Qatari PR Show in Washington to Focus on “Israel’s Destruction of Gaza” and “Genocide in Gaza”

• What think tanks promote Qatar propaganda in Washington? The Arab Center Washington (ACW) and the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) in Doha, Qatar.
• The ACRPS think tank is run by Azmi Bashara, a former member of the Israeli Knesset (1996-2007) and suspected Hizbullah spy against Israel, who fled Israel and is now ensconced in Qatari academia.
• The Doha-affiliated organizations are funded by the Qatar Foundation, a multi-billion-dollar royal family initiative that links Qatar with American universities, Washington lobbyists, and the U.S. media.

The Arab Center Washington (ACW) touts itself as an “independent, nonpartisan research organization” dedicated to enhancing American “understanding of the Arab world and providing the Arab world with insights into policy formation in the United States.”

ACW was established in Doha, Qatar, in autumn 2010 with branches in Tunis, Washington, and Paris. Today, it is affiliated with the Qatari Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), an “independent social sciences and humanities institute” that employs “resident researchers and administrative staff, hosts visiting researchers, and offers sabbaticals to pursue academic research. Additionally, it appoints external researchers to conduct research projects.”

For all their claims of independence and non-partisanship, the Centers are cornerstones of the Qatari royal enterprises, led and funded by the Qatar Foundation.

Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, one of the richest and most influential figures in Qatar, is the chairperson of the Qatar Foundation. The political message of the foundation was reflected in an antisemitic speech she delivered in Turkey in November 2023.¹

For decades, we have witnessed Israel spreading fabricated historical narratives, which were refuted by many historians, including Israeli ones. These narratives have taken over the world’s collective mind, and if someone dares to debate any Israeli narrative, he is cast aside, having been accused of antisemitism, which in itself is another problematic narrative. By ‘Semitism,’ they mean Jews, having taken a monopoly on the Semitic race, which they attribute to themselves, while denying [its application] to other nations, which speak Semitic languages, like the Arabs, the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans….

Everything we do for our brothers in Palestine, in Gaza, and in the West Bank is less than they deserve. At this point in history, they represent the honor of our nation, in a time of inferiority and determination. To the children of Palestine, I say: You were born men. With your steadfastness, you have proven how feeble and broken are the people whom we once thought to be men.

The Kangaroo Court Conference in Washington on June 11

These two Qatari-affiliated think tanks will be promoting the canards on “Israel’s Destruction of Gaza” and “Genocide in Gaza” at the National Press Club in Washington on June 11. The deck is stacked, and the lineup of speakers from nongovernment organizations and universities blessed with Qatari largesse will find Israel guilty on multiple counts of genocide.² According to the conference announcement:

Participants will explore dimensions of loss beyond physical casualties: cultural heritage erasure, educational disruption, and the unravelling of Gaza’s social fabric. How has Gaza’s healthcare been systematically destroyed, and what are the long-term public health impacts? What dimensions of loss extend beyond physical casualties? How do events in Gaza challenge conventional understandings of genocide? What accountability mechanisms exist for war crimes, and who must be held responsible under international humanitarian law?

At the conference’s second session, titled “Palestine after the Genocide,” attention will be turned to the Palestinians’ political future, with an apparent focus on U.S. policy.

The session provides a multidimensional analysis of potential futures for Palestine, addressing internal political dynamics, international relationships, regional reconfiguration, and the evolving role of global powers. How are Palestinian political structures transforming at this pivotal moment? What dynamics are shaping Hamas’s future role? How are global solidarity movements evolving? How have events since October 7th reconfigured Middle East alliances? What shifts in U.S. policy toward Palestine can be anticipated, and what are their implications?

The Qatar Foundation and its ACW and ACRPS affiliates provide a steady stream of “experts” to editors, media, publications, and speaking occasions in the United States. U.S. Justice Department Foreign Agent records provide an example from October 2024. The following letter is on file:

As we approach the one-year anniversary of October 7th, the following Qatar Foundation experts are available to support your coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Israel-Hizbullah conflict, and regional repercussions. All experts are based in Doha (GMT+3) and available for virtual interviews. Their institutions are part of Qatar Foundation’s Education City.

The experts listed in the Qatari documents include five professors from Georgetown University in Qatar and four from Northwestern University in Qatar, ready, willing, and able to discuss international law, media affairs, and international relations.³

ACRPS and the Arab Center Washington, the Megaphones for Propaganda

As the name “Arab Center Washington” gives no clue to its Qatari sponsors, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies publishes an annual survey called the “Arab Opinion Index.” The study, often cited in the Western media, doesn’t reveal its parentage. An example: the Washington Post published an article in October 2020, “What do ordinary Arabs think about normalizing relations with Israel? Our research suggests many oppose normalization but may be reluctant to say so,” by Dana El Kurd. The polling data of the Arab Opinion Index from “28,300 people in 13 countries, suggests that many Arabs are at odds with their governments on the question of Israel. The vast majority of Arabs probably oppose normalization [italicization added].” Strange language – probably and suggests – for a scientific study. What’s stranger is El Kurd’s narrative, “The UAE and Bahrain are among the most repressive governments in the Middle East. The UAE and Bahrain were not included in our survey, but we can get a sense of public opinion from how civil society reacted to the news of normalization.”

Scratch the surface, and the survey is not so strange. The Arab Opinion Index is a product of the Qatari-based ACRPS; El Kurd teaches at the Doha (Qatar) Institute for Graduate Studies. Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood it supports, loathed and fought against the Abraham Accords and “normalization” that Bahrain and the UAE embraced. [Was the Washington Post supposed to know this? Yes.]

An Iranian Connection?

Qatar joined with Iran to fight the Abraham Accords. Some analysts have suggested that the two countries’ joint proxy, Hamas, launched its 10/7 invasion of Israel to disrupt the chance of Saudi Arabia entering the Abraham Accords tent. The Qatar-Iran nexus is reflected in the writings of Annelle Rodriguiz-Sheline, a Fellow of the Arab Center and a Research Fellow for the Middle East at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. The Quincy Institute was founded and is run by the Iranian regime advocate Trita Parsi.

Rodriguiz-Shelline is known for her public resignation from the State Department in March 2024: “Unable to serve an administration that enables such atrocities, I have decided to resign from my position at the Department of State. Whatever credibility the United States had as an advocate for human rights has almost entirely vanished since the [Gaza] war began.”⁴

Sheline joined with Parsi in a March 2025 Quincy paper, “Saudi-Israel Normalization: Parameters for an Acceptable Deal,” in which they wrote, “Saudi–Israel normalization would, in and of itself, neither transform nor stabilize the Middle East.” The Abraham Accords “sought to organize the region against Iran.” They called for a larger deal that would facilitate “America’s military exit from the region, a Palestinian state, and ending the Israeli occupation.” Precisely, the Iranian prescription for a Persian hegemony in the Middle East.

Conclusion

The foreign infiltration of America’s media, academia, and politics is alarming and must be investigated. Billions of dollars are spent. For half a century, from the days of Sen. J. William Fulbright, Israel’s detractors have shrieked about Israeli influence in the United States, but this author can attest from firsthand experience and liaison with the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Elections Commission that all charges are false and the activities of Jewish organizations and political activists are 100 percent kosher under U.S. laws.

The same cannot be said about the activities of countries like China, Qatar, and Iran. The work of the Justice Department’s Foreign Agent Registration Office must be expanded and toughened.

Irony of ironies, Fulbright left the U.S. Senate and had to register as a foreign agent for Saudi Arabia.

* * *

Notes