President Trump, Stop Saudi Arabia's Poisonous Campaign Against Jews and the Abraham Accords - Bassam Tawil

 

by Bassam Tawil

Saudi Arabia's latest anti-Israel campaign raises serious questions about the kingdom's purported desire to join the Abraham Accords in the first place, as well as the long-term reliability of other professed allies: in particular Qatar, Turkey, Russia and Pakistan.

 

• Both Israeli and Arab political analysts recently have pointed out that Saudi Arabia's renewed anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric shows that the kingdom is moving away from normalization with Israel in favor of an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar and Turkey, especially now that the US has approved Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's request for American tanks and F-35 stealth fighter jets.

• [B]ehind the scenes, "the Saudis and the Qataris led a campaign for Trump not to strike Iran.... [The Saudi leadership] heard [exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi] said the new Iran will normalize relations with Israel, and this drove the [Saudi and Qatari] leadership crazy. Imagine Iran and Israel together... the Shi'a and the Jews together; it's their biggest nightmare." — Edy Cohen, research fellow at the Israel Center for Grand Strategy, jewishinsider.com, January 28, 2026.

• "Now, with the Saudis no longer celebrating the Abraham Accords, they are trying to undermine their foundations of support, from Morocco to the Emirates... 'If I don't fly, nobody flies.'" — Amit Segal, Israeli journalist, January 22, 2026.

• Saudi Arabia's latest anti-Israel campaign raises serious questions about the kingdom's purported desire to join the Abraham Accords in the first place, as well as the long-term reliability of other professed allies: in particular Qatar, Turkey, Russia and Pakistan.

• Over the past few years, Mohammed bin Salman found excuses to procrastinate, often by conditioning normalization with Israel on the establishment of a Palestinian terror state next to Israel. In the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, it is obvious that such a state would pose an existential threat to Israel, as would the presence of Qatar, Turkey, Hamas, Russia and Pakistan planted on the Gaza Strip when Trump will no longer be in office to guard it.

• Perhaps this is the right time for Trump to reconsider his ties with bin Salman -- and other putative "friends" -- and cancel the recent contract to sell the Saudis that fleet of F-35 stealth fighter jets.

Both Israeli and Arab political analysts recently have pointed out that Saudi Arabia's renewed anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric shows that the kingdom is moving away from normalization with Israel in favor of an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar and Turkey, especially now that the US has approved Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's request for American tanks and F-35 stealth fighter jets. Pictured: Bin Salman shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)

In December 2025, Sheikh Saleh bin Abdallah bin Humaid, a prominent imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and a member of Saudi Arabia's Council of Senior Scholars, delivered a Friday sermon in which he prayed for God to punish "the Jews" and described Israel as a "cruel Zionist entity."

"Oh Allah, deal with the Jews who have seized and occupied, for they cannot escape your power," bin Humaid said. "Oh Allah, send upon them your punishment and misery, that can never be repelled by the wrongdoers. Oh Allah, we seek your protection from their harms, and we seek refuge with you from their evils."

The imam praised Palestinian children as "among the most joyful examples and noble images are the young children of Palestine."

"Heroic children whose fathers were killed while they watched and whose homes were demolished while they witnessed," he said. "Jerusalem and Palestine will remain high and lofty in the hearts of Arabs and Muslims."

On January 22, in an article published in the Saudi newspaper Al Jazirah, prominent academic Ahmed bin Othman al-Tuwaijri accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of throwing itself "into the arms of Zionism" and functioning as "Israel's Trojan horse in the Arab world" in order to weaken Saudi Arabia and emerge as a dominant regional power.

Tuwaijri, a former dean at King Saud University and a former Shura Council member, accused UAE leaders of being "blinded" by "hatred and jealousy" and of turning against Saudi Arabia despite decades of its support. He singled out the emirate of Abu Dhabi for criticism, saying it was pursuing "hostile plots under the guise of diplomacy" and was behind several attempts to destabilize the region, adding:

"In my estimation, what Abu Dhabi is practicing the current state of chaos, destruction, and collusion with the Zionist enemies of the nation against Arab and Islamic countries is a natural consequence of the absence of a truly serious, resolute, decisive, and just Arab system that stands at an equal distance from all."

Tuwaijri claimed that the UAE, which is governed by Mohammed bin Zayed -- a staunch opponent of political Islam -- had collaborated with Israel to the detriment of Arab interests.

"They are trying to shift loyalty from Arab and Islamic solidarity toward external influence," Tuwaijri wrote.

"What a betrayal of God, His Messenger, and the entire nation! What stupidity and shortsightedness! Israel is on its way to rapid demise. And the nation will remain, God willing. This is a betrayal of God, His Messenger, and the entire nation, and it cannot be ignored."

Both Israeli and Arab political analysts recently have pointed out that Saudi Arabia's renewed anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric shows that the kingdom is moving away from normalization with Israel in favor of an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar and Turkey, especially now that the US has approved Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's request for American tanks and F-35 stealth fighter jets.

Hussain Abdul Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, commented:

"Saudi Arabia is undergoing a major regional realignment, abandoning the pursuit of an integrated Middle East with a thriving knowledge economy and dusting off the kingdom's old rhetoric against Zionism and in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood. Last week, Saudi Arabia went as far as lobbying President Donald Trump to spare the Iranian regime, Riyadh's archrival since 1979."

"This followed Saudi Arabia's parting ways with the United Arab Emirates over Yemen. The Saudi air force struck Emirati assets and paved the way for its Yemeni allies—mainly the Muslim Brotherhood's Al-Islah—to expand southward toward Aden. But that was only one piece of the Saudi realignment puzzle."

Hussain noted that some Saudi social media accounts "have now emerged as fully fledged antisemitic." He cited an account with considerable following belonging to Fawaz al-Laboun as asking Arabs and Muslims to choose: "There are two camps. One is Saudi, and the other is Jewish."

Hussain said earlier this month that the Trump administration needs "to have a serious talk with" the Saudis. "I'm ringing the alarm; I'm breaking the glass. I'm saying, listen, these guys are changing."

In the past, "you only got these crazy terrorist clerics, the al-Qaeda types... would be inciting against the Jews," Hussain added. "But this week, the [Saudi] state-owned media was inciting against the Zionist plan to partition the region and to divide the region. This is very new."

