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When Our allies Are Hamas Allies
The Muslim Brotherhood axis: a poster in Gaza shows Qatar’s rulers alongside the leaders of Hamas and Turkey. Photo: Twitter.
JNS.org – During the middle of December, New Yorkers were treated to the sight of brash maroon and white beams splashed across the Manhattan skyline when the Empire State Building was lit up in the colors of the Qatari flag in honor of the Gulf emirate’s national day.
Qatar owns 10% of the iconic skyscraper as a result of a $622 million investment made by its sovereign wealth fund in 2016. Qatar also owns lucrative real estate elsewhere in the city, including the Park Lane and St. Regis hotels, and retail outlets along Fifth Avenue that house such names as Victoria’s Secret and Ralph Lauren—a purchasing strategy that the Qataris have utilized in other world cities as well, including Paris and London, enabling one of the world’s smallest countries to become one of the most influential.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s message of greeting to Qatar on its national day neatly illustrated this status. “I want to express my gratitude for Qatar’s key role as a mediator in efforts to secure the release of unjustly detained Americans in Iran in September, and hostages held by Hamas in Gaza,” he stated. “These efforts reflect a shared US and Qatari commitment to promote security and stability in the Middle East and beyond.”
So much, of course, was left unsaid, particularly regarding Qatar’s role as a principal financier and supporter of the rapists and murderers in Gaza known as Hamas. The unvarnished truth here is that Qatar’s colossal wealth—on display every day in office buildings, university campuses, private hospitals and myriad other locations in Western cities—effectively gives the ruling Al Thani clan a pass on precisely those matters of “security and stability” that Blinken talked about.
The issue of Qatar gets to the heart of the policy dilemma facing Western nations in the Middle East, in that the emirate effectively plays both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Qatar is a key American ally in terms of both hard power, hosting the US Central Command (CENTCOM), and soft power, as at least six US universities operate their own campuses there. Yet at the same time that Doha is cultivating these relationships, it is backing a terrorist group that is sworn to Israel’s elimination and sending a signal to other Arab countries that it will not be compromised by their peace agreements with Israel. Unlike its neighbors the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Qatar elected not to join the Abraham Accords signed with the Israelis in 2020, while right now, Saudi Arabia looks like a better candidate for the next peace deal.
This isn’t a problem we face in dealing with our more straightforward adversaries. For example, delicate diplomacy isn’t really necessary with Iran or Russia—two more states that actively back Hamas—since we don’t have any major economic or cultural ties with these countries now that robust sanctions are in place. Back in October, Blinken declared on “Face the Nation” that war with Iran was “not at all what we’re looking for, not at all what we want, but we’ll be prepared, if that’s what they choose to do.” One can’t imagine the secretary being so glib about Qatar, even though, like the Iranian regime, its rulers also openly support Hamas and run their state in accordance with Islamic imperatives rather than democratic consent.
Arguably a similar principle applies in the case of Turkey, whose president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has outdone even the Iranians when it comes to bloodthirsty rhetoric targeting Israel. Since the Hamas pogrom of Oct. 7, Turkey has become one of the most hostile countries on earth for Jews and Israelis. Last month, there was a grimly amusing scene in the Turkish parliament when an Islamist MP, Hasan Bitmez, abruptly collapsed and died at the podium while delivering a viciously antisemitic rant. The following day, Bitmez received what looked like a state funeral, his coffin draped with the Turkish and Palestinian flags as a military honor guard gave a salute in front of hundreds of dignitaries. The spectacle communicated the unmistakable message that securing the defeat of Israel is now part of Turkey’s raison d’état, just as preserving the existence of the Jewish state has been part of post-war Germany’s.
During the last week, the Turkish press has been filled with lurid yet vague reports concerning the arrest of an alleged Israeli spy ring. Key details of the arrests are missing — we don’t know the names or nationalities of those in custody, nor the exact charges they are facing — but that hasn’t prevented Erdoğan from waxing enthusiastically about his country’s resolve. “We are aware that plots of some circles were derailed thanks to our country’s stand against crises in our region, particularly against massacres in Gaza,” Erdoğan told a gathering of Turkish intelligence officials last week. “These espionage activities show how disturbed they are. Israel is confounded by how we rounded up those suspects. But wait, this is just a first step. You will recognize what Turkey is capable of soon.”
That last line might just be grandstanding or it might be a threat worth taking seriously. The hatred of Israel and Jews being stoked by Erdoğan’s regime—some Turkish stores have even posted signs in their doorways forbidding entry to Jews—is so intense that you are forced to believe that anything is possible. Certainly, that is the mindset that Western policymakers should carry.
The point is this: Israel is an ally of the West and securing Israel’s continued existence is a declared aim of Western policy. But our countries are allied with states like Qatar and Turkey, both of whom are pledged to fatally weakening Israel. The question therefore arises as to whether we challenge or mollify them.
