In reporting on apparent foreign influence within the president’s circles, The New York Times has raised questions about foreign influence inside of its own newsroom.
Last week, the Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/us/politics/elliott-broidy-trump.html?register=email&amp;auth=register-email">published</a> a highly-publicized “scoop” on the supposed nefarious activities of Trump fundraiser and GOP mega donor Elliot Broidy, creating a narrative that accused the venture capitalist of improperly using his connections to the president to score major contracts for his work with the United Arab Emirates, among other countries.
Writers Ken Vogel, David Kirkpatrick, and Declan Walsh, who reported the piece, claimed to have exclusive access to private documents and emails that show evidence of improper behavior. They did not reveal how they got access to all of the private documents, particularly his personal communications.
Last year, Broidy <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-24/broidy-s-expanded-hack-allegations-fault-ex-spy-emir-s-brother">sued</a> the nation of Qatar, alleging that hackers working for the Qatari government stole emails and other communications from him. Some of the stolen documents have surfaced in a variety of media outlets, with many focusing on his relationship with Qatar’s regional rivals, such as Israel and other U.S. Gulf allies.
In response to The Times piece, Broidy’s team alleged that the stolen documents were “altered and cherry-picked out of context to present a false narrative about his business activities and public educational efforts that were entirely legitimate and legal.” The Times does not present the documents in their original form, so it’s not possible for the reader to decide whether or not they are authentic or providing an accurate and complete summary.
The Times also does not tell its readers that all three of the reporters on the byline of the story had earlier this year been contacted by foreign agents for the government of Qatar about the very topics that they all happen to be reporting on together.
According to March 2019 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6572-Supplemental-Statement-20190307-1.pdf">filings</a>, Vogel, Kirkpatrick, and Walsh, the three reporters on the story, were contacted by foreign lobbyists for Qatar specifically about the Broidy case. Of course, this does not provide definitive proof that Vogel and his colleagues got their scoop directly from Qatar. But their lack of transparency about their private communications with elements of the regime should certainly raise eyebrows about the objectivity and neutrality of their reporting.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I found docs showing both u &amp; the 2 other journos on this piece all communicated w/ Qatari lobbyists for their DC embassy prior to publishing story. Shouldn&#8217;t NYT readers know what foreign regimes u are getting info from when reporting on MidEast affairs?<a href="https://t.co/wFxJ8X5lM1">https://t.co/wFxJ8X5lM1</a>
— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanSchachtel/status/1161349795023339520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
I asked Kenneth Vogel, the first reporter on the byline of the story, to comment on The Times reporters’ unreported communications with Qatar. He did not respond. Vogel has a history of biased reporting. He once infamously <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/289150-politico-reporter-sent-story-to-dem-committee-for-pre-publication">submitted a draft</a> of a story to the DNC before publishing it with his former employer. David Kirkpatrick, another reporter on the Broidy story, has a long history of <a href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/272935/egypt-bans-new-york-times-pro-muslim-brotherhood-daniel-greenfield">cozying</a> up to Qatar and providing fodder for the Islamist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/world/middleeast/trump-muslim-brotherhood.html">organizations</a> it funds and supports, such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
At a bare minimum, The Times owes it to its readers to acknowledge that lobbyists for Qatar were communicating with Times reporters about the man upon whom the Times now reports. To not include that in their report adds to suspicions that Qatar — which again, is accused of hacking Broidy — may have been the source for their “scoop” on his personal and professional dealings.
The nation’s “paper of record” has a demonstrated track record of extreme hostility to the president and to our critical allies in the Middle East. The hit piece on Broidy, which is a combined assault on the president and our Gulf allies, seems to benefit both of those goals.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act was enacted in 1938 — just three years prior to the U.S. entry into World War II — with the <a href="https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/a1624.pdf">goal</a> to hold individuals and companies accountable for working for the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Today, the FARA system provides a database of individuals and organizations that lobby on behalf of foreign nations, regardless of whether they are allies or adversaries. Today, FARA is to thank for holding biased journalists accountable, too.
Jordan Schachtel is a foreign policy analyst and investigative reporter.

New York Times

SCHACHTEL: The New York Times’ Latest Anti-Trump Hit Piece Stinks Of Foreign Propaganda

Donald Trump

Foreign Policy

Israel

Media

Media Bias

Middle East

Qatar

Republican Party

Saudi Arabia

Over the course of her tenure in Washington, Democratic presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has adapted her position on Israel to cater to her most energetic base of support — the far Left. What once began as at least a <a href="https://www.jns.org/glimpse-at-elizabeth-warrens-record-on-israel-as-senator-inches-towards-presidential-run/">rhetorically</a> pro-Israel position has transitioned into full-fledged Israel-hatred.
The Warren campaign has <a href="https://www.israellycool.com/2019/07/08/us-presidential-candidate-elizabeth-warren-has-got-a-problem-hes-called-max-berger/">hired</a> anti-Israel extremist Max Berger, who is a co-founder of IfNotNow, a group that <a href="https://www.ngo-monitor.org/ngos/if-not-now/">supports</a> the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that seeks the eventual elimination of the Jewish state. Additionally, Berger has come under fire for expressing sympathy for the militant Palestinian terror group Hamas, as Adam Kredo of The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/politics/warren-staffer-draws-criticism-for-anti-israel-tweet/">reports</a>.
&#8220;Anyone who wants to be friendly with Hamas has no business being in a presidential campaign,&#8221; Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center told the Free Beacon. &#8220;It&#8217;s very straightforward.&#8221;
Rabbi Cooper added: &#8220;If that&#8217;s the message that Elizabeth Warren wants to send to Jewish progressives and the rest of the American Jewish community, that the person she put in charge of outreach wants to be friends with Hamas, no way,&#8221; Cooper said, adding that he finds it hard to believe Warren would be comfortable knowing one of her staffers has engaged in such rhetoric. &#8220;She&#8217;s going to have to deal with this right now.&#8221;
In a Monday campaign town hall, Sen. Warren <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/warren-says-shell-push-to-end-israels-occupation">told activists</a> from IfNotNow and a staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that she would commit to pressuring Israel to end its supposed “occupation” of the Palestinians.
And in addition to the Berger hiring, it’s worth noting that Sen. Warren has <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/elizabeth-warren-president-pac-money-treasurer/">long been supported</a> by Democrat mega-donor Paul Egerman, who is currently serving as her campaign treasurer. Egerman is an <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/elizabeth-warren-president-pac-money-treasurer/">advisory council member</a> to the anti-Israel group J Street, which was created to service former President Barack Obama’s anti-Israel agenda.
Sen. Warren appears to be committed to going to extreme lengths to demonize Israel and its supporters. This week, she pledged to use the powers of her office to launch an “investigation” into the supposed foreign influence of Jewish GOP donor Elliot Broidy, who, coincidentally or not, happens to be a major supporter of the state of Israel.
“Warren is now making a campaign issue of an investigation that she demanded of a political opponent who has yet to be charged with a crime, much less convicted,” RedState’s Streiff <a href="https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2019/07/09/elizabeth-warren-targeted-trump-backer-investigation-using-campaign-issue/">wrote</a> Tuesday in response to the new Warren campaign pledge. “Regardless of the merits of the case, campaigning on using your personal clout to strong arm the Justice Department into investigating someone who is a political opponent is something that just isn’t done in American politics,” the piece continued.
Sen. Warren’s abandonment of our most vital Middle East ally began gradually, in 2015, when she and fellow Democrats <a href="https://www.jns.org/glimpse-at-elizabeth-warrens-record-on-israel-as-senator-inches-towards-presidential-run/">boycotted</a> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress.
In 2017, she <a href="https://www.jns.org/glimpse-at-elizabeth-warrens-record-on-israel-as-senator-inches-towards-presidential-run/">slammed</a> the Trump administration for publicly recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. A few months later, Warren targeted the Israeli military for its response to Gaza rioters.
Then, in 2018, Warren <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-leads-call-to-address-humanitarian-crisis-in-gaza">signed</a> onto a letter (along with fellow anti-Israel presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders) calling on the secretary of state to do more to address the several crises in the Gaza Strip. The letter makes no mention of Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza.
Today, in 2019, you can find Warren drafting and co-sponsoring resolutions <a href="https://www.merkley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/DAV19945.pdf">blasting</a> Israeli government security policies. In February, she engaged in a total character assassination of the Israeli prime minister, <a href="https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1101242554748682241">claiming</a> that Mr. Netanyahu is a criminal who is “embracing right-wing extremism” and “manipulating a free press.”
Of course, Sen. Warren is just one of many 2020 Democrats who have completely abandoned our most vital Middle East ally to accommodate the loud, leftist, pro-Palestinian extremists that make up part of the Democratic base.
Jordan Schachtel is a foreign policy analyst and investigative reporter.