According to Israeli journalist Lahav Harkov:

"Anti-Israel and antisemitic messages from Saudi regime mouthpieces and state-sanctioned media have increased in recent weeks, as Riyadh has pivoted away from a more moderate posture to an alignment with Islamist forces, such as Qatar and Turkey...

"An editorial in the Saudi government newspaper Al-Riyadh earlier this month said that 'wherever Israel is present, there is ruin and destruction,' and that Israel 'do[es] not respect the sovereignty of states or the integrity of their territories, while working to exploit crises and conflicts to deepen divisions.'"

Edy Cohen, a research fellow at the Israel Center for Grand Strategy, told Jewish Insider that the Saudi-backed Arabic news channel Al Arabiya is "very anti-Israel, they glorify the Palestinians."

One reason for the turn in Saudi messaging is that Riyadh is "very afraid of Israel," Cohen said, noting that it views recent Israeli actions as going against Saudi interests.

Cohen noted that Saudi Arabia was mostly quiet about Tehran's violent suppression of the recent nationwide demonstrations, but behind the scenes, "the Saudis and the Qataris led a campaign for Trump not to strike Iran."

"[The Saudi leadership] heard [exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi] said the new Iran will normalize relations with Israel, and this drove the [Saudi and Qatari] leadership crazy. Imagine Iran and Israel together ... the Shi'a and the Jews together; it's their biggest nightmare."

According to Harkov:

"Abdul-Hussain put Saudi's pivot in the context of its failed regional ambitions. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, sought to move 'from a country that has relied on oil for a living ... to a country that looked like Dubai, where you have tourism and services, what they call a knowledge economy. ... Israel is clearly one of the highest knowledge economies in the world.'

"However, Abdul-Hussain said, 'his experiment has just hit a wall and this transformation is not happening'... Now, Abdul-Hussain said, 'the quickest tool that [MBS] can get is to reconnect with the Islamists. ... Look at Turkey and Qatar using Islamism all the time to project influence, including in Gaza ... Washington clearly likes them for some reason, so [MBS is] thinking, why not use Islamism ... as a tool to project power at Saudi's borders? This means they will have to bash the heck out of Israel.'"

Prominent Israeli journalist Amit Segal also weighed in on the shift in Saudi Arabia's position:

"Here is the updated assessment now being heard in important capitals in the region: normalization with Saudi Arabia is dead, at least for the foreseeable future. The strategic decision to pursue reconciliation with Israel has been replaced by a wild incitement campaign, whose depth and damage are questionable in terms of awareness. When Qatar's 'plastic empire' attacks Israel via Al Jazeera, it is very harmful—but when the preacher in Mecca poisons the entire Sunni world against Israelis, that is something else entirely.

"Over the past month, [Saudi-owned] Al Arabiya has been worse than Al Jazeera in the texts broadcast against any normalization with Israel. Saudi podcasters who specialize in luxury cars or sports are suddenly cursing Zionism and the Abraham Accords. The broader context is the Saudi-Emirati military confrontation in Yemen—an attack that should greatly worry Israel and the United States, and that delights the Houthis, who watch their enemies fight one another.

"Why is this happening? Strangely, Israel has fallen victim to its historic success in severely damaging Iran's nuclear project and its proxy network. In 2015, the Saudi king sent Netanyahu a note congratulating him on his speech to Congress against the nuclear deal. That is where the seeds of cooperation with the moderate Sunni states were sown, culminating in the Abraham Accords. When concern over Iran reached its peak and interest in the Palestinian issue reached a low point, the de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, embarked on a campaign to prepare hearts for peace with Israel. The date was late September 2023.

"[The Hamas-led] October 7 [invasion of Israel] changed everything: it both reignited Arab interest in the Palestinian issue and led to an Israel–Iran war on seven fronts. Saudi Arabia received, for free, the goods it wanted in Tehran, and the price it demanded on the Palestinian issue rose sharply. Contrary to the impression created, Netanyahu and [former Israeli minister and prime minister advisor Ron] Dermer were not particularly eager to pay any price to the Saudis either. 'If not, then not—no force,' Netanyahu said in one cabinet meeting.

"Now, with the Saudis no longer celebrating the Abraham Accords, they are trying to undermine their foundations of support, from Morocco to the Emirates. Someone I spoke with this week used an Arab proverb to explain it: "He who cannot reach the grapes says they are sour." I suggested an Israeli version, straight from air-defense battle lore: 'If I don't fly, nobody flies.'

"Donald Trump has a move or two available in Riyadh. Israel and its friends in the region should ask him to use his influence to halt the toxic campaign against his main international legacy and make clear that an attack on the accords is an attack on him."

Saudi Arabia's latest anti-Israel campaign raises serious questions about the kingdom's purported desire to join the Abraham Accords in the first place, as well as the long-term reliability of other professed allies: in particular Qatar, Turkey, Russia and Pakistan.

Over the past few years, Mohammed bin Salman found excuses to procrastinate, often by conditioning normalization with Israel on the establishment of a Palestinian terror state next to Israel. In the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, it is obvious that such a state would pose an existential threat to Israel, as would the presence of Qatar, Turkey, Hamas, Russia and Pakistan planted on the Gaza Strip when Trump will no longer be in office to guard it.

Perhaps this is the right time for Trump to reconsider his ties with bin Salman -- and other putative "friends" -- and cancel the recent contract to sell the Saudis that fleet of F-35 stealth fighter jets.

Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple who wish to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22237/saudi-arabia-poisonous-campaign

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UK reopens Chagos Islands talks with US following Trump criticism of deal: reports - Emma Bussey

 

by Emma Bussey

Starmer says discussions with Washington resumed after president's social media post panned plan to hand Diego Garcia sovereignty to Mauritius

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Talks between the U.K. and the U.S. over the future of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean have reportedly reopened after President Donald Trump’s comments cast doubt over an agreement that would see Britain hand sovereignty of the strategically vital archipelago to Mauritius.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed Wednesday that the U.K. had reopened discussions after the president had panned the deal and branded it an "act of great stupidity," GB News reported.

"Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER," Trump had posted on Truth Social. "There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness."

He added: "The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired."

TRUMP WARNS US CAN NO LONGER THINK ‘PURELY OF PEACE’ AS HE PUSHES FOR GREENLAND CONTROL

Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, was leased from the U.K. in 1966. (Reuters)

The Chagos Islands were separated from Mauritius during Britain’s decolonization process, a move the International Court of Justice ruled unlawful in 2019. 

The U.K. later agreed to transfer sovereignty while leasing Diego Garcia back for at least 99 years at a cost of at least $160 million annually.

Diego Garcia is a hub for long-range bombers, logistics and power projection across the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific and Africa. 

Around 2,500 military and civilian personnel, mostly American, are stationed there. The base serves as a critical operation point for the U.S. and plays a central role in intelligence gathering and securing military communications.

Speaking aboard a flight to China, Starmer said he had "discussed Chagos with Donald Trump a number of times," but declined to confirm whether the issue had been raised during a phone call between the two leaders on Sunday, The Financial Times reported.

TRUMP’S ‘SMALL ASK’ FOR GREENLAND WOULD BE THE REAL ESTATE DEAL OF A LIFETIME

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he "discussed Chagos with [President] Donald Trump a number of times." (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Starmer also said the matter "has been raised with the White House at the tail end of last week, over the weekend and into the early part of this week."

Starmer also added that when the Trump administration took office, the U.K. paused the agreement for three months to allow the U.S. time to assess the deal at the agency level.

"Once they’d done that, they were very clear in the pronouncements about the fact that they supported the deal, and there were announcements made," he said.

A Downing Street spokesperson also confirmed London was working to "allay any concerns" in Washington, according to GB News.

"We will continue to engage with the U.S. on this important matter and the importance of the deal to secure U.S. and U.K. interests and allay any concerns, as we’ve done throughout the process," the spokesperson said.

Trump’s comments on the Chagos deal had been welcomed by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who wrote on X: "Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Downing Street for comment.

 

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture. 

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/uk-reopens-chagos-islands-talks-us-following-trump-criticism-deal-reports

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Iran regime using hospitals as traps to harm protesters, doctors that provide aid - Leo Feierberg Better

 

by Leo Feierberg Better

Rights groups say wounded Iranians avoid clinics as security forces detain patients and punish medics, while a surgeon now faces a capital charge for aiding protesters.

 

A woman holds a placard during a demonstration in solidarity with protestors living in Iran, in Israel's central city of Holon on January 24, 2026.

(photo credit: Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

 

Iranian regime forces have used hospitals and doctors as tools for shutting down antigovernmental protests in recent weeks, according to various media reports, citing firsthand accounts.

Since late December, Iranians have taken to the streets in unprecedented protests encompassing millions of people. The government has treated the protests as a threat to the stability of the Islamic Republic, and have cracked down violently on protestors. As many as 30,000 people may have been killed according to some medical estimates, although exact details and numbers are difficult to obtain due to Tehran blocking internet access in the country.

On Wednesday, the BBC reported that Iranian protestors fear hospital treatment, due to concerns that regime forces could arrest wounded protestors upon arrival. One protestor told the BBC that forces fired birdshot upon her and a group of friends during a protest in Isfahan. 

“All the alleyways were full of security forces, so I asked a couple standing at their front door to let us in,” she said. Instead of going to a hospital, they were treated privately by a doctor they knew.

Another protestor told the BBC how his friend had to be moved into an operating theater through a back entrance to avoid detection. A medical source in Tehran also testified that in these times, doctors avoid mentioning gunshot wounds in medical reports due to regime forces checking hospitals for wounded protestors.

Dr. Alireza Golchini, a general surgeon in Iran who was reportedly arrested for providing treatment to protesters. (credit: SCREENSHOT/X, SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)

Besides persecuting protestors, the Iranian government has been accused of punishing medical professionals who treat those wounded during demonstrations, with one surgeon reportedly facing execution.

Rights groups accuse regime of arresting doctors providing medical treatment to protesters

According to Norwegian human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), the regime seeks to “to intimidate the public” through attacking medical workers. One source told the NGO that forces had arrested at least four doctors in the city of Ardabil, where dozens of people were reported to have been killed between January 8 and 9.

One source told IHRNGO how a volunteer first responder treated “more than 20 people in his home,” before forces arrested him on January 14.

“He was taken away in an extremely brutal manner and was severely beaten. The agents smashed all the windows, destroyed his home and completely wrecked his car,” the source added.

According to another Norwegian human rights group, Hengaw, prosecutors charged Dr. Alireza Golchini with moharebeh (waging war against God), for “providing medical care to injured protesters.” According to the organization’s source, forces beat Dr. Golchini when arresting him. The surgeon, who previously treated protesters injured during the Mahsa Amini protests, has been denied legal counsel and “other fundamental legal protections" according to the group.

On Wednesday, the US State Department’s Farsi X/Twitter account published a statement condemning Dr. Golchini’s arrest and demanding his release along with all other doctors arrested. 

“By targeting those who have stayed faithful to their oath, the regime reveals its complete disregard not only for medical ethics but for the most basic principles of humanity,” the statement read.

“Criminalizing compassion and turning healers into enemies is a profound betrayal of civilization and a confirmation of barbarism.”

Leo Feierberg Better

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-884956

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Slouching Towards Fort Sumter? - Victor Davis Hanson

 

by Victor Davis Hanson

Minnesota’s defiance of federal immigration law echoes pre–Fort Sumter nullification, forcing Trump to choose between enforcement and letting blue states slide toward open rebellion.

 

In the months before the April 12, 1861, firing on Fort Sumter, there were lots of sharp divisions in the North about the proper reaction to the first seven Confederate states that had already left the Union.

Not all Unionists believed that war was inevitable. Some, in fact, were happy to be done with the departing South and thus see their stain of slavery gone from the Union. Similarly, others agreed that the emerging Confederacy was not worth the trouble and costs of war, and the secessionists could just form their own nation and stew in their own backward, servile juice.

But after Fort Sumter, Lincoln—who was hated as much by the Confederates as Trump is by the woke and socialist left—gained a consensus that the Constitution had no clauses about any lawful departure from the union. But it did operate under a clear supremacy clause that made state obstruction of federal law and occupation of federal property veritable sedition.

