“Qatar is not a peaceful mediator, Qatar is a problem maker,” the president of Qatar’s National Democratic Party, Khalid al-Hail, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, adding that Doha has “created, supported, [and] helped the terrorist organizations” it now purports to arbitrate.
Hail, who currently resides in the United Kingdom, having been exiled from the Gulf state in 2015, warned that Qatar was a “threat” to Israel, even while its vast media empire “pushes the narrative of a good mediator.”
Speaking specifically about Ali al-Thawadi’s role on the US-backed Board of Peace, which has been tasked with overseeing the peacekeeping efforts in Gaza, Hail said he couldn’t understand how such a man could be trusted.
Claiming Thwadi had “proven that he has been dealing with hackers and criminals,” Hail made it clear that he didn’t think such a person was appropriate for the board, especially given The Sunday Times’ 2018 report that Thwadi was aware of the “poison” spread against other countries who were then bidding to host the 2022 World Cup.
“We all know what he’s been doing with Mohammed bin Hamad [Al Thani], the brother of Sheikh Tamim [bin Hamad Al Thani] – and all of the crimes they’ve committed before – to be a peacemaker. It’s a joke. It is not acceptable, and I don’t think the Trump administration should accept such people to be part of the peace council.”
Hail said that Qatar should not be playing the role of peace mediator in any part of the region “because at the same time [that Qatar is] part of the Peace Council, they are pushing, sponsoring, and supporting Hamas on its own media.”
Antisemitism spread also Doha's guilt
Beyond spreading Hamas propaganda, much of the antisemitism crisis spreading through the United States and Europe was part of Doha’s influence campaign, he warned.
“You’ve seen a lot of antisemitism now in the world, and a lot of organizations that are actually pushing that narrative are being sponsored and supported by Qatar,” Hail claimed.
With the influence of the Qatar National Democratic Party, Hail claimed that Doha would join the Abraham Accords, a move that would be widely accepted and celebrated among the country’s citizens.
Hail said that the warm welcome that Shimon Peres received during his two-day visit to Qatar in 1996, when he was Israel’s prime minister, was proof that “the people of Qatar, the founder families, will have absolutely no problem in having a normal relationship with Israel.” He added that he looked forward to Doha one day having its own Israeli embassy.
Turning his attention to internal politics and shaming the “one man show” in Doha’s leadership style, Hail criticized the curated narrative that there was no opposition to Thani’s reign.
The discretionary nature of Qatar’s citizenship policies, which human rights organizations have repeatedly decried for its role in denying the rights of the Baha’i people and other religious minorities, has meant that Qatar can import supporters, Hail said. He added that the original Qatari people “are one day going to have a revolution against the government of Qatar.”
Citing the 2021 election, in which activists received life sentences – and the 2005 nationality law, which barred candidates from certain ethnic groups from running or voting – Hail said Qatar’s control of the media allowed it to “put to bed” valid criticism.
“The Government of Qatar doesn’t believe in its own people. They don’t trust Qatari nationals,” Hail noted, saying that this was why many ethnic and religious minorities, such as the Baha’i, were barred from the military despite compulsory national service.
Hail was arrested in 2014, after he flew back to Doha at the “direct request” of the emir, for allegedly not following the regime’s instructions, trying to change the regime in Qatar, and leaking recordings to the Saudis. He has claimed that he was held and tortured for 22 days before escaping to Saudi Arabia.
“He lied to me,” Hail recalled, adding that he had upset Thani by saying that 6,200 companies were going to go bankrupt in Qatar because of the allocation of projects in Doha.
He emphasized that the Qatari leadership “only put a few Qatari people around them, and the rest are all foreign nationals who have been paid to protect them. And if you trust your own people, you will let your own people protect you and be part of your military to help you. And that’s what they fear for the future.”
Hail reported, “So now the Qatar National Democratic Party is preparing a government in exile, and we will be putting a lot of pressure on the Government of Qatar, and we are very serious this time [about] actually not only reforming the regime, but changing the regime of Qatar.”
He continued, “Thani has a saying: ‘Anyone open his mouth to criticize the Qatar regime, just bottle them.’ That’s exactly what he’s been saying. So he’s trying to buy his influence and buy the silence of people. There are a lot of weak people, but there are a lot of good people as well. That’s why the fight is going on.”
After joking about the millions Thani spent to have his photo placed around the country in an effort to farm “false love” from the people, Hail said that “Thani has proven that he is a puppet and he cannot do anything to the region.”
Insisting that the West must begin sanctioning Doha to bring about the fall of the regime, Hail said that the emir “put our country and our people at risk because they supported terrorist organizations like Hamas, like Muslim Brotherhood, like Taliban, like al-Qaeda, and they don’t listen to our people.
“They want to show the world that all [of] Qatar is accepting what they are doing, which is wrong… People [must] understand and believe that the Qatari opposition has a strong presence in Qatar, and a lot of people are banned from traveling from Doha because they are part of the opposition in Qatar.”
“It’s not like I want my country to be sanctioned…” Hail continued, speaking on the necessity of such a step.
“I would love to [be in] control [of] the money of my people, and I would love my people to understand that someone should protect their wealth.
“The absolute monarchy system means they [Thani] could wake up one morning and say, ‘Okay, give $500 million to Hamas,’” and no one would have the power to “object to such behavior.”
Hail said he aspired to see the country as a “constitutional monarchy system run by the founder families of Qatar, not only the Al Thani regime, because we need to participate and to make people participate in the power.”