Since 2017, 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 sponsorship of terrorism, and its slave-like labor conditions that could kill 4,000 stadium workers before the Qatar-hosted 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 AJ+, an ostensibly progressive channel that proxies for Al Jazeera, Qatar’s state-run network that is known to glorify terrorists as “martyrs.” Second, Qatar has donated nearly $1.5 billion to U.S. primary schools and universities, promoting its image and radicalizing curricula. Lastly, Qatar has funded think tanks, thereby censoring criticism.
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