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Benjamin Netanyahu, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Ismail Hanieh
( Photo: Dana Kopel, Dalati Nohra / AP, Jacquelyn Martin / AP)
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Netanyahu aides Eli Feldstein, Jonathan Urich suspected of working for Qatar while in the PMO
(Photo: Shaul Golan )
Qatar was a full partner to the atrocities on October 7. It has been hosting the Hamas political leadership for years and continues to back Hamas through the daily reporting on Al Jazeera.
It is a special talent. Qatar funds terrorism that carries out atrocities and then receives world acclaim. How? Simply by using its vast wealth to enlist politicians and the media.
An example of this talent came to light in 2013. In December of that year, during the Syrian civil war, the forces of the al-Nusra Front, a part of the Syrian al-Qaida terror group under the command of current Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara, raided the peaceful Christian town of Maaloula, north of Damascus. The jihadists, funded fully by Qatar, declared the residents there to be infidels, burned down churches and forced some of the local population to convert to Islam or be killed.
Most of the 3,300 residents escaped the rioting Islamists who went on a killing spree and destroyed statues of Christian saints.
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Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara as commander of the Jihadist Al Qaida affiliated Al Nustrah front
A group of Greek-Orthodox nuns were among the 50 or so who remained in the town. The jihadists entered their ancient monastery and abducted 12 of them to Yabroud, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) away.
As one would expect, the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera network agreed to broadcast the abductors messaging, recited by the nuns who were held hostage. Al Jazeera's reporting claimed the nuns were guests who were kept under good conditions by the terrorists. "They were removed from the town for their safety, because the military under then-president Bashar Assad, was endangering their lives in bombing raids."
Qatar soon stepped into the crisis officially and began mediating the negotiations for the release of the 12 nuns, after repeated requests from the Vatican. Doha, after funding the terrorists, had arrived as the savior who would free the nuns and return them home. This may seem oddly familiar to some.
By March, a deal was reached with the Assad regime and the nuns were freed in exchange for the release of 150 women from Syrian jails. They appeared exhausted and one was unable to walk and was carried by one of her captors. Al-Nusra forced the nuns to express their gratitude for the "hospitality and protection" they were afforded.
Dr. Yaron Friedman The similarities are not accidental. In the shocking abduction of the nuns in Syria, Qatar was praised in the Arab press for securing their release and was even hailed in European media as well. Senior Qatari officials were photographed with members of the clergy, all smiles as they accepted thanks for their efforts, including from Lebanon's Maronite church patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Ra'i.
While the media and politicians thanked Qatar, a reporter for Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya channel criticized the positive coverage of the abduction and the compliments made of the jihadists' hospitality. But that was possible only in a competing outlet, not funded by Qatar.
How far has Qatar been able to reach in the Middle East and the West, through its funding, to ensure positive media coverage? Have they infiltrated Israel as well? This will be determined in court.
Dr. Yaron Freidman is a lecturer and Arabic Instructor in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Haifa