SCHACHTEL: Elizabeth Warren Completes Her Total Abandonment Of Israel

2020 Election

Anti-Semitism

Democratic Party

Elizabeth Warren

Hamas

Judaism

Leftism

Massachusetts

President Trump is scheduled to meet next week with the leader of Qatar, a country that has acted as a regular menace in the Middle East through the course of the Trump presidency. However, its actions have not been met with much in the way of recourse, thanks to a powerful lobbying network inside of the United States and influential legislators who are willing to go to bat for the Islamic supremacist slave-labor stronghold.
“Show me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are,” the biblical wisdom goes. And if the president wants to cut through the rhetoric and come to understand Qatar, its foreign policy, and its leader in the clearest way possible, he should get to know the emir’s closest adviser.
When President Trump meets next week in the White House with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the current emir of Qatar, the president should inquire about the Islamic radical madman that is one of the sheikh&#8217;s best friends.
One of the closest confidants of the emir is Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who is infamous in the Islamic world for his bloodthirsty hate preaching. This includes his use of religious edicts (known in Islam as fatwas) to condone murdering innocent lives. At the direction of the royal family that rules the country, Qatar has harbored Al-Qaradawi — known unofficially as the spiritual leader of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46714/hammer-designating-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-josh-hammer">global Muslim Brotherhood</a> — for decades.
In the post-9/11 world, the Islamic hate preacher has used his massive platform to provide the rhetorical backing for some of the world’s most violent terrorist organization.
Al-Qaradawi has openly advocated for jihadists to commit suicide bombing attacks against the West. He has claimed, through his supposed scholarship, that they can be religiously justified against American soldiers and Israeli civilians. In 2003, he <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100911144023/http://archive.arabnews.com/?page=4&amp;section=0&amp;article=53683&amp;d=30&amp;m=10&amp;y=2004">issued a fatwa</a> proclaiming that Muslims should not hesitate to conduct suicide bombing attacks against pregnant Israeli women and their unborn children.
Described by the <a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/anti-semitism/arab-world/Sheik-Yusuf-al-Qaradawi-2013-5-3-v1.pdf">Anti-Defamation League</a> as a “Theologian of Terror,” Al-Qaradawi has called for the killing of Jews “down to the very last one.”
In addition to his Jew-hatred, Al-Qaradawi has regularly <a href="https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/60239/Qaradawi-steps-down-as-head-of-IUMS-quits-speeching-hoax">authorized</a> and encouraged the killing of American soldiers who are deployed overseas.
It is an understatement to say that Al-Qaradawi is merely a regular guest at events hosted by the Qatari royal family. He is often the featured guest of honor. The Muslim Brotherhood menace is usually seated <a href="http://www.arabnews.com/node/1500771/middle-east">directly next</a> to the emir, as was the case at a state Ramadan banquet just two months ago.
<a href="http://www.arabnews.com/node/1500771/middle-east">Arab News</a> reported on the Ramadan event: “In lengthy footage of the reception, Qatar Television shows Al-Qaradawi as apparent guest of honor, sitting next to Sheikh Tamim and chatting cordially with him. Sheikh Tamim apparently kissed Al-Qaradawi, who was sitting in a wheelchair, on the forehead.”
