Progress never comes easy — especially in the Middle East. That is why much credit is due to the late Sultan Qaboos of Oman, who died this past Friday. A patron of progress and peace, an ally of the West, and a visionary, Sultan Qaboos potentially primed the Persian Gulf for its ongoing renaissance, which remains characterized by increasing progress, tolerance, and pro-Western sentiment. For this, he deserves plaudits.
Sultan Qaboos was destined for ushering change — he beat to a different tune, ascending the throne as a possibly <a href="https://www.albawaba.com/node/was-omans-late-sultan-only-gay-monarch-world-and-why-do-people-care-1332272">gay</a> man whose colorful <a href="https://apnews.com/d5bb9597cc96b6ab7a6e73fd87d72f30">clothes</a> illuminated the hostile environment he inherited. Then, slavery <a href="https://apnews.com/d5bb9597cc96b6ab7a6e73fd87d72f30">existed</a> and Omani <a href="https://apnews.com/d5bb9597cc96b6ab7a6e73fd87d72f30">law</a> banned electricity, radios, eyeglasses, and even umbrellas. Under Sultan Qaboos, these realities quickly became no more. He advanced Omani society, transforming it from one previously rooted in extreme traditionalism to one that, while outward-looking in nature, maintained a relatively <a href="https://apnews.com/9ca4a9910ede3e11b2fbf085189e628b">non-interventionist</a> <a href="https://apnews.com/9ca4a9910ede3e11b2fbf085189e628b">persona</a>. Under Qaboos, Oman became one of the world’s <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Oman.html">safest</a> and <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/211rank.html">wealthiest</a> countries, and it now celebrates higher purchasing power parity per capita rates than Finland. He also provided Oman stability, ruling since 1970 and thereby becoming the region’s <a href="https://apnews.com/9ca4a9910ede3e11b2fbf085189e628b">longest</a> ruling head of state. In sum, he put Oman on a stable path that produced tremendous social and economic progress.
Qaboos&#8217; aspirations for progress were also regional in scope, advancing the cause of peace. He negotiated and <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/11/14/oman-the-worlds-hostage-negotiator/">secured</a> the release of Western hostages in neighboring countries, often dipping into his own pocket to do so. And while he maintained economic and political <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/05/09/oman-in-the-middle/">ties</a> with Iran, he also leveraged his relationship for good, using his influence to help <a href="https://apnews.com/d5bb9597cc96b6ab7a6e73fd87d72f30">free</a> Westerners detained therein.
Qaboos, while idealistic at times, did propel stronger ties with the West. Qaboos, a “close ally,” advanced U.S. military interests, allowing the U.S. access to two strategic ports and an “overland <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/03/29/u-s-and-oman-sign-strategic-port-agreement/">route</a> that would enable … forces [in future conflict] to reach the Persian Gulf without transiting the Strait of Hormuz.” The Strait of Hormuz, which has been <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/03/29/u-s-and-oman-sign-strategic-port-agreement/">subject</a> to the threat of closures by Iran, remains one of the world’s most important bodies of water, “through which 30% of all seaborne crude oil shipments pass.” He also <a href="https://www.sqcc.org/Arabic-Language-Program/SABLA-Summer-Arabic-Language-Immersion.aspx">sponsored</a> American students to learn Arabic in Oman, thereby fostering stronger future ties between the two countries.
Most radically, Qaboos challenged the status quo, openly associating and largely normalizing (albeit still unofficial) ties with Israel. In 2018, Qaboos invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Muscat, the first invitation extended to an Israeli premier in <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/oman-says-it-will-open-embassy-in-west-bank/">20 years</a>. And while greeting Netanyahu later in Warsaw at a security conference that highlighted the Iranian security threat, Qaboos implied the need to recognize Israel. He boldly <a href="https://youtu.be/5DH6mic4iz8?t=55">proclaimed</a> before a media entourage, “people in the Middle East have suffered a lot because they stick to the past. I will now say this is a new era for the future.” According to the head of the Mossad, Israeli-Omani ties have since <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20190701-israel-renewing-oman-ties-opportunity-more-spy-chief">culminated</a> in the “renewal of formal relations” and a “representative office of the [Israeli] foreign ministry” in Oman. While Oman has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/oman-says-it-will-open-embassy-in-west-bank/">denied</a> such claims, it now allows Israel’s national airline to use Omani <a href="https://www.apnews.com/b9c267a0517f4b808550d44463b9c3aa">airspace</a> and has invited Israeli officials to discuss the possibility of a <a href="https://www.apnews.com/b877d933d9994e7a85a881c81ad59b2e">rail</a> connecting Israel with the Gulf states. Hence, through nourishing ties with the U.S., and de-stigmatizing its ally Israel, Qaboos’ Oman spearheaded progress, peace, and its U.S. alliance.
Other neighboring countries have seemingly followed Qaboos’ example of social reform and heightened tolerance. In recent years, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia, Oman’s neighbor, has imitated Sultan Qaboos and his reforms — <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-paradox-of-saudi-arabias-social-reforms/">allowing</a> women to drive, legalizing movie theaters, curbing religious police, and also <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/saudi-prince-israelis-have-the-right-to-have-their-own-land-1.5974278">de facto</a> recognizing of Israel. Recently, MBS <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/saudi-prince-israelis-have-the-right-to-have-their-own-land-1.5974278">noted</a> that “the Israelis have the right to have their own land.” The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have also seemingly followed Oman’s lead. Key leaders have hosted Israeli diplomats and <a href="https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/bahrain/bahrain-minister-calls-for-open-communication-with-israel-1.64872601">media</a> at <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/signs-of-warming-ties-as-israeli-ministers-head-to-gulf">conferences</a> and have also <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/UAE-Foreign-Minister-Very-wrong-decision-not-to-have-contact-with-Israel-585051">idealized</a> the <a href="https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/6/26/bahrain-fm-hints-at-normalising-ties-with-israel">potential</a> of official ties with Israel. While it is uncertain whether Qaboos directly inspired these results, he certainly paved the path that many now seem to follow. It should therefore be no coincidence that the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51082415">heads</a> of state of Bahrain, Israel, and the UAE, as well as the crown prince of <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/01/11/Saudi-Arabia-s-King-Crown-Prince-send-message-to-Oman-s-Sultan-Haitham.html">Saudi Arabia</a> have reflected on Sultan Qaboos’ death or have sent condolences.
While the future of the Middle East remains uncertain, Oman’s future appears somewhat optimistic. Its new leader, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, has pledged to reinforce his predecessor’s vision: “We will follow the same line as the late sultan, and the principles that he asserted for the foreign policy of our country, of peaceful coexistence among nations and people, and good neighborly behavior.” So long as the new sultan keep his promise, America can rest assured of a forecast of impending peace and progress — a vision that could magnify throughout the region.
&nbsp;
Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.

