Thread by @jalyssaspeaking

Charles Lister, Qatari asset and Spin Doctor, is actively fueling sectarian division inside of Syria.

A 🧵

We'll reference my latest article, "Stuck in Syria: Analyzing America’s Proxy Struggle," where I mention how Qatar’s media machine has spun the Syrian conflict as a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites. Consequently, Charles Lister reinforces this narrative, encouraging HTS’s ideological mission in Syria as a "holy war."

Charles Lister was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, which operated as a regional branch of the Brookings Institution, an American nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. He held this position from 2013 to 2017. During this time, the Brookings Doha Center received funding from the State of Qatar for several years.

The president of the Brookings Institution, retired Gen. John Allen, resigned in 2017 amid a federal probe into his illegal lobbying for Qatar. Court filings reveal his behind-the-scenes efforts to help Qatar influence U.S. policy during the 2017 diplomatic crisis with its neighbors.

CBS reports that Allen visited Qatar to consult with top officials on influencing U.S. policy, while also advocating for Qatar's perspective to senior White House officials and members of Congress.

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), when a foreign entity provides lobbying support or funding to an American nonprofit to influence U.S. foreign policy, this law is primarily violated.

That same year, the Brookings Institution updated its FAQs, stating that while it had previously received funding from Qatar, it chose not to renew it in early 2017. This decision coincided with the FBI probe into its president for lobbying and Charles Lister’s departure from the Doha Center.

Coincidence?

Before we proceed, note that in a 2019 tweet, Lister admits the US launched its largest rebel/proxy assistance effort in decades, lasting until 2017—the same years he attended Brookings and the year Brookings stopped receiving Qatar funding.

In response to Joshua Landis' tweet, this suggests the US actively provided billions in support to rebel groups in Syria to oust the Assad regime.

Notably, an email from Jake Sullivan to Hillary Clinton stating, "AQ is on our side in Syria," supports claims of collaboration with the United States.

As the Assad regime was overtaken by HTS, formerly al-Qaeda, in early December, consider their history, ideology, and mission. They maintain a Salafi-jihadist ideology, justifying violence to restore Islam's "golden age" and address perceived injustices with extreme force.

In my article, I note that Qatar shares the goal of transforming Syria into an Islamic Sunni nation-state, mirroring Gulf states like Saudi Arabia.

In a 2015 Al-Jazeera interview, Al-Joulani, leader and de facto President of HTS, said about the Alawites, "If they return to the Islamic faith, we will defend them like we defend ourselves." Essentially, convert or be killed.

Since HTS's incursion into Syria, Alawites have faced slaughter and massacre for not aligning with HTS's Salafi-jihadist ideology, which aims for a Sunni nation-state. HTS justifies the slaying of Alawites as "remnants of the regime."

Al-Jazeera, a Qatar state-funded media outlet, promotes rhetoric justifying the slaughter of Alawites by labeling them "remnants of the regime." They understand this can manufacture consent for HTS's mission to create a Sunni nation. One headline described the Alawite massacre as a "military operation against Assad loyalists," completely whitewashing the event.

While there is no record of Charles Lister working directly for Al Jazeera, he has often appeared on the network as a commentator and analyst, especially on Middle East conflicts. Given Al Jazeera's ties to the Qatari government and Lister's former role at the Qatari-funded Brookings Doha Center, his alignment with Qatari narratives is unsurprising.

With overwhelming evidence of Lister living in a Qatari-backed rhetoric chamber and think tank sponsorship, he continues to fuel sectarian divide, validating the actions of the former, rebranded Al-Qaeda group, HTS.

With no evidence of Hezbollah entering Syria to fight HTS, Lister makes these claims, inciting sectarian divide and framing this as a 'Sunni vs Shi'a' conflict. In reality, this is an extremist Salafi jihadist group taking a multi-religious, multi-ethnic state, aiming to reduce Syria to a Stone Age Sunni nation-state, effectively erasing minorities.

Another example of reducing minority violence and justifying minority slaughter is to fuel this rhetoric by calling it 'sectarian killings' and 'pro-Assad loyalist' attacks, whitewashing these massacres and feeding into the Qatar media campaign in HTS's favor. HTS and their leader, Abu Mohamed al-Joulani, have stated that Alawites and minorities are not of Islam, but will be spared if they convert.

Lister ignores the facts and continues to peddle Qatari HTS propaganda.

Take into account the evidence and think twice before taking Lister's word.

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