The Persian Gulf state of Qatar, which has reportedly given support and safe haven to Hamas leaders and empowered Web sites to flourish that promote anti-Israel sentiments, has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years shaping U.S. opinion and the American education curriculum, according to lobbying and donation records review by Just the News.
Since at least 2016, Qatar has spent $77 million hiring 29 foreign registered agents to influence U.S. policy – one of the largest lobbying fleets among Middle Eastern countries, according to the Justice Department Foreign Agent Registration Act database. That database shows some of Washington D.C.’s most powerful and influential law firms and Public Relations outfits have taken millions of dollars to promote Qatar’s interests, including Holland & Knight and Mercury Public Affairs, LLC.
The country also has handed out about $1.6 billion since June 2020, and $5.4 billion in total under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, in donations and contacts to American universities ranging from Harvard to George Washington University, according to the Higher Education Gifts and Contracts database maintained by the U.S. Department of Education.
The massive outlays, experts say, help to explain how a new generation of young Americans have developed decidedly pro-Palestinian sympathies after generations of staunch U.S. support for Israel.
“Through these instruments, they have been able to, No. 1 create those ideas change the mind of students, and as I argued in my book, once you defeat truth in the classroom is going to spill over to the newsroom, to the courtroom, to the war room,” Walid Phares, a best-selling author and security expert who has advised Republicans for decades, including former President Donald Trump, told the John Solomon Reportspodcast.