Qatar seeks to improve its standing among US Jewry: observers

CAIRO – 27 September 2017: US sources revealed new details about the attempts of Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani to meet Jewish lobbyists in the United States on the sidelines of The United Nations General assembly in New York.

According to a number of Israeli and U.S. newspapers, The Gulf state of Qatar has reportedly been seeking to arrange meetings with the heads of leading American Jewish organizations as part of an effort to improve its standing among U.S. Jewry.

Jay D. Homnick, who is a Senior Fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and a long-time contributor to The American Spectator, spoke to Egypt Today about Qatar’s latest PR attempts. It revealed that Thani resorted to seek assistance in the most unusual way. He advocated assistance from observant Jew Nick Muzin, who has close ties to the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) president Morton A. Klein.

Klein, the head of the hawkish pro-Israel Zionist Organization of America said that he refused Muzin’s request to attend a meeting with Qatar’s leaders.

“It looks very much like this is a public relations attempt to moderate Qatar’s image as a country that supports and funds terrorism,” Homnick said.

Homnick also said that one of the most prominent errors in United States, and some European countries, is to listen to some voices that still support the Brotherhood and Qatar, and attack countries which face terrorism, including Egypt.

"The crisis with Qatar is getting more complicated,” Homnick added, "The meeting did not take place despite Muzin’s affirmation that Tamim had made a promise to strengthen ties with Israel and Jewish leaders."

Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes also stated that Qatar has paid $50,000 a month to Muzin’s firm “Stonington Strategies” for its work on behalf of Qatar and to improve ties between US Jews and the emirate is in the Jewish community’s “best interest.”

Muzin stated that “engagement with Qatar can only be in the best interests of the United States and the Jewish community, as we cannot allow Qatar to be ostracized by its neighbors and pushed into Iran’s sphere of influence.”

It has been four months since the Qatari crisis started. On June 5, four countries — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, severed ties with Qatar over its support of terrorist groups. They asked Doha to stop funding terrorists in the region and demanded that 13 conditions be met in order for dialogue to begin. The Arab countries also closed off all points of entry for Qatari transportation.

During his speech on Thursday from the podium of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly, Thani renewed the call, “for an unconditional dialogue based on mutual respect for sovereignty,” while directing strong criticism towards the four Arab countries.

In the coming period, the Arab Quartet will be handing over documents submitted to the UN Security Council proving Qatar's involvement in supporting and financing terrorism.