Incitement Against Israel In Qatari Press Continues: Only More Attacks Like October 7 Will Restrain It; The Conflict Will End Only With Disappearance Of Israel

While Qatar serves as a mediator in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, the Qatari state  press  continues to publish incitement against Israel and to praise Hamas' October 7, 2023 terrorist attack, as it has done since the day of the attack itself.[1] The Qatari press regularly prints articles, reports and cartoons expressing hope for Israel's demise, which refer to the country as n "Western product" or as a "Zionist-Crusader" and "imperialist" enterprise and contend that only more operations like the October 7 attack will stop it from realizing its plan to expand "from the Nile to the Euphrates." An article by a Hamas official on the website of Qatar's Al-Jazeera channel called the attack "a scaled-down model of the final war of liberation and the disappearance of the Zionist occupation."

Hamas, on the other hand, is presented in the Qatari press as "an idea" that will never die, and its operatives and leaders are described as "heroes" whose mission is "to liberate all of Palestine" and to eliminate "the Zionist Arabs" and the Arab "tyrants subservient to the U.S" (i.e. the Arab regimes that have relations with Israel). The articles exhort the Arab nation to support and arm Hamas "even at the expense of feeding its children," because "jihad must continue with full force until Palestine is once more Arab and Islamic."

Cartoon in Qatari daily: 2024 will be the year of Israel's demise (Al-Watan, Qatar, December 31, 2023)

This report reviews some of these articles, reports and cartoons in the Qatari press.

Qatari Journalist: Only More Operations Like October 7 Will Restrain Israel; The Exalted Goal Is The Liberation Of All Of Palestine

In a December 14, 2023 article titled "Gaza – An Opportunity that Will Not Come Again," journalist Abdullah Al-Amadi, formerly an advisor to Qatar's Minister of Education and Higher Education and the deputy-editor of the daily Al-Sharq, called to "liberate all of Palestine from the Zionist-Crusader enterprise" and "purge it of all the filth and contamination of the sons of Zion." He wrote: "…The Zionist entity is a Western product and a despicable imperialistic enterprise, garbed in a false religious mantle, that was planted in an Arab and Muslim environment. [This entity] causes us, the Arab and Muslim nation, to be more determined than anyone else to continue our efforts to repel it and destabilize it in the land of Palestine and on any Arab and Muslim land. This action can be termed 'resistance,' and is legitimate from the religious, legal and moral perspectives…  

"The Gazans are now sacrificing their lives, but this time [their sacrifice] is not in vain. It will be a turning point that will have an impact on the whole world, Allah willing… The Zionist withdrawal from Gaza is just one of several large goals that must be realized, no matter how long [it takes], for the noble goal is to liberate all of Palestine from this Zionist-Crusader enterprise and purge it of all the filth and contamination of the sons of Zion, both human and material. This is [also] an opportunity to be rid of the Zionist gangs and war criminals and of the prominent Arab and Western leaders that neglect [Palestine]. They will no doubt come to a bitter end after they experience disaster sooner or later…"[2] 

In another article, from January 4, 2024, Al-Amadi wrote that only more attacks like the one on October 7 will stop Israel from realizing its plan to expand "from the Nile to the Euphrates." He wrote: "…The Zionist entity wants to turn things on their head and convince the world that it is indigenous while the Palestinians are foreigners in the land. There is no doubt that, throughout these difficult years, it has managed to convince many people around the world of this, even though it did as it pleased, without consideration for anybody, and continues to do so. But Operation Al-Aqsa Flood [the October 7 attack] stopped this arrogance and exposed the distorted character of the Zionist narrative, so much so that many people around the world paused to reconsider everything that has happened and is still happening, and [asked themselves] why [Operation] Al-Aqsa Flood had happened in the first place… 

"In legal parlance and in the terminology of our times, the operations carried out by the jihad fighters in Gaza are called 'resistance'… They are resisting occupation, which is reasonable and supported by every international law and, even before this, by norms and common sense…

"Ever since it stole Palestine, the Zionist entity has consistently pursued its plans and its policy of gradually creating facts on the ground by the force of arms, with unlimited support from Washington and from some right-wing Western lunatics. But [Operation] Al-Aqsa Flood exposed the whole thing, thank God, and [exposed] all the facts that had been concealed from many around the world until this flood came and swept the scales from their eyes…

"The Zionist entity means to continue its plan of the past 70 years by re-occupying Gaza and then swallowing up what is left of the [West] Bank, so as to occupy all of Palestine and then quickly launch its plan to expand toward its neighbors Egypt, Jordan and Syria, until it realizes its vision of Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates. This entity will not stop and will not be deterred until it suffers a second, third and tenth Al-Aqsa Flood, which will frighten it and cut it down to size, for what was taken by force will only be restored by force. That is the reasoning that this occupying and foreign enemy understands."^[iii]

