Bin

The leader known as Qatar’s father emir was able to redefine his nation’s position on the political map of the Middle East.

From a tiny state struggling to survive to a country punching above its weight with soft power, wealth and influence felt in the region and beyond, Qatar and its success story were propelled by late Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Sheikh Hamad, who died on Sunday aged 74, was able to redefine Qatar’s position on the political map of the Middle East, moving it from the margins of the Gulf to regional prominence in the political, diplomatic, national and humanitarian fields, relying on his vision that transcended the country’s modest size and narrow borders.

Those who knew Sheikh Hamad said he was aware, even before assuming power in 1995, of his country’s lack of traditional elements of strength and understood the need to invest in soft power.

From the early days of his reign, he implemented enormous projects in education, health, scientific research and sports in addition to the vital energy sector, transforming his country’s wealth into international diplomatic weight and not merely a source of prosperity for his own people. The former emir also understood the power of media when he created Al Jazeera, one of the most successful news channels in the Arab world, which later transformed into a powerful media network.

Qatari diplomacy led fruitful mediations in complex disputes and conflicts across a vast geographic expanse from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Horn of Africa.

Doha brought together leaders in Lebanon in 2008, concluding a historic agreement that quelled the risk of another civil war. Qatar sponsored negotiations that lasted 30 months between the Sudanese parties over the Darfur crisis, culminating in 2011 in the signing of the Doha Document for Peace.

Qatar continued to sponsor dialogue between Hamas and Fatah, the two sides in the Palestinian divide, and settled disputes in Yemen and Somalia and between Eritrea and Djibouti in a rare diplomatic model.

During the Father Emir’s era, Qatar established the Al Udeid military base, which hosts the largest United States military force in the Middle East. Not far from it, Doha hosted the leadership of Hamas, a stance that prompted some residents to describe Sheikh Hamad as the “emir of the resistance” when he visited southern Lebanon in 2010 to inspect villages that had been rebuilt with Qatari funding after the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war.

He was the first Arab leader to visit the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the Israeli war in 2012, announcing from there the launch of housing and reconstruction projects with a grant worth $400m.

Qatar’s mediation role remained shielded from affecting its political principles, especially the Palestinian cause, considering it had to maintain open communication channels with all parties to the conflicts, including Israel.

The Gulf state supported the “Arab Spring” revolutions, and it adopted policies that explicitly backed the right of the region’s peoples to freedom and dignified lives.

The Qatari project during the father emir’s era was not focused solely on economic modernisation but also built an independent political identity capable of regional and international influence.

Sheikh Hamad left his post in 2013 after his vision for Qatar became a reality, and during the era of his son and successor, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, he witnessed Qatar’s transformation into an energy and mediation power.

Qatar’s Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has died at the age of 74. During his 18 years in power, he transformed Qatar into a global energy, diplomatic and media powerhouse, overseeing the expansion of its LNG industry, the founding of Al Jazeera, and the country’s rise on the world stage.
He stepped down voluntarily in 2013, handing power to his son, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Mohammed Jamjoom looks back at his life and legacy.

The architect of modern Qatar, former Emir ⁠Sheikh Hamad bin ⁠Khalifa Al Thani, has died at the age of 74.

Fondly known as Father Emir, ⁠Sheikh Hamad, who ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013, leaves behind a legacy that includes sweeping economic, social and cultural reforms in Qatar, raising the Gulf country’s profile on the regional and global stage.

During his 18-year rule, Qatar’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew more than 24-fold as the small nation of nearly 2.5 million people became one of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Sheikh Hamad’s tenure also saw the adoption of Qatar’s permanent constitution and the launch of the Qatar National Vision 2030, a long-term strategy aimed at transforming the country into a knowledge-based economy and achieving sustainable development.

Here is a look at some key moments in the former Qatari emir’s life:

Path to leadership

Born in January 1952 in Doha, Sheikh Hamad was raised and received his early education in the city.

In 1971, he graduated from the British Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, United Kingdom, and joined the Qatar armed forces, where he reached the rank of major-general. He was credited with playing a pivotal role in developing the armed forces in terms of ordnance, according to a statement by the Amiri Diwan.

On May 31, 1977, Sheikh Hamad was appointed the heir apparent and minister of defence. On May 10, 1989, he was appointed the chairman of the Supreme Council for Planning, where he was tasked with developing Qatar’s social and economic policies.

