For over a decade, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu collaborated with the emirate of evil, Qatar, in pushing $1.5 billion dollars to Hamas in Gaza – enabling it to build an army 30,000 strong and its massive missile arsenal, and equip itself with a variety of other weapons and munitions sufficient for a prolonged war. These funds also enabled Hamas to build an underground city with dozens of kilometers of tunnels and command and battle posts, with a hi-tech early warning system.
Contrary to the stupid conspiracy stories that are emerging, Netanyahu had no clue as to what he was doing, and the funneling of funds to Hamas was a reckless move to buy quiet – but he never bought quiet, and he sold out our lives. It was bound to bring Hamas's Einsatzgruppen attack on Israel on October 7.
Netanyahu is to blame, as much as the Aal Thani family that rules Qatar.
What is Qatar? People, journalists, academics, politicians, officials in governments have no clue about this entity of evil, which has enabled the outbreak of war against Israel – a war that threatens the entire region and may spread even further.
Before explaining what this emirate of evil is doing to develop Islamist movements in the Arab world and in the West, weakening secular movements, first let me explain the role of Qatar's ally.
Iran, who just a few weeks ago got $6 billion dollars from the United States, built the military capabilities of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They trained them, built for them the plan and supported its execution (see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10857, Iranian Regime Mouthpiece Kayhan: Iran Is The Mind And Hands Behind Hamas; Operation 'Al-Aqsa Flood' Was Planned, Orchestrated By Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani Before He Was Killed; Khamenei Hinted In August 2022, August 2023 At 'The Complete Conquest' Of Israel,' October 12, 2023).
But the major logistical, political, and ideological ally of Hamas was Qatar. Let us focus on the role played by Qatar and Aal Thani over many years, which remained largely hidden. Qatar is responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
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The Aal Thani family hid 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Doha. As Richard Clarke, counterterrorism advisor to Presidents Clinton and H.W. Bush, wrote, "Had the Qataris handed [KSM] over to us as requested in 1996, the world might have been a very different place." As of this writing, Qatar finances terrorists who live in Doha, according to David Cohen, former U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, and according to the records of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT).
Qatar also supports ISIS, and the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. Lawsuits are underway against Qatar's financing of terrorism across Europe and in the U.S.
The case of the Taliban is a typical example allowing an understanding of the U.S. position – Republican and Democrat, Trump and Biden alike. For many years, Qatar supported and sustained the Taliban, all the way up to its bloody takeover of Kabul; this caused the deaths of many American soldiers over the years, including on the final day.
Neither American administrations had any clue – and the current administration surpassed all reason when it called Qatar the most important non-NATO ally.
While Iran provided Hamas with military support, Qatar supplied the funding and political support. Hamas under de facto control of Qatar and therefore the Qatari leadership should be indicted and tried in a Nuremberg-like judicial process.
The government of Israel should declare Qatar an enemy state due to their backing of Hamas's attack.
Qatar operates a Goebbels-like propaganda machine: Al-Jazeera TV. It is not really a news channel. The war began with a declaration of war read by the commander of Hamas, and it aired on Al-Jazeera on the morning of Saturday, October 7, 2023. Since then, the channel has been reporting all of Hamas's messages about the war, and repeating the speeches of Hamas spokesman Abu Ubayda. It fully justifies the horrific slaughter of October 7, just as it did with Osama bin Laden's speeches before and after 9/11.
Al-Jazeera correspondents roam around Israel reporting on Israeli military activities and movements, and the locations of forces – straight to Hamas operatives. They should be arrested and tried as spies by Israel's judicial system. That day will come soon.
I will personally testify to the nature of their broadcasts, showing, on the basis of recorded videos, that they acted as a Goebbels' propaganda operation and spies.
No one in their right mind could see their work as ordinary, legitimate, media reporting. In the U.S., Al-Jazeera was forced to register as a foreign agent – and brazenly ignored the order.
Every day that Al-Jazeera continues to broadcast is the equivalent of a Hamas force in action. Israel's clueless government, which did not heed my August 31 early warning of a war in September or October, continues its collaboration with Qatar by enabling Al-Jazeera to continue working for Hamas.
It is ironic that Netanyahu sometimes views himself as Winston Churchill. But would Churchill have allow Goebbels' radio to keep broadcasting from London during World War II? What a tragic joke.
One of the few media that have grasped Qatar's evil role – alas, due to a historical perspective – are the German outlets Bild and Die Welt. Bild titled its article on the Qatari Emir's October 12 visit with German Chancellor: "Scholz welcomes top sponsor of terror." Even in Israel there are no such headlines.
One would hope that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will stand up against the new Nazis. He does, as does President Biden, to the surprise and admiration of all of Israel and many among the Jewish people. However, both the Secretary and the President still see Qatar – the source of evil – as an ally. Will they ever wake up?
*Yigal Carmon is Founder and President of MEMRI.
