Poisoned Qatari wealth penetrates US decision-making circles

Aya Ezz

Qatar is using its wealth to try to control the centers of governance around the world, especially in the United States. American newspapers have confirmed that Doha has been able to penetrate US decision-making circles and American public opinion.

Author David Reaboi said in a report in Newsweek that Qatar has launched a widespread campaign to penetrate the American political scene over the last few years, adding that despite Doha’s official sponsorship of the extremist Brotherhood, its possession of oil and natural gas allowed it to acquire friends in the United States, where it spends its money in every direction to cover its bases with a wide range of influencers in the US.

According to a previous report by the Wall Street Journal, between October 2017 and October 2019, Qatar paid $180,000 to Common Sense Media Holdings, which produces radio programs for the most important decision-makers in the United States. The report also confirmed that Doha paid the costs of American politicians traveling to the Gulf emirate.

Bulk lawsuits

US agencies have filed lawsuits against Qatar’s crude interference. The most recent lawsuit was filed in June by attorney Steven Perles on behalf of victims of terrorism in New York City.

The case singled out Qatar Charity as a means of financing international terrorism, along with both Al Rayan Bank and Qatar National Bank. It accused Qatar of using American financial channels to finance terrorists, stressing that official bodies and financial institutions have provided large sums to them.

The lawsuit, which was filed in New York City on June 10, said that Qatar secretly provided funding for many of the terrorist attacks that have claimed the lives of Americans, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by the US website Free Beacon.

Seeking compensation for the families of those killed by acts of terrorism, the lawsuit indicated that several Qatari financial institutions, mainly controlled by Qatar’s ruling family, provided millions of dollars to the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, which are classified as terrorist organizations by the United States.

Qatari charities used the American banking system to illegally transfer funds to terrorist groups to plan and carry out attacks.

Free Beacon stated that the lawsuit specifically targeted Qatar Charity, which was established in 1992 and operates as a major source of funding for international terrorists.

The website stressed that both Al Rayan Bank and Qatar National Bank worked to provide access to the American financial system to obtain the necessary dollars to support the terrorist activities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine.

Meanwhile, an American press photographer filed another federal case in Florida in January against the Qatar Islamic Bank. The photographer had been kidnapped in Syria at the end of 2012 by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and he accused the bank of financing his kidnappers.