Queen Elizabeth II with Sultan Qaboos

COPE: A Tribute To Omani Sultan Qaboos, Ally And Patron Of Progress

Foreign Policy

Middle East

Perhaps the greatest misconception involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that, while the Palestinians may be more morally wrong, it is Israel who must do more to usher in peace. Truth is, nothing Israel offers will suffice, because Palestinian leadership has never wanted peace — nor even a two-state solution. It’s time the world acknowledges the true motives of Palestinian leadership: Either a “Judenrein Palestine” (a Jew-free Palestine) or sustained conflict that inspires the foreign aid that enriches the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) coffers.
For the entirety of its existence, Palestinian-Arab leadership has championed anti-Semitism and violence — antitheses to peace. Cue Hajj Amin al-Husseini, an infamous <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/The-Grand-Muftis-Nazi-connection-347823">Nazi collaborator</a> and the first to spearhead Palestinian-Arab nationalism. As the grand mufti of Jerusalem, al-Husseini stopped at no cost to undermine Britain’s control over Mandatory Palestine. Al-Husseini allied with the Nazis and even <a href="https://timeline.com/nazis-muslim-extremists-ss-6824aee281d2">recruited</a> for the SS. He <a href="https://youtu.be/WghqmG4sn_A?t=1973">saluted</a> Hitler, had a “<a href="https://youtu.be/WghqmG4sn_A?t=2060">close relationship</a>” with SS Chief Heinrich Himmler — who masterminded the Holocaust, and <a href="https://timeline.com/nazis-muslim-extremists-ss-6824aee281d2">proclaimed</a>, “kill the Jews wherever you find them.” According to <a href="https://youtu.be/WghqmG4sn_A?t=2400">Professor</a> Gilbert Archcar, al-Husseini even reached out to European leaders and “advocat[ed] that the Jews be sent to concentration camps instead of … Palestine.” Al-Husseini was complicit in Jewish genocide — and he championed those perpetrating it.
Yasser Arafat echoed support for al-Husseini and his agenda. Arafat <a href="https://youtu.be/WghqmG4sn_A?t=2902">regarded</a> al-Husseini as a “hero,” and <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Arafat-is-not-a-hero-463150">observed</a>: “We plan to eliminate … Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews …” Arafat also <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2004/11/11/the-father-of-modern-terrorism-the-true-legacy-of-yasser-arafat/">chaired</a> the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). An organization whose “single purpose” was <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2004/11/11/the-father-of-modern-terrorism-the-true-legacy-of-yasser-arafat/">Israel’s destruction</a>, the PLO has <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/glossary-terms/palestine-liberation-organization-plo">killed</a> “thousands of civilians.”
Mahmoud Abbas, the current president of the PA, has continued his predecessors’ anti-Semitism and jihadism. He has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-blood-of-martyrs-spilled-on-temple-mount-is-pure/">referred</a> to Jews as “dirty,” and has incited murder, exclaiming, “<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-blood-of-martyrs-spilled-on-temple-mount-is-pure/">Every</a> drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every [martyr] will reach paradise.” And in 2018, the PA under Abbas directed <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/think-tank-terrorists-to-be-paid-as-pa-allots-nis-1-2b-for-inmates-martyrs/">$330 million</a> to the PA Martyrs Fund, which sponsors stipends to terrorists and their families. Abbas&#8217;s anti-Semitism also includes Holocaust denial, the very <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/palestinian-leader-abbas-apologizes-speech-condemned-anti-semitic-n871336">focus</a> of his dissertation: The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism And Zionist Movement. Abbas has also <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/palestinian-leader-abbas-apologizes-speech-condemned-anti-semitic-n871336">blamed</a> “hatred against Jews” as a result of “their social profession.” He is undeniably anti-Semitic.
Other political influences deserving mention are Hamas and Marwan Barghouti. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-israel-must-destroy-hamas-once-and-all-josh-hammer">Hamas</a>, which governs Gaza, is a terrorist organization committed to Israel’s destruction. Hamas won the last Palestinian elections in 2006, and in late 2018, was regarded as the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-shows-hamas-leader-would-defeat-abbas-to-win-palestinian-elections/">favorite</a> to win the next elections. Further, Hamas has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-shows-hamas-leader-would-defeat-abbas-to-win-palestinian-elections/">fought</a> three wars with Israel since 2008, and has fired <a href="https://www.aipac.org/-/media/publications/policy-and-politics/aipac-analyses/one-pagers/mountingthreatstoisraelhamas.pdf">17,000</a> rockets in that span. And <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Is-Marwan-Barghouti-planning-to-run-for-PA-president-612370">polling</a> suggests that Marwan Barghouti, <a href="https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Issues/Pages/On-Marwan-Barghouti-s-murder-record,-political-maneuvering-and-exploitation.aspx">founder</a> of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and convicted murderer of <a href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/palestine/marwan-barghouti.htm">26</a> people, would win the next Palestinian election if selected as the candidate for Fatah — Abbas&#8217; party.
