Qatar’s U.S. Influence Operation
The Department of Education is investigating whether Northwestern properly disclosed donations from the Qatari government. Since 2012, the school has accepted approximately $340 million in donations funneled through the Qatar Foundation, a nonprofit group with links to terrorism. The university’s elite Medill School of Journalism in 2008 partnered with the Qatari government-owned media company Al Jazeera, an outlet accused of promoting and aiding al Qaeda, the Iranian regime, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as advancing anti-Semitism.
Read more at The Washington Free Beacon
Qatar is spending billions of dollars to infiltrate the American education system as part of a propaganda effort that legal advocates say violates federal statutes and warrants a full-scale investigation, according to a nonpublic memorandum sent from an investigative group to the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Read more at The Washington Free Beacon
Qatar is spending billions of dollars to infiltrate the American education system as part of a propaganda effort that legal advocates say violates federal statutes and warrants a full-scale investigation, according to a nonpublic memorandum sent from an investigative group to the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Read more at The Washington Free Beacon
The Middle Eastern nation of Qatar has a population consisting of a little more than 300,000 native Qataris, living in 11,586 square kilometers of mostly empty sand. Thus, Qatar might seem to be an unlikely fulcrum for reshaping Western politics and culture through policy debates, think tanks, universities and brand-name cultural institutions. Yet over the past decade, Qatar has implemented the single most sophisticated, sustained, successful effort by any foreign nation or interest group to shape Western policymaking–especially American opinion—in its favor.
Read more at Tablet Magazine
The federal government is asking Harvard University about money it has received from foreign governments, such as China, Iran, Russia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. A similar letter went to Yale. The allegation is that these schools may have accepted these donations without reporting them, as is required by law, and the matter is especially sensitive because such funds may have been used for research related to matters of national security.
Read more at Bloomberg
Over the years, Qatar has spent copious amounts of money on its charm offence, targeting Western decision-makers, especially in the US. While many of its activities fall under lobbying, it’s time for the West to keep a close eye on the money trail.
Read more at International Business Times
The debate series is presented as highbrow intellectual engagement with matters of deep concern to westerners, such as the future of capitalism and democracy. But its real mission is to help create a smokescreen that the Qatari government hopes will obscure some of the most anti-progressive domestic and foreign policies in the world. Doha Debates is the latest cunning public relations move by an illiberal regime that has been able to ingratiate itself to western progressive elites with remarkable ease.
Read more at The Washington Examiner
The government of Qatar is one of Ballard’s clients, and so was the government of Turkey until last month. Turkey alone paid roughly $2 million to Ballard’s firm over the last two years. The relationship between Turkey and Ballard ended after Turkey’s state-run bank Halkbank (which at the time had also been Ballard’s client) was indicted in federal court for evading U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The sanctions-evasion scheme had been spearheaded by Reza Zarrab, a Turkey-based gold trader who was born in Iran. Zarrab, of course, was later represented by Rudy Giuliani, the President’s personal attorney.
Read more at The Bulwark
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker sent a letter to employees on Thursday in response to Qatar Airways announcing their offer to acquire a 10 percent stake in the company.
In the letter, Parker uses the word “puzzling” to describe Qatar Airways’ intention to invest and specifically points out “illegal subsidies” as the reason behind his criticism.
Read more at CNBC