IT is our duty toward Qatar, as a sisterly country, to believe its officials when they say that the official website of the Qatar News Agency (QNA) was hacked and that the hackers put in the mouth of the agency things that it had not said. It is also our duty toward Qatar, as a friendly country, not to disbelieve its official media through which the country's Emir said things that were not a far cry from the numerous tweets Qatar has written in the past and from which it later tried to disengage itself. Qatar's tweets and the statements of its ruler are confusing to both its enemies and its friends. Qatar has left those who love it, and we Saudis are among them, and those who are unsure about its attitude, and we are also among them, in total darkness. We are confused by the attitude of this country toward issues that concern all of us. We are unable to take a clear stand toward Qatar except to say that it has disengaged itself from the consensus on issues that represent a common danger to the entire region. Qatar has also disengaged itself from the consensus of the Riyadh Arab-Islamic and US summit, which considered Iran to be a hostile country that is interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. The summit also decided that Iran has provided a safe haven for terrorists and sectarian groups who are jeopardizing the security and stability of the region. If the Emir of Qatar believes that it is not wise to escalate matters with Iran because of its Islamic and regional weight, he should be wise enough to realize that it is Iran, and no one else, that has escalated issues with its neighbors. This is, of course, unless the Emir is unaware of Iran's interventions in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and its flagrant support for the Houthis in Yemen. And also unless the Emir has not heard of the ballistic missiles Iran has launched along the coast opposite to his country's borders in the Arabian Gulf. Furthermore, if the Emir of Qatar believes that Hamas is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, then let me tell him that the Palestinians know better than him when it comes to who their real representatives are. The Palestinians and the Arab League know better than the Emir of Qatar who the sole legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people are. Qatar is still a member of the Arab League and as such the country should know better than its own ruler who is the real representative of the Palestinian people. He has gone against his country's official stand on who represents the people of Palestine. Qatar recognizes the real representative of the Palestinian people while its Emir does not. Al-Jazeera news channel, the official spokesman of Qatar, has adopted the ambiguous ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which found a stronghold for its beliefs in that country. These conflicting attitudes have prompted the Emir of Qatar to say that he was maintaining good relationships with both Iran and America at the same time. He also spoke about his good ties with both Hamas and Israel! Paradoxically, while the Emir thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman for his warm welcome, he said in his speech before the Riyadh summit that the world consensus against terrorism constituted a danger to Qatar and the security of the region.