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Here&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Qatar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Qatar</a>&#8216;s ruler hugging hate preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi last week, who authorized attacks vs Americans in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iraq?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Iraq</a> and called the Holocaust divine punishment of the Jews for which he wanted a second round: <a href="https://t.co/Y8PIxSJoQu">https://t.co/Y8PIxSJoQu</a> <a href="https://t.co/2PUnjVYgn3">pic.twitter.com/2PUnjVYgn3</a>
— David A. Weinberg (@DavidAWeinberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidAWeinberg/status/1004005378986795008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Fact: in the same 24 hours extremist preacher Yousef al-Qaradawi published his latest dehumanizing slander against the Jewish people, he was also kissed on the forehead by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Qatar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Qatar</a>&#8216;s ruler and given the best iftar seat in the house, by Tamim&#8217;s side &amp; ahead of all other preachers. <a href="https://t.co/DhEbq4Mp6E">pic.twitter.com/DhEbq4Mp6E</a>
— David A. Weinberg (@DavidAWeinberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidAWeinberg/status/1131203426187194368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
And this was not a one-off occurrence. Year after year, the Islamic hate preacher is continually seated as the guest of <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidAWeinberg/status/1131204998136762368">honor</a>, directly next to the emir, at the highest-level state functions.
His bigoted statements, fatwas, and calls to violence have never received the slightest reprimand from his hosts in Qatar. In fact, they continue to glorify and sanction the extremist leader by publicly showcasing his close proximity to the emir. The very opposite of a reprimand, this signals that the emir endorses Al-Qaradawi’s statements and tactics.
Al-Qaradawi is not just a regular presence at the emir’s palace. For many years, he was a featured host on Qatar’s state-controlled Al Jazeera media network. The emir’s close pal has used his platform to call for violence against any and all enemies of Islamist fundamentalists, and he has promoted this dangerous incitement and bigotry to millions of viewers on Al Jazeera Arabic — which again, is fully controlled by the Qatari royal family. His public calls for violence and terror have resulted in his <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/muslim-brotherhood-spiritual-leader-yusuf-al-qaradawi-s-app-banned-by-google-1.860315">banishment</a> from much of the Middle East and the Western world. Additionally, the United States has <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/muslim-brotherhood-spiritual-leader-yusuf-al-qaradawi-s-app-banned-by-google-1.860315">sanctioned</a> a charity once run by Al-Qaradawi as a foreign terrorist organization. Without the state backing of Qatar, the hate preacher would have nowhere near the large platform that he has today.
When questions surface about the Qatari royals’ ties to radical Islamist entities and hate preachers like Al-Qaradawi, the standard line of reasoning that comes out of Qatar’s diplomatic channels is that they are simply acting as a <a href="http://washington.embassy.qa/en/qatar-us-relations/global-intermediary">“global intermediary”</a> for their allies such as the United States. But this justification falls flat on its face when we observe that the Al-Thani-Al-Qaradawi bond has nothing to do with its supposed intermediary work, just as its longtime and continuing <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/al-jazeera-promotes-documentary-glorifying-osama-bin-laden/">glorification</a> of Osama bin Laden has nothing to do with acting as a mediator in any sense. Qatar has a long, proven track record of providing overt and covert aid to U.S.-designated terrorist organizations and their leadership. And the Al-Thani-Al-Qaradawi bond is perhaps the clearest example that Qatar is playing for the other team in our global war on Islamist extremism.
Jordan Schachtel is a foreign policy analyst and investigative reporter.

