2 months ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Qatari deputy prime minister Sa’oud bin Abd Al-Rahman Al Thani posted on social media expressing support for Hamas, then deleted the posts, sparking renewed allegations regarding the country’s role in financing Islamist terrorist organizations like Hamas. Additionally, the social media posts have call into question Qatar’s role in ongoing Middle East peace efforts.
👥 Who’s Involved: Sa’oud bin Abd Al-Rahman Al Thani, Qatari deputy prime minister; Hamas leaders; Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser; Qatari foreign ministry; Al Jazeera.
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📍 Where & When: Qatar, posts made and deleted during the week of April 14, 2025.
💬 Key Quote: “We Are all Hamas… Oh Al-Quds, revolt and commemorate Al-Qassam!” — Sa’oud bin Abd Al-Rahman Al Thani.
⚠️ Impact: The social media messages are raising concerns about Qatar’s role in Middle East peace efforts and its material support for several Islamist terrorist groups.
IN FULL:
Earlier this week, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Sa’oud bin Abd Al-Rahman Al Thani reportedly posted and then swiftly deleted a series of social media messages expressing support for the Hamas terrorist group. The incident has reignited discussions about Qatar’s role in Middle Eastern peace efforts.
According to reports, Al Thani’s posts on X (formerly Twitter) included declarations such as “We Are all Hamas… Oh Al-Quds, revolt and commemorate Al-Qassam!” The social media posts align with a history of similar sentiments from Al Thani, who has previously criticized Israel and the United States. Notably, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has documented Al Thani’s past support for Hamas and calls for Qatar to increase its influence on U.S. decision-makers.
Qatar’s foreign ministry issued a statement following the October 7, 2023 terror raid in Israel by Hamas, blaming Israel for the escalation. Al Jazeera, a news network funded by the Qatari government, broadcast messages from Hamas leadership, including military calls to arms and declarations of triumph.
The Middle Eastern country held considerable influence under the Biden government, with former President Joe Biden’s brother, Jim Biden, alleged to have numerous business relationships with Qatari government representatives.
Additionally, Qatar has come under scrutiny in the United States over its lavish funding of American academic and media institutions, with conservative media network Newsmax reportedly pursuing a $50 million investment from a member of the country’s royal family.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Kilmar Abrego Garcia—the 29-year-old illegal immigrant and adjudicated MS-13 gang member deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration—was the subject of a 2021 protective order filed in Maryland by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, due to multiple alleged incidents of domestic violence. A federal judge is attempting to force the White House to retrieve Garcia from El Salvador’s CECOT prison, as are Democratic Party lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
👥 Who’s Involved: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the government of El Salvador, and U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis.
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📍 Where & When: Kilmar Abrego Garcia was detained in Maryland, with his deportation occurring on March 15. The protective order was filed in May 2021 in Prince George’s County District Court.
💬 Key Quote: “At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me,” Jennifer Vasquez alleged in the 2021 protective order filing, adding: “In November 2020, he hit me with his work boot. In August 2020, he hit me in the eye leaving a purple eye.”
⚠️ Impact: This case has prompted significant legal challenges against Garcia’s deportation, with a federal judge ordering the Trump administration to facilitate the El Salvadoran illegal immigrant’s return to the United States. Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, traveled to El Salvador earlier this week in an attempt to retrieve the MS-13 gang member from the country’s CECOT prison facility.
IN FULL:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant and member of the violent MS-13 criminal gang, was the subject of a 2021 protective order filed in Maryland by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, alleging that he beat her on several occasions. In March, the Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia, 29, alongside other illegal immigrants, invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The deportation orders were predicated on transnational gang links, a charge denied by Abrego Garcia’s family and legal counsel.
While Congressional Democrats and the corporate media have attempted to portray Abrego Garcia as a loving father and “Maryland man,” court documents reveal the illegal immigrant has a history of domestic abuse accusations, allegedly beating his wife on several occasions. The revelations came as Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled to El Salvador seeking the illegal immigrant’s return.
“At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me,” Jennifer Vasquez alleged in the 2021 protective order filing, adding: “In November 2020, he hit me with his work boot. In August 2020, he hit me in the eye leaving a purple eye.”
Despite the past accusations of domestic abuse, Vasquez now says she stands by her husband. “We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling,” she wrote in a statement issued in response to news of the protective order. “Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect,” she claimed, adding: “That is not a justification for ICE’s action of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from deportation.”
In early April, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, an action that El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele says he will not allow. “How can I return him to the United States? Like, if I smuggle him into the United States, or what do I do? Of course, I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said earlier this week.
While opponents of President Donald J. Trump’s mass deportation of violent, criminal illegal immigrants from the United States have tried to claim that Abrego Garcia is not an actual member of MS-13, state and federal law enforcement agencies confirmed his affiliation in 2019. Both the Prince George’s County Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) documented evidence of Abrego Garcia’s membership in MS-13, noting that the clothing he wore when detained during a 2019 murder investigation was associated with the gang.
Additionally, a confidential informant tied to MS-13 identified the El Salvadoran national as an active member of the gang’s “Westerns” group, holding the rank of “Chequeo,” and using the name “Chele.” Two federal immigration judges accepted the state and federal law enforcement findings, ruling that there was “sufficient” evidence.
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