The move comes amid Trump's push to review Muslim Brotherhood chapters and intensify persecution of pro-Palestine activists
News Desk - The Cradle
Florida’s designation makes it the second Republican-led state in as many months to target the two groups.
DeSantis said the move was “EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY” and instructed state agencies to deny employment, contracts, funding, or any state-provided resources to the organizations and to individuals providing them with “material support.”
His executive order repeats claims that the Muslim Brotherhood supports “political entities and front organizations that engage in terrorism and funnel money to finance terrorist activities.”
It also alleges that CAIR “was founded by persons connected to the Muslim Brotherhood” and ties both groups to Hamas.
The order further directs agencies to take “all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities” by the two groups. DeSantis framed the action as part of broader legislative efforts, saying lawmakers were “crafting legislation to stop the creep of sharia law.”
He added that he hopes legislators “codify these protections for Floridians against CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood.”
CAIR, founded in 1994 and a leading US Muslim civil rights group, rejected the designation as “defamatory and unconstitutional.”
The group said it will sue the state, as it is already doing in Texas over a similar proclamation issued by Governor Greg Abbott.
In joint statements from its national office and Florida chapter, CAIR accused DeSantis of prioritizing “the Israeli government over the people of Florida” and targeting the organization because of “decades advancing free speech, religious freedom and justice for all, including for the Palestinian people.”
“We look forward to defeating Gov. DeSantis’s latest Israel First stunt in a court of law, where facts matter and conspiracy theories have no weight,” the statement added.
Neither the Muslim Brotherhood nor CAIR is designated as a terrorist organization by the US government, and so their restrictions remain at the state level.
The designations come as Trump reviews whether any US-based chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood should be blacklisted.
Federal agencies under Trump have also taken actions against individuals and organizations critical of Israel, including student visa cancellations, university fines, and the detention of British commentator Sami Hamdi during a CAIR speaking tour.
No comments:
Post a Comment