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Non-profit

Qatar Foundation

Website:

www.qf.org.qa/
Type:

Nonprofit
Formation:

1995
Executive Director:

Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani
Location:

West Bay, Doha, Qatar

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The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF) is a Qatari government-supported 1 2 foundation with millions of dollars in grants, and several agreements with U.S. universities. 3 The organization broadly promotes the teaching and learning of Arabic and Arab culture. 4 The Qatar Foundation is registered with the U.S. Department of Justice as a foreign agent. 5 6

The U.S. Department of Education targeted QF in a 2019 investigation into foreign influence in American universities. 7 Since 2012, QF has spent at least $1.5 billion to fund educational initiatives at 28 universities in the U.S. QF also spends approximately $405 million a year to cover expenses for Doha-based branch campuses of Northwestern University, Texas A&M University, Georgetown University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Cornell University, and Carnegie Mellon University. 8 9

Through QF’s U.S.-based arm Qatar Foundation International, QF has also given at least $30.6 million to public schools to fund Arabic language programs across the U.S. 10

In 2009, QF opened an academic center named after Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, 11 a leading Muslim Brotherhood figure who lives in exile in Doha. 12 Al-Qaradawi has justified suicide bombings, called for Allah to kill Jews “down to the very last one,” 13 and praised Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust his regime perpetrated against Jews. 14

History and Leadership

Qatar Foundation (QF) was founded in Doha, Qatar, 1995 by then-Ruling Emir of Qatar Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani (later named the state’s Father Emir after his 2013 abdication) and Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Misned, one of his three consorts, to support the State of Qatar and grow the country’s knowledge economy. 15 16 17 18

Sheikha Moza is QF’s chairperson, while her daughter, Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, is the organization’s vice chair and executive director. 19

Activities and Funding

The Qatar Foundation (QF) is registered with the U.S. Department of Justice as a foreign agent. 20 21 QF is frequently partnered with the Qatari government 22 and has millions of dollars of grants and agreements with universities in the U.S. 23 QF also broadly promotes the teaching and learning of Arabic and Arab culture. 24

Higher Education

QF’s Education City located in the Education City section of Doha consists of more than 50 entities working in education, research, and community development. 25 26 QF has spent billions of dollars to develop Education City as its the foundation’s flagship initiative and hosts branch campuses from several global universities on ten-year agreements as a part of the initiative. 27 28

These universities include Hamad Bin Khalifa University, the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Texas A&M University, Cornell University’s Weill School of Medicine, Northwestern University, HEC Paris, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Arts. 29 30 31

QF has spent at least $1.5 billion since 2012 to fund initiatives at 28 universities in the U.S. Qatar also spends approximately $405 million a year to cover expenses for Northwestern, Texas A&M, Georgetown, VCU, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon campuses in the country. 32 33 From 2012 through 2019, Georgetown University reportedly received $340 million from QF. Texas A&M also reportedly received $202 million from QF in the same timeframe. 34 35

In 2019, QF was the target of a U.S. Department of Education investigation looking into records on China and Qatar to crack down on foreign influence in universities. 36

In 1999, QF and the University of Virginia were unable to reach an agreement for a campus in Doha due to concerns that UVA was “selling the school to a petrodollar country.” 37

World Innovation Summits

QF has also established the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH). 38 In 2021, Bill Gates visited QF headquarters to discuss opportunities for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to work with QF on health and sustainability projects. 39 In 2020, U.S. Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Jim Hines (D-CT), and Seth Moulton (D-MA) also visited the campus to tour medical facilities. 40 41

Qatar Academy

QF also runs Qatar Academy, a high school with five campuses across Qatar offering international bilingual education and the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. The organization also runs three specialized schools: Awsaj Academy, an institute for students with mild to moderate learning disabilities; Academic Bridge Program, a two-semester general education program that seeks to prepare students for degree programs in English; and, Qatar Leadership Academy, a cadet school. 42

Other Activities

QF is also a major stakeholder of Vodafone Qatar, Qatar’s second largest telecommunications network and British telecommunications company Vodafone’s local subsidiary. 43

In 2009, QF established the Qatar Science and Technology Park, a business incubator, technology park, and free zone, which allows foreign nationals to set up local entities with 100 percent ownership and no taxes or duties. 44

Controversy

Qatar Foundation is frequently partnered with the Qatari government, 45 is registered with the U.S. Department of Justice as a foreign agent, 46 and is known to silence viewpoints Qatar opposes. 47

Islamist Radicalism

In 2009, the Foundation opened an academic center named after Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi. 48 He is a leading Muslim Brotherhood figure who lives in exile in Doha, 49 has justified suicide bombings, called for Allah to kill all Jews “down to the very last one,” 50 and praised Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust his regime perpetrated against Jews. 51

The QF mosque in Education City has hosted Ramadan programming that invited a Muslim cleric who called the massacre of staff at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris a “sequel to the comedy film of 9/11.” It has invited another cleric who said, “Jews and their helpers must be destroyed.” 52 Education City also “amplifies Palestinian voices” 53 and embraces the spirit of Ramadan to channel spiritual energy into the critical theory-influenced concept of social justice. 54

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has alleged that QF is “renowned for hosting virulently extremist preachers at its flashy mosque in in Education City.” 55

American Higher Education

In 2019, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) ranked Georgetown University Qatar as one of the top-ten worst U.S. colleges for free speech. 56

The Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System voted February 8, 2024, to initiate a closure of Texas A&M’s satellite campus in Education City by 2028, ending a 21-year-old partnership between the public university and Qatar Foundation. The Board of Regents cited “heightened instability” in the region and shifts in organizational priorities as a reason for their decision. 57

The decision came approximately two months after The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy published a report in November 27, 2023, accusing Texas A&M of working with Qatar on “weapons development” and nuclear technology as part of its partnership with Qatar Foundation. 58

Qatar Foundation criticized the decision by the Board of Regents as “misguided” and influenced by a “disinformation campaign” aimed at hurting QF interests. 59

On May 23, 2024, Northwestern University’s relationship with Qatar, including the Qatar Foundation, came under scrutiny during a U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Education and The Workforce hearing on on-campus antisemitism in light of the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests across U.S. college campuses. In the hearing, U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) questioned Northwestern University President Michael Schill over the over $600 million that Rep. Owens claimed Northwestern University had received from Qatari entities. 60

Associated Organizations

The Washington, D.C.-based Qatar Foundation International (QFI) is a constituent of the Qatar Foundation and supports programs in Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 61 QFI has been accused of supporting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel content in various U.S. schools with which QFI has ties. 62 63

From 2009 through 2017, QFI gave at least $30.6 million to public schools to fund Arabic-language programs across the U.S. 64 QFI made its first contributions to U.S. schools in the 2009-2010 school year, totaling $525,000. Washington Latin Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. was one of the first schools to receive money and has received at least $1 million from QFI since its inception. QFI has also spent at least $5.5 million in the 2014-2015 school year; $3.8 million in the 2017-2018 school year; and $3.2 million in the 2016-2017 school year for its U.S.-based activities. 65

QFI has entered into agreements with U.S. public schools that require these schools to give access to QFI. For example, a $465,000 contract between QFI and the Tucson Unified School district allowed QFI staff to observe classrooms, monitor progress, administer Arabic proficiency tests, and receive enrollment information. 66

