Qatari Anti-Semitism

Doha, Qatar

The ugliness behind the glitter

The Jerusalem Post has published an article focusing on anti-Semitism in Qatar. The wealthy Arab nation on the Persian Gulf has made great efforts in recent years to become an important player on the world stage from hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup to positioning itself as some sort of "strategic ally" to the US against international terror. Much like Saudi Arabia, Qatar is a questionable ally, indeed. More significantly, not only does Qatar play host to the leadership of Hamas, it has joined with Antony Blinken's State Department in an attempt to broker a cease-fire in Gaza and release of Israeli hostages.

The JP article focuses on anti-Israel, anti-Jewish attitudes prevalent in Qatar, including anti-Jewish tropes present in Qatari textbooks. The article is based on the US State Department's 2023 report on religious freedom around the world.

The State Department report on Qatar is troubling indeed. Yet, that same State Department is partnering with Qatar to find a "solution" to the Gaza war. 

In addition, Qatar is also home to the Al Jazeera news network. Much like Qatar itself, Al Jazeera poses as a responsible and objective news outlet, you know, like CNN, BBC, and so many others. Their English language operation even features many liberal Westerners eager to carry water for Qatar's positions on issues such as the West in general, and Israel in particular. Not surprisingly, many of their op-ed contributors are American university professors, uniformly hostile to Israel.

And let us not forget that Qatar, like Saudi Arabia, pours a lot of money into American academia, much of it to fund Middle East Studies departments in our universities. These departments are basically bastions of pan-Arab, anti-Israel, and anti-West teaching. In short, they are propaganda centers. A significant part of the blame for the turmoil currently going on in our universities over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is attributable to these so-called academic departments.

Of course, in international politics, nations sometimes need to cooperate with odious regimes. The US learned that during World War 2 and the Cold War. Today we have the sector of Iran looming over that part of the world. I get it. At the same time, Qatar is a country we should be leery of. The less we have to depend on duplicitous countries like Qatar, the better.