 "Vantage | Why Qatar is loved by West as well as its enemies")
As the Hamas chief meets the Iranian foreign minister in Gaza, Blinken meets Qatar’s prime minister in the same city. They are sworn enemies, just hours apart. This sums up the role of Qatar: They initiate and then try to resolve. Qatar hosts the top leadership of Hamas, including their current chief; they have also hosted the Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood. They have been accused of funding Al-Qaeda. Yet Qatar is a Western darling. Last year, the US declared them a major non-NATO ally. Even Israel gives them a long rope, they permit Qatar to send aid to Gaza, the same aid that is often swindled by Hamas terrorists. So what’s the play here? Why is Qatar handled with kid gloves? The answer lies in history. Watch:
In the 1990s, when the US and Saudi Arabia had shaky relations, the kingdom did not want American soldiers. So where did they go? Qatar. The regime in Doha gave US soldiers a new home. They set up shop at the Al-Udeid military base. Even today, it’s the forward headquarters of the US Central Command. The equation is quite simple. America keeps Qatar’s ruling family in power. In return, they help the Americans. Even after two decades, this hasn’t changed. But Qatar has another side as well, an ambitious and power-hungry side. We are talking about a very small country. Its total area is around 11 thousand square kilometres, about the size of India’s Tripura state, and its population is just about 2.7 million people, their GDP is just one-fourth of that of Saudi Arabia. So Qatar looked elsewhere for power. One strategy was ‘Al-Jazeera’, the television channel based in Doha. On paper, it has editorial freedom from the Qatari regime. But accusations do emerge. Al-Jazeera is said to be soft on Islamist elements in West Asia, Hamas included. The other strategy was to host and leverage Islamists. In 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood was expelled from Egypt. And who welcomed them? Qatar. Same with the Taliban. Doha says it is keeping an eye on these radicals, making sure they are not up to any trouble. If so, how did Hamas plot such a massive attack? How did the Taliban take over Afghanistan? So Qatar’s intentions are suspected. They have used terrorists to keep bigger Arab states in check. It’s a policy that has left Qatar isolated. In 2017, the Arab states cut off diplomatic ties with Doha. They imposed a financial blockade as well. The reason was this: Qatar’s support for terrorism. The blockade lasted for four years. It was finally lifted in 2021, so it appears that in the long term, the strategy worked. One reason for that is American support. Think of Qatar as Washington’s shady friend; they talk to people the Americans cannot, like the Taliban or Hamas. In 2021, they brokered the deal between the US and the Taliban. This month, they negotiated a deal between Ukraine and Russia. Moscow agreed to release four Ukrainian children, and now they are mediating between Israel and Hamas, trying to get the hostages released. So Qatar has become the go-to mediator. The only problem is that they actively support these same groups. Consider Hamas. Qatar gives them millions of dollars every year; most of it is disguised as aid money. They also allow Hamas leaders to stay in Doha. Fun fact: Their hotels are just minutes away from the Al-Udeid base. When Hamas attacked Israel, Qatar did not condemn the attack; in fact, they blamed Israel. Doha said Israel was “solely responsible” for the escalation. Yet, that same Doha is now mediating for Israel. “The state of Qatar’s diplomatic priorities and movements are to seek an immediate ceasefire, protect civilians, release prisoners, and work to limit the expansion of violence and conflict in the region, which will have serious consequences if it expands,” said Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, prime minister of Qatar. It’s a neat strategy, but also a dangerous and cruel one. Qatar effectively uses terror sponsorship as state policy; it gives them a seat at the high table of diplomacy, and it has also made them a darling of the West, but we’ve seen how terror groups work. It’s never long before they strike the hand feeding them. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .