Foreign Ministry slams Qatari paper for urging terror attacks against Israelis – exclusive

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday blasted a Palestinian columnist for the Qatar daily paper Al-Watan who authored a commentary in May calling on Palestinians to carry out terrorist attacks on Israelis, including calls for Arab countries to go on war footing against the Jewish state.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) first located and translated the May 14 Al-Watan column from Palestinian journalist Samir Al-Barghouti. 

According to MEMRI, Al-Barghouti wrote “Hit [them] in the depth of the Jerusalem settlements, in Tel Aviv and in all parts of the land they stole and whose people they expelled, from Ras Al-Naqoura [in the north] to Rafah [in the south]. Hit [them], and may your hands be blessed. Even if you do not hurt a single one of them, it is enough to terrify them and sow fear among them.”

Barghouti added “Had there been someone to hit [them] inside the 1948 territories,  the Apartheid State [i.e., Israel] would not have continued to exist on our soil to this very day. Had it not been for the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Accords, not a single Zionist would have remained in Palestine [today]…”

In an exclusive statement to The Jerusalem Post, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said  “We strongly condemn the recent article published in the Qatari daily Al-Watan by Samir Al-Barghouti calling for Palestinians to carry out terror attacks against Israelis. Such inflammatory rhetoric and glorification of violence are deeply disturbing and contribute to the perpetuation of the hatred and hostility in the region.”

The MFA added, “Israel remains committed to the unconditional fight against terror and calls to end any manifestation of this kind of unproductive incitement.”

The MFA continued that “Israel will continue to work towards meaningful dialogue and cooperation in the region in order to achieve a peaceful and secure future for all people in the Middle East.”

Required government approval for publishing

The head of Muslims Against Antisemitism in the United Kingdom, Ghanem Nuseibeh, told The Jerusalem Post “Qatar media is heavily censored and such extremist incitement would not be published without government approval.”

Nuseibeh, who is an expert on Qatar, said “Qatar has been the most virulent spreader of antisemitism in Arabic-speaking communities and there are no signs this has stopped. Qatari media says one this in its English language outlets but in Arabic it continues to incite violence against Jews and those who disagree with it. It is vital Western nations understand the threat and block such websites from poisoning the minds of Muslim communities in Europe and the US.”

A recent BBC overview of the Qatar media cited Al-Watan, which means the “The Homeland,” as a “privately-owned, pro-government daily.” The Doha-based paper Al-Watan was founded in 1995 and, according to the paper’s Wikipedia page, it is owned by Sheikha Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani from the ruling Al Thani family in Qatar.

While Al-Watan is not a media juggernaut like the Qatari state-owned Al-Jazeera outlet, the BBC has cited Al-Watan and Samir Al-Barghouti in their coverage of the Middle East affairs.

Post-press queries to Qatar’s foreign ministry and embassy in Washington DC about the commentary by Al-Barghouti and the ownership of the paper went unanswered. The Post also reached out to Mohamed Hamad Al Marri, the editor-in-chief of Al Watan, with questions about the commentary, circulation numbers and ownership. Al Marri declined to comment.

Al-Barghouti aligned himself with terrorist movements in the Gaza Strip, including Hamas and the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

He wrote “Oh members of Saraya Al-Quds [the PIJ’s military wing], of the Al-Qassam [Brigades, Hamas’ military wing], of the Al-Aqsa [Martyrs Brigade, Fatah’s military wing], and of the joint operations room [that oversaw] the Revenge of the Free Campaign [i.e., the latest round of fighting in Gaza]! Hit [them], for the historical and religious promise regarding Palestine will soon be realized.”

He continues that “The promise will soon be realized. Set forth, O followers and supporters of Allah! Let [all] the fronts – from Lebanon to the Golan, the [Jordan] Valley and Sinai – be opened up, and let the ambassadors of the [Zionist] entity be expelled from the Arab countries – lest the day come when the repentance of the sinners [i.e., the Arab countries] will no longer be accepted.”

MEMRI noted in its analysis of Al-Barghouti’s article that he “called on the Palestinians of all factions to carry out terror attacks throughout Israel, from the north to the south, in order to inflict blows on the Israelis and terrify them. He also urged the Arab countries to open up the fronts against Israel and expel the Israeli ambassadors from their territory, lest it become too late for them to repent. ‘The historical and religious promise regarding Palestine will soon be realized,’ he stated, and therefore it is necessary to keep up the attacks on Israel.”

MEMRI also located a March column by Al-Barghouti’s in Al-Watan from March 12, titled “The Time Has Come For You To Get Out.” He argues it is time to expel the Israelis “from Huwara to Tel Aviv…  from the river to the sea,” and to fight them in brigades and with lone attackers.

In the March column, Al-Barghouti wrote about Israelis:  “Make it so that they will never be safe – not in Jerusalem, not in Tel Aviv, and not in their settlements.”

Al-Watan gears its articles toward Palestinian readers and devotes coverage to the Palestinians.

The religious essence of the conflict

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s chief Nazi hunter and an expert on modern antisemitism, told the Post that “What people have to understand: the essence of the Palestinian conflict with Israel is religious, In other words, it is fueled by Islam, which is the most prevalent religion of Palestinians in Israel and in diaspora. “

Zuroff continued that “When a conflict is fueled by religion, there is practically no room for compromise. These articles reflect the desire of Palestinians to murder innocent civilians, which of course, only makes the conflict worse and is a tremendous obstacle for peace. Qatar is not concerned about the prospect of peace in the Middle East.”

While the Sunni Gulf countries Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalized diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, Qatar refuses to follow the path of their neighbors.

The US-based Anti-Defamation League has chronicled antisemitic cartoons that Al-Watan has published over the years, including a 2018 cartoon showing a swastika with a Star of David imprinted on a kind bulldozer crushing Arabs. The cartoon was by Salman al-Malik. The ADL titled its article “Anti-Semitic Cartoons: A Hallmark of Qatari Newspapers.”

Zuroff said, “There should be no room for articles and cartoons like this.”

The lack of accountability among Qatari news organizations can be explained by the one-system rule in the tiny oil-rich Gulf state which is a non-democratic nation. The BBC said about the Qatari media: “Most media outlets are owned by the state, members of the royal family or figures aligned with them. Most outlets take a pro-government stance. Journalists practice self-censorship, avoiding critical reporting on domestic and foreign affairs. The absence of opposition media has left social media as the only space for expressing discontent. Many outlets are sympathetic to Islamist groups, whose figures maintain a significant media presence.”

The Post has reported over the years on allegations that Qatar’s regime funds the following terrorist entities: Islamic State, Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. 

JPost