Nearly two dozen K-12 schools and 10 colleges across the US receive money from a group bankrolled by Qatar, a Middle Eastern nation with a highly criticized human rights record that allegedly aligns itself with terrorists, reported the Daily Caller.
Qatar Foundation International, which was founded in 2012 in Delaware and is the US-based subsidiary of the Doha-based nonprofit Qatar Foundation, gives money to public schools to strengthen Arabic programs for children.
QFI gives grants to public K-12 schools, academic programs and colleges in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington State and Washington, D.C.
“QFI grants for schools, students and teachers support education in Arabic language and about the Arab world. They are designed to enable students to become engaged with 21st century skills and global competency, and support programs that reach more than 3,200 students in the US and Europe,” a QFI spokesperson said.
Qatar Foundation is a registered foreign principal, meaning it is a group “organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in” a foreign country, founded by the former Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife, Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser, according to a FARA form.
A former senior analyst for the Dutch Military Intelligence and alleged victim of Qatari hacking, Ronald Sandee, previously told the Daily Caller, “Qatar has no real power, so they need soft power. How do you get soft power? You invest, you bribe, you work with people.”
Criteria for grant eligibility is unclear because the application process requires schools and programs to email QFI prior to answering a questionnaire, and none of the schools detail how they were accepted for grants on their websites.