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Qatar: Club Med for Terrorists

(New York Times) Ron Prosor - As the diplomatic war at the UN over the hostilities in Gaza continues, discussion of the most obvious solution is strikingly absent - the need to disarm and isolate Hamas, the radical Palestinian Islamist group. Since Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005, Hamas has dragged us into three rounds of major assaults, and more than 14,800 rockets have been fired into Israel by the group or its proxies. The discovery of dozens of tunnels packed with explosives, tranquilizers and handcuffs that end at the doorsteps of Israeli communities should be enough to convince anyone that Hamas has no interest in bringing quiet to Gaza or residing alongside Israel in peace. In recent years, the sheikhs of Qatar have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza. Every one of Hamas' tunnels and rockets might as well have had a sign that read "Made possible through a kind donation from the emir of Qatar." Qatar has provided financial aid and light weapons to Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria, and a base for leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Taliban. Indeed, it serves as a Club Med for terrorists. It harbors leading Islamist radicals like the spiritual leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, and professor Abdul Rahman Omeir al-Naimi, whom the U.S. named as a "terrorist financier" for al-Qaeda. Qatar also funds Khaled Meshal, the leader of Hamas. Western nations must recognize that Qatar is not a part of the solution but a significant part of the problem. To bring about a sustained calm, the message to Qatar should be clear: Stop financing Hamas. The writer is Israel's ambassador to the UN.
2014-08-25 00:00:00
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