February 26, 2015 | Quote

Qatar Emir to Meet Obama Amid Accusations of Religious Incitement


However, an opinion piece published on Monday in Politico magazine accused Qatar of fomenting sectarian hate in the region.

“Qatar is a major source of hateful religious incitement, promoting the same sorts of extremist ideologies that underpin the violent acts of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and Islamic State,” wrote David Weinberg, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence on Democracies.

Weinberg cited a January sermon given in Qatar’s grand mosque by a Saudi preacher that “called on Allah to ‘destroy the Jews […] destroy the Christians and Alawites […] and the Shiite’” as evidence.

Qatar’s religious affairs ministry promoted the sermon via its Twitter account and on its website. It was also broadcast live on Qatari television.

Weinberg also referenced a fatwa (Islamic legal ruling) published by a Qatari government centre, he said justified killing or torture by fire, which has since been taken down after IS released a video purporting to show the burning to death of a captured Jordanian fighter pilot.

And despite repeated denials by Doha, Weinberg gave several examples he said proved Qatari involvement in financing of globally-designated terrorist groups including al-Qaeda.

Read full article here.