Hence, anti-Semitism and violence have corrupted Palestinian leadership. Peace is the last thing it wants, the first being Israel&#8217;s destruction and a Judenrein state — which is why PA law allows the <a href="https://apnews.com/b3d04486484046a388b30356a92ff6fb">death penalty</a> to be imposed upon Palestinians who sell land to Jews. But if the PA cannot achieve Judenrein, it will settle for sustained conflict, which inspires the foreign aid that enriches the PA and allows it to expand its power.
Sadly, Israel has demonstrated more commitment to a Palestinian state than has Palestinian leadership itself. Since 2000, Israel has <a href="https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/api/file/viewByFileId/405763.pdf">proposed</a> or accepted four land-for-peace <a href="https://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/pressroom/2002/pages/response%20of%20fm%20peres%20to%20the%20decisions%20of%20the%20arab.aspx">proposals</a> that would have created an independent Palestinian state. The PA has refused all proposals, despite one being so <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/bill-clinton-defends-his-and-hillarys-israel-record-spars-with-heckler-over-gaza/">generous</a> as to include all of Gaza, East Jerusalem, and 97% of Judea and Samaria. Palestinian self-sabotages at achieving statehood have been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-vox-lies-about-israel-again">so in vain</a> that Bill Clinton once <a href="https://www.jpost.com/US-Elections/Bill-Clinton-I-almost-killed-myself-trying-to-give-Palestinians-a-state-453947">lamented</a>, “I killed myself trying to give Palestinians a state.”
The PA&#8217;s motive, instead of statehood, is corruption — which “thrives” as conflict exists. Conflict fuels international attention and the foreign aid that the PA has exploited to line its pockets and fortify its bureaucracy. In 2015, it was reported that the PA had received <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6353/palestinians-us-aid">$25 billion</a> in foreign aid since 1994. Yet <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6353/palestinians-us-aid">Palestinians</a> “saw no improvement in their living conditions.” This sum should startle: Palestinian foreign aid, when assessed on a per capita basis, exceeds that designated for the Marshall Plan by <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3979/unrwa-dilemma">25 times</a>. Unlike the Marshall Plan, which propelled Europe’s reconstruction in <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-palestinians-lost-marshall-plans">four</a> years, the “<a href="https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/api/file/viewByFileId/405763.pdf">Palestinian Project</a>” has now lasted over a quarter of a century without any end in sight.
So where has the money gone? Corruption. Arafat amassed <a href="https://nypost.com/2002/08/14/hes-billion-dollar-arafat-got-rich-on-aid-for-palestinians-israel-general-says/">$10+ billion</a>, “[t]he main source” of which was “the approximately $6 billion contributed … as financial aid.” Further, Arafat’s financial advisor accumulated <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3066/how-much-is-mahmoud-abbas-worth">$500+</a> million, having had access to “hundreds of millions of [the PA’s] dollars.” Abbas also amassed approximately $<a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3066/how-much-is-mahmoud-abbas-worth">100 million</a>, despite being a career politician, and his two sons are millionaires who <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-palestinians-aid-abbas-exclusive-sb/firms-run-by-president-abbass-sons-get-u-s-contracts-idUKTRE53L2R020090422">operate</a> foreign aid contracting businesses. The PA suffers from systemic venality.
Palestinian-Arab leadership has long realized that conflict must exist for it to receive aid. Thus, in 2018, it distributed $<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/think-tank-terrorists-to-be-paid-as-pa-allots-nis-1-2b-for-inmates-martyrs/">330 million</a> worth of stipends to thousands of terrorists and their families, thereby inspiring future generations of terror. PA leadership also realizes that its power remains dependent on keeping the Palestinian people dependent on its reign. Hence, in <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/324951520906690830/text/124205-WP-PUBLIC-MAR14-5PM-March-2018-AHLC-Report.txt">2016</a>, “[m]ore than half” of the PA’s spending on Gaza was “spent on wages to PA employees.” Further, between 1999 and 2007, the <a href="https://www.meforum.org/1926/does-foreign-aid-fuel-palestinian-violence/#_ftn16">PA</a> recruited 70,000 new government officials, while spending 70% of the Paris Conference foreign aid package on government salaries in 2008, and 58% of its entire foreign aid for 2001 on PA salaries. Through inciting violence and dependency culture, the PA exploits conflict to preserve its power and wealth.
In sum, Palestinian leadership has long been disingenuous. It wants not peace, but either a &#8220;Judenrein Palestine&#8221; or a conflict that will enable its corruption, power, and raison d’etre. If the world really wants a solution, it must stop blaming Israel, which has actually tried to establish a Palestinian state, and condemn the true motives of Palestinian leadership.
&nbsp;
Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.

