Qatar, Islam, the Muslim Brotherhood & Australia

The reality is that super-rich Qatar, even more than its ally Iran, is the worst state sponsor of terrorism (Weisser 2026).

Qatar is a small, oil producing, Arab Islamic nation (Sheikdom) in the Middle East which, in recent years, has funneled billions of dollars into Western countries such as the United States through educational institutions such as universities. It is also an active funder of terrorist groups such as HAMAS and the Taliban. The current leader, the Emir of Qatar, is Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Than. The primary aim of the generous funding is to covertly support the spread of Islam and the work of the Muslim Brotherhood, whilst on the surface supporting research, teaching, learning and cross-cultural co-operation. However, as part of this influence-peddling initiative it has promoted anti-Semitism and the call for the annilation of the state of Israel, known as anti-Zionism. Qatar is one of the key players spreading Islamic ideology beyond the 56 Islamic state countries in existence. It is therefore important to understand that any largess on the part of Qatar therefore comes with a price, and that price is the requirement to support - openly, or covertly - its goals as an Islamic state.

How Qatar Is Using Universities & NGOs to Spread Islamic Propaganda in the United States and Europe?, Briefly, 19 April 2025, YouTube, duration: 5.14 minutes.

The program has spread to Australia, with large amounts of funding directed towards education institutions such as Swinburne University in Victoria, partial purchase of Virgin Australia, and the purchase of land. Should Australia have anything to fear from this? The answer is Yes.

Money talks, and politicians and businesses listen. When that money begins to show up in educational institutions, young people listen. Alongside all of this the media is influenced and called on to support such initiatives, because, once again, some of the money spent goes towards garnering media influence, either directly or indirectly. The most significant form of that latter influencing is often self-censorship by media outlets. For example, the HAMAS invasion of Israel on 7 October 2023, and the horrific elements of this - murder, rape, torture, kidnapping - was heavily censored by Australia media, such that little if anything of its barbarity currently resides in the consciousness of the broader Australian population. Why was such an horrific and historic event not reported on to any significant degree? And why, in its aftermath, did claims of genocide by the Jewish people of Israel towards the residents of Gaza appear, when in fact the act of genocide was by HAMAS towards innocent Jews? The answer is because of the work of Islamic influencers such as the ruling family of Qatar. This is clearly outlined in the following article from the Australian Financial Review:

Jule Hare, Beware of Qatar bearing gifts, universities warned, Australian Financial Review, 10 September 2025.

In June 2025 Swinburne University announced a collaboration with Barzan University College, Doha, Qatar. This involved sharing courses, rather then setting up a campus. The precise financial details and amount of funding received by Swinburne are not known. In the US such funding has run into billions of dollars, and in many instances these transactions have not been reported to government and were therefore found to be illegal. In addition, such of the research collaborations with those universities involved sharing of military and nuclear technologies which would otherwise have been considered secret. As a result, some campuses and projects have been closed down by the US government (Hare 2025).

Swinburne delegation in Qatar.

Western, capitalist democracies find it hard to say No to money coming from oil rich Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran. All three are Islamic states and all three support the Muslim Brotherhood efforts since 1928 to promote the Islamic overthrow of countries and the installation of Shariah law. This has been seen in Europe, the United States and now in Australia. The rise in anti-Semitism since 7 October 2023 and the Bondi Beach massacre of 14 December 2025 reveal the extent to which the influence of Islam is on the increase in Australia, supported by increase in the number of Muslim immigrants and refugees entering the country.

This is very much a covert operation on the part of Islam, and the prominance of the Free Palestine movement and an increasing use of the term Islamophobia to stifle any and all negative commentary on Islam is evidence enough. The outcome of this influencing campaign can be seen in the UK, where over the last decade the increase in atrocities such as rape by Muslim men has got to the stage that in reporting such crimes no mention is made of the fact that the vast majority of those responsible for the increases are Muslims. The same is happening across the Western world. It is most obvious in Australia with the recent behaviour by the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and his Labour government. Following the Bondi Beach massacre, Albanese found it extremely difficult to mention the words Islam or Muslim in regard to the crime and the perpetrators. Likewise, the recent revelation that groups of young Muslim men have been attacking homosexuals in Sydney was met with criticism on some Left leaning quarters that the reporting of these crimes was evidence of Islamophobia, with the suggestion that they were only being reported to such a decree because those accused of the crimes were Muslims. This is, of course, rubbish, and a disgraceful thing to imply.

