The College Fix

Scholar says the university is ‘under the sway of Arab state influence’

Georgetown University’s Qatar campus hosted a four-day conference this week with speakers linked to terrorist organizations.

The conference, called “Reimagining Palestine,” features speakers tied to Hamas and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, “both of which are U.S.-designated terrorist organizations,” the Daily Wire reported.

Some speakers have previously made anti-Semitic remarks or expressed support for Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

The event is part of “Georgetown University in Qatar’s signature Hiwaraat conference series, which engages scholars, experts, and the public in timely and relevant dialogues on globally significant issues,” according to the conference description on the school’s website.

It “aims to advance academic discourse on Palestine, meaningfully engaging participants in dialogue that challenges the status quo and envisions new possibilities for justice and peace,” the description states.

Georgetown’s Abdullah Al-Arian (pictured), who faced criticism for comparing Israel to ISIS, spoke at the event. His father previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to aiding Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.

Another speaker, Wadah Khanfar, president of the Al Sharq Forum, is associated with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. His previous role as director general of Al Jazeera involved promoting content reportedly supportive of these organizations.

Similarly, Shawan Jabarin, the general director of the Palestinian organization Al-Haq, has ties to Hamas and the PFLP.

Jabarin trained and recruited members for the PFLP, a Marxist group which has been “designated as a terrorist organization by Israel and around 30 Western countries,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

Ghassan Sittah, a plastic surgeon, also spoke at the conference. He previously praised a Hamas terrorist involved in the 2018 killing of Rabbi Raziel Shevach. In 2019, Sittah attended a memorial for PFLP leader Maher Al-Yemani and delivered a eulogy at the gravesite in 2020.

Speaker Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician, said the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas against Israel was “glorious.”

Over a dozen more speakers have ties to PFLP, have praised the Hamas attack, are linked to terrorists, or have made anti-Israel comments.

“Georgetown has long been under the sway of Arab state influence,” Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Daily Wire.

“The terror-sponsoring government of Qatar is a major funder, but it’s certainly not the only one. The university is reportedly one of top recipients of Arab funding in the country,” he stated.

MORE: Catholic Georgetown to offer ‘gender-inclusive’ housing in fall

IMAGE: Georgetown University Qatar/Youtube

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter