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The West's Blind Spot

How well-financed Islamist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood plan to “use democracy to destroy democracy.”

Professor Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli expert on Arab and Islamic culture with 25 years in military intelligence, argues that well-financed Islamist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood (MB)(backed by Qatar and others) pursue a deliberate, long-term strategy of “civilizational jihad” or stealth Islamization of the West.

 

They exploit liberal democratic freedoms, immigration policies, tolerance, free speech, and institutional access (universities, media, charities, politics), not to integrate or assimilate, but to incrementally undermine and replace those systems with Sharia-based governance.

 

Drawing from the Brotherhood’s own documents (e.g., the 1991 Explanatory Memorandum), Kedar warns that they “use democracy to destroy democracy,” rejecting Western values while posing as moderates.

 

Integration fails because their ideology views liberal democracy as incompatible with Islam’s supremacy; mass Muslim migration (especially from non-integrating communities) risks creating rapidly growing islands of discontent where people demand sharia law in mature legal systems that materially conflict with sharia.

 

This analysis defies naive progressive frameworks that assume all immigrants seek assimilation.

What is the 1991 Explanatory Memorandum?

 

The 1991 Explanatory Memorandum, formally titled An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America, is an 18-page Arabic-language internal document dated May 22, 1991, authored by Mohamed Akram (also known as Mohamed Adlouni). Akram was a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s (Ikhwan) leadership in North America, affiliated with the Palestine Committee (a U.S.-based network supporting Hamas).

 

It was discovered in 2004 during an FBI search of Ismail Elbarasse’s home in Virginia, amid archives of Muslim Brotherhood documents in North America. The memo was admitted as evidence (Government Exhibit 003-0085) in the 2007–2008 Holy Land Foundation trial, where the charity and its leaders were convicted of financing Hamas.

Content and Key Points

 

The document outlines a long-term vision for the Muslim Brotherhood’s work in the U.S., described as a “Civilization-Jihadist Process”. Its core goal is to enable Islam to become rooted in North America through an effective Islamic Movement led by the Brotherhood.

 

Notable elements:

  • Strategic Goal: Establishing a stable Islamic presence that adopts Muslims’ causes globally, expands the observant base, unifies efforts, presents Islam as a “civilization alternative,” and supports a global Islamic state.

  • Famous Quote: “The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

  • Methods: Building and coordinating organizations (dawah, education, media, political, youth groups); “settlement” (tamkin) through institutional influence rather than violence.

  • Attachment: A list of 29 “our organizations and the organizations of our friends” (e.g., ISNA, MSA, NAIT, IAP), with the note: “Imagine if they all march according to one plan!!!”

 

Akram references a prior 1987 plan approved by the Brotherhood’s Shura Council and proposes this 1991 memo as a supplement to the previous 1987 plan.

Post-9/11 Surveillance and the Shadow of Political Islam

 

The September 11, 2001, attacks in New York (and elsewhere) killed nearly 3,000 people and reshaped U.S. policy, most notably through the USA PATRIOT Act (2001), which expanded surveillance powers for intelligence agencies. Critics, including civil liberties groups like the ACLU, have long argued this transformed America into a “surveillance state,” with bulk data collection, warrantless wiretaps, and programs like PRISM (revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013) eroding privacy in the name of counterterrorism. While effective against some plots, these measures targeted Islamist extremism but often at the cost of broader trust in institutions. Fast-forward to 2025: Debates persist, with recent renewals of Section 702 of FISA amid concerns over overreach.

 

Recent Links Between CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood

The years 2024–2025 have shown heightened scrutiny and formal actions tying the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), an Islamist network founded in 1928 that promotes gradual societal Islamization. CAIR, founded in 1994, has faced longstanding allegations of MB ties—stemming from the 2007 Holy Land Foundation trial where it was named an unindicted co-conspirator in Hamas financing—but recent developments have escalated:

  • Texas Designation (Nov 18, 2025): Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR and the MB as foreign terrorist organizations under state law, citing “longstanding ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas” and support for terrorism. This directs state agencies to investigate CAIR’s activities and revoke any tax-exempt status.

  • Florida Designation (Dec 9, 2025): Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order labeling CAIR and the MB as terrorist groups, welcoming CAIR’s lawsuit for “discovery” into its finances and networks. He referenced federal evidence and CAIR’s Palestinian advocacy as a front for extremism.

  • Federal Momentum: H.R. 4097 (introduced Jun 2025) seeks to designate CAIR a terrorist organization nationally. The UAE banned CAIR in 2014 for MB links, a point echoed in U.S. debates.

  • CAIR’s Response: CAIR calls these moves “bigotry” and “unconstitutional,” filing suits and holding press conferences framing them as attacks on Muslim rights. On X, supporters rally with calls to ban CAIR federally, while critics highlight its institutional reach (e.g., 500+ employees, media arms).

 

These actions revive 1990s-era concerns (e.g., the 1991 MB Explanatory Memorandum) but in the context of post-Oct 7, 2023, renewed tensions and campus protests. Sadly the “River to the Sea” protesters have no knowledge if this history. 

Preparedness for a Century-Long Struggle Against Political Islam?

