Hold Qatar Accountable for Legitimizing Hamas

I n the wake of the devastating terror attack in Israel on October 7, in which 1,400 individuals tragically lost their lives to Hamas, many, including myself, quickly pointed fingers at the Iranian regime because of its funding, arming, and training of the terrorist group. However, while Iran’s complicity in the attack is undeniable, Qatar has also played a pivotal role in empowering Hamas, providing it with roughly $360 million to $480 million annually and luxurious housing for its leaders in Doha.

But the energy-rich monarchy also supplies Hamas with another asset whose value is immeasurable and which no other country could realistically replace: international legitimacy. Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war, Qatar has continued to supply this intangible benefit — chiefly granted through its international media conglomerate, the Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN) and its web of subsidiaries.

Since its inception in 1996, AJMN has gained immense influence by promoting the monarchy’s Islamist ideology and violent tendencies in Arabic. For instance, after the October 7 massacre, its Al Jazeera Arabic outlet broadcast statements from Ismail Haniyeh and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who announced the commencement of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” and urged Palestinians to rise up and murder Israelis. However, Al Jazeera is strategic in its messaging.

It goes without saying that the network ensures that such content doesn’t reach the eyes and ears of Western audiences, realizing that such explicit endorsements of violence might turn them away from the Palestinian cause.

To make its content more palatable to Western sensibilities, including its demonization of Israel and the Jewish people, Qatar launched Al Jazeera English in 2006. It now reaches 350 million households in over 150 countries around the globe, putting it in league with outlets such as CNN, and boasts over 36 million followers across social media.

One example of its post-massacre coverage in English includes a backgrounder on Hamas that makes the bizarre contention that it “accepts a Palestinian state on 1967 borders.” What the backgrounder fails to mention is that Hamas’s 1988 charter explicitly declares that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” Another report attempted to justify the massacre by quoting a Hamas spokesman who (falsely) suggested that the violence was a reaction to Israeli “atrocities” — as if anything could justify murdering babies.

Furthermore, Al Jazeera English also adopted progressive, social-justice-oriented talking points in the massacre’s aftermath to appeal to younger, more impressionable audiences, such as discussing the potential environmental impacts of Israeli air strikes — hardly a priority for Islamic terrorist organizations. Similarly, an op-ed contributed by a professor at the publicly funded University of California at Irvine rationalized Hamas’s violence as merely a response to “Zionist settler colonialism.”

AJ+, another arm of AJMN targeting the Gen Z demographic, also amplifies progressive narratives through numerous short-form videos that criticize Israel and downplay Hamas’s actions.

Collectively, the English-language content of Al Jazeera’s subsidiaries has accumulated tens of millions of views across social media since the massacre on October 7.

As the Biden administration faces increasing calls to drive a wedge between Qatar and Hamas and reassess the broader U.S.–Qatari relationship, it’s essential to tackle how the monarchy strengthens Hamas’s public image with Al Jazeera and empowers the terrorist organization.

Some measures have already been initiated. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice officially ordered AJ+ to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act due to the Qatari government’s ownership and editorial control. Although the outlet has refused to comply, it hasn’t been sanctioned by the DOJ or faced any penalties. The lack of repercussions likely stems from America’s reliance on Qatar as a strategic regional asset, having designated it as a major non-NATO ally in March 2022. Qatar is used as a go-between for back-channel diplomacy between the U.S. and its adversaries, and it is home to the largest U.S. military base in the entire Middle East.

To rectify this, the DOJ should force AJ+ to comply with the foreign-agents designation, or rather just shut down its office altogether. American authorities should also seize the Web domain of AJMN and its subsidiaries to prevent access from within the U.S., mirroring their actions against 33 Iranian state-backed websites in 2021. Among these was PressTV, an English-language media site that promotes similar messages to those heard on the Al Jazeera Media Network’s subsidiaries. Finally, the Treasury Department should sanction AJMN for platforming calls for violence by U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, akin to the sanctions it imposed on PressTV this September over its role in suppressing Iranian anti-regime protests.

Given the precedent set by actions against Iranian state-backed media, the U.S. has the means to address Qatari outlets similarly. As the clamor for Iranian accountability grows, the U.S. must equally confront Qatar for its role in the Hamas massacre. Addressing Qatar’s financial support to Hamas is vital, but so is countering its efforts to legitimize Hamas to the American public.