Qatar Enlists PR Firm with Obama Ties for Pro-Hamas Campaign

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World Tribune:

Qatar enlists PR firm with Obama ties for
pro-Hamas campaign

WASHINGTON — Qatar has signed at least two contracts with a leading U.S. public relations firm to lobby for the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip.

Fenton Communications, linked to President Barack Obama, signed two contracts in 2009 with Qatar to develop an 18-month campaign for the so-called Al Fakhoora project. Al Fakhoora, financed by Qatar, has waged an Internet campaign to break the siege of the Hamas regime and prevent Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip.

"We need to start somewhere to face the Israeli lobby groups and their sophisticated strategies," Al Fakhoora director Farooq Burney said.
In June, the Justice Department released a copy of an estimated $240,000 contract signed between the Washington-based Fenton and Qatar's Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, the wife of the emir and frequent visitor to the United States and other Western countries.

Under the contract, dated Feb. 26, 2010, Fenton — a consultant for MoveOn.org, which raised millions of dollars for Obama's presidential campaign in 2009 — was committed to recruit "advocates, advocacy organizations, elected officials and journalists" for Al Fakhoora.

"Regarding raising funds for the Al Fakhoora campaign, funds collected should be directly deposited into the account that HHO [Ms. Al Missned] has set up for the Al Fakhoora campaign — HHO Finance to be of assistance," the contract said.

Qatar, which signed another contract with Fenton worth $150,000, has been identified as the leading Gulf Arab supporter of Hamas. Hamas leaders travel regularly to Qatar for both consultations as well as fundraising campaigns.

The $240,000 Fenton contract, which began on March 1, does not mention either Israel or the Gaza Strip. Al Fakhoora, which has established a Web site, claimed it rallied 10,000 people to break the Egyptian and Israeli siege on Gaza.

According to the documents submitted to the Justice Department under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, Fenton plans to help raise what was reported to be up to $100 million to support the Hamas regime. Fenton also plans to train students to serve as spokespeople, monitor media and recruit for Al Fakhoora.

Burney was aboard the Turkish-flagged Hava Marmara when it was boarded by Israel Navy commandos in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. On May 31, nine people, eight of them Turkish nationals, were killed by commandos in a battle with an estimated 100 Islamist fighters armed with clubs and knives.

"We didn't want them to take the ship and hence it led to hand-to-hand combat," Burney recalled.