Qatari minister says Israel is ‘offending 1.5 billion Muslims’ - II&ET

ISRAEL, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, TEMPLE MOUNTNovember 9, 2015

QATAR’S Foreign Minister rules out cooperation with Israel, says it offends Muslims with its actions on the Temple Mount

Qatar’s Foreign Minister on Wednesday ruled out the possibility that his country would cooperate with Israel, accusing the Jewish state of “offending 1.5 billion Muslims”.

Speaking to Al Jazeera and quoted by Haaretz, the minister, Khalid Al Attiyah, said, “I don’t think we are in a position to have any cooperation with Israel at this stage” in the absence of a peace process.

He proceeded to accused Israel of being provocative regarding the status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

“You are offending 1.5 billion Muslims when you are talking about the Masjid Al Aqsa…and we have raised the flag before,” said Al Attiya, who warned that the current unrest is a “third intifada” that could become “the worst intifada” yet.

“The people who went to the street… [were] born after the Oslo Treaty and they saw there is no hope,” he claimed.

This is not the first time that the Qatari minister, whose country is known for its ties and support for the Muslim Brotherhood and for Hamas, has attacked Israel.

In August, Al Attiya blasted Israeli “occupation” when discussing the crises in the Middle East, claiming that “the Middle East is suffering from the failures of the peace process due to the Israeli occupation” of Palestinian land.

Al-Attiya accused Israel of “intransigence” in dealing with the Palestinians and said it must end its “illegal blockade of Gaza”.

There were reports several months ago that Qatar halted its financial support for Hamas in order to push the group to change its policy against Egypt, which Qatar had just reconciled with.

Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said, however, that the report was completely untrue.