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MEMRI Daily Brief No. 548
A Nobel Prize For Terror And Other Absurdities
By: Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez
It is anyone's guess how exactly or when the Hamas-Israel War in Gaza will actually end. There is great external pressure on Israel to stop its response to Hamas's October 7 invasion. There is also a great internal pressure on the Israeli government by the Israeli people to continue fighting. Winners and losers are subjective categories and especially so in dynamic, conflict-ridden situations but, leaving aside the two immediate belligerents we can certainly judge who or what – at this particular juncture – has “gained” the most so far from the conflict. I expect that at the end of the war and beyond some of those who seemed to have gained the most will eventually turn out to be losers but that is a historic thread that has yet to be played out.
Those regimes or things that have “gained” the most – so far – from the conflict are Iran, Qatar, Islam, and antisemitism. This is, in my view, an obvious observation with plenty of evidence to back it up.
Iran has gained by the implementation of parts of its vast, diffuse network of armed proxies against Israel. While it may eventually lose a card in Gaza, Iran has shown that its network has teeth and can be used to project power over long distances not only against Israel but against the United States. While its close allies and proteges in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad engaged directly with the Israelis, its proxies in Syria and Iraq pressed the Americans directly in their bases. While distant Yemen lobbed ballistic missiles and drones against Israel and intervened against shipping in the Red Sea, Iran's proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, pursued a middle path of some aggression against the Israelis but not enough to invite a massive response. At least not yet. Hezbollah has sustained some real losses and Houthi Yemen may eventually feel some pain, but the Iranian proxy network has been shown to be a real tool. That is a gain for Iran.
Iran has also gained diplomatically, as nations seek its help in resolving their hostage crises, as Thailand and others have done. And all the attention on Israel-Hamas, has shifted the focus away from Iran's other projects. Not only did the Americans authorize billions of dollars in payments to Iran during the war, but UN sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program expired on October 18. Iran's military industrial complex and its weapons exports seem poised to grow at exactly the same time that its missiles (and copies of Iran's missiles) are being launched from Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria.
Qatar, the key diplomatic, media and financial patron of Hamas, has also gained at this stage in the war. A cynical actor playing the role of both arsonist and fireman in Hamas's campaign, it has positioned itself as the supposed essential mediator on hostages and on the war in general while representing Hamas and hosting solicitous senior American and Israeli intelligence officials in Doha. Qatar's immediate goal is to save Hamas from destruction by securing an early ceasefire. Beyond that, it wants to promote the rise of Islamist groups anywhere it can, east or west, but especially it wants to see Hamas replace Fateh/PLO as the principal representatives of the Palestinian cause, “normalizing” Hamas.
Beyond those goals of projecting power and helping its ideological allies are personal and institutional ambitions. Qatar dreams of even greater triumphs and influence. In January 2023, Arabic-language media trumpeted a piece in an obscure Spanish newspaper suggesting that Emir Tamim Bin Hamid Al-Thani should be considered for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. A cursory check reveals that it was not even a Spaniard who suggested this but rather a Moroccan columnist in the paper. That bit was omitted in the Arabic coverage.
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 10676
Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, Mother Of The Emir Of Qatar: Artificial Intelligence Was Used To Fabricate Stories In The Gaza War And To Block Documentation Of The Atrocities Perpetrated By Israel
Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, mother of the Emir of Qatar and chairperson of the Qatar Foundation spoke at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) about the challenges of artificial intelligence. She said that AI has been used to fabricate incidents and stories during the Gaza war, as well as to block videos and publication of the “atrocities” committed by Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank. Sheikha Moza asked which stories will be selected by AI for its historical archives. Sheikha Moza's speech was aired on Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) on November 28, 2023.
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 10683
Lebanese MP Camille Chamoun: Remember – We Shot At Israel First; There Are Other Ways To Show Solidarity With Gaza Than Military Means
Lebanese MP Camille Chamoun said in a show that was published by Spot Shot Online (Lebanon) on November 24, 2023 that Lebanese elements are the ones who started firing missiles at Israel during the war in Gaza, and not the other way around, and he said that there are ways to show solidarity with Gaza other than through military means. He criticized the clear violation of UNSC Resolution 1701, which should have secured Lebanon's southern border, adding: “We fire at them and then start complaining? What's the story?”
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 10684
Jordanian Tribal Leader Trad Muslet Al-Fayez: I Support Hamas; Jordan-Israel Peace Accord Should Be Annulled; Biden Is A Criminal, A Pig, And A Nazi, The Israelis Are Rabbits
On November 25, 2023, Abu Hussein Al-Hamidawi, secretary-general of the Hizbullah Brigades, posted a statement in which he exposed the identities of the Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militias that are members of “the Islamic Resistance in Iraq” – the name that was used in the claims of responsibility for dozens of recent attacks against American military bases in Iraq and in Syria. He revealed that in addition to his organization, other members of this entity comprise Ansar Allah Al-Awfiya, the Al-Nujaba Movement, and the Sayyid Al-Shuhada Brigades.
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 10667
Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh: Peace With Israel Is Jordan’s Strategic Choice, But A West Bank Escalation Leading To Forced Transfer Of Palestinians Would Be Tantamount To A Declaration Of War
Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said in a November 21, 2023 show on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that peace with Israel is Jordan's “strategic choice.” However, he said that if Israel breaches the peace agreement in a material and contractual manner that poses a danger to Jordan's national security, then “all our options would be on the table.”
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Pro-ISIS Outlets Slam Hamas's Affiliation With Iran Axis, Accuse Hamas Leaders of Indifference Towards Gazans; Assert That Ties With Iran-Backed Coalition Nullify Claims That The Fight For A Homeland Is Islamic
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
The prolific pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Bariqah News Agency, a Telegram channel spearheading ISIS criticism of Hamas following the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war, posted commentary discrediting Hamas's approach to the Palestinian cause and highlighting Gazans' discontent with Hamas, accusing its leadership of “collaborationism.” The channel also shared a message from the pro-ISIS media outlet Al-Battar Foundation castigating Hamas for its association with an Iran-backed coalition, saying that such ties nullify all claims that fighting for Palestine is a fight for the Islamic faith.
“Apostate Hamas Cares Only About Its Own Interests”
On November 28, 2023, Bariqah News Agency channel posted commentary arguing that the “apostate” Hamas leadership is bunkered down in underground hideouts and distributing relief aid to the group's members and families from private warehouses. Sheltered from ordinary Gazans, the leadership takes what it needs “without jostling or standing in long queues.”
“Hamas cares only about its own interests and is not concerned about the people of Gaza, no matter how many are killed,” the post added.
Gazans Blame War On Qatar-Based “Collaborationist” Leaders
Accompanying the post was a 38-second video compilation highlighting Gazans' disapproval of Hamas. The clip opened with a scene of a man interrupting Iyad Al-Buzum, spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry during a press briefing, and shouted: “Allah is enough for us… I lodge my complaint to Allah, oh Hamas!”
“For us Allah is sufficient, and He is the best disposer of affairs,” said another, followed by scene of a woman yelling in anger: “All blame goes to the Hamas dogs.”
The video concludes with a scene of a family apparently headed south as part of the humanitarian evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip, as a man directs criticism at Hamas's political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, a.k.a Abu Al-'Abd, and former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, saying: “The ones who destroyed the land are the likes of Abu Al-'Abd. You are a big collaborationist. You and Meshaal are agents.”
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