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Qatar Invests in the West, and Funds Hamas

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John Kerry being welcomed to Doha in June (Photo: State Department)

The oil-rich Gulf state of Qatar’s influence has been widely felt during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. While traditionally closely aligned with Iran, Hamas has pivoted to Sunni powers like Qatar and Turkey in recent years for economic and political support. Keen to expand its regional and international influence, Qatar’s ties to the Palestinian terrorist group have drawn increasing criticism from Israel, the United States, and even fellow Arab states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who accuse Qatar of undermining regional stability by supporting Hamas.

“Qatar is a very strange place. They rely on the U.S. for protection and invest heavily in the U.S.,” said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), noting that the U.S. has its largest Mideast airbase—Al-Udeid Air Base—in Qatar.

“[But] at the same time, just miles away from [the airbase], you can find the head of Hamas (Khaled Mashal), and there was even a Taliban embassy there for a while too. All of these things make for a foreign-policy anomaly,” Schanzer told JNS.org.

With the war raging in Gaza, Israeli leaders have begun to single out Qatar for its support of Hamas. During a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on July 23, now-former Israeli President Shimon Peres slammed Qatar for becoming “the world’s largest funder of terror.”

“Qatar does not have the right to send money for rockets and tunnels which are fired at innocent civilians. Their funding of terror the must stop. If they want to build then they should, but they must not be allowed to destroy,” Peres said.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is one of the fastest growing in the world. Over the years many well-known companies and landmarks have been invaded by the QIA, including many of Britain’s iconic ones.

According to Bloomberg, the QIA, which already owns over $100 billion worth of assets, said it’s prepared to increase investments in the UK, after buying out and claiming shares of major companies such as supermarket giant Sainsbury’s, the exclusive Harrods department store and leading bank Barclays Plc, and others.

Ahmad Al-Sayed, chief executive officer of the Qatari wealth fund, told Bloomberg that the QIA has its eye on Britain as a major investment opportunity, as it has “great systems, great regulations.” Bloomberg was also told by him that since its purchase of Harrods in 2010, the QIA has invested approximately $413 million in the business, gaining a lot of revenue.

Qatar also has shares in a number of oil companies, including Total SA, as well as Volkswagen, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, and Glencore plc. Meanwhile, the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is the sponsor of FC Barcelona, and the QIA owns Paris Saint-Germain.

There is also a strong history if U.S. manufactured weapons being bought by Qatar. Last week, Business Insider reported that the country recently bought $11 billion worth of Apache attack helicopters and Patriot missile batteries.

According to Schanzer, the dichotomy lies in that Qatar depends on the U.S. as an ally, and invests lots of money there, but at the same time Doha also has strong ties to Hamas.

Schanzer said, “Just miles away from (the U.S. airbase in Qatar), you can find the head of Hamas (Khaled Mashal), and there was even a Taliban embassy there for a while too. All of these things make for a foreign-policy anomaly.”

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