After a successful career in the military and senior government positions, Sheikh Hamad assumed leadership of Qatar on June 27, 1995. He remained the ruler of Qatar until June 25, 2013, when he transferred power to his son, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Economic transformation

Under Sheikh Hamad’s leadership, Qatar saw rapid economic growth driven by the expansion of its energy sector.

He viewed the country’s untapped North Field, which is the largest nonassociated natural gasfield in the world, as the cornerstone of Qatar’s future economic dominance, and invested heavily in the LNG sector. In 1996, the country began exporting LNG, with the first shipment sent to Japan.

According to the Amiri Diwan, in 2006, Qatar became the largest LNG exporter in the world, and in 2010, its LNG production capacity reached 77 million tonnes per annum. Qatar’s LNG exports currently represent 20 percent of the global market, it said.

Besides the energy sector, Sheikh Hamad also formulated comprehensive reconstruction plans which helped Qatar’s development in the education, healthcare, sports, culture and media sectors.

In October 2001, he established the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment to oversee the economy, energy and investment affairs and diversify local and foreign investments and sources of income.

Press freedom and launch of Al Jazeera

A few months after taking office as the emir of Qatar, in October 1995, Sheikh Hamad abolished the censorship of the local press, seeking to improve the country’s press freedom status.

In 1996, he launched the Al Jazeera Media Network, which resulted in “a new dawn” in the Arab and international media world, according to the Amiri Diwan.

Since its launch, Al Jazeera has become one of the world’s most prominent media outlets covering global news, geopolitics and underreported topics and giving a voice to minority communities through its stories.

In August 1995, Sheikh Hamad founded Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, which helped expand the country’s influence in media, education, and innovation.

Constitution and national vision

Sheikh Hamad played a key role in introducing democratic measures in the country after he assumed power. In March 1999, he introduced municipal elections, in which women were allowed to vote and stand as candidates.

On June 8, 2004, Sheikh Hamad led Qatar to adopt its first permanent constitution.

According to the Amiri Diwan, the permanent constitution sets out the country’s “preamble, the foundations of democratic rule” and lays out the “basic pillar” for society to guarantee the rights and freedoms of Qatar’s citizens.

In 2004, Sheikh Hamad launched “Qatar National Vision 2030” to guide the country’s long-term development and modernisation and help it transform into a knowledge-based economy.

Global profile

Qatar’s political influence today stretches across North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with the country using its diplomacy to mediate several conflicts.

Sheikh Hamad drove the country’s mediation efforts in conflicts including the Hanish Islands dispute between Eritrea and Yemen in 1995, the Yemen war between 2007 and 2010, the Lebanese political crisis in 2008 and the Darfur peace process between 2010 and 2011, among others.

In October 2012, he became the first Arab leader to visit Gaza, since the imposition of a widespread international boycott of the Palestinian territory, which was spurred after Hamas began its rule in 2006.

Sheikh Hamad arrived with 90 tonnes of aid and pledged $400m to invest in housing and infrastructure, as he embraced the Hamas leadership of Gaza with an official visit, breaking the isolation of the Palestinian movement, much to the dismay of Israel, its allies, as well as the Western-backed Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank.

Besides diplomacy, the late former leader also focused on improving Qatar’s international status by projecting the country as a suitable venue for global sports and entertainment events.

In 2022, Qatar hosted the men’s FIFA World Cup, the world’s most-watched football tournament. Sheikh Hamad received rapturous applause from fans when he attended the tournament’s opening match.

⁠Qatar’s former Emir ⁠Sheikh Hamad bin ⁠Khalifa Al Thani ‌has died at the age of ⁠74, the country’s Amiri ⁠Diwan said.

“With hearts steadfast in faith in God’s decree and destiny, the Amiri Diwan mourns the great loss to the nation of the late – may God have mercy on him – His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who passed away this morning,” the Amiri Diwan said in a statement on Sunday.

More to come…

Last week, a prominent Saudi Sheikh, Mohammed Al-Issa, visited the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its liberation, which signalled the end of the Nazi Holocaust. Although dozens of Muslim scholars have visited the site, where about one million Jews were killed during World War Two, according to the Auschwitz Memorial Centre’s press office, Al-Issa is the most senior Muslim religious leader to do so.

Visiting Auschwitz is not a problem for a Muslim; Islam orders Muslims to reject unjustified killing of any human being, no matter what their faith is. Al-Issa is a senior ally of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), who apparently cares little for the sanctity of human life, though, and the visit to Auschwitz has very definite political connotations beyond any Islamic context.