Yasser Arafat

COPE: The True Motives Of Palestinian Leadership, Corruption, And Ethnic Cleansing

Israel

Palestinians

Once the spearhead of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey has again risen to prominence — but for all the wrong reasons. Turkey has prevailed as NATO’s worst ally, disrespecting its core tenets as well as its members’ security interests. It has championed terrorism and has ethnically cleansed the Kurds, forcefully <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/16/kurdish-commander-mazloum-abdi-trump-prevent-ethnic-cleansing-kurds-turkey/">displacing</a> 300,000 in northern Syria and purging <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">24</a> Kurdish mayors from office in Turkey. Turkey’s utter disregard for NATO’s <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/126169.htm">purposes</a> — including collective defense and, arguably, promotion of regional stability — and its terrorism warrant a “cold Turkey” expulsion from NATO.
While the North Atlantic Treaty does not stipulate whether expulsion is an available remedy, it is <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/66574/can-turkey-be-expelled-from-nato/">likely</a> so. This is because Article 60(b) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties — which governs the interpretation of international treaties — <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/66574/can-turkey-be-expelled-from-nato/">notes</a> that material breaches of a treaty, which can justify grounds for a member’s expulsion, include “the violation of a provision essential to the accomplishment of the object or purpose of the treaty.” According to Just Security, violating NATO’s underlying principles, but more so its “object and purpose,” can amount to a material breach that can <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/66574/can-turkey-be-expelled-from-nato/">legitimate</a> Turkey’s expulsion.
Turkey deserves expulsion for challenging NATO’s principles, but also for its failures as a purported geopolitical “ally.” In <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/turkey-and-nato-troubled-relationship/599890/">1974</a>, Turkey violated arguably NATO’s foremost object and tenet — <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_110496.htm">Article V</a>, a collective defense provision maintaining that an <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/126169.htm">attack</a> on any NATO member is an attack on all — by attacking Greece, then a NATO member, over control for Cyprus. Turkey still occupies Cyprus’s north and is the only country to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/northern-cyprus-travel/index.html">recognize</a> “the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as legitimate.” This invasion alone, which displaced <a href="https://www.thenationalherald.com/210640/cyprus-turkish-invasion-anniversary-brings-calls-to-resume-unity-talks/">200,000</a> Cypriot-Greeks, can be invoked to initiate Turkey’s expulsion. Turkey has also defied NATO’s founding purposes, to counter de facto Russian <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato">aggression</a> and <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/formation-of-nato-and-warsaw-pact">expansion</a>, by recently procuring a Russian air defense system. Thus, Turkey has demonstrated a dual allegiance to NATO’s historic competitor. Turkey has also undermined <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/126169.htm">regional stability</a>, <a href="http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/regional/45793-libyan-army-spokesman-turkey-transports-a-number-of-daesh-and-jabhat-al-nusra-terrorists-from-syria-to-libya">deploying</a> ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al Sham to fight in Libya, and has refused to aid NATO allies in times of need, denying the U.S. use of the Incirlik Airbase during the Iraq War. A failed NATO ally, Turkey has initiated internal war, has sided with NATO’s historic adversary, and has slighted its allies during key operations.
Turkey’s sponsorship of terror is also overwhelming. In part, this is because Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has long championed jihadists and fundamentalists like <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-archives-turkish-president-erdo%C4%9Fans-past-close-relations-afghan-warlord-gulbuddin">Galbuddin Hekmatyar</a>. An “Afghani jihad leader,” “Specifically Designated Global Terrorist,” and “Al Qaeda ally,” <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-archives-turkish-president-erdo%C4%9Fans-past-close-relations-afghan-warlord-gulbuddin">Hekmatyar</a> offered bin Laden shelter in Afghanistan, and “pledged allegiance to the spiritual leader of the Taliban” to attack American troops. Yet, a young <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-archives-turkish-president-erdo%C4%9Fans-past-close-relations-afghan-warlord-gulbuddin">Erdogan</a> can be <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-archives-turkish-president-erdo%C4%9Fans-past-close-relations-afghan-warlord-gulbuddin">found</a> sitting beside Hekmatyar’s feet. Erdogan was also a “<a href="https://ahvalnews.com/muslim-brotherhood/turkey-becomes-biggest-muslim-brotherhood-backer-world">pupil</a>” of Necmettin Erbakan, the founder of Turkish Islamism and Turkey’s former prime minister. <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/necmettin-erbakan">Erbakan</a> founded Turkish affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as the Welfare Party, and has praised Hamas.
