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The Qatari Midwife of Anti-Israel Actions on U.S. Campuses

(Substack) Lenny Ben-David - In 2009, Fenton Communications in Washington filed a foreign agent registration form for its client, a Qatari woman, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned. She is the second of the three wives of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Emir of the State of Qatar, and the mother of the current Emir, Sheikh Tamim. Fenton documents filed with the Justice Department detailed the Al Fakhoora public relations campaign - based on responding to Israel's 2008 military operation against Hamas rockets - that gave birth to the robust anti-Israel movement of today. An emphasis on universities and students is prominent in the campaign: developing press materials and pitching stories to university and mainstream press; assisting in the recruitment of student leaders on U.S. and international campuses; assisting in the recruitment of grassroots supporters, including NGOs and virtual supporters; developing a spokesperson and leadership development curriculum for student leaders. Today, 15 years later, how many of the Al Fakhoora-trained students went on to become teaching fellows at American universities, then college instructors, and then professors? How many are leading the anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian campaigns on campus? The writer, former Deputy Chief of Mission at Israel's Embassy in Washington, is a Research and Diplomacy Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
2025-09-16 00:00:00
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