References

  1. “Institutional Compliance with Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965.” U.S. Department of Education. Pg. 30-31. October 2020. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/institutional-compliance-section-117.pdf.
  2. “Qatar Foundation Endowment LLC (Qatar Foundation).” Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://www.swfinstitute.org/profile/5a9a1cf6a38ecc122338d9d5#:~:text=Qatar%20Foundation%3A%20Government%20Fund%20in,contacts%20available%20for%20CSV%20Export.
  3. “College Foreign Gift and Contract Report.” United States Department of Education. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://sites.ed.gov/foreigngifts/.
  4. “Memorandum of Understanding.” Qatar Foundation International. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://bigjolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/MOU-QATARAIMS.pdf.
  5. “Exhibit A to Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.” U.S. Department of Justice. August 30, 2018. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6585-Exhibit-AB-20180830-3.pdf.
  6. “Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.” U.S. Department of Justice. March 14, 2006. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/3301-Exhibit-AB-20060315-5.pdf.
  7. Green, Erica L. “Universities Face Federal Crackdown Over Foreign Financial Influence.” New York Times. August 30, 2019. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/us/politics/universities-foreign-donations.html.
  8. Kredo, Adam. “Qatar Waging Stealth Influence Operations Across U.S. Academic System, Documents Show.” Washington Free Beacon. May 15, 2020. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/qatar-waging-stealth-influence-operations-across-u-s-academic-system-documents-show/.
  9. “Memorandum Addressing Application of the Foreign Agents Registration Act to Agents and Instrumentalities of the State of Qatar.” The Lawfare Project. October 14, 2019. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/FARA_Memo_with_Exhibits_R-1.pdf.
  10. Hobbs, Tawnell D. “U.S. Schools Receive Aid From Qatar.” Wall Street Journal. August 25, 2017. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-schools-receive-aid-from-qatar-1503682830.
  11. “Yusuf al-Qaradawi.” Harvard Divinity School Religion and Public Life. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/yusuf-al-qaradawi.
  12. Ross, Chuck. Swalwell Had Meetings with Qatari Charity Tied to Terrorist Groups.” Washington Free Beacon. July 20, 2021. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/swalwell-met-with-qatari-charity-tied-to-terrorist-groups/.
  13. Edwards, Jim. “F.C. Barcelona’s New Shirt Sponsor Linked to Controversial Muslim Cleric.” CBS News. December 18, 2010. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fc-barcelonas-new-shirt-sponsor-linked-to-controversial-muslim-cleric/.
  14. Goldberg, Jeffrey. “New Chapter, Old Story.” New York Times. October 11, 2013. Accessed via Web Archive. June 5, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/books/review/daniel-jonah-goldhagens-devil-that-never-dies.html.
  15. “Qatar Foundation.” UN Environment Programme Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://globalabc.org/members/our-members/qatar-foundation.
  16. “Forum Program 2011.” Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum.” November 2011. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.nyas.org/media/3487/qfarf_final_program.pdf.
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  18. “About Qatar Foundation.” Qatar Foundation. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.qf.org.qa/about.
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  20. “Exhibit A to Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.” U.S. Department of Justice. August 30, 2018. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6585-Exhibit-AB-20180830-3.pdf.
  21. “Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.” U.S. Department of Justice. March 14, 2006. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/3301-Exhibit-AB-20060315-5.pdf.
  22. “Institutional Compliance with Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965.” U.S. Department of Education. Pg. 27. October 2020. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/institutional-compliance-section-117.pdf.
  23. “College Foreign Gift and Contract Report.” United States Department of Education. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://sites.ed.gov/foreigngifts/.
  24. “Memorandum of Understanding.” Qatar Foundation International. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://bigjolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/MOU-QATARAIMS.pdf.
  25. “25 Years of Qatar Foundation.” Qatar Foundation. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.qf.org.qa/25-years-of-qatar-foundation.
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  27. Anderson, Nick. “Sheikha Moza: The woman behind Doha’s Education City.” Washington Post. December 6, 2015. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/12/06/sheikha-moza-the-woman-behind-dohas-education-city/.
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  29. “About.” Qatar Foundation. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://www.qf.org.qa/about.
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  32. Kredo, Adam. “Qatar Waging Stealth Influence Operations Across U.S. Academic System, Documents Show.” Washington Free Beacon. May 15, 2020. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/qatar-waging-stealth-influence-operations-across-u-s-academic-system-documents-show/.
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  34. Dunleavy, Jerry. “Trump administration investigating foreign funding on US campuses.” Washington Examiner June 28, 2019. Updated June 28, 2019. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-administration-investigating-foreign-funding-on-us-campuses.
  35. Anderson, Nick. “Sheikha Moza: The woman behind Doha’s Education City.” Washington Post. December 6, 2015. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/12/06/sheikha-moza-the-woman-behind-dohas-education-city/
  36. Green, Erica L. “Universities Face Federal Crackdown Over Foreign Financial Influence.” New York Times. August 30, 2019. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/us/politics/universities-foreign-donations.html.
  37. Anderson, Nick. “Sheikha Moza: The woman behind Doha’s Education City.” Washington Post. December 6, 2015. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/12/06/sheikha-moza-the-woman-behind-dohas-education-city/.
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  48. “Yusuf al-Qaradawi.” Harvard Divinity School Religion and Public Life. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/yusuf-al-qaradawi.
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  50. Edwards, Jim. “F.C. Barcelona’s New Shirt Sponsor Linked to Controversial Muslim Cleric.” CBS News. December 18, 2010. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fc-barcelonas-new-shirt-sponsor-linked-to-controversial-muslim-cleric/.
  51.  Goldberg, Jeffrey. “New Chapter, Old Story.” New York Times. October 11, 2013. Accessed via Web Archive. June 5, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/books/review/daniel-jonah-goldhagens-devil-that-never-dies.html.
  52. Dettmer, Jamie. “Qatar’s Foundation for Hypocrisy.” The Daily Beast. June 24, 2015. Accessed via Web Archive June 5, 2022. https://archive.ph/ZC7vV.
  53. “Amplifying Palestine’s Voice: Reality, Resilience and the Right to Freedom.” Qatar Foundation Education City. June 30, 2021. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://www.qf.org.qa/education-city-speaker-series/amplifying-palestines-voice-reality-resilience-and-the-right-to-freedom.
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  55. Binkley, Collin. “While Trump praises Qatar, education officials seek scrutiny.” Associated Press News. July 10, 2019. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/education-donald-trump-qatar-politics-ny-state-wire-20a162e45d5444829d2e9d0a11aeabdb.
  56. “10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2019.” FIRE. February 12, 2019. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://www.thefire.org/10-worst-colleges-for-free-speech-2019/.
  57. Benson, Darren. “Texas A&M-Qatar Campus to Close by 2028.” Texas A&M Today, February 8, 2024. https://today.tamu.edu/2024/02/08/texas-am-qatar-campus-to-close-by-2028/.
  58. “Hijacking Higher Education, Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Texas A&M: Buying Nuclear Research and Student Information.” The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy , November 27, 2023. https://isgap.org/post/2023/11/hijacking-higher-education-qatar-the-muslim-brotherhood-and-texas-am-buying-nuclear-research-and-student-information/.
  59. Qatar Foundation. “QF and Texas A&M University to Conclude Partnership.” Qatar Foundation, February 9, 2024. https://www.qf.org.qa/stories/qf-and-texas-a-and-m-university-to-conclude-partnership.
  60. “Owens Grills Northwestern President over Financial Ties to Terrorist-Harboring Qatar.” Office of U.S. Congressman Burgess Owens, May 23, 2024. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://owens.house.gov/posts/owens-grills-northwestern-president-over-financial-ties-to-terrorist-harboring-qatar.
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  62. Richman, Jackson. “Report: Qatari foundation influences anti-Israel propaganda in U.S. schools.” South Florida Sun Sentinel. October 9, 2018. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/fl-jj-report-qatari-foundation-anti-israel-propaganda-schools-20181017-story.html.
  63. “Grants for Schools & Organizations.” Qatar Foundation International. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://www.qfi.org/global-programs/grants/grants-to-schools/.
  64. Hobbs, Tawnell D. “U.S. Schools Receive Aid From Qatar.” Wall Street Journal. August 25, 2017. Accessed June 5, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-schools-receive-aid-from-qatar-1503682830.
  65. Hobbs, Tawnell D. “U.S. Schools Receive Aid From Qatar.” Wall Street Journal. August 25, 2017. Accessed via Web Archive June 4, 2022. https://archive.ph/2JYRt.
  66. “Grant Information.” Qatar Foundation International. June 3, 2013. Accessed June 4, 2022. https://govboard.tusd1.org/Portals/TUSD1/GovBoard/docs/packets/packet06-25-13/06-25-13-BAI3(f)-Att-QatarFoundationGrantContract.pdf.
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