Not surprisingly, Erdogan has advanced his masters’ fundamentalism — harboring, exporting, and financing terror. Turkish <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">authorities</a> allow <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/hamas">Hamas</a> to coordinate attacks from Istanbul, while also <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/17/hamas-plots-attacks-israel-turkey-erdogan-turns-blind-eye/">allowing</a> Hamas officials to “freely” enter “without fear of arrest.” Shortly after hosting Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s leader, Erdogan <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/barkat-asks-us-to-sanction-turkey-after-report-of-hamas-assassination-plot/">saluted</a> Hamas: “We will keep on supporting our brothers in Palestine.” In fact, ties between Hamas and Erdogan’s Turkey are so <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/17/hamas-plots-attacks-israel-turkey-erdogan-turns-blind-eye/">strong</a> that “Turkish intelligence agents also maintain close contact with [Hamas] operatives.”
Erdogan has also <a href="https://ahvalnews.com/muslim-brotherhood/turkey-becomes-biggest-muslim-brotherhood-backer-world">provided</a> safe haven and funding to members of the <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/muslim-brotherhood">Muslim Brotherhood</a>, from which <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/hamas">Hamas</a> emerged. Under Erdogan and his AKP, a Brotherhood-linked political party, <a href="https://ahvalnews.com/muslim-brotherhood/turkey-becomes-biggest-muslim-brotherhood-backer-world">Turkey</a> has become the “biggest Muslim Brotherhood backer in the world,” even outpacing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cope-academia-and-think-tanks-must-boycott-qatar">Qatar</a>, and has “been handed … a leading position in the [Brotherhood] movement, due to [its]success.” Having provided a safe haven for dozens of Brotherhood figures, Erdogan has <a href="https://ahvalnews.com/muslim-brotherhood/turkey-becomes-biggest-muslim-brotherhood-backer-world">sheltered</a> “some the movement’s most powerful and influential figures.”
Turkey also <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">safeguards</a> and <a href="http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/regional/45793-libyan-army-spokesman-turkey-transports-a-number-of-daesh-and-jabhat-al-nusra-terrorists-from-syria-to-libya">deploys</a> ISIS fighters. According to the head of Iraqi military intelligence, Lt.-Gen. Saad al-Allaq, Turkey currently <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">harbors</a> “nine [of ISIS’s] alleged terror leaders” and “top financiers.” It has become home to ISIS recruitment <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">cells</a>, and is a refuge to which many ISIS members fled after losing territory. In Turkey, ISIS has <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">planned</a> prison breaks and attacks. <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">ISIS</a> procurement agents and ISIS-affiliated companies also operate from Turkey, and Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was found just miles from its eastern border — suggesting that Turkish intelligence likely condoned nearby ISIS activity.
Most shocking, however, has been Turkey’s direct <a href="http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/regional/45793-libyan-army-spokesman-turkey-transports-a-number-of-daesh-and-jabhat-al-nusra-terrorists-from-syria-to-libya">deployment</a> of <a href="https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkey-is-smuggling-daesh-terrorists-to-libya-lna/">troops</a> from ISIS and <a href="https://www.csis.org/programs/transnational-threats-project/terrorism-backgrounders/hayat-tahrir-al-sham-hts">Hayat Tahrir Al Sham</a>, a Salafi-jihadist group whose predecessor was <a href="https://www.csis.org/programs/transnational-threats-project/terrorism-backgrounders/hayat-tahrir-al-sham-hts">Jabhat Al Nusra</a> (an Al Qaeda affiliate), in the Libyan Civil War. Reinforcing Libya&#8217;s Government of National Accord, which <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/15/qatar-state-sponsor-terrorism/">Qatar</a> — one of the world’s largest sponsors of terror — also backs, Turkey’s military has also accepted a military <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">escort</a> from Hayat Tahrir al Sham in Syria. Hence, Turkey not only embraces terrorism, but exports it as well.
Turkey’s ties to terror also involve financing, including  “<a href="http://trumanproject.org/home/doctrine-blog/the-gray-list-turkeys-financing-of-terrorism/">indiscriminate funding</a>” to “al-Q[ae]da based groups in the region, specifically those in the Syrian Civil War.” Turkey remains the only NATO country to be <a href="http://trumanproject.org/home/doctrine-blog/the-gray-list-turkeys-financing-of-terrorism/">gray-listed</a> by the Financial Action Task Force (<a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/about/">FATF</a>), an intergovernmental body committed to “combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.” Funding, exporting, and harboring terror amongst many groups, Turkey champions terror and warrants long-overdue sanctions.
Through violating its duties as a NATO member, and through its strong affiliations to terrorist groups — Hamas, ISIS, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, and arguably, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-designating-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-josh-hammer">Muslim Brotherhood</a> — Turkey emerges as candidate for the worst NATO ally in the history of the alliance. Having legal grounds to expel Turkey expulsion, NATO must now do so — and it must do so swiftly in order to protect its integrity.
&nbsp;
Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London

