Qatar and the Gulf Crisis

Reviewed by: Abdelkader Chachi, Sabahattin Zaim University, Turkey

Published by: London: Hurst & Company Publishers, 2020, 224pp. ISBN: 978-1787382077.

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Qatar is one of the six Gulf states, members of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), and the second smallest Gulf state after Bahrain. On 5th June 2017 (10th Ramadan 1438), four Arab countries called the “Anti-Terror Arab Quartet”, including three out of the six Gulf member states (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates), in addition to Egypt, launched a multi-dimensional and unprecedented full embargo on the small Gulf country Qatar through air, sea and land boycott, taking the rest of the whole world by surprise. What is surprising is that it happened exactly fifty years, to the day, after the Six Days War, that was launched by the Zionist State against the Arabs in Palestine and neighbouring Arab countries.

These countries severed all diplomatic ties and relations with the small state of Qatar. They banned all Qatar-registered planes and ships from utilising their airspace and sea routes, along with blocking the only land border and route that connect Saudi Arabia to Qatar. They cancelled all imports from Qatar and all export to it, accusing Qatar of harbouring, supporting and funding terrorism and of embracing and providing assistance to the members of the “Muslim brotherhood” which they considered a terrorist organisation. Moreover, they criticized Qatar for having good relations with Iran and allowing Aljazeerah Satellite News Channel to broadcast news and documentaries exposing the faults of the state members of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council).

This shocking political friction and crisis in the Gulf was unimaginable and unexpected. It started with allegations that the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, expressed support for Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Israel on the hacked Qatar News Agency website. On 23rd May 2017, hackers posted false statements attributed to Qatar’s Emir on the Qatari state news agency’s website stating: “Iran represents a regional and Islamic power that cannot be ignored, and it is unwise to face up against it. It is a big power in the stabilization of the region.”