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AL-JAZEERA HAS accused Arab nations of trying to “silence the freedom of expression” in a list of demands they gave Qatar yesterday, threatening a ‘divorce’ from its neighbours if it does not comply.
The news organisation has been accused of stirring up regional strife and it has been a long-standing source of conflict between Doha and neighbouring countries. The government in Qatar has confirmed it received the list and that the 13 demands are currently being studied.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Al-Jazeera: “The US secretary of state recently called upon the blockading nations to produce a list of grievances that was ‘reasonable and actionable’. The British foreign secretary asked that the demands be ‘measured and realistic.’ This list does not satisfy that criteria.”
He claimed the demands were proof that sanctions against Qatar were “nothing to do with combating terrorism” and were more about limiting its sovereignty and outsourcing its foreign policy.
‘Like closing down the BBC’
Al-Jazeera said the call to close down the organisation is “nothing but an attempt to silence the freedom of expression in the region and to suppress people’s right to information”.
Its English’s managing director, Giles Trendle, said it was like “Germany demanding Britain to close down the BBC”, in a video posted on social media.
The list of 13 demands include calls for Doha to cut any ties to groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic State organisation, Al-Qaeda and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
Qatar has also been asked to hand over opposition figures wanted by its three neighbours, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, downgrade diplomatic ties with Iran and shut a Turkish military base in the emirate.
Qatar’s Human Rights Committee said the demands represented “gross violations” of basic rights.
In Qatar, the hashtag “the list is rejected” trended in Arabic on social media.
- With reporting from AFP.
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Al-jazeera a breath fresh air. First to expose western propaganda on events in Afghanistan . Would be a great loss.
@Alex Carroll: There was programme about this on the BBC. There are basically 2 Al-Jaxeera corps.
One is the English which is very good and fairly balanced. The other, the Arabic one, is basically nothing more than a mouth piece for ISIS and other such agitators. The differences were extremely stark.
@Alex Carroll:
Al-jazeera called ISIS “freedom fighters” so shows your mentality
@Good Early: You speak Arabic right? Well done at least your opinion was formed first hand! or do you just allow a state sponsored news outlet like the BBC “decide” if the content is a mouthpiece for IS or not? You won’t find too many radicalised Arabs inspired by the content of this station be it in English or Arabic. This is nothing to do with Al Jazeera and all to do with the war on secularism being waged by the Saudi’s. There is very little between RT, Al Jazeera and BBC.
@Austin Rock: you do realise Al Jazeera is the state mouth piece for Qatar. A government that funds Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood
The peoples of these countries need to stand up against their oppressive rulers, as many Western peoples did in centuries past.
We’re not perfect by a long shot but the rights the civilians of ‘the west’ have were hard fought and the middle-eastern peoples need to get to the same place.
@Fozz: weaponry has modernised substantially since then.
@Fozz:
Many of them have tried – the results weren’t always great…
There’s something fishy going on here. Perhaps some demands are legitimate, but they’re used to clad unreasonable ones. For one, Qatar is one of the few sunni countries that holds relations across the divide to the shia branch of islam. So it appears to me like an attempt to isolate the country for having a relationship with Saudi Arabia’s big regional rival Iran.
Even the Americans don’t seem to understand quite what is going on. If anyone here has a clear idea, please do enlighten.
@Mick Tobin: it’s due to qatars alleged support and funding of Arab spring uprisings and Muslim brotherhood. These are Shia Islamists that would have extreme rule, like a milder version of ISIS.
A building alliance of Shia led Islamist countries would pose a threat to the Sunni Saudis. Could lead to conflict and war.
Which is what some Americans would love, a big massive Islamist state in the Middle East so they have an excuse to go in and bomb the f*** out of it.
Eh no, the Muslim Brotherhood are a Sunni Islamist group who have secterian supremacist policies in regards to Shia Muslims.
@George Beckett: Muslim Brotherhood is NOT Shia FFS it is NOT an idealogy it is a political and social movement based in Sunni countries – Hezbollah is the Shia equivilent. Even the US refuses to brand the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists as Tillerson has stated the US would have “difficulties” with anyone branding Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorists as they are in power in various arab countries. This is about a Rogue extreme violent state like Saudi Arabia waging war on ALL non-believers be they Shia/Christian but mostly Shia. The genocide they propose is frightening and poor old Trump is riding on this tiger.
@Andy Brown: sorry conflated my meaning there I’m wrong.
Al Jazeera is one of the better news channels and shows a lot of real news that others won’t because it doesn’t suit their agenda or won’t pay well with their demographic. Would be a disgrace if it was shut down.
It appears the ruling classes are not fond of free speech. Similar attempts under the guise of protecting the people against terrorism are being used to cripple the internet.
Al Jazeera was big part of Arab Spring movement….This lead to destruction of Libya and Syria by Sunni Jahadis and rise of Muslim brotherhood in Egypt…..To be fair Saudi Arabia was also behind the Arab spring and sent lots of weapons to Sunni Jahadis in Syria…
@John003: …But Al Jazeera carries most of the blame for the Arab Spring mess? Do I understand you right?
@Tom Malone: OK course not….They were the propaganda part that started it……We don’t watch the Arabic version which is more extreme…They also set the agenda which western media followed about Syria and Libya….Using terms such as Syrian democratic forces…..Propaganda is important…..
It is quite interesting to note what this article on the Muslim Brotherhood from Al-Jazeera fails to mention its roles on the attempted introduction of Sharia Law in Egypt which led to the downfall of Morsi’s government in 2013 and its ongoing persecution of the Coptic Christians also in Egypt.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/06/muslim-brotherhood-explained-170608091709865.html
The crowd funding model that we now have in Ireland where for example left wingers fund the Irish times through subscriptions and occasionally purchasing papers can fund and therefore give a voice to pressure groups.
It is reasonable that the links with ISIS, Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda and Hezbollah be ended. However it is unreasonable that Al Jazeera be shut down as freedom of expression has to be protected. However it is unfair that there be a demand to interfere with foreign policy regarding Turkey and Iran. It reminds me of the Austrian Empire attitude towards Serbia pre WW1. It is obvious that Saudi Arabia is behind this spoiling for a confrontation. Maybe the outlook is Sunni!! I’m sure Iran can help supply Qatar in its time of need. The fundamental problem here is the Shia/Sunni religious problem. It is interesting that Israel and Saudi Arabia have found themselves singing from the same hymn sheet practically.
@Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: Well HAMAS is not on the list for Qatar to stop funding OK to fund them……..Also Hezbollah is not funded by Qatar…..
Envy and money do not feature enough in the comments here. Others are envious of Qatar having the highest per capita income in the world. Others are envious of Qatar cutting better business deals than them, earning higher profits and successfully diversifying their economy so that they will be just as successful when the gas peters out in 80 years. Qatar owns a big chunk of Volkswagen, London and Paris. OPEC cannnot browbeat Qatar because it is the world’s largest producer of gas but a very small producer of petroleum. Individual business people are envious because their profits are less than their Qatari counterparts. It is not all about money. But it is very much less about the ‘demands’ which are obviously cobbled together when it was put up to them by the international community.
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