COPE: Expel Erdogan, His Terror, And His Ethnic Cleansing From NATO

Al Qaeda

Europe

Islamic State (ISIS)

NATO

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey

Since <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/how-the-saudi-led-qatar-boycott-transformed-the-tiny-emirate-s-economy-1.7335205">2017</a>, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt have boycotted Qatar due to its overwhelming support for terrorism. While this multilateral call to action should have raised alarm, the American public remained largely silent, effectively condoning Qatar’s abuses — its overwhelming <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/15/qatar-state-sponsor-terrorism/">sponsorship</a> of terrorism, and its <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/world-cup-2022-qatars-workers-slaves-building-mausoleums-stadiums-modern-slavery-kafala-a7980816.html">slave-like</a> labor conditions that could kill <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fifa-world-cup-2022-a-worker-plummeted-to-his-death-2018-2">4,000</a> stadium workers before the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-qatar-paid-880-million-bribes-fifa-secure-josh-hammer">Qatar-hosted</a> 2022 World Cup’s opening whistle.
With the grace of relative impunity, Qatar has had the latitude to tailor its reputation, whitewash its vices, and advance its pro-terrorist agenda. Qatar has done so by infecting America’s minds and academia through propaganda and funding. It has done so three-fold, with the latter two methods being my primary focus here. First, Qatar has infiltrated American media, attracting 11+ million Facebook followers through <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/al-jazeera-promotes-terrorism-social-media-must-deplatform-aj-aj/">AJ+</a>, an ostensibly progressive channel that proxies for Al Jazeera, Qatar’s state-run network that is known to glorify terrorists as “<a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/al-jazeera-promotes-terrorism-social-media-must-deplatform-aj-aj/">martyrs</a>.” Second, Qatar has <a href="https://clarionproject.org/qatar-on-our-campuses/">donated</a> nearly $1.5 billion to U.S. primary schools and universities, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Is-Qatari-funding-influencing-BDS-on-US-college-campuses-587100">promoting</a> its image and radicalizing curricula. Lastly, Qatar has funded think tanks, thereby censoring criticism.
To preserve both academic freedom and morality, academia and think tanks must sever all future ties to and funding from the Qatari government. This would undermine Qatar’s grooming efforts while also raising the awareness of students — who are, by definition, America’s future — to Qatar’s abuses. It would also challenge Qatar to either reform or risk suffering the reputational harm that it so manifestly deserves.
Qatar’s extensive influence efforts whitewash and masquerade the terrorism that it champions. Qatar has funded <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/hamas">Hamas</a> — a terrorist organization <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-israel-must-destroy-hamas-once-and-all-josh-hammer">vowing</a> Israel’s destruction — with <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Qatars-break-with-Hamas-shakes-up-Mideast-politics-584379">$1.1 billion</a> since 2012 and formerly <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/fact-check-is-qatar-supporting-terrorism-1.5484124">provided</a> billions of dollars to Mohamed Morsi’s deposed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-designating-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-josh-hammer">Muslim Brotherhood</a> regime in Egypt. Qatar&#8217;s emir enables Hamas to convene in <a href="https://freebeacon.com/national-security/hamas-chief-holds-press-conference-at-four-seasons-hotel/">Doha’s</a> <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/qatar-hosting-hamas-whitewashing-terror-606750">hotels</a>, and the emir openly celebrates the jihadist outfit. He <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/25/world/meast/qatar-emir/index.html">observed</a> that “Qatar supports ‘all Palestinian people. We believe Hamas is a very important part of the Palestinian people.” Qatar also harbors high-profile terrorists like <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/countries/qatar">Khaled Meshaal</a>, who formerly headed Hamas’s political bureau, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23007401">20 high-profile members</a> of the Afghani Taliban, and key financiers of terror like <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11140190/Banker-who-financed-911-mastermind-now-funding-terrorists-in-Syria-and-Iraq.html">Khalifa Al Subaiy</a>, “the mastermind behind 9/11.” Not to mention infamous top Muslim Brotherhood cleric <a href="https://www.meforum.org/57690/ensconced-doha-islamists">Yusuf al-Qaradawi</a>. Between financing, harboring, and sponsoring terror, Qatar fuels essentially every step of militant jihad.
Through its funding, Qatar has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-many-cnns-national-security-experts-have-josh-hammer">sought to influence</a> the curricula of American primary schools and <a href="https://clarionproject.org/qatar-on-our-campuses/">universities</a>: Georgetown, Texas A&amp;M (TAMU), Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, and Virginia Commonwealth. Of the aforementioned, all enjoy campuses in Qatar at the annual estimated $<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/08/texas-university-gets-76-million-each-year-to-operate-in-qatar-contract-says/">404.8 million</a> expense of the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Is-Qatari-funding-influencing-BDS-on-US-college-campuses-587100">Qatar Foundation</a> (QF), “a state-supported <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Is-Qatari-funding-influencing-BDS-on-US-college-campuses-587100">NGO</a>” that is <a href="https://clarionproject.org/qatar-on-our-campuses/">controlled</a> by the Qatari government.
