The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has published a statement supporting Georgetown University professor Jonathan Brown after he was placed on administrative leave by the university amid controversy surrounding social media posts in which he had called for Iranian strikes on US troops in the region. In their 15 July 2025 statement, CAIR called for the full reinstatement of Brown, the head of Georgetown’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU), saying criticism of his social media posts was willfully distorted and used to target his academic freedom. The statement begins:
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on Georgetown University to fully reinstate Dr. Jonathan Brown, the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service and Director of the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, and to publicly defend him against vicious and bad-faith attacks over a misrepresented social media post. Brown was recently placed on administrative leave reportedly due to pressure from individuals and organizations who have long used false and Islamophobic narratives to smear Muslim scholars and academic institutions. “These attacks are not about a single tweet. They are part of a years-long campaign by hate groups to silence one of the most prominent American Muslim academic voices,” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “Georgetown University’s failure to protect Dr. Brown empowers hate, threatens academic freedom, and undermines the values it claims to uphold.” CAIR noted that Brown’s tweet – which highlighted parallels between specific religious texts – was taken entirely out of context by ideologues who circulated a cropped screenshot of one sentence. The group said Brown had quickly deleted the post and apologized, and that public attacks have nonetheless continued for weeks.
Key Points
-
CAIR has defended Jonathan Brown after Georgetown placed him on leave for a what CAIR called a misrepresented social media post.
-
CAIR claimed the controversy is part of a long-standing anti-Muslim campaign targeting scholars like Brown.
-
The university is facing pressure to protect academic freedom amid calls for public support of Brown.
-
Brown reportedly deleted the tweet and apologized.
Georgetown University’s interim president, Robert Groves, recently confirmed to a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing that Professor Brown had been placed on administrative leave and removed as department chair. Brown had called for a “symbolic strike” by Iran on a US base, which sparked immediate backlash. Georgetown responded by condemning the remarks and taking administrative action, though Brown remains employed as a tenured professor. Brown later clarified that he intended the post as a call for de-escalation, referencing Iran’s previous non-lethal response to US military actions.
Behind the Alwaleed Center: Saudi Funding, Brotherhood Affiliations, and the Georgetown Nexus
The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU) at Georgetown University has repeatedly played a significant role as an academic hub intersecting with US Muslim Brotherhood-linked activities, as evidenced by the center’s involvement in issuing public statements in support of controversial academics and participating in global conferences alongside Brotherhood-affiliated figures. The CMCU’s founding director, Dr. John Esposito, has longstanding ties with organizations and personalities directly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, including serving in advisory capacities with senior Brotherhood figures and being the recipient of substantial funding that aligns with Brotherhood-linked philanthropists.The CMCU recently defended one of its staff members detained by the US Department of Homeland Security over “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist” and “actively spreading Hamas propaganda.” Brown himself is married to Laila Al-Arian, the daughter of Sami Al-Arian, who was deported from the US in 2015 in connection with his support for Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian terrorist group.
The Bridge Initiative is a research project housed within the CMCU at Georgetown University. Founded in 2015 under the direction of John Esposito, the initiative describes its mission as “promoting a more inclusive public discourse by providing research and resources on Islamophobia.” The Bridge Initiative has published numerous reports accusing Western governments and media of promoting anti-Muslim bias. However, the project has drawn sustained criticism due to the affiliations of several of its senior researchers and collaborators with US-based Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations. In addition, Bridge Initiative contributor Farid Hafez has been linked to Austrian Muslim Brotherhood networks and was the subject of an Austrian counterterrorism investigation into Islamist influence operations. Critics argue that the initiative promotes a narrative that conflates legitimate scrutiny of political Islam with bigotry, thereby shielding Brotherhood-affiliated actors from criticism under the guise of anti-Islamophobia work.
Georgetown University’s further engagements with networks linked to political Islam have sharpened in both visibility and controversy. This advocacy is echoed by faculty participating in pan-European initiatives critiquing counterterrorism as structurally Islamophobic, often under the editorial leadership of academics with Muslim Brotherhood ties. Such affiliations are not isolated; Western academics with Brotherhood backgrounds have relocated to U.S. institutions, with some finding roles at Georgetown or within its research networks. The impact is both discursive and operational: a coalition including Georgetown voices urges American Muslims to avoid law enforcement cooperation on security matters, a stance that aligns with positions held by international Brotherhood-linked groups. These dynamics are reinforced when Georgetown faculty appear alongside advisors to governments sympathetic to Islamist causes at transnational conferences, further blurring the boundaries between scholarship and activism in networks spanning Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) describes itself as “a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group and as “America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group.” CAIR was founded in 1994 by three officers of the Islamic Association of Palestine, part of the U.S. Hamas infrastructure at that time. Documents discovered in the course of the terrorism trial of the Holy Land Foundation confirmed that the founders and current leaders of CAIR were part of the Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood and that CAIR itself is part of the US. Muslim Brotherhood.
External References:
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding – Georgetown University
Department of Education Implicates Georgetown for Failure to Report Foreign Gifts
Jonathan_A._C._Brown- Wikipedia
Sami Al-Arian Saga Ends with Deportation
Disclaimer:
The Global Influence Operations Report (GIOR) employs AI throughout the posting process, including generating summaries of news items, the introduction, key points, and often the “context” section. We recommend verifying all information before use. Additionally, images are AI-generated and intended solely for illustrative purposes. While they represent the events or individuals discussed, they should not be interpreted as real-world photography.
PREVIOUS POST