Lincoln and the preservationists felt that they easily had the moral high ground of abolition versus the continuance of slavery. Nor did they want a North America of fragmenting, warring nations in the manner of Europe.

Something similar is emerging over Minnesota, the South Carolina of our age.

Once sanctuary states, cities, and counties had established the precedent that, with impunity, they could nullify federal immigration law, then what followed was a logical and mounting descent into the current open defiance of the federal government. How odd that self-described progressives are now acting out the visions of prior kindred nullificationists and neo-Confederates from John C. Calhoun to George Wallace.

The reaction of the rest of the nation, especially its conservative half, to Minnesota resembles the 1861 disconnect in the North over the insurrectionary states.

Some believe that if Minnesota wants to protect its approximately 1,300 jailed illegal alien murderers, rapists, and assorted felons, so be it, and ICE should leave such a dysfunctional and dystopian state to its own self-destructive path.

In this way of “See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya” thinking, Trump should stick to the red and purple states, clear them of criminal aliens with the help of local enforcement, but without the organized performance-art leftist resistance. Then he could contrast the nation with the difference between low crime, noncontroversial deportations, versus the blue-state model of protecting illegal alien criminals and their indifference to the mayhem they inflict on the innocent.

If Minnesota further wants to be a state like 1861 South Carolina that openly defies the federal government, then also so be it. But it should accordingly not expect federal funding for its pick-and-choose approach to federal law and property.

Has Minnesota forgotten that, like blue-state America, it cheered on Barack Obama’s DOJ when it successfully sued Arizona in 2010, insisting that it was Obama’s right as a federal custodian not to enforce federal immigration law at the border—and thus not legal for Governor Jan Brewer to use her state resources to enforce a federal law that derelict federal officers would not?

But on the other hand, contemporary Unionists objected that such live and let suffer is defeatist. Moreover, there are millions of Americans inside insurrectionary Minnesota who do not support their neo-Confederate leaders. Millions in Minnesota properly see themselves as Americans first and Minnesotans second.

In this line of argument, just as Lincoln refused to give up federal armories, property, and offices inside the South—most notably Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor—to insurrectionists, so too the Trump administration has an obligation to protect federal property and offices in Minnesota and to enforce federal law throughout the nation, at least if it is to continue as a nation.

Very soon, Trump will have to decide which strategy is preferable and politically viable before the midterms.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s highest elected officials have ordered local and state police not to protect federal immigration officers from the very street violence that they fuel. Indeed. Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and Attorney General Ellison are actively encouraging Minnesotans to obstruct federal officers from enforcing federal laws—despite the mounting violence that follows their collective prompts.

The three know that organized and well-funded groups organize the protests and incite the violence. And perhaps the trio even welcomes would-be martyrs to use their vehicles to ram ICE officers or to arrive at protests armed with military-grade, semi-automatic pistols with plenty of magazines and ammunition to spare.

Walz and company further quietly accept that they could easily mitigate the violence by simply turning over roughly 1,300 criminal illegal aliens in various Minnesota jails to federal authorities. To do so would lessen the chances of violence, make Minnesota a safer place, and expedite the rotation of ICE out of Minnesota.

But, of course, Walz, Frey, and Ellison have no such intentions, given their schemes are elsewhere.

Given the failure of an increasingly socialist Democratic Party in 2024 to offer a more popular and convincing agenda than Trump’s, they believe their future lies in an increasingly redistributionist America, fueled by unlimited, unaudited immigration from the former Third World. They view as a political asset millions of arriving poor in dire need of massive federal health, food, housing, and education subsidies and entitlements, imbued with DEI victimhood, and nursed on America as toxic at its birth and ever more pathological ever since.

So for the Minnesota state officials, screaming for ICE “to get the f**k out of Minnesota” is more than mere braggadocio. It is a reminder that the Democratic Party wants a safe place for illegal immigration, the fuel of a future dependent constituency—as the architecture of the recent massive Somali frauds attests.

They also believe that the more turmoil, the more violence, the more resistance, and the more a general sense of chaos and unrest swirl around the Trump administration, the more they can drive down its popularity before the midterms.

They still cherish the months of riot, violence, and arson in the George Floyd “summer of love” in 2020 as critical in defeating Donald Trump.

Now as then, the left believes they can create a lose/lose dilemma for Trump: send in the National Guard to restore order, and he confirms that he is a “Nazi” and using the “Gestapo” to quell “peaceful” protests. Stand down, and the left owns the street, exasperating the MAGA base that mysteriously Trump has allowed the criminal left to nullify the enforcement of federal law in near-secessionist fashion.

There are other Democratic agendas, both short- and long-term.

The Minnesota Democrat apparatus either knowingly turned a blind eye to, protected, or silently partnered with the architects of likely the largest theft of federal welfare and entitlement monies in U.S. history—largely by the Somali community, both immigrants and their second-generation apparatchiks. The Democratic elite counted on the prophylactic cry of “racist!” to exempt the Somali community from any legal accountability. And so far, they seem right in that assumption.

And the public?

Polls reveal its trademark ambiguity. A majority voted for Trump to enforce immigration law, close the border, end illegal immigration, and deport those who broke federal law. But that hope and the reality of implementing it are two different things—especially when a state like Minnesota has not just institutionalized illegal immigration but nearly canonized foreign nationals illegally residing in the U.S.

To sum up public opinion, the proverbial people want all criminal illegal aliens deported as soon as possible, and they may even support the deportations of all 10-12 million illegal aliens who came en masse, unaudited, and with the de facto blessing of the Biden administration.

But that said, they want the act of deportation of the non-criminal to be out of sight, out of mind—as if magically they can simply disappear and thus either self-deport or assemble at ICE stations eager to be sent at no cost home.

For now, Walz, Frey, and Ellison are upping the rhetoric, fanning the violence, and talking openly about how best to nullify federal law and impede federal enforcement. They are convinced that they have galvanized national opposition to the hated Trump, smothered the Somali fraud scandal, and stopped ICE deportations of their constituents.

