Quarantining Qatar
By Mowahid Hussain Shah
Under Article I of the Founding Objectives and Principles of the OIC Charter, the main mission would be “to enhance and consolidate the bonds of fraternity and solidarity among the Member States.” Explicit in it also was “to support the struggle of the Palestinian people.”
Therefore, the move to boycott Qatar is clearly violative of the objectives of the OIC Charter, which sets out its goal of promoting and consolidating Muslim unity. That was the vision of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.
In the aftermath of October 1973 Ramadan War, and the oil embargo imposed to protest the occupation of the Palestinian people, Faisal threw his weight behind the convening of the seminal Lahore Islamic Summit of February 1974, wherein the PLO was recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
The foregoing events propelled President Nixon – then in the throes of the Watergate crisis – to visit Riyadh in June 1974, where he pledged to Faisal, in the presence of then US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Akins, that he would strive to forge an even-handed US policy in the Mideast. Nixon resigned in August 1974 and Faisal was assassinated in March 1975. That was then, and this is now.
Over the years, Qatar has assumed an activist presence on the global and regional stage. It developed a credible media voice in Al Jazeera. It dissented against the bloody crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. It beat out the United States to be selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup – the first time ever that a global event of this magnitude will be hosted in the Muslim world. Thus far, no Olympic games have ever been hosted by a Muslim-majority country.
In doing the aforementioned, Qatar clearly has rubbed powerful quarters the wrong way. It is complicated by the fact that the US Central Command forward base in the Mideast is headquartered in Qatar. And Qatar Airways also has made its mark among leading international airlines.
With Islamophobia on the rise, and divisions being stoked, it does not send a good signal to have fellow Muslim states gang up and target a single Muslim state. The better option would have been dialogue and quiet diplomacy, instead of brute duress.
Significantly, NATO giant Turkey has openly expressed empathy for Qatar’s position, the implicit subtext being that Ankara could be next in line.
In light of the OIC Charter and the current turmoil in the Muslim world, the question needs to be asked: who benefits? According to UNICEF – the United Nations children’s agency – there has been a “massive outbreak” of cholera in Yemen – the poorest Mideast country – along with a dire danger of famine. Also, the UN Committee Against Torture, in its most recent report of May 29, 2017, has slated Bahrain.
The actions against Qatar present an additional crisis in a region that can ill afford another. Despite the blockade on it, Qatar has refused to bend or amend its foreign policy. The blockade itself negates the concept of a united bloc to counter the scourge of nihilist terror.
What then lies ahead? More trouble.
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