Cartoon in Qatari daily: Israel's disappearance is just a matter of time (Al-Sharq, Qatar, January 19, 2024)

Hamas Official In Article On Al-Jazeera Website: October 7 Was A Scaled-Down Model Of The Final War Of Independence

In an article he published on the Al-Jazeera website on January 16, 2024, 100 days after Hamas' October 7 terror attack, Bassem Na'im, a member of Hamas' political bureau and formerly a health minister in the Hamas government, stated that "the heroic operation carried out by the resistance on October 7" was a turning point that would shape the future of the Palestinian cause. He also called the attack "a scaled-down model of the final war of liberation and the disappearance of the Zionist occupation."

He wrote: "One hundred days after the heroic resistance operation of October 7 and [the start of] the fascist Zionist aggression against our Palestinian people… All the signs indicate one thing, namely, that the situation after October 7 will not be the same as the situation before October 7, in terms of the strategic [condition] of the struggle of our Palestinian people and its just cause – whether on the national, regional or international levels, or in terms of the enemy and its future...

"The most important thing is that the scenario of liberating [Palestine], returning [to it], defeating the enemy and dismantling its enterprise has become feasible, even completely feasible. October 7 was a scaled-down model of the final war of liberation and the disappearance of the Zionist occupation…

"On the regional level, the Al-Aqsa Flood War has essential and strategic outcomes, the most important of which may be the neutralizing of the disastrous normalization plan that was certain to result in the elimination of the Palestinian cause. [The war] also dispelled the delusions of all those who thought that they could ask the [Zionist] entity to help them or defend them, [by] proving that [this entity] is too fragile and weak to [even] defend itself. This war built tall walls of blood and bodies between this region and its people on the one hand and the [Zionist] entity and the possibility of its integration in the region on the other, even if someone might make another attempt [to integrate it]."

Na'im concluded: "We must turn this war into a new springboard for our people and its just cause, and for our nation and its future, in light of the great international changes we are witnessing and the decline of the unipolar [world] order in favor of a multipolar one… [In this new world order] the Global South, of which we are a part, will step forward to take the place that befits its peoples after centuries of imperialism, enslavement, exclusion and the plundering of its resources."[4]

Cartoon in Qatari daily: Hamas is cracking Israel's facade (the cracks form the Arabic word "Hamas") (Al-Sharq, Qatar, December 31, 2023)

Columnist In Al-Sharq Daily: Every Muslim Must Take Part In Liberation Of Palestine, Which Also Means Downfall Of Arab Tyrants Subservient To U.S.; The Conflict Will End Only With Disappearance Of Israel

On his December 17 column in the Al-Sharq daily, Suleiman Saleh, who was a member of the Egyptian Parliament when the Muslim Brotherhood was in power, claimed that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have proved that it is possible to realize the dream of liberating Palestine. He wrote, "…The liberation of Palestine means the downfall of the [Arab] tyrants that are subservient to the U.S., who were appointed to defend the security of Israel and their rule has been forced upon the region. This is the [Islamic] nation's starting point for building the future and promoting Islamic culture. Is it possible to realize this dream? Hamas and the PIJ have provided rational and practical proof that it is, and this is the most important achievement of the Palestinian resistance…

"The resistance has restored hope to the Islamic nation and showed it that, when the decision-making and planning are in its hands, it can act and achieve victories so as to realize its dream and recover its right to choose leaders who prove, by means of their struggle and sacrifice, that they are worthy of the glory of liberating Palestine. The tremendous noble dream has now returned to the imagination of the Islamic nation…

"It is now our right to dream, but we must free our imagination and sharpen our minds in order to plan the liberation of Palestine. We must rouse ourselves to support our brothers in Gaza, who make sacrifices in order to realize our dream and defend our honor. You [the reader] can now take part in the dream of the nation and there are many ways [to do this]… So dream! So as to awaken, rise up, rescue your freedom and take part in the liberation of Palestine."[5]

In another column, from February 11, Saleh wrote: "…The heroes of Gaza prove that faith in Allah, and jihad for His stake, are the most powerful weapons. The [Gazan] hero will win either way: either he wins and liberates Jerusalem and Palestine and returns to his grandfather's house [i.e., the return of the refugees] unvanquished, dignified, noble, proud of his jihad and his sacrifice and worthy of the admiration of freedom-lovers across the world, or else he is martyred and finds himself in Paradise, in the company of the Prophet Muhammad. The oppressive force [Israel] is therefore unable to defeat the believing hero.