In all of those assumptions, they have little idea they are following the Confederate script to the letter. And like their spiritual forefathers of 1861, they grow ever more cocky, boastful, and defiant as they create martyrs, spread narratives of victimhood, and daily slouch toward another Fort Sumter. 

Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness and the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is an American military historian, columnist, a former classics professor, and scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a visiting professor at Hillsdale College since 2004, and is the 2023 Giles O'Malley Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush, and the Bradley Prize in 2008. Hanson is also a farmer (growing almonds on a family farm in Selma, California) and a critic of social trends related to farming and agrarianism. He is the author of the just released New York Times best seller, The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation, published by Basic Books on May 7, 2024, as well as the recent  The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won, The Case for Trump, and The Dying Citizen.

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/01/29/slouching-towards-fort-sumter/

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Trump weighing new, major action against Iran, including regime change - Sam Halpern

 

by Sam Halpern

US strikes on Iran would reportedly be conducted to give the protesters confidence that they could seize government and security buildings.

 

 

US President Donald Trump is considering strikes on Iranian regime leaders and security forces to inspire protesters in the country and create conditions for “regime change,” two American sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday morning.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN News also reported earlier on Thursday that Israeli sources believed Trump was indicating a broad action against Iran that would include regime change.

Sources also told CNN that day that the president was again weighing a major strike after talks between the US and Iran had failed to produce results.

The report comes after two sources told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that attempts by several countries, including Turkey, Oman, and Qatar, to mediate between Washington and Tehran had thus far not yielded results.

One of the sources said the main message the mediating countries had delivered to Iran was: “Act rationally. Give President Trump something so that war can be avoided.”

U.S. President Donald Trump points a finger as he speaks during a roundtable on antifa, an anti-fascist movement he designated a domestic ''terrorist organization'' via executive order on September 22, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 8, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

US demands Iran end enrichment, missiles, and proxy ties

According to US and European officials who spoke to The New York Times on Wednesday, the US made three demands of Iran: a permanent end to uranium enrichment, limiting the number and range of its ballistic missiles, and an end to support for regional terror proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

The warning came as Trump wrote on social media that day another armada was heading towards the Islamic Republic and that if Iran did not come to the table and agree to a nuclear deal with the US, Washington may execute another attack “with speed and violence.”

The President warned that time was “running out” for Iran and that an additional strike against the country would be “far worse” than the one the US conducted in Operation Midnight Hammer during the June 2025 Israel-Iran war.

In the Thursday comments to Reuters, the US sources said Trump was considering attacks on commanders and institutions the US saw as responsible for violence against the protesters, who are now in their second month of demonstrations across the country.

The strikes would reportedly be conducted to give the protesters confidence that they could seize government and security buildings.

According to the sources, Trump was also considering a larger strike, possibly against the country’s ballistic missiles, but he had not yet come to a decision on a course of action.

Sam Halpern

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-884934

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Iran receives 1,000 new drones, sees US demands as costlier than war - Sam Halpern

 

by Sam Halpern

Tasnim News Agency reported that a batch of 1,000 drones was received by the various branches of the Iranian army.

 

Iranian soldiers take part in a military parade during a ceremony marking the country's annual army day in Tehran on April 17, 2024.

(photo credit: Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

 

Iran believes that coming to an agreement that meets the demands put forth by the US would be more costly than war, and is preparing for a military confrontation, informed sources in Tehran told the Hezbollah-aligned Al-Akhbar on Thursday.

Separately on Thursday, the semi-official Iranian Tasnim News Agency reported that a batch of 1,000 drones was received by the various branches of the Iranian army. "In accordance with the threats ahead, the army maintains and enhances its strategic advantages for rapid combat and imposing a crushing response against any aggressor," the army's Commander-in-Chief Amir Hatami said.

A source in Iran’s Foreign Ministry further asserted to Al-Akhbar that the US’s claims that Iran had reached out to Washington in order to come to an agreement were untrue.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said Iran had requested a return to negotiations. 

“I think they’re tired of being beaten up by the United States,” Trump said at the time. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

A screenshot of a pre-recorded message by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from a hidden location. (credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

“The American claims regarding Iran’s request to negotiate and reach an agreement are baseless and aimed at waging psychological warfare and exerting pressure on Tehran, coinciding with the strengthening of the American military presence,” Al-Akhbar quoted the source as saying.

The source went on to say that the United States was not seeking genuine negotiations, but instead trying to impose an agreement that Iran would be forced to accept without discussion.

The foreign ministry official added that the US wants Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, limit its defense capabilities, and recognize Israel.

“This has nothing to do with a balanced agreement; it would mean Iran’s surrender,” the source told the Lebanese outlet.

The official went on to say that Iran remained open to a “balanced” agreement, but would choose armed conflict if one was not given one.

Iranian source: If forced between Trump demands and war, Iran will choose war

“If forced to choose between the agreement proposed by Trump and war, Iran will choose the latter, considering it less costly, because it will not surrender itself in advance.”

Earlier, Israeli and international reports on Thursday indicated that Trump was considering new, major military action against the Islamic Republic, including options designed to spur regime change in the country, after talks had failed to produce results.

On Wednesday, The Jerusalem Post reported that several countries, including Turkey, Oman, and Qatar, were attempting to mediate between Washington and Tehran to avoid war.

EU adopts sanctions, discuss adding IRGC to list of terror organizations

EU foreign ministers have adopted new sanctions on Iran, targeting individuals and entities involved in a violent crackdown on protesters and in the country's support to Russia, EU diplomats said on Thursday.

The ministers are also expected to reach a political agreement to include Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc's list of terrorist organizations, putting the IRGC in a category similar to that of Islamic State and al Qaeda and marking a symbolic shift in Europe's approach to Iran's leadership.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Sam Halpern

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-884948

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Under shadow of regime change wars, Trump admin to pursue more cautious transition in Venezuela - Steven Richards

 

by Steven Richards

Without "Blood and Treasure": Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined the administration’s plan in the clearest terms yet on Wednesday, in his first public testimony addressing the situation in Venezuela.

 

Intent on learning important lessons from America’s long and costly regime change efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Trump administration is planning a slower, more methodical change in Venezuela, one that will not require U.S. troops or money. 