SCHACHTEL: Trump Needs To Confront The Qatari Emir On His Terrorist Best Friend

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

Terrorism

Trump Administration

The realignment of the 21st century Middle East can more easily be understood by separating the countries that have chosen to embrace nationalism versus those that have doubled down on the doctrine of Islamic supremacism &#8212; otherwise known as Islamism. U.S. Arab allies in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and others have collectively moved in near lockstep with President Trump&#8217;s foreign policy doctrine, as expressed in his landmark <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-trumps-speech-arab-islamic-american-summit/">Riyadh speech</a>, in which the commander-in-chief called upon our regional partners to &#8220;drive out&#8221; the radicals in the Middle East and from within their own governments. Other paper allies, like Qatar and Turkey, have chosen to embrace those radicals, fund their revolutionary movements, and stir broader regional chaos.
The nationalist movement in the Middle East has convinced many of our Arab allies to largely abandon past policies that involved aiding and abetting troublesome regional groups and Islamist movements. Saudi Arabia, once a noted regional troublemaker, has largely returned to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/24/i-will-return-saudi-arabia-moderate-islam-crown-prince">&#8220;moderate Islam&#8221;</a> that disavows the fundamentalist radical movements both inside and outside Riyadh. Additionally, our regional allies have invested heavily in internal development and advancement, which has tremendously bolstered individual rights and other human freedoms (including the advancement of women&#8217;s rights) inside of their respective nations. These policies have encouraged cooperation and healthy competition between fellow partner nations. The embrace of the concept of sovereignty has become a regional gamechanger for the promise of long-term peace and security, but that doesn&#8217;t mean there aren&#8217;t any holdouts.
Qatar has outright refused to embrace the regional nationalist movement. Instead, Doha continues to not-so-quietly abuse the sovereignty of its neighbors, meddle in their affairs, and incite Islamist rebellions throughout the entire region. Though Qatar claims to be a U.S. ally in good standing, evidence remains plentiful that the ultra-wealthy ruling family in Doha continues to <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/countries/qatar">harbor</a> international terrorists, give major media platforms to anti-American <a href="http://www.arabnews.com/node/1475626/middle-east">hate preachers</a>, and provide regular aid and support for U.S.-designated terrorist organizations. This is because Islamic supremacism remains the core ideology of Qatar&#8217;s ruling class.
This developing nationalist-Islamist divide in the Gulf has acted to separate Qatar from its once-reliable regional partner and push the country even further into Iran&#8217;s orbit.
Yes, the rulers of Qatar are Sunni fundamentalists, while the mullahs in Tehran are Shia supremacists. But this is only a minor hurdle when compared to the higher-level competing ideologies of Islamist revanchism and reformist nationalism. Iran and Qatar remain ideologically linked through their shared principle of Islamic supremacism, and a shared disdain for the West and its values.
Perhaps the most well-known modern example of this Sunni-Shia extremist partnership is the long-running alliance between Al Qaeda and Iran, which have on many occasions <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2018/08/08/the-al-qaeda-iran-connection/">collaborated</a> in terrorist attacks and long-term plots against their common enemies. In a 2007 <a href="https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/AlQaeda">letter</a>, since-killed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden infamously described Iran as &#8220;our main artery for funds, personnel, and communication.&#8221;
While there&#8217;s no discounting the ideological connection in the Qatar-Iran nexus, the two nations also have overwhelming economic links, starting with their shared territorial occupation of the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northfield-qatar/factbox-qatar-iran-share-worlds-biggest-gas-field-idUSTRE66P1VV20100726">world&#8217;s largest gas field</a>. With its economic ties to Tehran in mind, Qatar has consistently <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-oil-qatar/qatar-says-tightening-iran-sanctions-harms-oil-consuming-nations-idUSKCN1S747K">pushed back</a> at the idea that Iran should face any economic sanctions over its support for terrorism. In May, Qatar&#8217;s foreign minister advised that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-oil-qatar/qatar-says-tightening-iran-sanctions-harms-oil-consuming-nations-idUSKCN1S747K">&#8220;dialogue,&#8221;</a> not sanctions, is the answer to the Iran issue. Qatar itself has regularly thwarted U.S. sanctions against Iran to continue to do business with the regime. In fact, Qatar values trade with Iran to such a degree that Doha has publicly stated it would <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thebakersinstitute/2018/12/04/qatar-to-saudi-arabia-we-would-rather-quit-opec-than-cut-relations-with-iran-or-shutter-al-jazeera/#33bfebfc222b">quit the powerful OPEC cartel</a> before severing ties with Iran. During the recent Gulf Cooperation Council blockade against Qatar, Iran (alongside Turkey) served as an integral <a href="https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/facing-embargoes-iran-and-qatar-deepen-trade-ties">lifeline</a> for Qatar, allowing the regime to thwart a regional trade embargo. Since 2016, trade between Iran and Qatar has <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/gcc-dispute-pushes-iran-and-qatar-closer-but-with-caveats">doubled</a> or more across several sectors.
Both Iran and Qatar have dedicated much of the past few years to sowing chaos across the Middle East. Iran, for its part, has launched direct attacks (through its proxies) against Arab nations. Iran&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah have accelerated the ongoing genocide in Syria. Iran-backed Houthi insurgents in Yemen are launching direct attacks upon Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations. Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas are antagonizing Egypt and Israel by banging the war drums in Gaza. Yet through it all, Doha has <a href="https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/96373/doha-calls-for-strong-relations-with-tehran">continued</a> to insist upon closer relations with Iran. The Qatar-Iran relationship has not at all been fazed by recent direct Iranian militant and proxy attacks upon Arab oil tankers and vessels &#8212; and even the shooting down of an American unmanned aerial vehicle in the Gulf. Earlier this month, as the U.S. and our allies formally condemned Iran for its state-sponsored terror, Qatari leaders were <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-qatar-saudi/29978053.html">singing the praises</a> of the Tehran regime. Doha even explicitly rejected the outcome of an emergency Arab summit condemning Iran in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the Gulf vessels and Houthi rocket strikes against an international airport in Saudi Arabia.
Qatar and Iran have a shared ideological commitment to imposing regional carnage. And these shared principles make up the DNA of their respective leaderships. The Middle East has separated into two primary ideological camps. To Qatar and Iran, Islamic supremacism &#8212; and not reformist nationalism &#8212; is the way forward for the region. Qatar has remained incredibly resilient in rejecting pressure from America and our regional partners. It&#8217;s time we recognize that Qatar, by cozying up to Iran and its terrorist allies, has breached the point of no return.