Disappointingly, our leaders are doing more mollifying than they are challenging. If you were to ask Blinken why this is, his answer would probably be along the same lines as the answer he gave to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell when she asked him about post-war reconstruction plans in Gaza. “There’s something that’s very powerful, and that’s changed in the last few years in the region, and this is why I think—despite the incredible challenge of this moment, despite the horrific suffering that we’re seeing—there actually is an opportunity that we haven’t seen in the past,” Blinken remarked. “And the change is this: All of these countries now want a region that’s more integrated. They want a region that includes Israel. They’re prepared to do things, to make commitments, to give assurances for Israel’s security. But that also has to include the Palestinian piece.”
In other words, the final outcome of the present conflict should be a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine living side by side, enjoying good political and commercial relations with their neighbors. But Israel cannot be asked to sign up to such a vision as long as US allies in the region—most clearly, Qatar and Turkey—cozy up to Hamas and laud it as a legitimate “resistance” organization. Both those countries need to be told by Washington that the price of inclusion in any peace process is throwing Hamas under the bus because Hamas isn’t going to be part of any post-war settlement. With a regional conflagration still very much a possibility, the time to deliver that message is very much now.
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Harvard Faculty Oppose Deal With Trump, Distancing From Hamas Apologists: Crimson Poll
Harvard University president Alan Garber attending the 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, May 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A recently published Harvard Crimson poll of over 1,400 Harvard faculty revealed sweeping opposition to interim university President Alan Garber’s efforts to strike a deal with the federal government to restore $3 billion in research grants and contracts it froze during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration.
In the survey, conducted from April 23 to May 12, 71 percent of arts and sciences faculty oppose negotiating a settlement with the administration, which may include concessions conservatives have long sought from elite higher education, such as meritocratic admissions, viewpoint diversity, and severe disciplinary sanctions imposed on students who stage unauthorized protests that disrupt academic life.
Additionally, 64 percent “strongly disagree” with shuttering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, 73 percent oppose rejecting foreign applicants who hold anti-American beliefs which are “hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence,” and 70 percent strongly disagree with revoking school recognition from pro-Hamas groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC).
“More than 98 percent of faculty who responded to the survey supported the university’s decision to sue the White House,” The Crimson reported. “The same percentage backed Harvard’s public rejection of the sweeping conditions that the administration set for maintaining the funds — terms that included external audits of Harvard’s hiring practices and the disciplining of student protesters.”
Alyza Lewin of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law told The Algemeiner that the poll results indicate that Harvard University will continue to struggle to address campus antisemitism on campus, as there is now data showing that its faculty reject the notion of excising intellectualized antisemitism from the university.
“If you, for example, have faculty teaching courses that are regularly denying that the Jews are a people and erasing the Jewish people’s history in the land of Israel, that’s going to undermine your efforts to address the antisemitism on your campus,” Lewin explained. “When Israel is being treated as the ‘collective Jew,’ when the conversation is not about Israel’s policies, when the criticism is not what the [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism] would call criticism of Israel similar to that against any other country, they have to understand that it is the demonization, delegitimization, and applying a double standard to Jews as individuals or to Israel.”
She added, “Faculty must recognize … the demonization, vilification, the shunning, and the marginalizing of Israelis, Jews, and Zionists, when it happens, as violations of the anti-discrimination policies they are legally and contractually obligated to observe.”
The Crimson survey results were published amid reports that Garber was working to reach a deal with the Trump administration that is palatable to all interested parties, including the university’s left-wing social milieu.
According to a June 26 report published by The Crimson, Garber held a phone call with major donors in which he “confirmed in response to a question from [Harvard Corporation Fellow David M. Rubenstein] that talks had resumed” but “declined to share specifics of how Harvard expected to settle with the White House.”
On June 30, the Trump administration issued Harvard a “notice of violation” of civil rights law following an investigation which examined how it responded to dozens of antisemitic incidents reported by Jewish students since the 2023-2024 academic year.
The correspondence, sent by the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, charged that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a torrent of racist and antisemitic abuse following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, which precipitated a surge in anti-Zionist activity on the campus, both in the classroom and out of it.
“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” wrote the four federal officials comprising the multiagency Task Force. “Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges, and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”
The Trump administration ratcheted up pressure on Harvard again on Wednesday, reporting the institution to its accreditor for alleged civil rights violations resulting from its weak response to reports of antisemitic bullying, discrimination, and harassment following the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.
Citing Harvard’s failure to treat antisemitism as seriously as it treated other forms of hatred in the past, The US Department of Educationthe called on the New England Commission of Higher Education to review and, potentially, revoke its accreditation — a designation which qualifies Harvard for federal funding and attests to the quality of the educational services its provides.
“Accrediting bodies play a significant role in preserving academic integrity and a campus culture conducive to truth seeking and learning,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Part of that is ensuring students are safe on campus and abiding by federal laws that guarantee educational opportunities to all students. By allowing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination to persist unchecked on its campus, Harvard University has failed in its obligation to students, educators, and American taxpayers.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Balancing Act: Lebanese President Aoun Affirms Hope for Peace with Israel, Balks At Normalization
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attends a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday carefully affirmed his country’s desire for peace with Israel while cautioning that Beirut is not ready to normalize relations with its southern neighbor.
