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Qatar Can’t Be Allowed to Get Away With Murder After Oct. 7

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani makes statements to the media with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 13, 2023. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS

Over the past few weeks, Qatar has been in the news as a key player in the crisis that erupted following the heinous terrorist massacre perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7. It turns out that Qatar actively funds Hamas, hosts Hamas’ political leaders and headquarters in Doha, and is in regular touch with the Hamas leadership in Gaza — all of which resulted in the Qataris acting as mediators for the hostage release negotiations.

But notwithstanding Qatar’s role in helping to get Israeli and international hostages out of Hamas-ruled Gaza — which, remarkably, has already resulted in Qatar being thanked by US President Joe Biden — the question gaining traction in Washington and around the world is this: How exactly has Qatar been allowed to fund terrorists and support terror for so many years while still maintaining diplomatic, economic, and military ties with the West?

The answer will amaze and horrify you in equal measure. This week marked the first anniversary of the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The FIFA World Cup’s global appeal is vast, drawing billions of viewers. Held every four years, the tournament attracts extensive media coverage, engaging with a huge international audience which includes people who don’t typically follow soccer.

Aside from the TV audiences, millions of soccer fans fly from all over the world to see their country play “the beautiful game” in huge soccer stadiums, and the 2022 World Cup was no exception. A staggering 3.4 million spectators were there to participate in the tournament, and the 172 goals scored over four weeks of games ensured that Qatar 2022 became the highest scoring FIFA World Cup in history.

But, as was revealed before the tournament — and has also emerged in far greater detail since the tournament ended — the details of Qatar’s outlook and behavior vis-à-vis the World Cup paint a sobering picture of this tiny but powerful country — a picture that is marred by allegations of wanton bribery to ensure they were awarded hosting rights, as well as deliberate deception in environmental commitments once they were confirmed as hosts.

In particular, the stark contrast between Qatar’s proclaimed “carbon-neutral” World Cup and the reality of its execution underscores a narrative of calculated misrepresentation. And yet, by and large Qatar has gotten away with its brazen criminality and deceptions. EU officials were allegedly bribed by Qatar, World Cup host rivals were reportedly targeted by “black ops” and hacking operations, and thousands of slaves – yes, slaves! – died in the construction of the soccer stadium complex in Doha.

But in the end, despite concerns about how Qatar became hosts of this international sports behemoth, and regardless of concerns about how it misled the world regarding the event’s staggering environmental footprint, Qatar’s immense wealth has ensured that this corrupt country has got nothing to worry about and is able to navigate the global stage with impunity.

It really is that simple. Qatar’s vast financial resources play a pivotal role in shaping international perceptions of and responses to this criminal, terrorist-sponsoring state. The country’s infiltration of the global economy and strategic funding of NGOs and elite educational institutions has meant that it virtually controls the narrative on multiple fronts, and always to the advantage of evil. Only now, since Oct. 7, is there is a growing discourse around how Qatar’s substantial economic power has been leveraged to gloss over contentious issues. But so far, nothing has changed. This unacceptable situation raises critical questions about the dynamics of power and money in international relations, especially in contexts where significant global interests and reputations are at stake.

The Qatar World Cup saga is an egregious but somewhat innocuous example of the challenges in holding wealthy and powerful nations accountable. But Qatar’s role in funding Hamas — and therefore the Oct. 7 massacre — has brought the role of this bad actor under the spotlight, resulting in a significant paradigm shift. Finally, policymakers in the Western world are beginning to reexamine how these masters of deception have managed to bamboozle the world for decades, even as their limitless money funds murder, chaos, and mayhem.

Shockingly, the deception goes on. The public face of Qatar as the honorable intermediary between evil Hamas murderers and the aggrieved State of Israel belies the fact that Qatar is ruled with an iron fist by one tiny family of antisemitic thugs — the Al Thani family, one of whose most senior members, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, told a newspaper, “Imagine oil [was sold] by some Jews … what would be the price of a barrel of oil? It would be the most expensive thing in the world.”

And this week I heard from someone who maintained close ties with the Al Thanis over several years, that they told him, “We are not bigots, except when it comes to Jews — we can’t stand the Jews.” So, are these the “honest brokers” for the current crisis — as was claimed by another member of the Al Thani family, Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to the United States?

It is clear that Qatar, for all its polished sophistication and attempts to bamboozle the West to think its leaders are merely useful intermediaries with the world’s worst undesirables, is in fact as evil as those it funds. Qatar, and in particular the Al Thani family who have presided over this tiny country for decades, cannot claim innocence. Their hands are elbow-deep in the blood of the innocents murdered on Oct. 7. Every hostage still in captivity in Gaza is the direct result of Qatar’s nefarious love affair with the violent brutes who control Gaza.

After Oct. 7 there’s no longer any excuse for anyone to look the other way. Qatar must be sanctioned, its Western assets must be frozen or confiscated, and its leaders must be arrested for aiding and abetting terrorists — and for crimes against humanity. Otherwise, the world will have allowed Qatar’s leaders to get away with murder.

The post Qatar Can’t Be Allowed to Get Away With Murder After Oct. 7 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria

Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.

The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.

The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.

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Armed Groups Attack Security Force Personnel in Syria’s Sweida, Killing One, State TV Reports

People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.

The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.

Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.

The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.

A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.

The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.

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Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.

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