Qatar Stands Real Chance To Lead Arab World Out Of Darkness – OpEd
In light of the paralysis affecting the Arab world in relation to its many tragedies and challenges ahead of which being the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands and continued blood spilling of its inhabitants, Qatar appears to be taking serious leadership engagements.
The clearest evidence that Qatar is doing the right thing is the negative remarks coming out of the Zionist entity. When Lieberman criticizes Qatar for supporting “terrorism” then we can be confident that the rich gulf state is supporting a just cause this time around.
In the absence of Egypt as a respected broker of any settlement between Israel and Palestine and the indifference of other Arab nations, Qatar is stepping up at the right juncture.
Qatar’s refusal of the coup in Egypt feeds into the same equation of defending the oppressed even when they are considered hardliners. If Qatar continues to support the oppressed and continues to support those resisting oppression, it stands a real chance of being taken as the leader of Arabs at the time when true leadership is scarce.
Whilst Qatar’s actions in the past were vague and lacked clarity in relation to its intentions, positions it has adopted since the coup in Egypt and in relation to the ongoing massacre of Palestinians, suggests to a Qatari leadership that is gaining experience in international affairs and one which is keen to be standing for just causes.
If Qatar continues to use its wealth to support struggles of the Arab world especially matters that have been impacting the Arab world negatively for too long, it stands a real chance of winning the support of those who truly matter, the Arab public.
Challenges for Qatar for pursuing this path are many and almost all will come from Arab governments that have taken clear stances against supporting resistance movements and other Arab national issues. To governments such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Qatar is indeed more than just a huge nuisance; it is dangerous. For the Americans, Qatar is increasingly becoming a disobedient kid and that is another great challenge for the tiny state.
Other sticky areas that Qatar’s position might go counter to what is happening on the Arab main streets is Syria as Bashar Al-Asad still enjoys great support from million of Arabs as he appears to be standing up to the Zionists-American conspiracies. Qatar will need to be careful as not to come across as hypocritical.
But with support from upfront and strong allies like Turkey, Qatar has a good head start in enlarging that coalition. Add to that Al-Jazeera, specifically Al Jazeera Arabic, Qatar is very well prepared in terms of media warfare. All that Qatar needs to do is to continue supporting Arab struggles and be true to its stances and Al-Jazeera will undoubtedly follow suit. Just as the US has used CNN and Fox for decades so can Qatar use Al-Jazeera.
Honest stances, plenty of money, strong allies and powerful media are all that Qatar needs to get the leadership spot. Arabs are in utter confusion and anguish as they witness mass murder of Arab children, women and the elderly and as such Qatar is at the right place in the right timing to seize leadership.
Standing for Hamas at the time where super powers and a big neighbor consider the group a terrorist organization is admirable indeed. If the young Qatari leadership’s motive stem from its deeply held belief and honest need to stand for justice and has stamina to sticks to it, Qatar will consequently receive true supporters overtime.
I cannot claim that I have always agreed with Qatar’s positions and actions but making the loud statement that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation is something quite honorable. That is the same as saying to the Zionists and the West and their supporters that you will no longer define the world for us. We have our own brains with which to assess the world.
The views expressed are the author’s own.