A June 2025 article by Robert Gregory of the Australian Jewish Association outlines some of that group's concerns:

Exposing Qatar’s growing influence in Australia

AJA CEO Robert Gregory writes in this month's edition of the Israel & Christians Today newspaper Australians now enjoy cheaper flights to Europe, thanks to Qatar Airways’ $1 billion deal for a 25% stake in Virgin Australia, recently approved by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Green-lighting 28 weekly flights from Australia to Doha reverses Labor’s 2023 block on national interest grounds. Transport Minister Catherine King had cited Qatar’s 2020 invasive internal searches of Australian women, yet now Qatar’s state-owned airline sidesteps that, buying Virgin’s air rights, but using its own planes and crew.

Qatar isn’t a stranger to using wealth to buy its way in through the back door with their alleged bribery crushing Australia’s 2010 FIFA World Cup hosting bid. Some speculate that Qatar plans to purchase all of Virgin. Would this give their government access to details on frequent flyers, including regime critics? Covid and wars in Ukraine and Israel demonstrated the importance of local control over a fleet of planes. In a volatile security environment, are Australians comfortable with foreign control of one of the country’s two major airlines?

During Australia’s just finished election campaign, no Australian politician dared to touch the topic of Qatari influence. Qatar practices modern slavery. Up to 6500 worker deaths were linked to the World Cup. Human rights groups have been silent about the deal. Imagine the outcry and boycott campaigns from the Greens if Virgin had partnered with Israel’s EL AL.

After Iran, Qatar is the largest state sponsor of radical Islamist groups. On October 7, 2023, Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal, celebrated from Doha’s luxury hotels as their terrorists slaughtered 1,200 Israelis. Qatar’s billions have propped up Hamas since 2012, funding its tunnel network. Its Defence Minister once tweeted, “we are all Hamas.”

Beyond Hamas, Qatar has housed a rogues’ gallery of terror groups, including the Taliban, Al-Qaeda financiers and 9/11 planner Khaled Sheikh Mohammed who worked for its government in the 1990s. Qatar backs the Muslim Brotherhood sparking unrest across the Arab world, so much so that in 2017, several of its neighbours blockaded Qatar for three years. After September 11, Saudi Arabia reformed, and recently the United Arab Emirates signed the Abraham Accords.

Qatar took up the mantle of extremism among Sunni states. Qatar’s two-faced tricks partly explain the failure to secure the release of all the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. There have been leaks showing that Qatar urged Hamas to take a more demanding stance. Recently they were even called out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Would we tolerate an airline partnership with Afghanistan’s Taliban Government or the Islamic Republic of Iran? Qatar isn’t far off.

Alongside aviation, Qatar is buying Australian farmland, energy assets and property but its most visible presence is Al Jazeera. State-owned Al Jazeera, funded with $750 million annually, beams into Australian homes via ABC and SBS which elevated it from a niche satellite channel here. It hasn’t criticised Qatar in 30 years, instead serving as Hamas PR, airing degrading hostage ceremonies and securing exclusive interviews with Yahya Sinwar and other terrorist leaders. Israeli intelligence alleges its journalists doubled as Hamas operatives during the October 7 massacre. Banned in a dozen countries for incitement, including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, it is the only major media outlet banned in Israel where a special law labelled it a ‘Hamas mouthpiece’. Even the Palestinian Authority bans it. In the US, Al Jazeera was required to register as a foreign agent. It is sidelined with a tiny audience because major networks avoid the station once known for broadcasting Osama bin Laden’s speeches. Taxpayer-funded broadcasters ABC and SBS provide Al Jazeera unparalleled legitimacy. Australia sanctions Russian and Iranian media yet the major role that Qatar’s state-owned, extremist media is granted by Australia’s taxpayer-funded broadcasters is a stark example of foreign influence.

Qatar also focuses its influence on education. It is the largest foreign donor to American universities with estimates of $10 billion since 2000. It’s unsurprising that campuses experiencing the greatest explosions in antisemitism include Qatar’s major beneficiaries. Qatari money reportedly flows to American K-12 schools. Unlike the US, Australia doesn’t disclose individual foreign donors, but Austrade boasts over 20 Australian universities collaborate with Qatari institutions. Chinese Confucius Institutes on Australian campuses faced scrutiny. Qatar’s involvement, including in Islamic and Arabic studies centres demands similar attention.

Qatar pursues a dual agenda, funding Islamist extremism globally while sanitising its image by buying up Western cultural icons like French football team, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), UK Department store, Harrods and Italian fashion house, Valentino. Qatar’s purchase of Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax film production company granted it rights to 700 movies. This strategy climaxed in the 2022 FIFA World Cup where the world overlooked Qatar’s abysmal human rights record, discrimination against Christians, women and gays and credible bribery allegations and gathered in the blistering desert to play soccer.

