The US must work with Qatar and its regional peers to “pull the Middle East back from the brink of collapse,” the Gulf state’s Emir has said in an op-ed to the American president ahead of his first official visit to the White House.
Amid widespread speculation about what the two world leaders would discuss, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani laid out his agenda to the US public in the New York Times.
In the article, the Emir highlighted Qatar’s participation in the US-led fight against ISIL members, as well as repeated calls for other countries to stand up to end “the tyrannical rule of the likes of Bashar al-Assad of Syria.”
Another topic that is expected to come up is Egypt. Last week, Qatar recalled its ambassador in Cairo over remarks made by an Egyptian official suggesting the Gulf state supports terrorism.
In the op-ed, the Emir did not mention the incident, but emphasized that “bullets and bombs” were not enough to win the war on extremism, adding that understanding the root cause of terrorism was a prerequisite to tackling its prevalence:
“I know that many in the West look at the terrorist threat and say that the problem is Islam. But as a Muslim, I can tell you that the problem isn’t Islam — it’s hopelessness. It’s the kind of hopelessness that abounds in the Syrian and Palestinian refugee camps, and in war-weary towns and villages in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Gaza.
It’s the hopelessness we see in the poorer neighborhoods of Europe’s great cities, and, yes, even in the United States. And it is this hopelessness, which knows no state or religion, that we need to address if we are to stem the tide of terrorism.”
Skeptical audience
Though Qatar is a key US ally, hosting the largest American air base in the Middle East, public opinion toward the Gulf state is not favorable among some circles in the states.
Ahead of the Emir’s visit with President Barack Obama, an article in Politico slammed Qatar as a “major source of hateful religious incitement,” citing the country’s support of Hamas and funding of Al Jazeera Arabic, which it criticized for extolling Palestinians who fight against Israeli occupation as “martyrs.”
Much of the furor in the US seems to stem over allegations that Qatar supports militant groups, a claim that the country’s top officials has repeatedly denounced.
Still, the country has nevertheless come under fire for supposedly being a permissive conduit for fundraising in support of armed organizations operating in the region.
In a separate article, The Wall Street Journal said Qatar has moved to clamp down against alleged terrorist financiers in recent months, but added that US officials believe many of Qataris who raise money for Syrian rebels are still active.
The article goes on to highlight how the US government is divided over Qatar’s relationship with groups such as Hamas, the Taliban and the Nusra Front. While those connections anger some, others see value in using Qatar as a channel to communicate with the organizations.
To be fair, one analyst who spoke to AFP said that Doha has long supported the same groups as Washington, but because some of these factions have become radicalized in the past few years, have been accused of supporting extremists.
Christopher Davidson, an expert on Middle East politics at Durham University in Britain, added:
“I don’t really buy this charge that Qatar is a shrewd operator. Since the beginning of the Obama administration, Qatar has positioned itself as a useful second fiddle (for the US) in the Middle East.”
Thoughts?
Only when Qatar embraces human rights in it’s own country can it talk about hopelessness in others. Europe is scared of Islam simply because every Islamic state has a level of repression and intolerance that free and democratic societies could not possibly contemplate.
That’s a bit unsubstantiated. Canada is in the middle of passing a bill that will effectively give the government and law enforcement massively broad and secretive powers, infringing hugely on the rights of Canadians. A rally for the environment you say? Shut it down, eco-terrorism, or eco-terrorist possible links, arrest and investigate everyone, you could be secretly investigated for attending a neighborhood meeting on any issue that could be loosely tied to the term terrorism. Meanwhile, it’s been alleged that Canada too, this week, have set a quota for stripping refugees of permanent resident status, 875 per year, which is 40 times the number from 2012, but don’t worry, the new law also means said refugee can’t contest the ruling on humanitarian grounds or apply in country, and will be deported to the countries they fled persecution. Then there’s the issues with the natives, 5-6 times the suicide rate, environmental issues, substance abuse, land rights; and this is Canada hitting all three population stakeholders really; but it’s more or less tolerated, the bill c-51 effectively uses ISIS rhetoric to persuade the population to submit to essentially giving up a huge amount of their civil rights; a revision could be every state has a level of repression and intolerance
Obviously the guy in charge at the moment is a bit of a plonker but are you seriously comparing Canada with somewhere like Egypt?
If you ever been to Toronto it could be said to be like downtown Cairo! Obviously much colder…
if you’ve ever been to Toronto, you’ll find the locals will tell you it’s exactly like New York but better, and if you’ve ever been to NY….
If Canada is treating refugees so badly, they are welcome to seek refuge in the rich, brotherly countries in the region.
A majority of refugees from for example Syria are in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan anyways. It’s a minority who make it over there.
Sad to see such a tone in a statement about refugees…
It is even sadder to see such a tone in a statement about the way Canada treats refugees…
OK, I’ll bite!
‘Canada is in the middle of passing a bill that will
effectively give the government and law enforcement massively broad and
secretive powers, infringing hugely on the rights of Canadians. ’Here’s a news
flash for you. Canada already had legislation called ‘The War Measures Act’
which was replaced with ‘The Emergencies Act.’
As for stripping ‘status’ from landed immigrants. Wow, where
to start? The laws in Canada seem pretty clear. People entering the country on
immigration/refugee grounds can’t make false statements on their entry
declarations. Also, a certain amount of time residing in the country needs to
be attained to maintain residence status. Don’t play by the rules? I guess you’d
get burnt. The fact that the Canadians are cracking down on abusers to their
system is within their prerogative. Don’t like that? I guess you could apply in
a GCC country. Oh Wait. Maybe not!
As for the First Nations of Canada, I did some research to
find that indeed, the numbers are high. They are twice the national average of
the overall Canadian population not ‘5-6 times’ as you’ve pulled out of thin
air. However, I don’t want to verbally bash you for this because even one loss
of life to suicide is a tragedy, no matter who you are! As for other challenges
within the First Nations community of Canada? Yep, they have many challenges. Some challenges are historical, some are
external, and for some bands the challenges are internal. Is there an attempt
to right some of the wrongs of the past? Seems to be. However, federal and
provincial governments continue to attempt to address past transgressions.
If you don’t like what the ELECTED government in Canada is
doing, as a Canadian you can protest. Heck, legislation can even be challenged
through the courts, all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, if warranted. Any
other options??? Oh yes, you could attempt to vote out the current party in
power at the next federal election. Not much opportunity for any of these
methods in this region.
Ya not out of thin air mate, same could be said of yours, my methodology was to find 3 sources. As for if you don’t like it, protest it, that can now officially be a criminal terrorist act in which you can be held without charge. Cracking down on applications, Canada did this a few years ago, started deporting and cancelling people’s permanent residency status’ for inconsistencies on application forms from years past. The government got burned welcoming immigration for money in an unforeseen/unenforced loophole in their system, they did not take ownership of this oversight and instead investigated loads of people resulting in the loss of status for some. As for treating first nations people well, and now improving, so that makes it ok? That’s an argument that can be used here, things are getting better….
I doubt the ability of any new legislation at the federal level to usurp the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Again, I am not sure why you would find it so offensive to cancel people’s residency over inconsistencies on applications. If the information was to misinform in order to attain residence, and a follow-up audit revealed the transgression, it is within any country’s right to remove the offender. Want to come to Qatar and teach at Education City? Say you have a degree and it is later verified that you don’t have the said degree? See you later! As for the First Nations of Canada, I never said what the levels of governments in Canada are doing is enough. To be fair, some would say that there is nothing that could ever make up for the residential schools, and other follies carried out by the government towards the First nations.
Well keep in mind my comment is in response to a comment saying that democratic nations would never. tolerate repression and intolerance; setting a target for “review” that’s 40 times that of 2012. is a bit of sabre rattling, and can lead to over zealousness especially in execution, essentially lending much stronger powers to those reviewing and adding a clause that essentially leaves one of the recourse avenues closed for a year, now that can be clerical or deliberate error and end in being sent back to who knows where. Residential schools…was the apology accepted in the end? The treatment of indigenous people is a source of shame for North America, and often the government doesn’t do enough
875 per year…ok, ok, ok…what about the thousands you condemn to a life of pure slavery each year…and what about the suicide rate amongst your slaves?….one thing I learnt a while ago is Qatari’s can not internalise, can not collectively look at themselves and say…hang on we are wrong…never perhaps as you mature maybe, but ….
I haven’t condemned anyone to slavery thus far thankfully! The first part of your response is interesting, because contextualised, it could be about parts of Canada or anywhere else for that matter, high suicide rates, crippling taxes, harsh work environments in mines or tar sands (fields?)…I think it’s sad you haven’t seen that side of Qataris, I also think it’s not atypical, I have been fortunate enough to witness it; I think there’s a lot of ill feelings towards Qataris and a lot of suspicion towards expats, each probably propogated by the bad seeds in each group, ie. the drunk and only in it for the money stereotype for the european and the human rights abusing locals; we’re all people, as I see preached on here often enough, which also means, none of us are perfect or objective
How many “refugees” are in Qatar?
