The effort would target prominent Qatari nationals who have financed groups like Students for Justice in Palestine
The Trump administration is mulling plans to sanction the international funders behind pro-Hamas protests, including prominent Qatari nationals who have vast financial holdings inside the United States, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the internal discussions told the Washington Free Beacon.
The effort seeks to build upon President Donald Trump’s January executive order authorizing the deportation of foreign students engaged in often illegal anti-Semitic demonstrations on college campuses across the country. Instead of targeting the protests’ participants, it would target their funders. The administration could, for example, slap sanctions on foreign individuals who provide groups like Students for Justice in Palestine with significant funding. In cases where those individuals enjoy U.S. visas, it could revoke them.
“President Trump has made it a priority to ensure that Jewish students, indeed all students, feel safe and free from harassment on college campuses,” one senior U.S. official, who spoke on background to discuss the ongoing deliberations, told the Free Beacon. “To that end, his administration is taking a comprehensive approach, not just looking at the visas and green cards of student instigators, but also, for example, going after the people funding the protests, wherever they may be.”
The plans reflect a growing appetite inside the administration to hamstring Hamas’s allies in the United States by penalizing their most prolific funders, including several former Qatari officials known to maintain relations with the Iran-backed group. Iranian government actors have also funded anti-Israel protests in the United States, former director of national intelligence Avril Haines revealed last summer.
Some officials within the Biden administration discussed similar plans to cut off foreign funding or the protests, according to a former U.S. diplomat involved in the efforts both then and now, who said the administration shelved the plans so as not to upset Doha’s government as it mediated peace talks between Israel and Hamas.
“This was on the menu when I was there, but the previous administration was a bit squeamish about taking extreme measures, like revoking visas,” said the diplomat. “But that’s not a problem in this administration, and we’re hearing they’re looking at all options—from sanctions on individuals to the revocation of visas.”
“You can’t get rid of anti-Semitism on campus without getting rid of the funding, and the funders are Qatar.”
The Trump administration has already taken similar action when it comes to America’s southern border. In early March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on “foreign government officials, including immigration and customs officials, airport and port authority officials, and others believed to be responsible for knowingly facilitating illegal immigration to the United States.” Less than two weeks later, Rubio restricted visas for current and former government officials complicit in China’s genocide of the Uyghur minority population.
The latter announcement closely mirrors policy proposals on the table to target current and former foreign officials bankrolling the pro-Hamas movement in America, particularly those from Qatar, which continues to maintain close ties to Hamas and finance its operations.
One of those former officials who has drawn attention is Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, a prominent Qatari businessman and royal family member who served as Doha’s prime minister from 2007 to 2013.
Al Thani, along with former Qatari emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, co-owns the Maybourne Beverly Hills, a luxury hotel that has faced pro-Israel protests in recent months.
The leader of the protests, Beverly Hills-based rabbi Pini Dunner, held meetings in February with Trump administration officials and members of Congress about forwarding plans to target the Al Thanis and other Qataris known to finance Hamas.
“A number of those I spoke to revealed that their visas are being looked into, as well as their ability to conduct business in the United States,” Dunner told the Free Beacon. “U.S. lawmakers are not fools, and they will not allow this country to be made a fool of by these people any longer.”
A senior GOP congressional official familiar with the talks confirmed that Republican lawmakers are crafting parallel plans to target those financing Hamas’s U.S.-based propaganda arms, which include groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and other campus organizations.
“Trump’s Executive Order provides the basis for going after the backers of illegal pro-Hamas protests, and Trump officials are doing exactly that,” the official told the Free Beacon. “There are mountains of evidence that Qatar paid for groups committed to halting Israel’s campaign against Hamas. Everyone knows where the investigation into illegal protests will end up, and Republicans will look to punish those responsible.”
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