Journalists, think-tanks and influencers on the left and on the right are on Qatar’s payroll. Incredibly both Tucker Carlson and Jeremy Corbyn fawn over Qatar. Is there another issue that these two agree on? Qatari charm offensives have seen a US Senator and EU parliamentarians charged with accepting bribes. Aides in Israel’s Prime Minister’s office of all places were charged with taking Qatari funds. Is something similarly sinister occurring in Australian politics?

Sometimes it seems that the battle for Israel is never-ending. Our enemies are numerous and constantly shifting. For at least the past decade, supporters of Israel, both Jewish and Christian have focused heavily on the Shia axis led by the head of the octopus, the Islamic Republic of Iran. October 7 was a spectacular setback for that axis of evil. Its arms have been cut down one by one. Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad Regime are shells of their former self. The Houthis are facing a sustained campaign from the Trump Administration. The Islamic Regime itself is unstable and once its nuclear threat is eliminated it will be a shell of itself. In the coming decade, the major threat to Israel may come from the radical Sunni, ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ aligned axis. Its two main patrons are NATO member Turkey and the tiny gulf state of Qatar. Radical Sunni terrorist groups continue to pose a threat. The new Syrian Government is a major uncertainty and there is every chance that more moderate Arab governments, in particular Jordan could fall to the Qatari-backed Muslim Brotherhood. As supporters of Israel, we must recognise the danger and pivot. Iran’s Regime is mostly a pariah worldwide and even in Australia. This is not the case with Qatar. We must continue to expose Qatar’s Government for who they are. Advocates for Israel should spread awareness by raising Qatar in conversations, on social media and when speaking to members of Parliament. With just 350,000 citizens, fewer than the Australian city of Newcastle, Qatar’s influence here is outsized. Nobody begrudges Australians cheaper holidays on Greek beaches or Swiss ski-slopes, but Australian politicians must be clear-eyed. We can’t let Qatari money and influence serve as a Trojan horse, importing extremist values, damaging social cohesion and risking national security.

A recent February 2026 article by Rebecca Weisser in The Spectator, Australia, outlines some of the concerns over Qatar and its involvement with Australia:

What explains the unprecedented antisemitism in Australia unleashed on 7 October 2023? When you scratch below the surface, there is a frightening explanation. Start with the Dr. Abu Muhammad, the Grand Mufti of Australia. On Tuesday, 10 October 2023, he posted a statement on Facebook about the Hamas invasion. To the civilised world, these were crimes against humanity involving the deliberate targeting of civilians, mass indiscriminate killings, and hostage-taking of men, women, children, and the elderly, on a scale that demonstrated coordination and the intent to terrorise. For the Grand Mufti, however, ‘the central issue at stake in this bloody iteration of violence’ was not Hamas because ‘resistance against tyranny is a legitimate right for any human being’. It was Israel that the Mufti accused of ‘brutality’. He called on the international community to ‘break free from its selective blindness’ and ‘stop repeating the same false claims about Israel’s right to defend itself’. Inspired by the slaughter, he waxed poetic declaring ‘the blood of the martyrs will smell of musk’.

These views echoed a statement by the Qatari Foreign Ministry on 7 October 2023 that said Israel was ‘solely responsible’ for the violence. No one should be surprised. Qatar is not a neutral mediator in the conflict in Gaza, it is Hamas’ banker. As for the Grand Mufti, he outed himself as a Hamas fan in December 2012 when he led a delegation of Australian sheiks to Gaza, where they met then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The Mufti was so thrilled that he said, ‘We feel like we are on cloud nine; we feel like we are on top of the world.’

Months later, in April 2013, the Mufti went to Qatar to meet Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, designated a terrorist organisation in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Al-Qaradawi claimed he was a ‘moderate’, but his fatwa endorsing suicide bombings as a legitimate form of resistance against Israel gives you an idea of what sort of moderate. The US, the UK and France banned Al-Qaradawi from entering their countries but that didn’t stop him from spreading his noxious views on Al Jazeera, Qatar’s state-sponsored media mouthpiece. Former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, described Al Jazeera as ‘the best pulpit that accurately gives voice to our positions’. Fed up with its incitement to violence, Israel and the Palestinian Authority closed it down last year yet it still broadcasts in Australia on taxpayer-funded SBS.

In 2022, a study published by the National Association of Academics in the US showed that between 9/11 and 2021, Qatar donated $4.7 billion to US universities, becoming the largest foreign donor, funding which coincided with a dramatic increase in antisemitism on campuses.

In Australia, over twenty universities are engaged in collaborative projects with Qatari institutions. Professor Mohamad Abdalla, of the University of South Australia, for example, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Qatar University. As the Director of the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education he has contributed to curriculum development for Islamic education and established Islamic Studies programs in several Australian universities. His views have a trademark Qatari tone. An open letter that he coordinated in February 2024 decried ‘scholasticide and plausible genocide’ in Palestine, repeatedly condemned Israel over the war in Gaza and, in a textbook example of moral equivalence, called for the immediate release of Israeli and foreign hostages ‘detained in Gaza’ while calling for the release of ‘all Palestinian hostages abducted from Gaza… who are presently held under arbitrary detention in Israeli camps and prisons’.

