strategic vulnerabilities.”
The report’s release came one day after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott formally labeled both the Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations. According to a recent investigation by the Network Contagion Research Institute and the Intelligent Advocacy Network, CAIR’s California chapter awarded $1,000 each to students penalized for leading pro-Palestinian protests following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The funds were distributed through a “Champions of Justice Fund,” described as an institutional endorsement.
Currently, neither the Brotherhood nor CAIR is designated as a foreign terrorist organization in the U.S. The Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, began as a religious and social organization and later became politically active after World War II and the founding of Israel, gaining influence after Israel’s 1967 Six-Day War. Hamas, formed in Gaza in 1987 from Brotherhood-affiliated charities, carried out the October 7 attacks, though its leaders insist the group has renounced violence and seeks to achieve goals through elections and peaceful means.
ISGAP research fellow Dalia Ziada emphasized that the Brotherhood’s operations show it is more than a theoretical threat. “It is an organized, multi-generational project to manipulate Western democracies and silence moderate Muslim voices, often supported ideologically and financially by Qatar,” she said. “The United States must act now, with clarity and courage, to protect both its values and its Muslim citizens from this ideological hijacking. Designation is a key step, but it’s only the beginning.”
About Post Author