"As for the Israeli soldier, he knows that the land is not his and that he is usurping it by the force of arms and seeking to live on it in security and prosperity while plundering its resources. But he cannot conceive of dying for it, for if he dies he will lose his life, which is dearer to him than the state of Israel and the entire world.

"This is the nature of the conflict, which will end only with the disappearance of Israel and the liberation of Palestine. The model presented by Hamas has begun to excite the imagination of many Muslims, who yearn to come to Gaza in order to take part in achieving the victory or else to attain martyrdom. The coming days will bring many surprises, and the sharp-eyed can [already] discern the light of victory."[6]   

Qatari Journalist: Hamas Cannot Be Eliminated; We Must Act To Eliminate Every Zionist Arab

Criticism of the Arab regimes that have relations with Israel was also voiced by Qatari journalist 'Abd Al-'Aziz Aal Ishaq, formerly the director of the Qatari culture minister's office. He wrote in a January 2, 2024 article in Al-Sharq:  "The Zionist enemy is trying to learn from the American experience and to present Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif as big demons, as [America did to] Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri.  [The enemy] knows that it is not possible to eliminate Hamas, which is an idea and a belief, because ideas do not die and belief does not weaken. So, [by inflating Sinwar's figure, the enemy hopes to create a situation whereby] eliminating Sinwar means eliminating the movement in the collective Arab consciousness, and then its fate will be like Al-Qaeda's…

"It is important that we don't fall into this trap of frightening us about Sinwar, or talk about the phase after Sinwar. There is no 'phase after Sinwar,' for he is [just] one fighter [among many] in Hamas. If Sinwar is martyred, Palestine will birth thousands of [new] Sinwars and Deifs, and the resistance will continue as long as the occupation of our land in Palestine continues. Activity to end the occupation will continue as long as the [Palestinian] women continue to birth men and bring them up to defend our Islamic holy places and to be ready for battle on the land of ribat[7]…

"With Allah's help, the phase that follows the aggression will be one of great victory, [a phase of] surrender to the conditions of the resistance, a withdrawal from all aggression and the exposure of every Zionist Arab – for we must act to eliminate [these Arabs] and be rid of them, so as to remove every knife from our backs before we [turn to] rid ourselves of our obvious enemy."[8]

Cartoon in Qatari daily: "silence, negligence, condemnation and other factors" prevent the Palestinians from throwing Israel into the sea (Al-Watan, Qatar, January 3, 2024)

Article In Al-Watan Daily: The Muslims Must Arm Hamas Even At The Expense Of Feeding Their Children

In his column in the Al-Watan daily, Palestinian author Adham Al-Sharqawi expressed admiration for Hamas and the people of Gaza and called on Muslims to arm the terrorist organizations in Gaza even at the expense of feeding their own children. He wrote: "…Not all [Muslims] participated directly in the war [in the Gaza Strip], but that does not mean that they are not part of the battle. [In fact,] they are an important and decisive element in it… [You Muslims must] spread the word of [Hamas's] brave deeds, for they are also your own acts of bravery. We are one nation that lives together and dies together… Teach your children that this is a war of the Quran against the Talmud…

"When the war ends soon – in victory, Allah willing – and the people of Gaza fulfill their duty,  our own battle will begin!... In exchange for every rocket subtracted from the arsenal of the resistance we will give them ten rockets, and for every [locally-manufactured] Yassin mortar that has been launched we will secure them 100 [such mortars]. We will do this even if it is at the expense of feeding our children…"[9]

The rockets fired by "the people of Gaza" are the key to their return to their homes inside Israel (Al-Watan, Qatar, January 21, 2024)

Articles And Reports Glorify Senior Hamas Officials: Saleh Al-Arouri Was "An Exceptional Fighter"

Alongside its praise for Hamas' operations, the Qatari press also praises the leaders and symbols of the movement, such as Saleh Al-Arouri, in charge of Hamas' military action in the West Bank and one of the architects of the October 7 attack who was killed on January 2, 2024; Yahya Ayyash, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, who is considered to be the initiator of Hamas' use of suicide bombers and was killed by Israel in 1996; and Sheikh Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, for whom Hamas' military wing is named, a leader who, in the early 20^th century, incited and waged terror against the British Mandate and the Jews.

