The following overview was written in connection with a Middle East Forum conference, „Qatar: U.S. Ally or Global Menace,“ taking place in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 6, 2019. To watch it live-streamed, click here.
„Despite international criticism, the small peninsula state of Qatar has long played an outside role in harboring Islamists, including violent jihadists — whether the political leadership of Hamas, or the „unofficial Embassy“ of the Afghan Taliban.
The recent decision by several Arab States to designate a number of Qatari-hosted Islamists as terrorist entities has once again raised the issue of Qatari’s support for both violent and non-violent Islamists. And perhaps no individual sheltered by Qatar is as notorious or influential as the nonagenarian cleric Yusuf Al Qaradawi.“ (…)
