This decision "prohibits them from buying or acquiring land in Texas" and authorizes state authorities to "initiate legal proceedings to shut them down."

The US state of Texas announced Tuesday that it is designating two Muslim organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, as "terrorist".

In addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas (south) also placed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the leading American organizations defending the rights of Muslims, on the Texas list of terrorist entities.

This decision "prohibits them from buying or acquiring land in Texas" and authorizes state authorities to "initiate legal proceedings to shut them down," Greg Abbott said on X.

"Anti-Muslim hysteria"

CAIR, which has about thirty branches across the country, including three in Texas, denounced the decision on X as "defamatory" and devoid of "factual or legal basis." Strongly opposed to American policy regarding the war in Gaza, the organization also accused Greg Abbott of promoting a pro-Israel agenda and of having been stoking "anti-Muslim hysteria for months in order to discredit American Muslims critical of the Israeli government."

The Texas governor has shown unwavering support for Israel and has labeled the pro-Palestinian student protests held in Texas since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, as anti-Semitic.

The designation of entities as terrorist organizations usually falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government and not the states. Greg Abbott, however, had already designated the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a "foreign terrorist organization" in September 2024, a few months before his ally Donald Trump did the same at the federal level in February 2025, after his return to the White House.

In response to a real estate project intended for Muslims, including a mosque, he had also promulgated in September a law prohibiting the creation in Texas of complexes subject to Sharia (Islamic law).