What the heck is going on in the Middle East?

[justiceischeap]

I was just checking my Twitter feed before going to bed and saw a lot of alerts pertaining to this:

Link to tweet

[Renew Deal]

1. Looks like they are too close to Iran

Seems like a but much to me so far.
_________________________________________________

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, escalating a crisis that started over Qatar’s relationship with Iran and its support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The three countries said they will suspend air and sea travel to and from Qatar. Saudi Arabia said it will shut land crossings with its neighbor, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Bahrain has given Qatari diplomats 48 hours to leave.

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-05/saudi-led-alliance-cuts-qatar-ties-as-gulf-crisis-escalates

[justiceischeap]

2. Thanks! I wasn't having any Google mojo when I looked. nt

[Renew Deal]

4. More info here

But don't know about the sources...

Hackers have released the first series of emails taken from the inbox of the UAE's ambassador to the United States, Yousef al-Otaiba.
The Intercept website reported on Saturday that the emails, released by a group called "Global Leaks", show a close relationship between al-Otaiba and a pro-Israel, neoconservative think-tank - the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
The hacked emails, some of which date back to 2014, reveal a high level of back-channel cooperation between the FDD, which is funded by pro-Israel billionaire Sheldon Adelson, and the UAE.
They also appear to show clear collaboration between the FDD and the UAE on a campaign to downgrade the image and importance of Qatar as a regional and global power, including collusion with journalists who have published articles accusing Qatar and Kuwait of supporting "terrorism".
Zaid Jilani, one of the authors of The Intercept report, told Al Jazeera the emails support previous allegations "that there is a growing axis between some of the Gulf countries, like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Israel".
David Hearst, the Editor in Chief of Middle East Eye, told Al Jazeera the emails laid bare the "mechanism" behind "a very high stakes campaign that is being launched against Qatar".
Al-Otaiba is a well-known figure in US national security circles - he has been called "the most charming man in Washington" - and has participated in Pentagon strategy meetings at the invitation of defence officials.
The release of the leaked emails comes a week after a cyber attack on Qatar's official news agency, during which fake remarks critical of US foreign policy were posted and attributed to the HH the Emir.
Saturday's email leak includes an exchange in which FDD senior counsellor John Hannah - a former deputy national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney - complains to al-Otaiba that Qatar is hosting a meeting of Hamas at an Emirati-owned hotel.
Al-Otaiba responds that the UAE is not at fault and that the real problem lies with the US military base in Qatar.

http://www.gulf-times.com/story/552152/Leaked-emails-show-depth-of-anti-Qatar-campaign

[Warpy]

6. Interesting, I knew they'd been talking to Israeli diplomats

mostly outside channels. I didn't realize Adelson was mixed up in it through an Orwellian named dummy organization, so it makes a revolting amount of sense that it's "gang up on Qatar" time in the Middle East, given his support of Hamas.

[Warpy]

5. Yes, and it's a family squabble, they're all related.

Qatar is an interesting country, an island off the east coast of Saudi Arabia with huge oil and gas reserves, where foreign workers outnumber citizens by about 7:1. It straddles the line between constitutional and absolute monarchy, with elements of both. By all accounts, the ruler is the most pro western and liberal of all the Gulf states. He started the Al Jazeera (The Island) news service and then had laws passed that cut all his ties to it, giving them complete editorial freedom.

He hasn't directly supported Iran but he does support pro Iranian organizations like Hamas. That has made his name mud among his piously Sunni relatives.

It seems odd that they'd support the Muslim Brotherhood since the country is so decidedly liberal and un Islamic in a lot of ways. The Gulf News seems to be making this leap of illogic, also.

"On March 5, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Qatar, saying Doha had failed to abide by an accord not to interfere in each others’ internal affairs.

"The diplomatic source said Doha had in fact agreed verbally at meetings of Gulf foreign ministers in Kuwait late last year and Riyadh this month to abide by a GCC document, proposed by Saudi Arabia in which member states “pledge not to naturalize opponent of other governments or offer support to radical groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.'”