By sending Al-Issa to the camp, Bin Salman wanted to show his support for Israel, which exploits the Holocaust for geopolitical colonial purposes. “The Israeli government decided that it alone was permitted to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied liberation of Auschwitz [in modern day Poland] in 1945,” wrote journalist Richard Silverstein recently when he commented on the gathering of world leaders in Jerusalem for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Holocaust event.

READ: Next up, a Saudi embassy in Jerusalem 

Bin Salman uses Al Issa for such purposes, as if to demonstrate his own Zionist credentials. For example, the head of the Makkah-based Muslim World League is leading rapprochement efforts with Evangelical Christians who are, in the US at least, firm Zionists in their backing for the state of Israel. Al-Issa has called for a Muslim-Christian-Jewish interfaith delegation to travel to Jerusalem in what would, in effect, be a Zionist troika.

Zionism is not a religion, and there are many non-Jewish Zionists who desire or support the establishment of a Jewish state in occupied Palestine. The definition of Zionism does not mention the religion of its supporters, and Israeli writer Sheri Oz, is just one author who insists that non-Jews can be Zionists.

Mohammad Bin Salman and Netanyahu – Cartoon [Tasnimnews.com/Wikipedia]

We should not be shocked, therefore, to see a Zionist Muslim leader in these trying times. It is reasonable to say that Bin Salman’s grandfather and father were Zionists, as close friends of Zionist leaders. Logic suggests that Bin Salman comes from a Zionist dynasty.

This has been evident from his close relationship with Zionists and positive approaches to the Israeli occupation and establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, calling it “[the Jews’] ancestral homeland”. This means that he has no issue with the ethnic cleansing of almost 800,000 Palestinians in 1948, during which thousands were killed and their homes demolished in order to establish the Zionist state of Israel.

“The ‘Jewish state’ claim is how Zionism has tried to mask its intrinsic Apartheid, under the veil of a supposed ‘self-determination of the Jewish people’,” wrote Israeli blogger Jonathan Ofir in Mondoweiss in 2018, “and for the Palestinians it has meant their dispossession.”

As the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Bin Salman has imprisoned dozens of Palestinians, including representatives of Hamas. In doing so he is serving Israel’s interests. Moreover, he has blamed the Palestinians for not making peace with the occupation state. Bin Salman “excoriated the Palestinians for missing key opportunities,” wrote Danial Benjamin in Moment magazine. He pointed out that the prince’s father, King Salman, has played the role of counterweight by saying that Saudi Arabia “permanently stands by Palestine and its people’s right to an independent state with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.”

UN expert: Saudi crown prince behind hack on Amazon CEO 

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid of Israel’s Channel 13 News reported Bin Salman as saying: “In the last several decades the Palestinian leadership has missed one opportunity after the other and rejected all the peace proposals it was given. It is about time the Palestinians take the proposals and agree to come to the negotiations table or shut up and stop complaining.” This is reminiscent of the words of the late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban, one of the Zionist founders of Israel, that the Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

Bin Salman’s Zionism is also very clear in his bold support for US President Donald Trump’s deal of the century, which achieves Zionist goals in Palestine at the expense of Palestinian rights. He participated in the Bahrain conference, the forum where the economic side of the US deal was announced, where he gave “cover to several other Arab countries to attend the event and infuriated the Palestinians.”

US President Donald Trump looks over at Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud as they line up for the family photo during the opening day of Argentina G20 Leaders’ Summit 2018 at Costa Salguero on 30 November 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina [Daniel Jayo/Getty Images]

While discussing the issue of the current Saudi support for Israeli policies and practices in Palestine with a credible Palestinian official last week, he told me that the Palestinians had contacted the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to ask him not to relocate his country’s embassy to Jerusalem. “The Saudis have been putting pressure on us in order to relocate our embassy to Jerusalem,” replied the Brazilian leader. What more evidence of Mohammad Bin Salman’s Zionism do we need?

The founder of Friends of Zion Museum is American Evangelical Christian Mike Evans. He said, after visiting a number of the Gulf States, that, “The leaders [there] are more pro-Israel than a lot of Jews.” This was a specific reference to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, and his counterpart in the UAE, Mohammed Bin Zayed.

“All versions of Zionism lead to the same reactionary end of unbridled expansionism and continued settler colonial genocide of [the] Palestinian people,” Israeli-American writer and photographer Yoav Litvin wrote for Al Jazeera. We may well see an Israeli Embassy opened in Riyadh in the near future, and a Saudi Embassy in Tel Aviv or, more likely, Jerusalem. Is Mohammad Bin Salman a Zionist? There’s no doubt about it.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.