<a href="https://qatar-weill.cornell.edu/about-us/our-partners/qatar-foundation">Founded</a> by the former emir, the <a href="https://qatar-weill.cornell.edu/about-us/our-partners/qatar-foundation">QF</a> seeks the “development of [Qatar] that would provide Qatari citizens with a greater choice in education, health and social progress.” In other words, the QF furthers Qatari government interests with its anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and pro-terrorism sentiment. Hence, the Middle East Forum&#8217;s Sam Westrop (a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/sam-westrop">Daily Wire contributor</a>) <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/26000/qatari-foundation-influences-anti-israel">observes</a> that the QF “bestows awards upon Hamas leaders” and “works with charities … accused of funding terrorism.” Further, Americans for Peace and Tolerance notes that the <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/26000/qatari-foundation-influences-anti-israel">QF</a> has sponsored curricula “propagandized with materials that slander &#8230; the Jewish people.” The QF has also sought to forge American allegiance to the Qatari government. Hence, its flagship curriculum <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/26000/qatari-foundation-influences-anti-israel">project</a>, one “heavily promoted in American schools,” teaches a lesson entitled, “Express Your Loyalty to Qatar.” The QF endorses terror, anti-Semitism, and allegiance to Qatar — phenomena antithetical to morality and academic freedom. Think tanks and academia must thus reject all future funding from this troubled emirate.
Despite the QF’s explicit ties to Qatar, the largest foreign funder of American universities since <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59321/clarion-exclusive-report-foreign-influence-ops-on">2012</a>, universities continue to embrace its beneficence. Two of the largest “benefactors” have been Georgetown and TAMU. Whereas in 2018, Georgetown <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/trump-administration-reviewing-foreign-funding-at-u-s-colleges">accepted</a> $33 million of its $36 million in foreign donations from the QF, TAMU pocketed $6.1 million, totaling all of its foreign funding. In 2018, nearly all of these universities’ foreign funding came from Qatar; and since 2012 and 2014, respectively, the two have respectively received <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/trump-administration-reviewing-foreign-funding-at-u-s-colleges">$415 million</a> and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/trump-administration-reviewing-foreign-funding-at-u-s-colleges">$285 million</a> in foreign funding, suggesting the overwhelming influence of Qatari funding in American education. Other <a href="https://clarionproject.org/qatar-on-our-campuses/">universities</a> that have <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59321/clarion-exclusive-report-foreign-influence-ops-on">received</a> Qatari funding include Arizona State, Harvard, <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/16/qatar-georgetown-texas-university/">Illinois</a>, Johns Hopkins, <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/16/qatar-georgetown-texas-university/">Michigan</a>, North Carolina, NYU, Oregon State, Purdue, Penn State, the University of Chicago, the University of Southern California, Washington, and Washington University in St. Louis. <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/59321/clarion-exclusive-report-foreign-influence-ops-on">Northwestern</a> also has a partnership with <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/al-jazeera-promotes-terrorism-social-media-must-deplatform-aj-aj/">Al Jazeera</a>, a Qatari television network that <a href="https://jewishjournal.com/news/los_angeles/299328/david-reaboi-discusses-qatar-and-terrorism/">regularly promotes terror</a>.
Qatar’s efforts to groom also extend to U.S. primary schools. Between <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-schools-receive-aid-from-qatar-1503682830">2009 and 2017</a>, the QF donated $30.6 million to subsidize “teacher training, materials, and salaries,” while also “targeting K-12 public schools with lofty grants,” some of which have been used to send students to Qatar and on other “cultural trips” to “the Qatari embassy in D.C.” Thereby, Qatari money, while normalizing Qatar&#8217;s image, also effectively regulates primary school classroom curricula.
The QF has also coerced think tanks into submission — particularly the Brookings Institution and its center in Doha, to which it has <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/how-qatar-is-buying-conservative-column-inches">given</a> tens of millions of dollars. As counter-Islamist activist David Reaboi has <a href="https://securitystudies.org/why-should-we-care-about-qatars-influence/">noted</a>, “spending a lot of money is the easiest way to change … a public policy narrative.” A former visiting fellow for Brooking, Saleem Ali, has <a href="https://securitystudies.org/why-should-we-care-about-qatars-influence/">confirmed</a> the extent of Qatar’s influence at its Doha office, acknowledging a “no-go zone when it came to criticizing the Qatari government.” Having effectively censored the Brookings Institution, the Qatari government also directly and indirectly <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/02/06/qatars-ramped-up-lobbying-efforts-find-success-in-washington/">funds</a> the Middle East Institute and the Gulf International Forum.
These efforts ultimately reflect Qatar’s will to regulate American thought through the media, classroom, and the think tank. To redeem academic integrity, and to reject Qatar’s terrorism, the supposed vanguard of American thought and values — academia and think tanks — must boycott the Qatari government. Such boycotts would captivate student bodies, raise large-scale attention to Qatar’s abuses, and shame Qatar into either reform or accountability.
&nbsp;
Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-al-jazeeras-disgraceful-holocaust-denying-josh-hammer">Al Jazeera&#8217;s Disgraceful Holocaust-Denying Video Showcases Qatari Evil For All To See.</a>