Jordan Schachtel is a foreign policy analyst and investigative reporter.

Doha, Qatar

SCHACHTEL: The Iran-Qatar Axis Of Islamism Stands Against America And Our Sunni Arab Allies

Al Qaeda

Iran

Al Jazeera, the radical Islamist media empire that is fully controlled by the nation of Qatar, is breaking American laws by continuing to operate in the United States without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). There is no distinction between Al Jazeera and the nation of Qatar. They are the same entity, and the evidence is available for anyone to observe.
FARA was originally enacted in 1938 &#8212; just three years prior to the U.S. entry into World War II &#8212; with the <a href="https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/a1624.pdf">goal</a> to keep tabs on individuals and companies working for the Communist Soviet Union and for Nazi Germany. Today, FARA provides a database of individuals and groups that lobby on behalf of foreign nations, both friends and foes alike.
New guidance issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which presides over FARA, has required several state-owned entities to register under its guidelines. Given the newfound attention to foreign meddling in American politics, the DOJ took up a new initiative to update compliance practices over the past couple of years. Several China- and Russia-controlled state media entities have already followed suit, registering under FARA and fulfilling their compliance obligations.
Al Jazeera, on the other hand, has ignored the new guidance and has misled the public about its true nature.
Al Jazeera is owned by Al Jazeera Media Network, which is currently chaired by Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family. The media outfit was founded in the mid-1990s thanks to a $150 million grant from Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/world/middleeast/04jazeera.html?mtrref=undefined&amp;gwh=AAD425AD04B3A0C55EAFCDE598B15CC3&amp;gwt=pay">according</a> to The New York Times. At the time, the sheikh was serving as the leader, or emir, of Qatar. In 2013, he passed the torch to his aforementioned cousin, who operates the network today.
Since its founding, there has never been a disconnect between Al Jazeera and Qatar. No policies have been supported on Al Jazeera&#8217;s airwaves that even remotely contradict Qatar&#8217;s policy objectives. There has never been non-Qatari royal leadership at the top of Al Jazeera. And all of the money that funds Al Jazeera comes directly from the government of Qatar&#8217;s coffers. In recognizing this reality, lawmakers in Congress have waged a renewed push for the media conglomerate to register under FARA.
Last week, a group of Republican senators wrote a letter to DOJ asking that Al Jazeera registered as a foreign agent.
&#8220;When the available evidence is taken as a whole, it appears that Al Jazeera&#8217;s broadcasts, including AJ+, mirror the policies and preferences of the Qatari government, which, together with the state funding and other indicia of agency, demonstrate that Al Jazeera and its media subsidiaries act as alter egos of the Qatari government in ensuring dissemination of the government&#8217;s viewpoints,&#8221; read a <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/lawmakers-seek-fara-evaluation-qatari-owned-al-jazeera">letter</a> signed by the likes of Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Tom Cotton (R-AR), among others.
The letter continues (internal citations omitted):
<blockquote>
