1000 баксов за месяц: MEF Dispatch: Will Trump Hold Qatar to Account? Vetting Visas Is Important—as Georgetown Shows; The U.K. Caves to Islamists (Again)

пятница, 4 апреля 2025 г.

Will Trump Hold Qatar to Account? Security Vetting Is Important—as Georgetown Shows; The U.K. Caves to Islamists (Again)

By Winfield Myers ● Apr 04, 2025

Smart Brevity^® count: 7.5 mins...1943 words

Jim Hanson asks "Can Trump Help Qatar Redeem Itself?" during his May visit to that oil-rich country. (Yes: by telling it to cut ties with terrorists.) Todd Bensman separates myth from fact in his analysis of the president's border counter-terrorism order and argues the closer vetting it provides is exactly what's needed. An example of that need is Georgetown's Badar Khan Suri, an academic in the U.S. on a student visa who faces deportation following Anna Stanley's reporting, here summarized in her recent podcast.

What's in a kiss? A great deal when the hand kissed belongs to a leading Islamist cleric whose sect is labelled "the antechamber of terrorism" by intelligence officers, and the bestower is the U.K. Labour government's faith minister. That would be the same government that recently passed two laws to curb hostile state influence in Britain, but ignored both to allow the pro-Iranian regime Al-Quds Day rally to proceed unopposed.

ICYMI: Israel Insider with Ashley Perry

Netanyahu is now free from immediate coalition worries. What comes next? A hostage deal? Destroying Hamas? Or maybe an attack on Iran?

Ashley Perry is an advisor to the Middle East Forum's Israel office. He served as adviser to Israel's minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister in 2009-15, and has also worked with Israel's Ministers of Intelligence, Agriculture and Rural Development, Energy, Water and Infrastructure, Defense, Tourism, Internal Security, and Immigrant Absorption and as an advisor to The Negev Forum. Originally from the U.K., he moved to Israel in 2001. He holds a B.A. from University College London and an M.A. from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya).

To watch the full podcast, click here.

Can Trump Help Qatar Redeem Itself?

The Souq Waqif marketplace in Doha, Qatar, features a billboard with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir. Shutterstock

By: Jim Hanson

President Donald Trump is embarking on his first trip to the Middle East in mid-May, with stops in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, focusing on enhancing business relations and addressing security concerns.

Why it matters: As Trump seeks to improve U.S.-Qatari relations, he aims to persuade Qatar to increase business investments while addressing their controversial international ties.

Qatar has deep ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and its many offshoots, including Hamas.
Qatar has cordial relations with the Taliban and Al Qaeda affiliates. Normally, these relationships would disqualify any country for partnership with the United States, but Qataris have played both sides masterfully.

The stakes: Despite Qatar's intelligence contributions and hosting of the U.S. military at al Udeid Air Base, Trump must condition alliances on Doha ending support for designated terror groups.

Trump should demand, as a condition for any deal, that Qatar end its longstanding support for terrorism.
Trump's push for reforms also targets Qatar's economic cooperation with Iran, which undermines U.S. sanctions. Qatar should not be so tightly aligned with Iran and still considered a U.S. ally. It is time for Qatar to pick a side.

What's next: Trump may leverage his negotiation prowess to sway Qatar from its current path, potentially fostering more stable and prosperous regional dynamics. His success could hinge on Qatar's readiness to reform and align more closely with U.S. interests.

To read the full article, click here.

Decoding Trump's Border Counterterrorism Order

By: Todd Bensman

President Trump has reinstated and expanded his travel ban through the executive order "Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats."

Why it matters: This order aims to intensify national security screening and to deport individuals from countries deemed as security risks.

This executive order aims to re-invigorate national security screening and vetting to weed out Islamist terrorists and other forms of undesired public safety threats from among the millions of foreign nationals who annually apply for immigrant and non-immigrant visas of all kinds, from refugees to tourists, while they are still abroad.

The big picture: The order not only revives restrictions on visa issuances but also seeks to backdate vetting checks, potentially deporting individuals already in the U.S., such as pro-Hamas demonstrators.

The travel ban addresses an urgent national security problem, which is to significantly reduce the issuance of visas to people from countries of terrorism concern or other public safety concerns that don't, won't, or can't cooperate with American security-vetting processes that are at the heart of Trump's border counterterrorism directive.

What's next: The administration plans to expand the list of banned countries, potentially including Gaza and the West Bank, and aims to address security threats by deporting individuals from these regions already in the U.S.

The policy reflects a shift towards more rigorous border counterterrorism measures, emphasizing national security as a priority.

To read the full article, click here.

Anna Stanley on Hamas Ties at Georgetown: Unmasking Extremism in Academia

Anna Stanley, a research associate at the Middle East Forum's Islamist Watch project, spoke to a March 25 Middle East Forum Podcast.

Two Hamas-linked academics at Georgetown University have recently come under fire following explosive revelations of their ties to the terror group. Badar Khan Suri, a fellow at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, was arrested on March 19, 2025, and now faces deportation after a Middle East Forum report exposed his praise of Hamas and his marriage to Mapheze Ahmad Yousef Saleh, daughter of a senior Hamas official. Saleh, a graduate student at Georgetown's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, is implicated alongside Suri, whose social media activity promotes Hamas propaganda and virulent antisemitism. MEF research associate Anna Stanley, who broke the story, highlights how the Trump administration is cracking down on extremist sympathizers in academia, while Georgetown itself remains silent. With an upcoming MEF and Clarity Coalition report set to reveal even deeper ties between the university and extremist networks, this case raises urgent questions. How did Georgetown harbor such figures? What does this mean for academic integrity? And why did Georgetown rush to Suri's defense?

