By: Fern Sidman – Jewish Voice News

A sweeping new analysis issued Wednesday by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) alleges that the Muslim Brotherhood is already halfway through a covert, century-long project to infiltrate Western institutions, reshape American public life, and erode democratic norms from the inside. According to a report that appeared on Thursday in The New York Post, the 200-page study contends that the Brotherhood has spent five decades establishing ideological footholds across the United States—particularly on college campuses—while adapting its methods to Western legal and cultural structures.

The report, titled “The Muslim Brotherhood’s Strategic Entryism into Western Society: A Systematic Analysis,” describes an extensive “civilization jihad” strategy. It asserts that the Brotherhood seeks to embed its sympathizers within universities, activist networks, and even government agencies to influence policy, public opinion, and cultural attitudes about Islamism and the Israel-Hamas conflict. As The New York Post reported, the findings come as state leaders, including the governor of Texas, move toward formal designations of the group and related organizations as foreign terrorist entities.

ISGAP’s executive director, Dr. Charles Asher Small, framed the findings as an urgent call for federal action. “We are now 50 years into the Brotherhood’s 100-year plan to entrench themselves into key institutions in the United States and other Western societies to undermine and destroy our democracy,” Small said. Speaking to The New York Post, he added that the project is not merely a political movement but “a transnational ideological project that adapts itself to Western systems while working to undermine them.”

Much of the report focuses on the Muslim Brotherhood’s connections to American college campuses. According to The New York Post report, ISGAP identifies universities as an “important strategic arena” for the group’s influence efforts, citing decades of campus organizing, ideological cultivation, and political mobilization through student organizations linked to the Brotherhood’s worldview.

At the center of this alleged network is the Muslim Students Association (MSA), a group founded in the United States in the 1960s and now active on more than 600 campuses, including Columbia University and New York University. The report describes the MSA as “the primary vehicle for campus influence,” asserting that its chapters introduce students to ideological positions aligned with Brotherhood doctrines.

The analysis further contends that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) works closely with the MSA and has become “particularly effective in advancing Brotherhood objectives” since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023. SJP played a high-profile role in protests at Columbia University, including the violent takeover of Hamilton Hall in April last year.

History will judge us harshly for not listening to @RepKeithSelf https://t.co/lX9eYrVNFU

— The Jewish Voice (@TJVNEWS) November 19, 2025

The report argues that campus activism—particularly activism connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict, anti-Zionist protests, and broader Middle East discourse—creates an ecosystem in which the Brotherhood’s ideology can be normalized among younger Americans.

Small emphasized the need for the United States government to classify the Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, stating that such a designation is essential to “safeguard our freedom and way of life.” As he told The New York Post, the Brotherhood “has learned to use the very freedoms of democracy as tools to erode it from within,” exploiting America’s tolerance and openness as strategic vulnerabilities.

He added that the newly released analysis outlines not only the group’s methods but also the steps needed to reverse the “entryist damage that has already been done.”

The report’s release closely followed a major political development: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement labeling both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations under Texas state policy. According to the report in The New York Post, Abbott’s designation cites concerns about extremist infiltration within U.S. institutions.

The ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ is the parent organization for ‘all’ terrorist groups. 💣

Muslims understand this, and banned them in many countries; yet, it is welcomed in the west. @lalshareef warning: They ‘use’ democracy. It’s a deadly mistake! ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/mEmVknmYme

— Islam Invasion 🚨 (@IslamInvasion) May 4, 2025

Neither organization is currently classified as a foreign terrorist group under U.S. federal law.

CAIR, one of the largest Muslim civil-rights advocacy organizations in the country, is referenced throughout the ISGAP report as part of a broader ecosystem of organizations allegedly influenced by Brotherhood ideology. As The New York Post reported earlier this week, CAIR’s California chapter created a fund offering $1,000 payments to students who were penalized for participating in pro-Palestinian campus protests.

The “Champions of Justice Fund,” according to a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute and the Intelligent Advocacy Network and cited by The New York Post, served as an “institutional endorsement” of disruptive activism before and after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks against Israel. The funds were directed at students who had faced disciplinary actions from their colleges or universities, the newspaper reported.

CAIR denies any association with terrorism and asserts that its advocacy work is protected by the First Amendment. The group maintains that its programs are designed to support civil rights and combat Islamophobia.

The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Egypt in 1928 as a Sunni Islamic revivalist movement. After beginning as a social and religious organization, it expanded into political activism during the mid-20th century, particularly after World War II and the founding of the State of Israel. The group gained increased regional support following the Arab defeat in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Hamas, the Gaza-based terrorist organization responsible for the October 7 attacks, emerged from Brotherhood-affiliated charities and religious institutions in the 1980s. While its founders openly linked it to Brotherhood ideology, its leaders now insist that the movement renounced violence decades ago and seeks to advance its objectives peacefully through elections and social service networks.

This Imam in India exposed #MuslimBrotherhood in the Friday sermon today. He mentioned how they penetrate into the system through media, academia, and charity organizations. How they deceive the Govts. in the name of social justice, and importantly how they masquerade as… pic.twitter.com/R0p8K0oXTQ

— Zahack Tanvir — ضحاك تنوير (@ZahackTanvir) June 13, 2025

Yet ISGAP research fellow Dalia Ziada argued in the report that the Brotherhood’s global operations demonstrate it is not simply a theoretical or ideological concern. “It is an organized, multi-generational project to manipulate Western democracies and silence moderate Muslim voices, often powered by the ideological and financial backing of Qatar,” Ziada said.

She added that the Brotherhood’s networks are “nourished by a state that exports its worldview through funding, education, and media influence.”

Ziada said that while a federal terror designation would be an essential first step toward addressing the Brotherhood’s alleged influence, it “must be the beginning of a process, not the end of one.” According to the information provided in The New York Post report, she argued that the United States must act with urgency to protect both its democratic values and its Muslim citizens from what she described as ideological manipulation.

The ISGAP report concludes that the Brotherhood’s strategic vision has reshaped civic discourse in ways that are not immediately visible but cumulatively significant. Through organizations that engage with students, government agencies, interfaith movements, and social-justice coalitions, the group is alleged to have embedded its frameworks across broad segments of American society.

Dr. Small told The New York Post that Western democracies must reexamine how extremist ideologies adapt to—and exploit—their open systems. “This report lays out how, and what must now be done to defend our democracy,” he said.

The ISGAP report arrives at a moment when concerns about Islamist extremism, campus activism, and rising antisemitism intersect in the national political conversation. With the aftermath of the October 7 attacks still reverberating across American institutions, policymakers are weighing new approaches to monitoring and countering extremism.

Texas’ move to classify the Brotherhood and CAIR as terrorist organizations—though symbolic in the absence of a federal counterpart—has accelerated calls among some members of Congress for national action. As The New York Post noted, debates over designation, oversight, and institutional accountability are likely to intensify ahead of the next legislative cycle.

Whether or not the federal government ultimately pursues a terror designation, the ISGAP report marks one of the most comprehensive attempts to map what its authors describe as a half-century-long campaign to reshape Western society from within.