Arabs, tread softly on Qatar
Three member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates [UAE] and Bahrain, together with Egypt, severed diplomatic ties with fellow GCC member Qatar and imposed sanctions on the oil-rich country on June 5, 2017 for allegedly supporting terrorism. Though Qatar has rejected the accusation, the unfolding face-off has created […]
Three member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates [UAE] and Bahrain, together with Egypt, severed diplomatic ties with fellow GCC member Qatar and imposed sanctions on the oil-rich country on June 5, 2017 for allegedly supporting terrorism. Though Qatar has rejected the accusation, the unfolding face-off has created serious tensions in the Middle East and the rest of the world. GCC, established in 1981, is meant to foster alliance and strengthen relations among its members. One of its cardinal objectives is military cooperation which is meant to unite these countries to fight their common enemies if the need arose. Now, the tension generated by the severance of ties with Qatar will jeopardise this objective.
Apart from severing ties with Qatar, the four Arab countries made thirteen stringent demands which they gave Doha two weeks to fulfil: To shut down Al Jazeera and stop funding other news outlets including Arabi21 and Middle East Eye; sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood; deny naturalisation to migrants from the four countries and expel those currently on its territory; hand over all individuals who are wanted by the four countries for terrorism and stop funding any groups that are designated as terrorist groups by the United States.
Other demands are that Qatar provides detailed information about opposition figures that it has funded; align itself politically, economically and otherwise with the Gulf Co-operation Council; pay an unspecified sum in compensations; sever ties with Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), al Qaeda and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and shut down diplomatic posts in Iran.
These four demands come with presupposition that Qatar is to blame for terrorist activities in the Middle East because it is assumed to have a soft spot from those who have contributed to the ruin of several countries. Their concerns are not unfounded because Arab countries like Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen have not known peace in the last few years – no thanks to the ISIL, Al-Qaeda and their local supporters in these countries. Even Egypt is under attack from elements loyal to hardliners in the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIL. Other countries under pressure from terrorists include Nigeria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and even parts of India. Terrorist groups in other countries are believed to have been motivated by the activities of ISIL and Al-Qaeda in the Middle East.
However, terrorism has an international dimension; hence it should be tackled from a global perspective, which should involve the United Nations. If there is evidence that Qatar is sponsoring terrorists, GCC should drag it to the UN, which has the capacity to verify the evidence and mobilise global action against Qatar. Otherwise GCC’s demands on Qatar are too stringent and contravene the sovereignty of the Gulf State.
For instance, the demand that Al-Jazeera should be shut down runs contrary to Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which grants freedom of speech, press and opinion to all.Though several Middle East States may not subscribe to the concept of free speech in their territories, they will be overreaching in their demands to gag other Gulf states that value free speech. Al-Jazeera has provided the forum for Arabs to express their viewpoints on local and international issues in the last few years. Asking Qatar to shut down the television station and its affiliates will be a big setback for press freedom in the Middle East.
Now that the ultimatum to Qatar seems to have expired, it is feared that the four nations could embark on actions that could escalate the crisis. We call for restraint in dealing with the situation and ask GCC states and Egypt to be flexible and open-minded in their efforts to stamp out terrorism from the Middle East. It is possible to achieve a consensus approach to the situation through dialogue instead of a bitter or violent face-off. Arabia needs peace, not more turmoil and bloodshed.