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‘Not a Jew With Trembling Knees’: US Rep. Randy Fine Claps Back After Qatar Issues Letter Condemning Lawmaker
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) leaves the US Capitol after the last votes of the week on Sept. 4, 2025. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Rep. Randy Fine, a Jewish Republican from Florida, on Monday indicated he has no intention of backing down after receiving a sharp repudiation from the Qatari embassy in Washington following remarks he made suggesting Qatar was funding unrest on American college campuses and posing a threat through Muslim fighter pilots training in the United States.
In the two-page letter, Qatar’s ambassador to Washington, Meshal Al Thani, accused Fine of making “observations about Qatar that are not accurate,” after the Florida Republican’s appearance on “Loomer Unleashed,” the podcast hosted by Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and ally of US President Donald Trump.
Fine reportedly claimed that Qatar “funds most of the institutions that are damaging” the United States and is “responsible for” anti-Israel protests on US campuses. The ambassador strongly denied those assertions, citing US intelligence reports and congressional testimony that found no evidence linking Qatar to antisemitic incidents or unrest at American universities.
“Qatar condemns antisemitism, and all forms of religious or ethnic intolerance,” Al Thani wrote.
The letter emphasized that most of Qatar’s financial contributions to American universities fund the operating costs of six branch campuses in Doha, not US-based programs, and claimed that the country ranks 35th among foreign donors to American universities, behind Thailand, with $312.5 million in gifts.
Various reports, however, have found that Qatar, which the US government has designated as a “major non-NATO ally,” has in total given billions of dollars to US universities.
In June, for example, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism Policy (ISGAP) released a study showing that Georgetown University has received over $1 billion in funding from the Qatari government over the last two decades.
ISGAP found in a previous report that, from 2014-2019, Qatar gave American universities a striking $2.7 billion in undocumented funds, topping its list of foreign countries.
Doha has reportedly poured nearly $6 billion into US universities since 1981, making it the largest Arab donor in American higher education. Just between 2023 and 2024, it donated $527 million.
US lawmakers have grown increasingly critical of Qatari donations to American universities, expressing concern that such funding could influence academic discourse, especially since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel. Doha has backed the Palestinian terrorist group for years, providing Hamas with money and diplomatic support while hosting and sheltering its top leadership.
Beyond education, the Middle East Forum released its own report in May exposing the extent of Qatar’s far-reaching financial entanglements within American institutions, shedding light on what experts described as a coordinated effort to influence US policy making and public opinion in Doha’s favor. The findings showed that Qatar has attempted to expand its soft power in the US by spending $33.4 billion on business and real estate projects, over $6 billion on universities, and $72 million on American lobbyists since 2012.
Fine has also criticized the seemingly cozy relationship that Trump shares with Qatar, suggesting that the American leader has been too friendly to the monarchal country with deep ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Look, I trust President Trump’s judgment. And I think he has adopted the approach that by trying to embrace them, by trying to pull them and show them the benefits of working with America, he can get them to be a good actor on the world stage. But I am not a fan of Qatar. Let me be clear,” Fine said on “Loomer Unleashed.”
Trump has received criticism even from political allies regarding his relationship with and conduct toward Qatar. pointing to his highly controversial decision to accept a $400 million jet from the Qatari government.
Trump also raised eyebrows after allowing the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, to board Air Force One on Friday. Trump and the Qatari royal were pictured smiling and jovially chatting aboard the aircraft after it landed for refueling at Al-Udeid Air Base, the largest US military base in the Middle East, on the way to Malaysia.
In the second page of the Qatari letter, the ambassador also addressed comments Fine made about Muslim fighter pilots training at a US Air Force base in Idaho, an arrangement Al Thani described as routine among American allies.
The ambassador added that Qatar’s F-15 purchases and training programs contribute “thousands of jobs” in the US defense sector and strengthen military cooperation between the two countries.
Al Thani further urged Fine to avoid conflating criticism of Qatar with fear of Muslims, noting that 3.5 million Muslims live in the United States — including 127,000 in Florida.
The letter closed on a diplomatic note, with Al Thani offering to answer any questions Fine might have about Qatar’s role as “an ally and friend of the United States,” referencing Qatar’s mediation in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release negotiated with US assistance.
The Algemeiner has reported in recent weeks about growing concern among Israel and other US allies in the Middle East that Qatar may use its influence to strengthen Hamas amid reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
Since entering the US Congress, Fine has established himself as an outspoken advocate for Israel and critic of Islam. Earlier this month, Fine posted online that “Dear of Islam is rational. Islamophobia is a lie.” He also wrote that Islam is not “compatible with American values” and has argued that radical Islam poses an existential threat to the United States and Jewish Americans in particular.
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Lebanon Plans UN Complaint Against Israel Over Border Wall
A UN vehicle drives near a concrete wall along Lebanon’s southern border which, according to the Lebanese presidency, extends beyond the “Blue Line”, a U.N.-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, as seen from northern Israel, November 16, 2025. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Lebanon will file a complaint to the U.N. Security Council against Israel for constructing a concrete wall along Lebanon’s southern border that extends beyond the “Blue Line,” the Lebanese presidency said on Saturday.
The Blue Line is a U.N.-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israeli forces withdrew to the Blue Line when they left south Lebanon in 2000.
A spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, said on Friday the wall has made more than 4,000 square meters (nearly an acre) of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the local population.
The Lebanese presidency echoed his remarks, saying in a statement that Israel’s ongoing construction constituted “a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and an infringement on Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Dujarric said the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had requested that the wall be removed.
An Israeli military spokesperson denied on Friday that the wall crossed the Blue Line.
“The wall is part of a broader IDF plan whose construction began in 2022,” the spokesperson said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
“Since the start of the war, and as part of lessons learned from it, the IDF has been advancing a series of measures, including reinforcing the physical barrier along the northern border.”
UNIFIL, established in 1978, operates between the Litani River in the north and the Blue Line in the south. The mission has more than 10,000 troops from 50 countries and about 800 civilian staff, according to its website.
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Iran Says US Is Not Ready for ‘Equal and Fair’ Nuclear Talks
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. Photo: Hamid Forootan/Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Washington’s current approach toward Tehran does not indicate any readiness for “equal and fair negotiations,” Iran’s foreign minister said on Sunday, after US President Donald Trump hinted last week at potential discussions.
Following Israel’s attack on Iran in June, which was joined by U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, attempts at renewing dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear program have failed.
The United States, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear program as a veil for efforts to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran and Washington underwent five rounds of indirect nuclear talks prior to the 12-days-war, but faced obstacles such as the issue of domestic uranium enrichment, which the U.S. wants Iran to forego.
“The U.S. cannot expect to gain what it couldn’t in war through negotiations,” Abbas Araqchi said during a Tehran conference named “international law under assault.”
“Iran will always be prepared to engage in diplomacy, but not negotiations meant for dictation,” he added.
During the same conference, deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh accused Washington of pursuing its wartime goals with “negotiations as a show.”
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Israeli Government Decides ‘Independent’ Commission to Investigate Oct. 7 Failures
The Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – The Israeli government has approved the creation of an “independent” commission of inquiry to examine the failures that enabled the Hamas assault of October 7, 2023.
However, in a move sharply criticized by the opposition and contrary to the recommendation of the Supreme Court, the panel will not be a formal state commission of inquiry. Instead, its mandate, authorities, and scope will be determined directly by government ministers.
According to the decision, the commission will receive full investigative powers and must be composed in a way that ensures “the broadest possible public trust.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form a special ministerial committee tasked with defining what the inquiry may investigate, the time periods to be reviewed, and the authority it will receive. The committee has 45 days to deliver its recommendations.
For the past year, the government has repeatedly resisted calls to establish a state commission, arguing at first that such a body could not operate during wartime. Later, some ministers accused Supreme Court President Isaac Amit of being incapable of appointing an impartial chairperson.
But on October 15, the High Court of Justice ruled that there was “no substantive argument” against forming a state commission, giving the government 30 days to respond.
Netanyahu maintains that responsibility for the October 7 failures lies primarily with Israel’s security agencies rather than with political leaders.
His critics accuse him of creating a weaker, government-controlled inquiry designed to limit scrutiny of his decisions, undermining the prospect of full accountability for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.