The Trump administration’s seeming ebrace of Interim President Delcy Rodriguez — a close associate of former dictator Nicolás Maduro — in lieu of U.S.-aligned opposition leaders has elicited criticism from Democrats in Congress. In their eyes, dealing with Rodriguez and Maduro’s other associates is dangerous and opens the door for official corruption in Venezuela to continue, at the expense of American interests and dollars.

Further doubts were reportedly raised by the U.S. intelligence community about whether Rodriguez would cooperate with the United States in its demands for Venezuela to cut formal ties with China, Russia, and Iran, Reuters reported. 

Transition to free and fair elections, but economy comes first

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, sought to reassure senators about the administration’s long-term plan for Venezuela, which will include an eventual transition to free and fair elections, but which must first focus on stabilizing the country’s mismanaged economy and, principally, its oil industry. 

Rubio’s testimony marked the first time the administration’s Venezuelan plan was briefed to senators in public, after prior closed-door and classified briefings earlier this year. “The end state here is we want to reach a phase of transition where we are left with a friendly, stable, prosperous Venezuela–and democratic in which all elements of society are represented in free and fair elections,” Rubio told the panel of senators. “We're not going to get there in three weeks. It's going to take some time.” 

The secretary said the first concern of the Trump administration in the aftermath of the capture of Maduro on narcotrafficking charges was stability.

Rubio said the administration had to consider several contingencies: “What happens in Venezuela? Is there a civil war? Do the different factions start going at each other? Are a million people crossing the border into Colombia?”

He said avoiding those outcomes required cooperating directly with Maduro’s officials, including Rodriguez. “All of that has been avoided, and one of the primary ways that it has been avoided is the ability to establish direct, honest, respectful, but very direct and honest conversations with the people who today control the elements of that nation,” said Rubio. 

A significant part of those “honest conversations” are taking place directly with Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, a top deputy to Maduro before his capture earlier this year. Rodriguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president, was selected by her colleagues to carry out the role he vacated. 

“Enough already of Washington’s orders over politicians in Venezuela"

So far, she has been cooperative with the United States, ordering the release of certain political prisoners as well as cooperating on the sale of sanctioned oil. However, there are signs that Rodriguez and the Maduro-aligned establishment are chafing under U.S. pressure. 

Rodriguez said as much on Sunday in a speech to oil workers in Puerto La Cruz. “Enough already of Washington’s orders over politicians in Venezuela,” she said at the event, which was broadcast on state television. 

“Let Venezuelan politics resolve our differences and our internal conflicts. This Republic has paid a very high price for having to confront the consequences of fascism and extremism in our country,” she added. 

Rubio dismissed Rodriguez’s comments as part of Venezuela’s internal politics, and not an indication of whether the regime would continue to cooperate. “Suffice it to say what I've said from the very beginning, and that is, we are going to judge based on actions, not words,” he said. 

In terms of action, Rubio told the senators that Rodriguez’s administration has made good progress toward reforming the oil and gas sector to open up the country to future outside investment, a key goal of the United States’ transition policy that the U.S. hopes will stabilize the country and its economy. 

Last week, Rodriguez proposed a reform that would open up Venezuelan oil fields for foreign companies to cooperate with the state-backed oil giant, PDVSA. The law would also allow those foreign companies greater autonomy in selling the outputs. 

“It doesn't go far enough. It probably needs to do more, but that's extraordinary,” Rubio said of the easing of oil industry restrictions. “That never would have happened two or three weeks ago. It certainly wouldn't have happened if Maduro was still there.”

For the United States, helping the country restart its oil industry is the key to stabilizing both the country’s politics and its economy. Only then, Rubio said, will a full transition that includes elections be possible.

Planned arrangement allows Venezuela to utilize its oil revenue

The administration plans to set up an arrangement with Venezuelan authorities that allows them to sell oil at market price abroad. The proceeds will then be deposited in a U.S.-based account at the Treasury Department. The Venezuelan authorities can then withdraw funds with approval from the U.S. government. This arrangement allows Venezuela to utilize its oil revenue, which ordinarily is subject to U.S. sanctions, for projects that benefit the Venezuelan people, Rubio said. 

“This is not going to be the permanent mechanism, but this is a short-term mechanism in which the needs of the Venezuelan people can be met through a process that we've created,” Rubio explained. 

A second prong of the administration’s strategy will be restaffing the U.S. embassy in Caracas to more closely communicate with both the Rodriguez government and local civil society. Rubio said he hopes the U.S. will be able to help build up “different voices” in Venezuelan politics so that future elections are possible. 

It is for this reason that the U.S. has pushed for the regime to release political prisoners, which Trump called a “powerful humanitarian gesture.”

The embassy will also be responsible for keeping a closer eye on the behavior of Rodriguez and other government officials, to ensure they are following the U.S. directives. 

U.S. military action not off the table

Ultimately, Rubio reiterated that if Rodriguez does not cooperate with the United States, President Trump has not ruled out further military force to “ensure maximum cooperation” from the Venezuelan authorities. 

The Secretary of State believes reaching the end point of new elections “won’t be easy,” but the administration is pleased with the progress so far, which he said would have been unimaginable under Maduro.  

“Suffice it to say, I'm not here to claim to you this is going to be easy or simple. I am saying that in three and a half, almost four weeks, we are much further along on this project than we thought we would be, given the complexities of going into it, and I recognize that it won't be easy,” said Rubio. 

“I think we're making good and decent progress. It is the best plan, and we are certainly better off today in Venezuela than we were four weeks ago. And I think and hope and expect that we'll be better off in three months, in six months and nine months, than we would have been had Maduro still been there,” he added.   

Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/world/latin-america/trump-admin-pursue-measured-transition-venezuela-focused-stability-economic

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Trump just gave every US newborn $1K to be invested, a hard deal to reject, even for his critics - Amanda Head

 

by Amanda Head

Elected officials on both sides of the aisle have historically supported a refreshed version of nearly century-old baby bonds.

 

President Donald Trump announced details Wednesday of his "Trump Accounts," a new federal initiative that provides tax-advantaged investment accounts for American children, seeded with a $1,000 government contribution for newborns to help families build long-term savings. 

The president made the announcement at an event hosted by the Treasury Department in which he highlighted the program's goal of giving every child a financial head start toward the American Dream.

