ISGAP report alleges Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of Canadian institutions

A new report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) alleges that the Muslim Brotherhood is infiltrating Canadian institutions through nonprofit organizations and universities, part of what it frames as a broader transnational ideological strategy, the National Post reported Monday.

In the 200-page study, the New York-based institute argues that, through an organized campaign of pro-Palestinian activism and anti-Islamophobia advocacy, the Brotherhood and other groups are helping to foment antisemitism in Canada. The organizations, the report alleges, are often funded through what it describes as highly sophisticated financial channels that run through Qatar, and have embedded themselves in some of Canada’s biggest universities.

“Under the radar, Canada is being infiltrated,” said Charles Small, ISGAP’s founder and director. The report argues that the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to embed what it calls “pro-Islamism” into Canadian life primarily through “entryism,” the act of changing institutions—cultural, governmental, educational or others—from within. Canada, with its preference for multicultural ideals and what Small described as lax immigration laws, is particularly susceptible to such efforts, he said.

While the report cites Canadian organizations that avoid the more radical Muslim Brotherhood values, it asserts that many such charities and advocacy groups push specific transnational interests, often under the guise of inclusivity, pro-Palestinian activism or efforts to combat “Islamophobic” ideas. “The Muslim Brotherhood manipulates and uses these democratic principles and our cultural institutions in a way that allows them to enter into our society, to enter into higher education, to enter into the Muslim community, to create mosques and civic organizations that are radicalized,” Small said.

The report comes after ISGAP’s separate study last year, which asserted that the Muslim Brotherhood was systematically influencing various U.S. institutions and called for the group to be designated as a terrorist organization. Days later, the Trump administration said it would designate certain chapters of the Brotherhood as global terrorists, the National Post noted. The ISGAP report also cites internal Muslim Brotherhood texts such as the 1991 “Explanatory Memorandum,” which it argues explicitly outlines plans to reshape Western society, including Canada, from within.

The National Post noted that the Muslim Brotherhood is a movement that began in Egypt in the 1920s and, at its root, seeks to establish core Islamic values as a foundation for society, with chapters across the Middle East that differ in composition and objectives. Various Middle Eastern nations, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have outlawed the Brotherhood and designated it a terrorist organization, and Canadian lawmakers have faced pressure domestically to do the same. Researchers in France have recently raised similar concerns about the Brotherhood’s “entryism” there, warning that it threatens to undermine the country’s secular identity, while British authorities have raised similar alarms but so far have done little to stem the group’s influence, the National Post reported.