Aoun called for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, according to a statement from his office, while reaffirming his government’s efforts to uphold a state monopoly on arms amid mounting international pressure on the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah to disarm.
“The decision to restrict arms is final and there is no turning back on it,” Aoun said.
The Lebanese leader drew a clear distinction between pursuing peace and establishing formal normalization in his country’s relationship with the Jewish state.
“Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment,” Aoun said in a statement. “As for the issue of normalization, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy.”
Aoun’s latest comments come after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar expressed interest last month in normalizing ties with Lebanon and Syria — an effort Jerusalem says cannot proceed until Hezbollah is fully disarmed.
Earlier this week, Aoun sent his government’s response to a US-backed disarmament proposal as Washington and Jerusalem increased pressure on Lebanon to neutralize the terror group.
While the details remain confidential, US Special Envoy Thomas Barrack said he was “unbelievably satisfied” with their response.
This latest proposal, presented to Lebanese officials during Barrack’s visit on June 19, calls for Hezbollah to be fully disarmed within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from its five occupied posts in southern Lebanon.
However, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem vowed in a televised speech to keep the group’s weapons, rejecting Washington’s disarmament proposal.
“How can you expect us not to stand firm while the Israeli enemy continues its aggression, continues to occupy the five points, and continues to enter our territories and kill?” said Qassem, who succeeded longtime terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah after Israel killed him last year.
“We will not be part of legitimizing the occupation in Lebanon and the region,” the terrorist leader continued. “We will not accept normalization [with Israel].”
Last fall, Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, following the group’s attacks on Jerusalem — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
In November, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.
However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.
Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers — calling this “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
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Peace Meals: Chef José Andrés Says ‘Good People’ On Both Sides of Gaza Conflict Ill-Served By Leaders, Food Can Bridge Divide
Chef and head of World Central Kitchen Jose Andres attends the Milken Institute Global Conference 2025 in Beverly Hills, California, US, May 5, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Mike Blake.
Renowned Spanish chef and World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder José Andrés called the Oct. 7 attack “horrendous” in an interview Wednesday and shared his hopes for reconciliation between the “vast majority” on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide who are “good people that very often are not served well by their leaders”
WCK is a US-based, nonprofit organization that provides fresh meals to people in conflict zones around the world. The charity has been actively serving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel. Since the Hamas attack, WCK has served more than 133 million meals across Gaza, according to its website.
The restaurateur and humanitarian has been quoted saying in past interviews that “sometimes very big problems have very simple solutions.” On Wednesday’s episode of the Wall Street Journal podcast “Bold Names,” he was asked to elaborate on that thought. He responded by saying he believes good meals and good leaders can help resolve issues between Israelis and Palestinians, who, he believes, genuinely want to live harmoniously with each other.
“I had people in Gaza, mothers, women making bread,” he said. “Moments that you had of closeness they were telling you: ‘What Hamas did was wrong. I wouldn’t [want] anybody to do this to my children.’ And I had Israelis that even lost family members. They say, ‘I would love to go to Gaza to be next to the people to show them that we respect them …’ And this to me is very fascinating because it’s the reality.
“Maybe some people call me naive. [But] the vast majority of the people are good people that very often are not served well by their leaders. And the simple reality of recognizing that many truths can be true at the same time in the same phrase that what happened on October 7th was horrendous and was never supposed to happen. And that’s why World Central Kitchen was there next to the people in Israel feeding in the kibbutz from day one, and at the same time that I defended obviously the right of Israel to defend itself and to try to bring back the hostages. Equally, what is happening in Gaza is not supposed to be happening either.”
Andres noted that he supports Israel’s efforts to target Hamas terrorists but then seemingly accused Israel of “continuously” targeting children and civilians during its military operations against the terror group.
“We need leaders that believe in that, that believe in longer tables,” he concluded. “It’s so simple to invest in peace … It’s so simple to do good. It’s so simple to invest in a better tomorrow. Food is a solution to many of the issues we’re facing. Let’s hope that … one day in the Middle East it’ll be people just celebrating the cultures that sometimes if you look at what they eat, they seem all to eat exactly the same.”
In 2024, WCK fired at least 62 of its staff members in Gaza after Israel said they had ties to terrorist groups. In one case, Israel discovered that a WCK employee named Ahed Azmi Qdeih took part in the deadly Hamas rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Qdeih was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in November 2024.
In April 2024, the Israel Defense Forces received backlash for carrying out airstrikes on a WCK vehicle convoy which killed seven of the charity’s employees. Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said the airstrikes were “a mistake that followed a misidentification,” and Israel dismissed two senior officers as a result of the mishandled military operation.
The strikes “were not just some unfortunate mistake in the fog of war,” Andrés alleged.
“It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by” the Israeli military, he claimed in an op-ed published by Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot. “It was also the direct result of [the Israeli] government’s policy to squeeze humanitarian aid to desperate levels.”
In a statement on X, Andres accused Israel of “indiscriminate killing,” saying the Jewish state “needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”
The post Peace Meals: Chef José Andrés Says ‘Good People’ On Both Sides of Gaza Conflict Ill-Served By Leaders, Food Can Bridge Divide first appeared on Algemeiner.com.