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/qatar-crisis-may-get-worse-1.1303945

It seems to me the sticking point is that Qatar is accepting refugees who have opposed Saudi Arabia and Bahrain regimes, not that they're supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, it's out of character for them. In any case, they refused to sign that document and that's when the fecal material hit the air circulation system.

[still_one]

3. Saudi-led Alliance Cuts Qatar Ties as Gulf Crisis Escalates

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, escalating a crisis that started over Qatar’s relationship with Iran and its support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The three countries said they will suspend air and sea travel to and from Qatar. Saudi Arabia said it will shut land crossings with its neighbor, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Bahrain has given Qatari diplomats 48 hours to leave.

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-05/saudi-led-alliance-cuts-qatar-ties-as-gulf-crisis-escalates

[grantcart]

7. Qatar is a truly independent voice in the ME

Saudi Arabia always tries to paint every conflict with an Iranian brush because they know it flies well with Isreal and conservative US supporters.

The real conflict comes from their strong support for the Arab Spring and more open societies.

Probably the thing that angers them the most is Al Jazeera and not being able to control information about dissent in SA.

[justiceischeap]

8. So Qatar is kinda like the good guy over there? nt

[AngryAmish]

9. No. No one over there is"the good guy".

[grantcart]

10. And with our President and our assault on the health of our planet we are what,

the good guys.

[AngryAmish]

11. Not even close.

[grantcart]

17. When did Qatar start a war of aggression like we did in Iraq

that resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths?

Easy to condemn others when you don't accept the evil our country has done.

[AngryAmish]

19. I am agreeing with you.

We should be quit of the region.

[demmiblue]

12. No, they are not the good guys in terms of human rights/women's rights. A couple of articles:

Human Rights Watch:

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/qatar


Amnesty International:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/qatar-world-cup-of-shame/


More:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10026720233

[grantcart]

15. All of the charges listed in the Amnesty report exist in the

US where millions of undocumented workers face similar deprivations, not an excuse, just a realization that migrant workers in the US face similar conditions.

[demmiblue]

18. The scope and scale is not even comparable.

And, yes, we have many of the same issues right here. That is not debatable.

[grantcart]

20. The scope and scale are in objective fact comparable

All undocumented workers in the US have to provide a false SS I'D. They all pay into Social Security and those wages are 'stolen' from them in 100% of the cases ehich is larger in scope and scale to the similar charge made against a few bad contractors in Qatar.

That one act, stealing billions of payroll tax deductions on tens of millions of workers over decades is the single largest illegal misappropriation of migrant wages in history. It could be solved in one day with the kind of legal migration programs that the IOM (who I worked for, a long time ago) does.

Israel gets 100% of their agricultural workers from SE Asia under government to government agreements. There the agricultural workers get 100% of their wages.

Today you will eat some good items that were handled by migrant workers in the US who did not receive 100% of their wages.

It's just easier to dump on countilike Qatar because we are good and they are 'bad' but we are the country whose President just kissed Saudi Arabia on the ass, Qatar refuses to do so. On that metric they are way ahead of us.

[grantcart]

13. Like all countries it is complex.

For example it's Arab population is only 40% of the population.

To look at it another way the ME is divided between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Personally I trust Iran more than SA. More democratic, much more freedom for women, and so on than S.A.

Like the US both Iran and SA have very conservative minorities that pull it's politics into radical positions.

Unfortunately that intolerance is institutionalize in SA, in its laws, judiciary and culture. In Iran they crush the B'hais, in the US you can find it on a bus in Portland. You can find it in Qatar.

Qatar, like us, are not perfect, but they are striving to be independent. Saudi Arabia, IMO, mirrors Donald Trump eccentricities: they are bullies to their minorities and their neighbors, they strive for garish demonstrations of wealth, they want to concentrate power because they believe they personally have been chosen for it.

Qatar is not perfect, not absolutely good, but they are very small and want to stand up to Saudi Arabia. They support Al Jazeera, which IMO, is the most important development in the ME in decades.

[justiceischeap]

14. Thanks.

I meant "good guys" in the sense that they're striving to be different from the other countries in the region.

I'm aware most middle eastern countries have issues, especially with women's rights and gay rights.

[grantcart]

16. As do we.