I spent the last couple weeks travelling in the Middle East and Europe where the question of “what the hell is the U.S. policy regarding Qatar?” was repeatedly brought up. On the one hand the U.S. is believed to have given the green light to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their Gulf allies to blockade and embargo Qatar, politically and economically, to stop its support of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. On June 9 Trump called on Qatar to stop funding terrorism “at a very high level.” Yet on the other hand, the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East — and the forward headquarters of the U.S. Central Command — is in Qatar. The U.S. also announced a $12 billion military deal with Qatar shortly thereafter and held joint military exercises.
Unlike Turkey’s inequivalent support of Qatar – Turkey also has a military base with troops in Qatar, is a NATO member, and sends planes and ships of food to feed the 2.6 million people of the world’s largest exporter of natural gas and host of the football World Cup in 2022 – America’s stick and carrot approach is confusing. It shouldn’t be. Trump has made the defeat of ISIS and terrorist organizations a priority of his administration and Qatar is a supporter of such organizations and as such is not a true or trusted ally.
I understand the concerns of Europeans because the Qatar Investment Authority holds large stakes in many important western companies such as Barclays, Volkswagen and trophy properties around the world, including London’s tallest building, the Shard and Harrods department store. The potential adverse financial spillover effect can have serious financial implications.
Qatar was given a list of 13 things it had to do within 10 days for the embargo to be lifted. The list included the closure of the Turkish military base (Turkey is believed to be a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood), curbing its relationship with Iran, closure of the Al Jazeera network and payment of reparations. Granted some of the demands are unrealistic and will prolong the crisis.
The fact is that Qatar is an ally of Iran and does support Hamas and other terrorist organizations as the May 24 hack of the Qatar News Agency website revealed. The explosive remarks attributed to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al-Thani regarding Hamas, Israel and America that led to the region’s crisis cannot be ignored or denied. Neither can the fact that Qatar is the host and home of Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood leadership and their primary financial supporter.
The scourge of Hamas, not only on Israel, but the Palestinians in Gaza, has to be quashed and eliminated. They cannot be allowed to periodically hibernate and then continue their terrorist activities against Israel at the expense and deprivation of the Palestinians living in Gaza, a subject I wrote about at length in Custom Maid Knowledge for New World Disorder.
When Hamas was founded in 1987, it put the goals of the Islamic Resistance Movement into writing: “Allah is its goal, the Prophet its model, the Koran its constitution, jihad its path, and death for the cause of Allah its most sublime belief.”
The close to 9,000-word document is replete with Koranic references instructing Muslims to wage jihad against the Jews on every last hilltop of historical Palestine – not just the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but also Israel proper as established in 1948.
Each of its 36 sections breathes an Islamic ideology that seems incompatible with the concept of Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation. The time for establishing a Palestinian Islamic state, the charter says, “will not come until Muslim will fight the Jews [and kill them]; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”
The Muslim stand-up comedian Goffaq Yussef summarized the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians best: “Good evening, gentlemen, and get out ladies.”
“On my flight to New York there must have been an Israeli in the bathroom the entire time. There was a sign on the door that said ‘Occupied’.”
“How many Palestinians does it take to change a light bulb? None! They sit in the dark forever and blame the Jews for it.”
“Did you hear about the Broadway play, ‘The Palestinians’? It bombed!”
“Thank you, thank you!!! My name is Goffaq Yussef.” (Say the name out loud).
Take that to heart Emir Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al- Thani. That’s what will happen to you if you don’t assist in the Hamas quash.
Gaza’s population is in need of humanitarian aid because of the rivalry between Al-Fatah and Hamas and Al-Fatah’s decision to stop paying for Gaza’s electricity and fuel. Hamas is financially bankrupt. It is unable to pay its civil servants, deliver basic services, or rebuild its infrastructure, because it spends the money it is given by international bodies to do so – along with the money it gets from Qatar and Iran — on weapons and the families of suicide bombers in its determination to annihilate Israel.
Qatar should withdraw its support of Hamas and support the people of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority. Doha should heed the call of PA spokesman Tareq Rashmawi who said: “We renew the call on the Hamas movement and the de facto government there to hand over all responsibilities of government institutions in Gaza to us so that the government can provide its best services to our people in Gaza.”
A unified independent state of Palestine can only take shape if Hamas is quashed!