Free Republic

International donors this week praised the leaders of the Palestinian Authority as moderate peace-seekers who can be trusted with billions of dollars in aid for Gaza—at the very same time the PA was being named “second worst offender” for distributing anti-Semitic publications at Europe's largest book fair. The European branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, headed by Dr. Shimon Samuels, this week released its list of those who circulated anti-Semitic books and magazines at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest annual gathering of publishers in Europe. Qatar was cited as the “Worst Offender of 2014.” But the Qataris had stiff...

As people have become increasingly aware, Qatar has been and continues to be a major funding source for the Hamas, Islamic State, al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and Ansar al-Sharia. What many people may NOT be aware of is that a number of American universities have satellite campuses in Qatar. In part, they are: Northwestern, Texas A&M, Weill-Cornell Medical School, Carnegie-Mellon, Harvard Law, Virginia Commonwealth and Georgetown. But here’s the kicker… Qatar has paid ALL of the costs associated with developing these satellite campuses in Doha – 100% of them. Considering Qatar’s rising stature and infamy in the specialized, and profitable,...

Adelita S. Grijalva Tucson Unified School District 1010 E. Tenth St. Tucson, AZ 85719 Dear Ms. Grijalva: This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar. The Tucson Unified School District has accepted grant money from the Qatar Foundation to fund an Arabic language program. Qatar is a state-sponsor of terrorism, including Hamas, who routinely use civilians, including children, as human shields. Qatar is the host country of the Muslim Brotherhood, a stateless political organization which came to maturity at...

Dear Mr. Strobe Talbott: This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar, the country who is the single biggest foreign donor to the Brookings Institution. The New York Times penned an article in September that outlines the influence of foreign governments through the stealth funding of think tanks in the United States. The Brookings Institution was singled out as one entity receiving such funding. Since 2008, Brookings Doha Center has operated in Qatar. The Brookings Doha Center International Advisory...

Qatar promised $1 billion in reconstruction aid for Gaza at a donor conference in Cairo on Sunday, topping US and European pledges for the devastated Palestinian terror enclave. "Qatar announces its participation with $1 billion for the reconstruction of Gaza," said Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, the foreign minister of the gas-rich country. UN chief Ban Ki-moon told the donor conference Sunday that he would visit the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. "I will visit Gaza on Tuesday to listen directly to the people of Gaza," he said, adding he would also visit Israel "shortly." The international community insisted that Hamas's...

Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service operates a satellite campus in an oppressive Middle Eastern dictatorship. Funded by oil money and corrupt sheikhs, Georgetown University effectively condones and promotes the human rights abuses of our host country. Why does no one talk about this? Georgetown is not alone; we’re one of a growing number of American universities to give a free pass to our Middle Eastern donors. NYU Abu Dhabi, anyone? Cornell in Doha? It’s no mystery — when wealthy princes offer you hundreds of millions of dollars to build a campus in their country, it’s hard to say no....

For years, leaders in both political parties have allowed Qatar and Qatari entities to work against American national interests. Now “regime change” is necessary there, if the civilized world is to destroy radical, Islamist, jihadists and live in peace. The Obama administration, already proven wrong on so many key foreign policy matters, is certainly incorrect to count Qatar as a friend of the United States and our longstanding allies in October 2014. Qatar opened a spigot through which massive sums of money flow to politically connected cronies inside our country, and entities located there continue to work against American values...

Drew Gilpin Faust Office of the President Harvard University Massachusetts Hall Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Dear Dr. Faust: This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar. Harvard University is assisting the Qatar Foundation to establish a law school in Doha, in order to “revitalize legal education in the Middle East, and represent Islamic and Arabic legal traditions in the global dialogue on legal and governance issues.” These traditions include Sharia law. Harvard University is arguably the greatest institution of...

Carnegie Mellon University Office of the President, Dr. Subra Suresh 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412-268-2000 Dear Dr. Suresh: This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar, the country whose capital hosts a campus of Carnegie Mellon University. Since 2001, the Qatar Foundation has borne all campus development costs associated with the campus in Doha’s Education City. (Also see here.) Since 2004, Carnegie Mellon has operated Carnegie Mellon in Qatar, as part of Qatar’s Education City. The educational...

Dear Ms. Garrett: Congratulations on your recent appointment to President of Cornell University! We hope you take this opportunity to examine Weill Cornell Medical College’s extensive relationship with a state sponsor of terrorism. This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar, the country whose capital hosts a campus of Weill Cornell Medical College. Since 2001, the Qatar Foundation has borne all campus development costs associated with the campus in Doha’s Education City.

In a TV interview, Iranian analyst Mohammad Sadeq Al-Hosseini called Saudi Arabia "a tribe on the verge of extinction." Al-Hosseini, a former advisor to Iranian President Khatami, further said: "We in the axis of resistance are the new sultans of the Mediterranean and the Gulf... and we will shape the map of the region. We are the sultans of the Red Sea as well. Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on Al-Mayadeen TV on September 24, 2014: Mohammad Sadeq Al-Hosseini: The Bab Al-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz tighten the noose on the Red Sea, on Israel...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded an apology from U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, if his reported comments about Turkey's "mistakes that paved the way for the rise of the jihadists" were true. "If Biden told these words, then he will be history for me. I never uttered such remarks," Erdogan said after the morning prayer for Eid al-Adha--the festival of sacrifice observed by Muslims all over the world--in Istanbul on early Oct. 4. "President Erdogan told me, he is an old friend, said you were right, we let too many people through, now we are trying to seal...

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted mistakes that paved the way for the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). "President Erdogan told me, he is an old friend, said you were right, we let too many people through, now we are trying to seal the border," Biden said during a speech on foreign policy at Harvard Kennedy School on Oct. 2. While speaking to the students for nearly an hour and a half, Biden defended the U.S. foreign policy, stressing that the White House was not late...

This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar, the country which owns Al Jazeera America, the network which was established following your sale of CurrentTV to Al Jazeera for $500 million in 2013. As cited below, in fact, you and your business partner, Mr. Joel Hyatt, engaged in two major transactions with Qatar: first the purchase of Newsworld International in 2004, from which you launched CurrentTV; secondly, the selling back of the station to Qatar to broadcast Al Jazeera...

Ms. Malika Bilal and Ms. Femi Oke Al Jazeera English PO Box 23127 Doha – Qatar Dear Ms. Bilal and Ms. Femi Oke: This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar, the country which owns Al Jazeera, the network on which you are co-hosts of the program, The Stream. We urge to you read the information below, which includes evidence that Qatar is arguably the preeminent sponsor of terror in the world today. It is a benefactor of the...

To the American Public: In light of the wars and violent turbulence that currently engulf the Middle East and parts of Africa, a coalition of concerned citizens, journalists, and activists are launching a campaign to expose a most infamous and pernicious sponsor of Islamic terror: the Gulf state of Qatar. Qatar, (pronounced “cutter,” or "gutter"), is, per capita, the richest country in the world ($93,352 in 2013). This is partly due to the fact that they control the third largest natural gas reserves in the world, the North Dome field in the Persian Gulf. It is also because Qatar has...

Recent revelations of significant financial ties between the Brookings Institution and Qatar’s government are raising new questions about the policy positions of the influential Washington think tank—including one top scholar’s writings about an al Qaeda-linked group, known as Ahrar al-Sham, that is funded by a terrorist financier linked to the Qatari royal family.The New York Times reported earlier this month that Qatar has pledged a $14.8 million, four-year donation to Brookings, making it the “single biggest foreign donor” to the think tank. That money will help finance Brookings’ Doha Center in Qatar and its project on U.S. relations with the...

From Hamas in the Gaza Strip to radical armed movements in Syria, Qatar's status as a prime sponsor of violent Islamists, including groups linked to al-Qaeda, is clear to diplomats and experts. Qatar's promotion of extremism has so infuriated its neighbours that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates all chose to withdraw their ambassadors from the country in March. Take Syria, where Qatar has been sponsoring the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad's regime. In itself, that policy places Qatar alongside the leading Western powers and much of the Arab world. But Qatar has deliberately channelled guns and cash towards...

In his seminal book, Don't think of an elephant, Dr. George Lakoff, distinguished professor of cognitive science, lists three causes of terrorism: worldview, cultures of despair, and the enabling means. In its 2003 war on terror, the West has only really engaged with the third: the means that enable ''attacks'' to be carried out. These encompass leadership (for example, Osama bin Laden), host countries, training facilities and bases, financial backing, cell organization, information networks, etc. These do not include the first and second on the list. Today, the West discusses the same cause with regard to ISIS in Iraq and...

Full title: Ambassador Power touts international support against Islamic State but won't name countries, commitmentsThe U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Sunday that the American-led effort to destroy the terror group Islamic State has support from more than 40 countries, but declined to name them or the extent of their support. “It’s up to the individual country,” Ambassador Samantha Power told ABC’s “This Week.” France last week joined the United States in airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, and Saudi Arabia has offered to help train moderate anti-Islamic State group fighters. However, what remains unclear is whether Turkey...