Anyone with a Palestinian travel document, Syrian people more recently would be unable to return or have fled to join family here; there are well known families from Palestine who have been here for years and been granted citizenship, was it last year the Emir said there would be 20,000 visa issued for Palestinians?
Until we accept that we are to blame for everything, we can never take responsibility for the actions of extremists against us.
So basically what he’s saying is:
‘The Iraq war did nothing apart from exacerbate the situation.’
‘This is an Arab issue. Support is welcome, but not interference’.
‘If you really want to help, let’s start with helping the Palestinians’
Obama will listen. I think Hilary Clinton might listen too. Jeb Bush, however….
Hillary is not Obama. She is tight with the crowd that support Israel, and would not be inclined to push to much. Her husband tried this at the end of his term as well, which didn’t work. Her or Jeb – its all lip service.
agreed, but I think if I went looking for a Palestinian-sympathetic President, and had to choose between Hilary and gun-toting-rootin-tootin Jeb, I’d choose Hilary
He has a point in the hopelessness being to blame for terrorist acts but you can’t take religion out of the equation. It is because of religion that these countries are hopeless and backwards, oppression, intolerance, fear do not make a productive society. Europe did not really flourish until the reformation and these countries also need to throw off the shackles of relgion because when these hopeless people go looking for justification for what violence they are about to perpetrate they find it from two sources. Resentment from what they see as interference from other powers taking what is theirs and in the Koran in certain passages. Saudi only survives due to huge oil wealth, when that ends watch the kingdom descend into a Iraq/Syria type mess. Only this week a saudi court will behead a man who renounced his muslim faith. How is that different from Islamic State?
Free the people from religion and watch them prosper. (This does not mean people cannot have faith, it means the people should be free from imposition of religion)
I don’t see many differences between Saudi Arabia and ISIS in terms of governing other than the degree of oppression associated with ISIS. I find it ironic that every country in the in the GCC is a monarchy even though monarchies are considered un-Islamic. Arab rulers are committing heresy in front of their peoples’ very eyes.
Let’s look at the similarities. Why is there not a war to liberate the Saudis?
I have to disagree with you here. It is not religion that is the problem, but how it is interpreted by some people, especially those in leadership, for their own gain or misassumptions. Not only in Islam that we see this, it can also be seen in the US.
You see Conservatives profess the teachings of Christianity. But when it is about the poor and the needy, they turn about face and are against any help to these people. They are pro-life, but are aghast at giving poor children support. When you talk about immigrants, especially children who face extreme hardship and danger in South America, they don’t listen to the teachings and instead turn them away.
Its easy to blame an Idea, but we should be more critical to those who interprets them – they’re the ones who makes this world a worse place to live in.
Totally agree. It is down to the individuals interpretation of their holy books. However, dont you find it strange that the everlasting, unchangable word of the supreme being can be open to interpretation that way? Seems more man made to me.
There is hopelessness in many societies that are not Islamic, but I’m struggling to think of societies with a majority non-Muslim population that suffer from regular terrorism…..DRC may be one, with it’s lawless eastern region bordering Rwanda, but others? tricky…….and trying to absolve Islam is really disingenuous, it’s the stated raison d’etre of almost every daily terror attack…Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, Al Nusra, Daesh, Moro LF, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb, Northern Mali, Daesh in Libya….need I go on? These terrorists really believe they are fighting a religiously-inspired jihad, they pick and choose bits of the Quran to support their actions. Their initial isolation and radicalisation may have stemmed from corruption and unemployment for example, but something is making them take up arms rather than just protest……
A bit more unified criticism of these groups from the majority of Muslims who disagree with appalling islamofascists would be nice…….
The western world lies to itself when it says these monsters are not muslims. The fact is they are, the same as nice people are muslims and just ok people are muslims. Each variety can find justification for their actions within their faith. The west should stay away from this mess, deal with the terrorists in their own country but let Muslims societies deal with the cancer within their mist. Too many people sympathise as we see as many Muslims from around the world heading to Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Libya to fight for the dream of a caliphate.
The west has been meddling in all those countries where the so called terrorists are on the loose now. myopic eyes will never see that.
The “West” has done wrong but please let’s not be ignorant and naive to believe that Middle East does not have issues in itself. Let’s look back at history; there’s the Hama massacre, sabra and shatila and the damour massacre all in the 20th c. Plus more. These are Arabs killing Arabs because of differing beliefs and/or threats to dictatorship…nothing to do with the West no matter how much people like to blame others, one must learn to take some part of the responsibility.