 

Western democracies face an ideological challenge from political Islam (or Islamism)—movements seeking Sharia governance via democratic means, as inspired by MB ideologues such as Sayyid Qutb.  He saw the U.S. (what he called America as: The Peak of Advancement and the Depth of Primitiveness. (Here is his paper from the CIA)

 

Is a “century-long struggle” (evoking Cold War containment) underway? Preparedness is uneven: Tactical tools exist, but strategic resolve lags, risking complacency.

 

  • Strengths:

    • Counterterrorism Infrastructure: Post-9/11, the U.S. (via DHS, NSA) and EU (via Europol) have dismantled plots and networks. Recent U.S. state actions against CAIR/MB signal growing political will.

    • Alliances and Awareness: The Abraham Accords (2020) and anti-Iran coalitions isolate Islamists. Think tanks like the Hudson Institute warn of “stealth jihad,” influencing policy.

    • Legal Tools: Bans on MB affiliates in Egypt, UAE, and now U.S. states; EU de-radicalization programs in France and Germany.

  • Weaknesses:

    • Ideological Blind Spots: Liberal frameworks prioritize multiculturalism, viewing Islamism as a minority issue rather than a civilizational clash. Mass migration (e.g., Europe’s 2015–2023 influx) has strained integration, fostering no-go zones and parallel societies in Sweden and France.

    • Free Speech vs. “Islamophobia”: Laws against “hate speech” (e.g., UK’s 2024 Online Safety Act) can shield Islamist rhetoric, while universities amplify pro-Hamas voices.

    • Fragmented Response: No unified “NATO for democracy” against Islamism; domestic politics (e.g., U.S. polarization) dilute focus. Scholars note Islam’s democratic compatibility in theory (e.g., Tunisia’s Ennahda party moderated), but jihadist offshoots (ISIS, Hamas) exploit this.

 

Overall, the West is tactically armed but philosophically unprepared for protracted ideological warfare. As historian Samuel Huntington warned in Clash of Civilizations (1996), underestimating cultural fault lines invites escalation. A “century-long” framing requires sustained education, immigration reform, and deradicalization. 

 

Huntington does not advocate clashes but predicts them, urging the West to renew its identity and avoid intervening in other civilizations’ affairs to preserve peace.

 

Professor Kedar’s Warning: Prescient Indeed

 

Professor Kedar’s thesis, that well-financed Islamists like the MB exploit Western openness for “civilizational jihad” (per the 1991 Memorandum), feels increasingly prophetic in 2025. A Bar-Ilan University scholar and ex-IDF intelligence officer, Kedar has long argued integration fails when ideologues reject liberal values, using democracy to subvert it.

 

  • Recent Validation: In a Nov 30, 2025, VINnews interview, Kedar warned NYC could resemble “Londonistan” (a term for Islamist enclaves) in 15 years without curbs on migration and MB networks. A Dec 14, 2025, YouTube talk detailed Islamism’s 50+ year strategy of institutional capture.

  • Broader Echoes: His 2024 FIDF talks highlighted unchecked extremism’s global ripple effects, from Iran to Western campuses. Events like the Oct 2025 Tel Aviv conference on Syrian minorities underscore his “tribal” lens on Islamist fragmentation.

 

Kedar’s prescience lies in foreseeing how post-9/11 tolerance could enable stealth threats, now evident in CAIR’s entrenchment and state pushback. Democracies must heed him: Vigilance, not xenophobia, is the antidote.

The YouTube talk by Professor Mordechai Kedar on December 14, 2025, titled “Europe doesn’t see what’s coming — Prof Kedar reveals Islamism’s long-term strategy”,

is available at:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx1XD01s-_0

 

This video features Kedar discussing Islamism’s multi-decade strategy of institutional influence and demographic change in the West, aligning with his broader warnings on civilizational jihad and the Muslim Brotherhood’s tactics.

Mordechai Kedar Bibliography and Notes

Books

 

Professor Mordechai Kedar has authored one primary academic book, based on his doctoral dissertation:

  • Asad in Search of Legitimacy: Message and Rhetoric in the Syrian Press under Hafiz and Bashar (2005). Published by Sussex Academic Press (Brighton/Portland). ISBN: 9781902210742. This analyzes the Syrian regime’s use of media for political legitimacy. 

 

Key Academic Articles and Papers

 

Kedar has published numerous articles, often in policy-oriented journals. Notable ones include:

  • Shari’a and Violence in American Mosques (co-authored with David Yerushalmi, 2011). Published in Middle East Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 3. A study surveying U.S. mosques for correlations between Sharia adherence and violent texts. Available via Bar-Ilan University CRIS, Academia.edu, and ResearchGate.

  • Contributions on gender issues, tribalism, and Jerusalem’s sanctity in Islam (e.g., commentaries and lectures transcribed as papers). Examples on Academia.edu include:

    • “Gap of Values: Gender and Family Issues as Source of Tension between Islam and the West.”

    • Commentaries on “How Jerusalem Became Holy for Islam” and “The Middle East: Tribalism and Not Nationalism.”

His Google Scholar profile lists citations in areas like Middle Eastern societies, tribalism, Islam, terrorism, and gender issues: scholar.google.co.il/citations?user=iYwKupoAAAAJ.

 

Policy Papers and Opinion Pieces

 

Kedar is prolific in think-tank publications:

Many articles originally in Hebrew are translated into English on his blog: mordechaikedarinenglish.blogspot.com.

 

For a comprehensive list, consult his Bar-Ilan University profile .