&#8220;In addition to Al Jazeera seemingly operating as an agent of the Qatari government, its potential obligation to register under FARA may be triggered by two other provisions in the statute. First, because it produces and distributes content and secures access within the United States, it has arguably engage[d] directly or indirectly in the &#8230; dissemination of &#8230; broadcasts, and therefore may have served as a publicity agent. Second, because its programming concerned conditions of a foreign government or foreign country, including but not limited to Qatar, Al Jazeera may have served as an information-service employee by furnishing, disseminating, or publishing its programs.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Since its inception, Al Jazeera has bolstered the world&#8217;s most notorious extremists. Today, in 2019, It continues that work. Watch enough Al Jazeera Arabic, and you may run into a host who forcefully declares that jihadi suicide bombers are holy <a href="http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-problem-al-jazeera-11239">&#8220;martyrs.&#8221;</a> You may also find the network <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/al-jazeera-promotes-documentary-glorifying-osama-bin-laden/">glorifying</a> infamous Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and <a href="http://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/qatar-crisis/gargash-lists-instances-of-al-jazeeras-inflammatory-reporting">other</a> terrorist leaders. On a bigger scale, Al Jazeera weaponizes its &#8220;coverage&#8221; of Middle East affairs to incite Islamist rebellions in rival nations.
At the same time, Qatar claims to be a <a href="https://securitystudies.org/qatar-us-ally-or-global-menace-conference-transcript/">reliable</a> U.S. ally &#8212; even as its leaders in Doha continues to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/qatar-distributes-funds-gaza-families-190620092945323.html">aid and abet</a> U.S.-designated terrorist groups and fill Al Jazeera&#8217;s airwaves with anti-American, pro-terrorist agitprop.
Importantly, Al Jazeera&#8217;s English-language coverage is far different from what is seen on Al Jazeera Arabic. The English programming is uniquely curated for a Western, progressive audience. Knowing that praising radical Islamists may not win over the hearts and minds of Americans, the management at Al Jazeera English, as well as its social media-heavy brand AJ+, has decided to strike themes that are more comfortable to Westerners. But the goals remain the same. In both English and Arabic, Al Jazeera has one purpose: Advancing the objectives of the royal family that rules Qatar.
However, Al Jazeera, through a third-party firm representing the media outfit, has rejected the claim that it is a wholly-owned and controlled entity of the state of Qatar. The third-party firm <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/al-jazeera-pushes-back-on-gop-effort-to-force-it-to-register-as-a-foreign-agent">told</a> the Washington Examiner last week that the Islamist media outlet &#8220;is not owned by Qatar&#8221; and that &#8220;its reporting is not directed or controlled by the Qatari government nor does it reflect any government viewpoint.&#8221;
This is simply not true. On paper, lawyers can devise crafty language to claim that Al Jazeera is not directly owned by Qatar. But it is a reality that the Qatari royals that control the network use it as an organ for the expressed purpose to support and advance Doha&#8217;s position of power in the world.
Having Al Jazeera register under FARA will provide much-needed transparency for efforts to uncover Qatar&#8217;s cash-flush influence operations in Washington, D.C. If Al Jazeera registers under FARA, its paid agents in the United States will also have to file disclosures about the work that they are doing for the Doha regime. Additionally, FARA compliance will ensure that both the general public and government officials can understand Al Jazeera&#8217;s radical Islamist programming as a means to advance Qatar&#8217;s national interests. Perhaps then, more and more members of Congress and the Trump administration will come to understand that Qatar is not the partner and ally that the emirs in Doha claim it to be.

Jordan Schachtel is a foreign policy analyst and investigative reporter.

SCHACHTEL: Qatar Is Breaking The Law By Not Registering Al Jazeera As Its Foreign Agent

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