"I'm delighted to be back in the Mellon Auditorium to celebrate a thrilling new milestone for America, the first generation of Trump Account children. For the first time ever, we're going to give every newborn American child a financial stake in the future, a head start to life and a fair shot at the American dream," Trump told the gathering. 

The money in the accounts will be invested in select stocks and ETFs and will enjoy tax-free growth until withdrawn at the earliest, at age 18. All U.S. citizens born between 2025 and 2028 will be eligible, with no income limits. The baby must have a Social Security number.

Parents can contribute up to $5,000 annually and employers can contribute up to $2,500 annually. The money can be withdrawn at age 18 for education and other qualifying uses. After the recipient turns 18, the account functions like a traditional IRA. 

The program and the number of American families who can participate should garner widespread appeal, compared to other economic plans Trump has but forth, like tax cuts that critics say benefit only the wealthy.

It's also similar to "baby bonds" proposals long championed by progressive Democrats such as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley. 

The Trump Accounts program is primarily funded by a federal $1,000 seed contribution for children born after the program's 2025 launch, but its initial expansion to provide benefits for older children (under age 10) kicked off with significant private philanthropy led by Michael and Susan Dell. 

In December 2025, the Dells committed $6.25 billion to add $250 seeds to approximately 25 million existing children's accounts, supercharging the initiative and encouraging broader participation. This private funding model has since attracted additional donors, including corporations and individuals, who are matching or adding contributions to further grow the accounts for families nationwide. 

Other key donors and their contributions include Ray and Barbara Dalio for at least $75 million (targeted for children in Connecticut, with potential for more), Nicki Minaj for $150,000–$300,000 (specifically to support Trump Accounts for children of her fans, known as "Barbz").

Additionally, companies such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have joined to offer matching contributions, while figures like hedge fund managers and state-level donors are adding targeted funds.

Wednesday's summit featured impressive star power, with Nicki Minaj stealing the show by declaring herself President Trump's "number one fan," holding his hand on stage, and praising the initiative while pledging her own donation to help her fans' kids. 

The event also drew high-profile guests like Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, alongside CEOs and billionaires, turning the announcement into a celebrity-packed celebration of family wealth-building.   

Amanda Head

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/trump-just-gave-every-newborn-1000-invest-even-his-harshest-critics-should

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FBI searches Fulton County election hub more than 5 years after Georgia 2020 election probe began - Natalie Mittelstadt

 

by Natalie Mittelstadt

Better late than never? "The warrant sought a number of records related to 2020 elections," Fulton County officials said.

 

The FBI searched the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center on Wednesday, more than five years after Georgia's 2020 election probe began. The raid comes amid the Department of Justice's lawsuit against Fulton County over 2020 election records, and years after the governor referred the audited November 2020 election results to the Georgia State Election Board.

"The FBI is conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity. No other information is available at this time," the FBI told Just the News. A separate, high-level official confirmed to Just the News that the FBI search was in connection to a criminal probe linked to the 2020 election.

The FBI told Fox News that FBI Atlanta was executing a "court-authorized law enforcement action at 5600 [Campbellton] Fairburn Rd."

"Our investigation into this matter is ongoing, so there are no details that we can provide at the moment," the FBI added.

Fulton County told WSBTV that the FBI was seizing records from the 2020 election. For its part, the county filed a motion to dismiss the claims earlier this month. Fulton County's Clerk of Courts, Ché Alexander, was named the defendant in the DOJ lawsuit. The motion argued that any such access to the 2020 materials should be sought from a state, not federal, court. 

On Jan. 20, the DOJ filed a response, arguing that Title III of the 1960 Civil Rights Act "provides that upon a demand from the Attorney General to any person having custody, possession, or control of any record or paper relating to any application, registration, payment or poll tax, or other act requisite to voting, such record or paper shall be produced" and that, "Defendants seek to rewrite the Civil Rights Act and place restrictions and limitations on the power granted to the Attorney General that have no basis in law."

“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation served a search warrant at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operations Center. The warrant sought a number of records related to 2020 elections," a county spokesperson said. “This operation is still actively underway. We cannot provide further information at this time.”

Ballot handling and chain-of-custody issues

The Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center opened in 2023 at the direction of state officials. Fulton County has been under scrutiny since 2020, when it became the center of President Donald Trump's election fraud claims in the state.

The Georgia Republican Party said they are "calling for full transparency and accountability" into the FBI's raid of the election hub, 11Alive reported.

"For years, Georgians have raised serious questions about election procedures in Fulton County, particularly regarding ballot handling and chain-of-custody processes. Today’s action by federal authorities underscores the importance of finally addressing those concerns openly and thoroughly," the state party said in a statement.

Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon said, “Today marks a major step toward truth and accountability. The FBI’s execution of a search warrant at the Fulton County Election Hub is long overdue—Georgians have waited years for real answers about what happened in 2020. Getting every detail out, especially around ballot handling and processes in Fulton, is absolutely critical.

"Without full transparency, trust in our elections stays broken. We demand the facts come to light, no cover-ups, so every legal vote is honored and future elections are secure. The Georgia GOP stands with the pursuit of justice here—it’s time to expose the truth once and for all.”

Irregularities confirmed

Salleigh Grubbs, a new member of the Georgia State Election Board, said she felt "disbelief" that the FBI was raiding the Fulton election hub, and that it had "been a long time coming."

"I can only imagine it would have something to do with the subpoenas that have been issued previously, so, that's just a guess, I don't know anything for sure," she said, later adding, "I don't know what they've requested, don't know what they've asked for, I'm just hoping we'll get more answers."

Post-2020 election investigations and reports have confirmed irregularities in the election process in Georgia's most populous county. In 2021, Just the News found that the tally sheets the county used for audits and recounts did not match totals from ballot images, appearing to duplicate counts.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), in 2021, issued an official complaint about "sloppy" processes in the county and later referred the 2020 election results to the State Election Board after multiple reviews found significant problems with absentee ballot counting that included duplicate tallies, math errors, and transposed data.

Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections admits violation of rules

The FBI search on Wednesday follows Fulton County informing the State Election Board last month that tabulator tapes were not properly signed after the 2020 election, in violation of state regulations, Atlanta News First reported. Also, the county explained that it had misplaced other tabulator tapes and documents from that election.

