Qatar’s “modern mentality” includes outreach to the Zionist Entity, political prostitution

Addressing a group of visiting American Jewish leaders, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani once stated bluntly that he is interested in expanding his country’s ties with Israel.

"We are thinking about opening an interest section" in the Zionist entity, the Qatari Emir, told members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations during a private meeting at the royal palace.

"We have ended the secondary and tertiary boycott and are considering an agreement between [our respective] airlines."

In October 1994, the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council; Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain -- announced an end to their participation in the secondary and tertiary boycotts of the Zionist entity.

But the Qataris, more than the other GCC members, have been extending the frontiers of their dealings with the Zionist entity.

Political experts suggest that the persistent attempts by Qatar, a tiny peninsula rich in natural gas, to strengthen its ties with the Zionist entity could be attributed to the country’s need for "friends" to balance against the overweening attention of Saudi Arabia and Iran.

"This isn't Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. This is a tough neighborhood," The Associated Press quoted Hassan al-Ansari, director of Doha-based Gulf Studies Center and editor of the Qatar Tribune, as saying. "A small nation can't survive without maintaining relations with everybody."

Qatar stepped up its efforts to assert its role in international affairs since the current emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, overthrew his father in a peaceful coup in 1995, sponsoring international conferences and sporting events, no matter how much this cost it.

But what angers the Arabs and the Muslim world is the Gulf country’s ultimate readiness to deal with the Zionist entity, a country responsible for the decades-long conflict in the region, and the pains of the Palestinian population.

Last year, the Qatari Emir made a donation of $6 million for the building of a stadium in the Zionist entity for the country's mixed Arab-Jewish soccer team, Bnei Sakhnin.

Also last June, Lebanese daily al-Mustaqbal quoted a high-ranking Jordanian official as stating that contacts between the Zionist entity and Qatar continue, and that Qatar’s Foreign Minister, Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, visited the Zionist entity in early June where he held secret talks with Zionist officials.

The modern Middle Eastern country does not consider the Zionist entity as any different from other countries. "The UN has 192 members and "israel" is one of them. We engage in dialogue with them," deputy foreign minister Mohammed al-Rumaihi was quoted by AP as saying.

“For the past decade, "israel" has been allowed to maintain a three-person trade representative's office in a Doha villa. It opened a similar office in Oman but the government there ordered it shut in 2000,” The Associated Press wrote.

"We are quite happy with relations between "israel" and Qatar," said Roi Rosenblit, who heads the "israel" Trade Representation Office. "They are courageous. They're not afraid to meet us in public."

Qatar is now viewed by most Arab countries as well as Western nations as the architect of some of the Arab world's most daring foreign policy in decades, a policy that doesn’t consider the country responsible for the killing of scores of fellow Arabs in the Palestinian territories everyday, a terrorist state.

But Qatar’s non-stop efforts to reach out to the Zionist entity reached their peak last month, when it invited Zionist foreign minister to a United Nations “democracy conference” in Doha, which cost Qatar $16 million, al-Rumaihi said.

"We have the financial power, so we can do it," al-Rumaihi said. "Why not? It's our legitimate role in the world."

Qatar considers its policy of always attempting to get closer to the Zionist entity as a "new mentality, a modern mentality," as al-Rumaihi described it in a recent interview, boasting that other Gulf neighbors "aren't politically ready for this." 

"They aren't ready for free dialogue, for open-minded thinking. This is Qatar now. This is who we are."

But Qatar is also believed to be the Gulf's closest ally of Hamas, the Palestinian resistance movement, and now the ruling Party, viewed by the U.S. and Israel as a “terrorist group”.

Zionist Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni turned down Qatar’s invitation to the UN “democracy conference”, that would have been the highest level visit to Qatar by a Zionist official in 10 years, refusing to support a conference that included Hamas, her office said.

Rosenblit said Livni was "very sorry" she had to cancel the visit, as it was a good chance to have bilateral Zionist-Qatari talks.

"Their help is very welcome," Rosenblit said.

Qatar's dalliance with the Zionist entity, which killed and continues killing innocent civilians in Palestine and Lebanon, puts it squarely in opposition to public opinion and government policy across the Gulf.

"People here blame the Israelis for 95 or 99 percent of these problems," said Muhammad al-Musfir, a political scientist at Qatar University.

Abdullah Sahar, a political science professor at Kuwait University, shares the same view. Qatar invited the Zionist foreign minister for its own strategic benefits, Sahar stated.

"Qataris feel they are under the tent of Saudi Arabia and they are trying to get out of it." "However, distinguishing themselves by having ties with "israel" in this tense situation is for most people akin to a type of political prostitution."