Doha Qatar skyline

COPE: Academia And Think Tanks Must Boycott Qatar

Egypt

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Terrorism

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Since leaving the Amal party in <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/hezbollah">1982</a>, Hezbollah — meaning “Party of God” — has established a name for itself like no other. A Shiite Islamist terrorist group committed to Israel’s destruction, Hezbollah has arguably become Lebanon’s most powerful political party, obtaining <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/lebanon-s-elections-hezbollah-in-the-driver-s-seat">veto</a> power and a position in the current leading coalition, which <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">controls</a> the majority. Now the highest-grossing terrorist group, receiving <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">$700 million</a> from Iran out of its likely $1.1 billion in total <a href="http://e.forbes.co.il/1-hezbollah-annual-income-1-1-billion/">income</a>, Hezbollah has achieved notoriety, executing high-profile attacks: The U.S. Marine <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/13/world/meast/beirut-marine-barracks-bombing-fast-facts/index.html">Barracks</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/iran-helped-al-qaeda-with-the-1998-u-s-embassy-bombings-in-africa">embassy</a> bombings. Hezbollah has since furthered large-scale regional discord, provoking wars with Israel, supplementing Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War, and now, threatening Israel with <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/12/10/israels-blitz-of-hezbollahs-terror-tunnels-will-help-win-the-pr-war/">140,000</a> rockets and impending war.
Despite its antagonism, Hezbollah has also established a reputation for its deceitful “benevolence,” creating an elaborate welfare system that many Lebanese cannot resist and the under-resourced Lebanese government cannot match. This welfare system — entailing infrastructural, medical, and educational services — has fueled a dependency cycle through which many, especially disenfranchised Shiites, turn a blind eye to terrorism and reciprocate support for Hezbollah in return for social services. To defeat Hezbollah, policymakers must overcome Hezbollah’s “bene-violent” duality and offer economic considerations to displace Lebanon’s dependency on Hezbollah’s welfare apparatus.
Since its inception, Hezbollah has sought to forge support in local communities by offering free or heavily subsidize social services through its own NGOs. The most famous of these <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pmPZvrwQwdUJ:https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/9924/40115471-MIT.pdf%253Fsequence%253D2+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us">NGOs</a> are Al Imdad and Al Shaheed, which rehabilitate the poor through welfare and training programs, Al Haya’a Al Sahhiyyah, which sponsors health and dental care at little to no cost, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&amp;pg=PA51&amp;lpg=PA51&amp;dq=jihad+al+binaa+45+percent+of+water&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=WiIaS_SMMV&amp;sig=ACfU3U0-Zr7HWPtNR6-DoXol2XGzQuZ-CA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwifqvDziKvkAhXDmq0KHWv-AX0Q6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=jihad%2520al%2520binaa%252045%2520percent%2520of%2520water&amp;f=false">Jihad Al Bina’a</a> (JB), which restores damaged homes and public utilities, Jam’eyat Ta’aleem Al Dini Al Islami, which educates and subsidizes education for Lebanon’s youth, and the <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">Al Qard Al Hassan Association</a>, which provides loans.
While these services are extensive, they are also essential necessities available at little to no cost. Cue Hezbollah’s medical infrastructure, which <a href="https://mepc.org/hezbollahs-social-jihad-nonprofits-resistance-organizations?print=">offers</a> the low-income Lebanese free health insurance, free prescriptions, and health care at little to no cost. These services are also widely available and of quality, being <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">furnished</a> at <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/hezbollah-s-new-drug-rehab-unit-points-to-limits-of-us-sanctions-policy">six</a> <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">hospitals</a> as well as at “<a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">hundreds</a> of medical centers, infirmaries, dental offices, and mental health providers” throughout Lebanon. These medical centers are so advanced that, according to Hala Jaber’s Hezbollah: Born With a Vengeance, they can provide x-rays and specialized health services such as geriatrics and women’s health care. So while Hezbollah’s medical services are of quality, they are also ubiquitous and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/31/world/hezbollah-offers-a-helping-hand-in-southern-lebanon.html">mobilizable</a>, allowing Hezbollah to extend its reach to areas otherwise difficult for Lebanon’s government to access.
Hezbollah has also advanced much of the country’s public utilities infrastructure. It has done so primarily through its public-works wing, the JB, which has significantly impacted Lebanese lives. The JB has <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&amp;pg=PA51&amp;lpg=PA51&amp;dq=jihad+al+binaa+45+percent+of+water&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=WiIaS_SMMV&amp;sig=ACfU3U0-Zr7HWPtNR6-DoXol2XGzQuZ-CA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwifqvDziKvkAhXDmq0KHWv-AX0Q6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=jihad%20al%20binaa%2045%20percent%20of%20water&amp;f=false">constructed</a> over 400 reservoirs, thereby connecting 45% of Beirut’s southern suburbs and much of southern Lebanon to clean drinking water — a factor all the more important since Lebanon’s south depends heavily on irrigation farming. The JB has also <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&amp;pg=PA51&amp;lpg=PA51&amp;dq=jihad+al+binaa+45+percent+of+water&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=WiIaS_SMMV&amp;sig=ACfU3U0-Zr7HWPtNR6-DoXol2XGzQuZ-CA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwifqvDziKvkAhXDmq0KHWv-AX0Q6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=jihad%2520al%2520binaa%252045%2520percent%2520of%2520water&amp;f=false">connected</a> much of Lebanon’s south to the electric grid, installing over 20 generators. Furthermore, it has previously launched large-scale garbage <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pmPZvrwQwdUJ:https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/9924/40115471-MIT.pdf?sequence=2+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us">collection</a> efforts, collecting on behalf of “a population of 500,000” at the end of the Lebanese Civil War.
Most important, perhaps, has been JB’s role in compensating housing, money, and basic necessities for those impacted by conflict. After provoking war with Israel in 1996, Hezbollah rebuilt <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">10,528</a> buildings while also compensating <a href="https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/hezbollah">2,300</a> farmers for their losses. Similarly, after provoking war in 2006, Hezbollah <a href="https://medium.com/@brettredmaynetitley/hizbullah-today-of-power-money-and-the-people-5d797a85789e">provided</a> water, food, and shelter to those affected locally, while also footing <a href="https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/lebanon-reconstruction-and-rivalry">$12,000</a> stipends to pay for the rents of homeowners while their homes were being rebuilt. Through connecting many to public utilities and housing during emergency, Hezbollah forges dependency on its welfare programs, thereby attracting party loyalty. Perversely, this cycle also allows Hezbollah to garner support by promoting the conflict and disrepair that Hezbollah can later “remedy” through its own welfare programs.
Further, Hezbollah has fueled support through subsidizing its private <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/hezbollah-in-lebanon">schools</a>. Educating around <a href="https://www.mepc.org/hezbollahs-social-jihad-nonprofits-resistance-organizations">14,000</a> students, Hezbollah’s primary and secondary schools offer poorer students the opportunity to attend private school — a privilege since Lebanon’s public schools are often considered inferior. Hezbollah’s educational facilities often <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/hezbollah-in-lebanon">boast</a> swimming pools and computer labs, encouraging students to attend class where they are later indoctrinated. Hence, through subsidizing education for thousands of students, Hezbollah cultivates a platform for grooming thousands to its cause.
Hezbollah also fosters support through its affordability and lending programs. In 2004, Hezbollah <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">introduced</a> its Al Amir discount card, which is purchasable for just one dollar and allows families to receive discounts of up to 50% at local shops. In 2014, <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">75,000</a> people owned a card. Hence, while promoting local business, Hezbollah also reaches out to tens of thousands who quickly discover Hezbollah’s benefits. Likewise, through its Al Qard Al Hassan Association, Hezbollah has <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">processed</a> over 700,000 loans totaling $245+ million — with many of the loans offering preferential conditions for a minor subscription fee. To no surprise, Hezbollah attracted <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">150,000</a> to its lending program in 2012 alone, thereby forging relationships and prospective supporters through even more welfare programs.
Ultimately, through its welfare apparatus, Hezbollah has reached out to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese — thus fostering allegiance, dependence, and propaganda victories. To defeat Hezbollah, powers must undermine Hezbollah’s welfare and propaganda outreach efforts — whether by devastating Hezbollah and Iran economically so that they can no longer sustain these programs, by sponsoring alternative paths to welfare and economic development to displace Lebanon’s allegiance to Hezbollah, or by combining these alternatives with military intervention. However, military action alone, while weakening Hezbollah’s military might, may perpetuate the devastation that Hezbollah has successfully exploited to remedy and to rally support.
&nbsp;
Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">Defund Lebanon. And Do It Yesterday.</a>

Menu

Jordan Cope

COPE: A Tribute To Omani Sultan Qaboos, Ally And Patron Of Progress

COPE: The True Motives Of Palestinian Leadership, Corruption, And Ethnic Cleansing

COPE: Expel Erdogan, His Terror, And His Ethnic Cleansing From NATO

COPE: Academia And Think Tanks Must Boycott Qatar

COPE: Defeating Hezbollah Requires Economic Warfare, Too