If the West left the Arabs on their own they would be gone from the planet in less than 20 years.
Not true. The human race has a good ability to replace itself and add more martyrs to the cause
dont forget that the architect of Hama massacre is living comfortably in Spain. Sabra and shatila – did you fail to see the Israeli angle in that? Damour I have no idea.
While I hesitantly agree, I can sympathize with Muslims who are stereotyped due to acts of terrorism by their peers. However, I *strongly* agree that Western countries should stop interfering in domestic affairs – its like 9/11 gave the West free license to invade Muslim countries.
I agree that there should not be political interference. It is a tricky situation. If we left it to Arabs to help…who would they help? Would they help the Christians, Shia and Kurds? Would they leave them to suffer? It is not just black and white.
Very good point. I can’t really argue against this. Without the USA and Europe; Yazidis, Kurds and Christians would nearly extinct by now. Though I don’t consider the Western coalition to be the ‘liberators of the oppressed’ like their own people do, of course they have a political agenda, along with a history of interfering with the politics of Muslim countries for their own monetary and political benefit.
I think they might have invaded a few before 9/11…
That was just me being short-sighted. I suppose, for the USA, it all started with their war on Communism and involvement in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. Europe has an even longer history of invasion and occupation of the Middle East.
On example that came to mind as I read your comment – the UK struggled with the IRA for over 15 years and they are resurgent and heavily recruiting again. Murky mix of religious and political terrorism.
Nonsense. First the UK struggled with the IRA for nearly 100 years. Secondly, the IRA are not resurgent, they are actually in government as part of a power sharing executive. There is a hard core of about 250 people who call themselves the real/continuity ira, who are effectively paralysed due to arrests and security force intervention.
Ummm, struggle no more, UK, Spain, Italy, Armenia, France, Netherlands, Russia, Greece; anarchists, leftists, right-wingers, seperatists, nationalists; 152 terrorist attacks in the EU in 2013, of which two were religiously motivated, and an average of less than 2% over the past 5 years; 55% are ethno-nationalist or seperatists, which is to say homogenous groups or others who want the right to govern themselves; in the US it’s 37 deaths due to terrorist attackes (+4 for the perps) from 2002-2013 (incl. boston), vs. 170,000 murders in the same period, and the US doesn’t even lead here, Honduras boasted 78 murders / 100,000 in 2010, and 150,000 murders+ in the Americas in 2013. We’re told over and over about the religious threat, zionism, islamism, atheism, modern crusades into Iraq and Afghanistan; meanwhile 150 terrorist attacks by people unhappy with the status quo in the EU, and 170,000 people murdered in 11 years in the US, roughly 53% are black representing 14% of the population; something’s going on in the world when we’re all busy buying into the hype
What a shambolic, misleading, rambling mess of a response. With your portentous list of countries, you lamely attempt to make it sound like a trip into the EU is like a stroll around eastern Syria……’EU terrorism will get you, it just won’t be religiously-based!’, and then you lapse into somehow equating single event crimes with old book inspired terrorism……
vs somehow equating all terrorism with religion without having to utter something factual to back it up? Oh forgot to mention the Buddhist Monks in Burma. My condolences on not understanding the statistical relevance
As you surely know, the militant monks in Burma, among Buddhists in general, are the very unusual exception, rather than the rule. I never said that all terrorism was inspired by religion, and as I think I’ve said to you before, i accept the notion of state terrorism, but once again, you seem to unable to accept that almost all non-state terrorist fatalities are currently caused by those inspired by Islam.
Yours is a strange and hollow existence, seemingly being both in denial of, and an apologist for, islamofascism.
If you’re gonna say it, back it up, put your money where your mouth is
66% of worldwide terror attackes in 2013 conducted by ISIS, boko harem, al quaida and the taliban. The vast majority of them Muslim on Muslim attacks. 80% of all terror related deaths occured in five countries. Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2014-global-terrorism-index-number-of-lives-lost-to-terrorism-increased-61-yoy-number-of-countries-experiencing-50-or-more-deaths-increased-60-yoy-282990761.html
Now like it or not, all those organisations preach their version of Islam. The separist terrorism in the EU has a defined end, usually independence. The vast majority of those conflicts have ended when they were brought into a power sharing government, or given limited independence. Do you really think ISIS what to share power with the mainstream Iraqi governement? No they want a worldwide caliphate, that would include Qatar.
