A friend of mine was recently doing business with the Qataris. Nothing strange there: a lot of people have in recent years. But of course Qatar is one of the main funders – and the main international host – of the terrorist group Hamas.
The Gulf state has form in the area. In the decade before the Taliban seized back – or were gifted – Afghanistan, they had a lovely office in the safety of Qatar. Because while the Qataris would hate an Afghan situation in their own fiefdom, they are happy to play the role of supporting such extremists elsewhere.
The UK is arguably not just flush with Qatari cash but deeply, widely compromised by it
In any case, for more than a decade, Qatar has played host to Hamas, allowing it to operate out of Doha. The Qataris have given sanctuary to (among others) Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal. These men do not share the suffering of the people they claim to care about – the Arabs in Gaza. They make sure that these people get as little of the international aid money that comes their way as possible. Poverty-stricken Palestinians are what Haniyeh and Meshaal need: it bolsters their international begging-bowl abilities. Which in turn bolsters their own bank accounts. For of course there is a reason why people in Gaza are poor. What happened to all that international aid money that countries like ours have handed over since Israel withdrew in 2005? Not mismanagement, that’s for sure. Hamas isn’t the NHS. The Hamas leadership engages in corruption on the grandest of scales. Which means that while Hamas doesn’t provide for the people in Gaza, its leaders can afford to live in great luxury in Doha among other places.
Anyhow, as I was saying, a friend was recently doing business with Qataris.
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