Dr Kamal Hamidou, Head of the Department of Mass Communication at Qatar University, said that the unjust blockade on Qatar is a new stab in the back of the nation, because it is not a constructive act that contributes to the stability of the people of the region and does not contribute to the path of growth, prosperity and progress.
It was aimed at tightening the screws on Qatar economically, diplomatically, and socially in order to subjugate it and influence its sovereign decision, he said.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the occasion of the three years of Qatar’s siege, Hamidou said: “Three years after the piracy conspiracy, which was one of a series of justifications to legitimize Qatar’ siege, and after three years at the regional and international levels have shown us, beyond any doubt, that what actually happened was part of a broader plan, whose ultimate goal was to force Qatar to join the plans of the new Middle East. It was also aimed to create a doubt of its positions towards Arab and Islamic issues.”
He said the scenarios upon which the blockading countries depended on failed and the blockade has become a trouble for the besieged countries and a boon for the State of Qatar. At the internal political and social level, the strength of the Qatari community was solid. The just and steady diplomatic attitudes of the young political leadership in Qatar have earned the love and respect of Qatari citizens for that leadership, which has increased their loyalty to it, frustrating the aspirations of those who bet on a possible rift between the leadership and its people, he added.
Giving more details, he noted: “More than that, the mask has fallen from the face of many blockading countries that have not hidden their efforts to divide the Arab region and to forget the Palestinian issue. The respect for the Arab opinion of Qatar has grown more in the eyes of the Arab people, after realizing who is really with justice and who is against it.”
As for international relations, he said that the State of Qatar has also emerged victorious in its battle against the siege. The dynamic movement of Qatari diplomacy has known how to weave an international relations network that has made Qatar’s diplomacy at the center of international politics.
For the success of the Qatari diplomacy, he said: “For the contribution of Qatari diplomacy in resolving many issues, such as negotiations between the Afghan Taliban, the Afghan government and the United States, to name just a few, is a good indication of the success of the Qatari diplomacy.”
On the other hand, the State of Qatar has succeeded in diversifying its strategic relations, in east and west, by providing it with diversified allies that it can count on in international forums. However, he added, the biggest gains ever is what Qatar achieved at the economic level. The blockade enabled the State of Qatar to liberate its economy from dependency on neighbouring countries in exceptional circumstances, after the state established, in a short time, factories and small and medium enterprises, and an infrastructure that provided Qatari consumers and Qatari investors food items and services that were being imported from neighbouring countries, and that too with better quality.
“These companies and institutions are contributing to achieving the self-sufficiency and food security of the state, as well as they are actively contributing to building the foundations for diversification of the Qatari economy and its sources of income, in preparation for the post-oil and gas phase.
“We have seen the positive results of the improvement of the Qatari economy during the global crisis due to coronovirus pandemic, during which the Qatari economy was able to withstand the supply shock in the basic materials and production of drugs,” Hamidou said.
He also emphasized that all indications, then, point out that Qatar has become stronger after the siege than it was before, and by its insistence and fixed positions that are not subject to bargaining. It has gained respect among even its worst enemies, and thus its words in regional and international forums will be more influencing than before.
However, he said, the most important is that the government and people of Qatar have shown a high degree of maturity in dealing with the fake information released by the siege countries.
From the first sight of the crisis, official and unofficial sides of the country have not resorted to rhetoric or to argue other’s opinion. The State of Qatar has demonstrated the development of its morals as a state and the morals of its people. They are the ones who respect all the appreciation of the people of the entire Gulf Cooperation Council, based on their awareness that the people of the Gulf Cooperation Council are an extension of same people whose blood and tribes mixed, despite the differences.