Following the elimination of Al-Arouri, Qatari press published articles, reports and cartoons which portrayed him as "a hero of the resistance" and a "daring fighter" who would "gain a foothold in history."[10]

An Al-Sharq article titled "Al-Arouri and [Yahya] Ayyash Were Born in the Same Year and Died as Martyrs in the Same Month," described Al-Arouri as "a great national leader," an experienced and realistic politician, "an extraordinary warrior who fought in various arenas of resistance" and "a daring fighter who staunchly defended the rights of his people until his dying breath."

The article noted that Al-Arouri "ascended to the summit of glory and eternity precisely on the 28^th anniversary of the martyrdom of his fellow traveler, the Engineer, Yahya Ayyash, who brought the First Intifada from the stone to the car bomb." It added that "the leader Saleh Al-Arouri… proved with his blood that the Palestinian people, which keeps the embers burning, will continue to be faithful to the struggle of its martyred sons to adhere to the same path, which was blazed by a tremendous group of martyrs: [Hamas founder Sheikh] Ahmad Yassin; [senior Hamas official Abd Al-Aziz] Al-Rantisi; [PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat] Abu Ammar; [Fatah cofounder and military chief Khalil Abu Wazir] Abu Jihad;[11] [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) member Ghassan] Kanafani; [PFLP Secretary-General] Abu Ali Mustafa; [PIJ Secretary-General Fathi] Shqaqi, and [PIJ operative] Khader Adnan. This is the same path taken by Al-Arouri and Ayyash."[12]

Illustration in Qatari daily laments the "martyrdom" of  "Saleh Al-Arouri, one of the top leaders of the Islamic Resistance [Movement] Hamas" (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, January 4, 2024)

In his January 4, 2024 column in Al-Watan, Palestinian journalist Samir Al-Barghouti lauded Saleh Al-Arouri and his martyrdom, and wrote of the joy felt by Al-Arouri's mother at the news of his martyrdom, presenting her as a role model for other mothers. He wrote, "…The day before yesterday [January 2] saw the death of one of the commanders of the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, Saleh Al-Arouri, who ascended [heavenward] happy in his martyrdom, which he anticipated on the path to the liberation of Palestine… Saleh achieved martyrdom and his elderly mother said, 'Congratulate me on his martyrdom…' God bless you, Umm Saleh, for the manner in which you received the [news of] your firstborn son's martyrdom…  God bless you for teaching [other] mothers how to receive [the news of their sons'] excellence in jihad and advancement to [the rank of] martyr…

"Fortunate is he who achieves this level of exaltation and ascension. Every Palestinian yearns that this exalted honor will not be denied him. We will continue our jihad with all our might until Palestine returns [to being] Arab and Islamic. By Allah, I see that [Hamas leaders Isma'il] Haniya, [Khaled] Mashal and their comrades envy Al-Arouri for achieving martyrdom before them. Leaders with such spirit will be victorious and their enemy will go to hell."[13]

Cartoon in Qatari daily: A Hamas "resistance" rocket splits an Israeli tank in two (Al-Watan, Qatar, December 7, 2023)

Qatari Journalist: The Al-Qassam Brigades Are Completing The Mission Of The Jihad Fighters To Liberate Palestine From The Defilement Of The Zionists

In his December 14, 2023 column in Al-Sharq, Ibrahim 'Abd al-Razzaq Aal Ibrahim likewise  glorified Sheikh Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, who staged terror attacks against the British Mandate and the Jews in the early 20^th century, and who the Hamas military wing is named for. He wrote that Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades are now completing the journey begun by this sheikh to liberate Palestine from the defilement of the Zionists, and that they are therefore worthy of respect:

"The martyr Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, may Allah have mercy on him… a native of Syria who was martyred on Palestinian soil and is a symbol of the resistance and of Palestinian jihad to this day… inspired jihad in the land of Palestine. He was one of the Islamic heroes of who defended the land, honor, freedom and holy places of Islam; he felt for the causes of his Islamic nation and defended it until he met Allah as a martyr… His slogan – which lives on in the arenas of jihad in the land of Palestine – was  'This is Jihad – [Either] Victory or Istishhad.'[14] He is an extraordinary figure in the [Islamic] nation, a heroic jihad fighter and a brave martyr.

"[Hamas'] Al-Qassam Brigades, with their jihad in Gaza and in the land of Palestine, are just completing the journey of the martyr and jihad fighter Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, and of the jihad fighters who preceded him and will follow them, to liberate the blessed land from the defilement and contamination of the sons of Zion who are foreigners in every part of the world, and of the herd that marches in their procession…

"'Do not sell to the Jews even the smallest measure of land, no matter how high the price [they offer you]. Whoever sells to them or gives them [land], Allah will give him some hellfire in which he will burn.' [Thus wrote] the martyr Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, may Allah have mercy on him."[15]