Anna Stanley is a research associate at the Middle East Forum. She previously worked as an open-source intelligence analyst at the British Foreign Office and as an intelligence researcher and investigation practitioner for U.K. Police. She has delivered OSINT training internationally. Her writing has been featured on U.K. television, and in The Spectator, the Jewish Chronicle, JNS, Fathom, the Daily Telegraph and Ynet. She holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of London.

To read a summary of the podcast and watch the full video, click here.

Register for "Statecraft Reimagined" and Receive a Complimentary Book!

Participants in MEF's 2025 policy conference, "Statecraft Reimagined,"will receive a complimentary copy of one the following books* at the conference:

Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West
By Josh Hammer
The Builder's Stone: How Jews and Christians Built the West and Why Only They Can Save It
By: Melanie Phillips.

**Limit one per household, first come first serve basis.

For more information or to register for the conference, click here.

U.K. Faith Minister Kowtows Before Fundamentalist Pakistani Cleric

Lord Wajid Khan kissed the ring of a Deobandi extremist during the imam's visit to Khan's Burnley constituency in late February. (Official portrait by Roger Harris)

By: Hannah Baldock

In a shocking display of subservience, Labour's faith minister, Lord Wajid Khan, kissed the ring of Deobandi extremist Maulana Tariq Jamil, igniting outrage and raising alarms about extremist influence within the government. It was caught on video posted to Maulana's 8.7 million YouTube followers.

Why it matters: This gesture is more than symbolic; it signals a troubling alignment with figures who oppose Western democratic values.

Kissing a ring is a way of humbling oneself in the presence of a religious leader and shows that the person bestowing the kiss accepts the ring bearer's leadership and guidance in their life.
Maulana Tariq Jamil is entrenched in the Tablighi Jamaat, a movement linked to the radicalization of extremists.

The stakes: The video undermines confidence in Labour's commitment to secularism and pluralism, especially given Jamil's regressive views against women's rights and his history of extremism.

His teachings, often controversial even in Pakistan, include not condemning terrorism and promoting anti-Western sentiments.
A French intelligence report cited by Le Monde found that up to 80 percent of known extremists have, at some stage, passed through Tablighi ranks, leading to the group being labelled "the antechamber of terrorism" by intelligence officers.

What's next: Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick is demanding full disclosure of the meeting's discussions, while critics question Labour's ability to safeguard democratic freedoms against such ideological threats.

Deobandi doctrines cultivate a supremacist mindset among diaspora Muslims for whom Islam is no longer a spiritual pathway to God but an expansionist imperial project that stands against the West, against the nation-state, and against secular Muslim and non-Muslim populations.
This incident calls for an urgent reevaluation of how political figures engage with extremist ideologies and the potential risk it poses to national security and societal cohesion.

To read the full article, click here.

U.K. Allows Al-Quds Rally Despite Laws Against Foreign Influence

The Iranian government scored a propaganda victory when protesters celebrated Al-Quds Day in London in late March. (Potkin Azarmehr)

By: Potkin Azarmehr

Despite the introduction of the National Security Act and Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS)—both heralded as crucial measures to curb hostile state influence in Britain—the Al-Quds Day rally, spearheaded by pro-Iranian activists, proceeded on March 23, 2025, in London.

Why it matters: This event, originally conceived by Ayatollah Khomeini, showcases Iran's soft power and challenges the effectiveness of U.K. security laws intended to curb foreign influence.

The rally featured chants of "Death to England," highlighting the audacity of pro-Iranian activists on British soil.

A stark double standard: While Iran restricts British presence, the U.K. allows Iran to project influence and spread its malign, anti-Western and antisemitic propaganda.

The British Council and BBC are blocked in Iran, highlighting the imbalance and making the U.K. appear weak.

A toothless response: Despite assurances from State Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, the new laws prohibiting the march remain unenforced.

Police officers tasked with overseeing the rally had no idea what FIRS or the National Security Act even were.
This underscores a lack of political will to confront Iran's influence, reducing the laws to mere political theater.

The bottom line: The U.K. must enforce its own laws to counteract hostile state influence or risk emboldening Iran's network within its borders.

To read the full article, click here.

Mainstream Islamism in Canada: A Growing Grave National Security Threat with Joe Adam George

When:
Thursday, April 17, 2025
11am PDT | 2pm EST | 3pm ADT
Where:
Virtual, via Zoom Webinar

Joe Adam George is the research lead for Islamist threats in Canada at the Middle East Forum. Based in Ottawa, he is also a foreign policy and national security analyst with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, covering Islamist extremism in the West, terror financing, and geopolitical developments in the Middle East and South Asia and their impact on Canada and the U.S. Joe previously worked in the Parliament of Canada as press secretary and advisor to the leader of the opposition party, and as a research intern at the Hudson Institute's Center for Political-Military Analysis. His work has been featured in the National Post, the Globe and Mail, the Hill Times, The Hill, Real Clear World, the Times of India, and the Economic Times.

To register for this webinar, click here.