Additionally there was 5000 deaths attributed to jihadi organisation in November 2014. Again the majority muslim on muslim attacks. If the keep that up it surpasses the figure you quoted for american homicides by nearly 5 to 1.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/jihadi-attacks-killed-more-than-5000-people-in-november-the-vast-majority-of-them-muslims
I don’t even know what we’re talking about anymore, but I think it has something to do with a debate on non-muslim countries experiencing regular terrorism.
I am happy the Emir is in my home country and really like what he wrote in the New York Times. I give him massive credit for “going there” on this topic despite some negative backlash in the States. There are plenty of people who are hopeless who do not become terrorists. Also, plenty of jobless people and those without an education who also don’t turn to terror. And there are plenty of terrorists who have college degrees and leave good families behind in the name of Jihad. Really impossible to point to one common denominator, especially now that we have Daesh which consists of psychopaths, thrill seekers and murderers (seems they don’t have a Koran or even heed the Call to Prayer?? Daesh 2.0 is definitely not on a religious mission). They are successfully using social media to extract young teenage girls from good homes to be Daesh brides – how can we explain that one? Who leaves a good home in London to travel to a battlefield in Syria to marry a man they never met? The answers just aren’t easy, as much as we try to explain this phenomena away with hopelessness, lack of a job or education, wanting to belong to a group, etc. At least the Emir is trying to understand it, along with the rest of us. Burying our heads in the sand like an ostrich and hoping this all goes away is a bad strategy.
I’ve followed the story of the latest 3 young girls to travel to Syria closely. Daesh have been very clever. The message they are sending out is: ‘In the West, you are part of the problem. Here, you are part of the solution.’
They are very successfully replacing those who are fleeing the region, with those who embrace the region and the Caliphate, building a power base.
I’m in no way supporting IS here, but it does seem those opposing them are constantly 3 steps behind..
WHEN and IF the KING ….pays attention to the “IMPORTED” help he gets and the does not treat them like they help they offer his country people …then just maybe then their could be some hope.
Till then all of this talk is as good as the HOT air that come out of his BUTT HOLE !!
Deleted for language.
Not in English?
I like the term “second fiddle”. It goes well with the fact that Al “Thani” are ruling Qatar.
Good headline. For some reason people sometimes associate Islam with hopelessness, so used interchangeably, probably due to the state of many Islamic countries. Glad to see the distinction made.
Hopelessness is pretty ‘vague’ allowing an easy way out. Convenient, right ?
ssalam alaikum
Dear friends its very nice to be here that alot of people rising voice to save innocents lifes. With my little knowledge why its islam never permits to harm women, childre and elders even if is true jihad. Jihad should be done against evil or evil doers. All holy books and prophets came on land to spread peace,love and humanity. My prophet cared and loved alot kids. How can anybody force a child to kill any human or see human killings. We have no place for violance in our books. About punishments in saudi arabia. I support it very much. Firstly saudi rulers are not blind or illetrate. They veryfy each criminal with all aspects and then declare punishment. Today every person thing thousand times to do a crime. In west people wont respect each other because of skin colors. Rape,wine,illegal sex,homosexuality etc, are very common. Where as in saudi u can’t think about all this dirt. If the intire world follow there law for just 1 year. All dirty heads will be behind bars. Elders will get there respect,childrens will be guided properly womens totally protected. Above all your soul will be clean.
I HAD A SOLUTION FOR THIS ONGOING FIGHTS.
WE SHOULD ARRANGE A GLOBAL DEBATE AND INVITE ALL RELIGIOUS HEADS TOGETHER. AND
WE SHOULD CALL LEADERS OF TERRORIST GROUP TO JUSTIFY WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS AS PER THERE RELIGION. AND A HOLIDAY TO BE DECLARED THROUGH OUT WORLD TO WATCH DEBATE AND KEEP OPEN EYES ALONG WITH MIND AND HEART. I KNOW TRUTH WIN AND WE CAN FINISH THIS NONSENSE FOREVER.
ITS NONSENSE TO CALL A INDIVIDUAL AND ASK HIM TO SAY SOMETHING IN FAVOR. BECAUSE YOUTH ACCEPT TRUTH AND WANT EVIDENCE. IF ITS SUCCESS I’M VERY MUCH CONFIDENCE INSHALLAH A LOT OF PEOPLE PUT DOWN THERE GUNS. WHO ARE MISGUIDED.
Misguidance by so called Islamic leaders is the root cause of extremism.