History of the Jews in Qatar
The history of the Jews in Qatar is relatively limited unlike some of the neighboring countries in the Gulf of Persia.
In modern days a small number of immigrants of Jewish descent reside in Qatar, mainly in the capital Doha. Kosher food was produced during the 2022 World Cup and Rabbi Eli Chitrik visits Qatar several times a year on behalf of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States.
Jews and Judaism in Qatar
In 2005 Qatar University with the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs inviteda Jewish delegation from Israel to take part in an international conference on religious dialogue despite opposition from some quarters. It was the first time that Jewish scholars attended the International Conference on Religious Dialogue held every year in Qatar.
Various Jewish people visit and live in Qatar. Professor Gary Wasserman wrote a book The Doha Experiment: Arab Kingdom, Catholic College, Jewish Teacher describing his stay teaching and working in Qatar where Wasserman encountered barely any personal animosity due to being Jewish.
In 2013 Qatar assisted Yemenite Jews to move to Israel. The first group of Yemenite Jews departed from Doha on Qatari flights and arrived in Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport.
A significant sign of Qatar's new openness to outsiders that includes Jews was that over 10,000 Israelis and many other Jews visited for the 2022 FIFA World Cup many of whom were provided with tens of thousands of Kosher meals showing that there is official recognition and permission to practice Judaism. As early as 2019 it was reported that Qatari officials had consulted with American Rabbi Marc Schneier as to how to welcome the thousands of Israelis and Jews who intended to attend the world Cup finals in 2022.
In 2021 the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities was established to serve Jewish populations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A 2023 report by the United States Department of State stated that during Ramadan the US ambassador hosted an interfaith Suhur bringing together Muslim, Christian, and Jewish representatives and in September, the US embassy helped facilitate the visit of a rabbi who conducted Jewish religious services. In a strange twist, rabbis from the anti-Zionist Jewish movement Neturei Karta attended the funeral of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Qatari capital Doha in 2024.
Some reports suggest that Qatar's recent official benevolence and tolerance of Jews and Judaism inside Qatar itself is aimed at easing its political isolation and improving its own image by reaching out to American Jews. Qatar's efforts to reach out to wealthy and influentuel American Jews was reported by Axios in 2023: "Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump organized a private meeting in New York last Wednesday with Qatar's prime minister and a bipartisan group mostly of Jewish businessmen and billionaires, three sources with direct knowledge of the meeting tell Axios."
In a 2023 report by the Board of Deputies of British Jews a delegation of World Jewish Congress officials, led by its president Ronald Lauder, engaged in discussions with leaders in Qatar. During these high-level meetings the concerns of global Jewry regarding the plight of Israeli hostages in Gaza were expressed seeking the intervention of Arab leaders to secure the release of the Israeli hostages.
Qatar and accusations of Antisemitism
Antisemitism is rife in many areas of life in Qatar, alongside Kuwait, Oman, Malaysia and other Arab and Muslim countries as well as fostering antisemitism beyond its borders. The media giant Al Jazeera is based in Qatar and has frequently been accused of fostering and spouting antisemitism. Antisemitic cartoons appear often in Qatari newspapers and school books. The United States Department of State has found persistent antisemitism in Qatari school textbooks such as that Jews seek world domination. Some writers have called for a cut-off of funding to American colleges by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other wealthy Arab and Muslim countries because the multimillion-dollar donations to Middle Eastern studies centers and departments have advanced Islamist ideology and fostered Jew-hatred at U.S. universities.Qatar has allegedly supplied money for antisemitic activists and activism against Jewish students and Jewish interests on American college and university campuses. Some American politicians have spoken out against the antisemitic outcomes of Qatari funding of US institutions, such as Representative Jack Bergman, who has stated that: "For years, the Qatar Foundation philanthropies and the Qatar Investment Authority have played a key role in the organization and funding of the radical antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on U.S. college campuses. Since 2017, Qatar has hired at least 100 different firms for lobbying and public relations, according to the Foreign Agents Registration Act database. Qatar has also lavished tens of millions of dollars on nonprofit Washington think tanks, including the Brookings Institution. And Qatar has given over $5 billion to U.S. universities, according to records published by the U.S. Department of Education."
In 2016 the Simon Wiesenthal Center objected to the continued display of titles inciting to hatred of Jews at the Doha International Book Fair. A 2024 first ever Web Summit Qatar bringing together thousands of investors and startups was also tainted with antisemitism due to a large number of investors and tech experts advertised as speaking at the Doha conference who are on record of promoting antisemitic tropes.
Even though Qatar has been a mediator in the 2024 Gaza war, it has nevertheless been accused of antisemitism in the process.