That this propaganda for Hamas, a terrorist organisation, has been signed by 1,273 people purporting to be academics is testimony to the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of Australian academia. Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that we saw the creation of a hateful caricature called ‘Dutton’s Jew’ – at a Queensland University symposium on anti-racist research – who is ‘anti-immigrant’ ‘hates Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims’, ’thinks of antisemitism as the only form of racism’ and, horror of horrors, ‘promotes “Judeo-Christian” values’ and defends ‘Western civilisation and Australian culture’.

As if all this weren’t enough, Qatar has doubled its investments in Australia in the last two years, acquiring a 25 per cent stake in Virgin Australia (final approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board is scheduled for March/April). Those hoping President Trump’s ‘revolution of common sense’ might extend to the Middle East have been disappointed. Trump’s hostage envoy – hotel developer Steve Witkoff – is frighteningly naive about Qatar. Shortly after he participated in the Qatar Economic Forum, the Qatar Investment Authority acquired Witkoff’s Park Lane hotel, of Monopoly board fame, for $623 million.

Did that create a conflict of interest? Who knows, but Witkoff said of Qatar, that the state was ‘really impressive’ and ‘the hotels here are magnificent’. No doubt Khaled Mashal, leader of Hamas’ diaspora office in Doha would give the hotels a five-star rating on TripAdvisor. Perhaps Witkoff could ask Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the mastermind of 9/11 and 31 other terrorist attacks including the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. In the 1990s, KSM was employed in Qatar’s Ministry of Electricity and Water while he flew around the world organising terrorist attacks and was tipped off by the Emir of Qatar before the FBI could arrest him.

When Trump wants to hear common sense, he should listen to Yigal Carmon, founder and president of the Middle East Media and Research Institute, who has the melancholy privilege of having publicly predicted, on 31 August 2023, the launching of a war on Israel in September or October 2024 by its terrorist neighbours. Carmon says the biggest mistake that Israel made was to delude itself that it could buy peace with Hamas by allowing Qatar to fund it. Since 2012, Qatar lavished $1.5 billion on Hamas. This delusion fuelled a deadly complacency. ‘We Israelis thought we could buy Hamas, but we didn’t buy anyone,’ Carmon observes bitterly. ‘Instead, Netanyahu sold out our lives and our security.’

The most extraordinary delusion however is the United States locating its largest Middle East Air Force base in Qatar. Carmon has pointed out repeatedly that all the US has to do to secure the immediate release of the Israeli hostages is tell Qatar that unless Hamas hands them all over the US will move its base to a genuine ally such as the United Arab Emirates. (The base protects Qatar’s ruling family from overthrow.) Once the hostages are freed, the US must move.

The reality is that super-rich Qatar, even more than its ally Iran, is the worst state sponsor of terrorism. It should be an international pariah. In the face of this deadly complacency, even by those whose people have suffered the most – the US and Israel – it is hardly surprising that Australia has shown no leadership in cutting ties with Qatar. Yet the record shows that those who turn a blind eye to its creeping Islamism pay a terrible price sooner or later (Weisser 2026).

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References

A shared vision realised: Inaugurating Qatar's first Australian qualification, The Penninsula, 1 October 2025.

Cope, Jordan, US must reclaim its institutions and universities in face of Qatari financial influence - opinion, The Jerusalem Post, 14 February 2026.

Genn, James, Qatar cultivates terrorism, The Jerusalem Post, 1 February 2026.

Gregory, Robert, Exposing Qatar's growing influence, Australian Jewish Association, Facebook, 16 June 2025.

Hare, Jule, Beware of Qatar bearing gifts, universities warned, Australian Financial Review, 10 September 2025.

How Qatar Is Using Universities & NGOs to Spread Islamic Propaganda in US and Europe?, Briefly, 19 April 2025, YouTube, duration: 5.14 minutes.

Owen Jones, Marc, Islamophobia: Why Qatar lives rent-free in the far right's head, Al Jazeera, 6 December 2025.

US must reclaim its institutions and universities in face of Qatari financial influence, Stand With Us, Facebook, 16 February 2026.

Weisser, Rebecca, While Qatar's Islamists stealthily creep, The Spectator, Australia, 1 February 2025.

Wikipedia, Tamim bin Hamad Al Than, Wikipedia, accessed 28 February 2026.

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Last updated: 28 February 2026

Michael Organ, Australia

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Qatar, Islam, the Muslim Brotherhood & Australia

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