The tabulator tapes are essentially receipts printed from ballot tabulation machines used to verify that the number of voters matches the number of votes. According to Georgia regulations, a poll manager and two witnesses must be present for the printing, checking, and signing of each tape from the machines.

Ann Brumbaugh, an attorney for the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections, told the SEB on Dec. 9, “We do not dispute that the tapes were not signed. It was a violation of the rule. They should have done it.”

She said that since the 2020 election, the county says it has made significant changes to ensure it doesn’t happen again. “Procedures have been updated. People are taking this very seriously now,” Brumbaugh said. “Since then, the training has been enhanced, the poll watchers are trained specifically. They’ve got to sign the tapes in the morning, and they’ve got to sign the tapes when they’re run at the end of the day.”

About 130 of the unsigned tapes from voting machines accounted for 315,000 early voters in 2020, which is almost every ballot cast before Election Day.

The State Election Board unanimously voted to refer the case to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, where Fulton County could be fined as much as $5,000 for each missing or unsigned tabulator tape.

Robert Sinners, communications director for the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, told The Center Square at the time, "The basis for these claims is that Fulton County admitted to sloppy election administration and not following a State Election Board rule. There is no mechanism in law to overturn the election based on not following this rule – as it wasn’t even part of the election code – it was a procedural rule."

Meanwhile, Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer told the news outlet, "I’m hopeful the Justice Department will impound the 2020 ballots and conduct a count that’s open to the public. Maybe we need to put an asterisk next to the election results in the history books and determine who’s responsible for these errors and hold them accountable."

The DOJ claimed in court papers that it sent a letter to the Fulton County clerk in November seeking ballot stubs and signature envelopes from the election, which allegedly went unanswered.

Last week, Trump said that "people will soon be prosecuted" over the 2020 election, which he argues was rigged against him in Georgia and other states. 

Natalie Mittelstadt

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/fbi-searches-fulton-county-election-hub-over-5-years-after-georgia-2020

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Qatar ties linked to anti-Western ideological shift at Georgetown, Middle East Forum reports - Mathilda Heller

 

by Mathilda Heller

The money has not only sustained the campuses but also funded faculty, research initiatives, and endowed chairs on the Washington campus.

 

A man holds a Palestinian flag as Georgetown students hold an on-campus protest in support of Palestine at Georgetown University on September 4, 2024 in Washington, DC.

(photo credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

 

Qatar has gained sizable control over Georgetown University, according to a new report by the Middle East Forum.

GU established a campus in Qatar in 2005 through a partnership with the Qatar Foundation and has since renewed its contract multiple times and extended it through 2035.

Over the last 20 years, Qatar has given $1 billion to GU’s Doha and Washington campuses. The money has not only sustained the campuses but also funded faculty, research initiatives, and endowed chairs on the Washington campus.

“From Georgetown’s Board of Directors to numerous endowed chairs, research agendas, curricular development, and joint appointments with Georgetown University-Qatar’s (GU-Q) Qatar-funded campus in Doha, the Persian Gulf state’s petrodollars touch virtually every segment of the Jesuit school,” reads the report.

This, it adds, is particularly relevant given Qatar’s relative hostility to Western countries, and support for terror organizations such as Hamas.

Darius Wagner, student body vice president at Georgetown University, speaks as students from Washington, DC, universities protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's dismantling of and funding cuts to the Department of Education, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 4, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Allison Bailey)

In turn, ME Forum explained that Georgetown courses and research show growing ideological drift toward post-colonial scholarship, anti-Western critiques, and anti-Israel advocacy, with some faculty engaged in political activism related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or anti-Western interventionism.

ME Forum: Qatar influencing Western academic programs

The ME forum breaks down the “academic manipulation” into three categories: academic programs that reflect Qatar’s worldview create a hostile climate for pro-West students; the college hires terror-sympathizing faculty, and uses radical-leaning curriculum; and the promotion of research emphasizing pro-terror, anti-West themes.

Over the longer term, GU graduates become more anti-Western and enter the world with “radicalized” views.

With regards to staff, Qatar Foundation has established and funded chairs in three strategic fields: Muslim societies, history of Islam, and Indian politics. This, in turn, shapes how Islam, regional politics, and the modern Muslim world are interpreted within the campus context.

One such example is the chair in Arab Studies and director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Fida Adely. She is notably critical of Western development frameworks and much of her work as an anthropologist focuses on critiquing Western assumptions. She is also highly active in the anti-Israel sphere, supporting BDS and is a member of various pro-Palestine groups known for terror support.

Since August 2023, Fida Adely has served as director of GU’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. CCAS is directly connected to Qatar as the Qatari embassy in DC sponsors the Qatar post-doctoral fellowship.

Under Adely’s leadership, and influenced by her pro-Palestinian activism, “CCAS has increasingly centered its focus on Palestinian issues and become a platform for promoting anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment at Georgetown University,” said ME Forum. CCAS has also formed academic collaborations with Birzeit University, which has ties to Hamas.

Other ties between Qatar and Georgetown include that Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani, son of the former emir of Qatar, serves on Georgetown’s Board of Directors, and the fact that Hamas apologist and virulent antisemite Mehedi Hasan was named a 2026 Politics Fellow at Georgetown’s Institute of Politics and Public Service.

Furthermore, Ian Almond, professor of World Literature at GU-Q, publicly endorsed Hamas’s October 7, 2023, atrocities, stating “I don’t blame Hamas for this” and “it didn’t start on October 7.”

“Qatar has proved highly adept at compromising individuals and institutions with cold hard cash,” said Winfield Myers, director of ME Forum’s Campus Watch project. “But with Georgetown, it found a recipient already eager to do Doha’s bidding to advance Islamist goals at home and abroad. It was a natural fit.”

GU “is Ground Zero for foreign influence peddling in American higher education,” said MEF executive director Gregg Roman.

“It has not only abandoned its mission to educate future generations of diplomats and scholars to represent US interests at home and abroad, but is working actively to undermine the foundations of American government and policy. No doubt they’re eager to get the money, but at base this evinces an ideological hostility to Western civilization.”

Mathilda Heller

Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-884966

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