The Emir of Qatar has scolded the international community for its “inaction” over the crises in Syria and Israel/Palestine.
In an address to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said that after more than seven decades of the Israeli occupation of Arab territories, the Palestinian cause is at standstill waiting for a just solution.
Qatar established trade relations with Israel in 1996, but the countries do not have a full diplomatic relationship.
The Emir said: “The Government of Israel has not only rejected the resolutions of international legitimacy and the comprehensive Arab peace initiative, but seeks to impose a fait accompli through long-term plans to build settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. It has founded its occupation on discrimination and racial segregation, and established two legal systems under its sovereignty, one for the occupiers and the other for those languishing under the occupation.
“Against the backdrop of the world’s silence and the Arab States’ engagement in their current issues, Israel’s leaders may believe that they succeeded in their endeavor. But in fact they have failed to resolve any issue. The Palestinian people are more devoted to their rights than ever.”
“Furthermore, as Israel proceeds with the occupation and its practices, the Arab peoples can’t accept any kind of normalization of relations with Israel before achieving a just solution to the Palestinian cause.”
On Syria, where Qatar has lent financial, military, political and media support to the rebels, the Emir said that the Syrian people have been practically supported only by “some loyal friends.”
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He said: “Here we meet again more than five years after the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, and in the aftermath of the destruction of the majority of Syrian cities by the regime. As a result the numbers of refugees have doubled, and seeking refuge has become trans-continental. Syria now is importing terrorist and sectarian organizations and militias, which pose a regional and international threat.
“Everyone knows that the Syrian revolution had started as a popular peaceful uprising against a repressive dictatorial regime, and that this great people face killings in peaceful demonstrations and torture in prisons over a year time without defending itself.
“During this period, the Syrian regime tried deliberately to drag the revolution into violence. It has also acted through a guided political rhetoric to split the Syrian people into factions, but the people responded by chanting ‘Only one, the Syrian people are one.’ The declared slogan of the regime was ‘Only al-Assad or we will burn down the country.’ Perhaps, many people have not realized that this slogan is the de facto project of the regime and its only and exclusive program.
“Theoretically, the majority of the countries of the world stood by the Syrian people, but practically they were left alone supported only by some loyal friends. Red lines were set for the regime who has violated them, yet those who demarcated those lines have not felt provoked to raise a finger. The red line continued to be shifted until the regime became aware of the fact that there is no ceiling for what it could perpetrate without accountability.”
Qatar is also part of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. On this issue the Emir reiterated his support for the return of the Saudi-backed Hadi government which was overthrown by the Houthis.
And on Libya, where Qatar helped overthrow the Gaddafi government, the Emir admitted the situation was “still turbulent,” but said he looked forward to “restoring stability through the efforts of the Presidential Council and the present government backed by the international community.”
