Qatar’s stance to mediate in inhumane Israel-Palestine conflict and its humanitarian aid to Palestinians

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In this on-going 14-day crisis, Israel and Hamas have increased their attacks, costing many lives, especially the ones of Palestinian civilians. Since the beginning of the current crisis on July 8, 508 Palestinian civilians have died and 2,700 are wounded, including many women and children, following its deadly peak on Sunday with the Israeli ground operation that started on Thursday killing 268 of those 508 Palestinian.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced on Tuesday an increase in attacks and offense after Egypt’s attempts to achieve a ceasefire that day had failed. Egypt had tried to reach a truce between Israel and Palestine, that was accepted by Israel, but rejected by Hamas due to a lack of communication and negotiations between Egypt and Hamas prior to the planned ceasefire. On Thursday however, a four hour long humanitarian ceasefire took place between the two sides, leaving humans living in Israel and Palestine without fear for their lives and their loved ones for a few hours.

The attacks of Israel from their air force, military and now their ground offense are inhumane and need to stop, as Palestine’s military’s disadvantage and lack of weaponry make this not a war, but a brutal and merciless genocide of the Palestinian civilians. In this conflict, international intervention is needed and a solution for an effective ceasefire and end of occupation of Palestinian territory necessary.

Now Qatar is seen to possibly play a key role in mediation due to its good connections to Hamas and the West. Qatar seeks to mediate and communicate the demands made by Hamas and wait for the conditions of Israel presented by the United States, as a government official in Qatar revealed to Reuters. If a truce brokered by Qatar will be accepted by Israel is not guaranteed, as Israel sees Qatar’s good connection as a threat and fears that Qatar would be biased towards Hamas in negotiations.

Many countries have reached out to Qatar to help by using its influence to achieve a truce. On July 11, John Kerry, US Secretary of State conducted a phone call to discuss developments in the Gaza Strip and ways to intervene with Minister of Foreign Affairs in Qatar, HE Khalid bin Mohammed Al- Attiyah. On the 18^th, HE Khalid bin Mohammed Al- Attiyah also reviewed recent conditions in Gaza with the French and Norwegian Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Borge Brende. Two days ago, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached out to HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to debate means to end Israeli aggression and protect Palestinians, exposed to the flagrant and inhumane violations in Gaza.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE Khalid bin Mohammed Al- Attiyah, then led Qatar’s delegation to an emergency Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at Arab League headquarters in Cairo where he stated that he “comes under exceptional and complex circumstances due to the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in an unfortunate and inhumane scene of killings, arrests and house demolitions as well as other aggressive acts that constitute a challenge to the International Community and a flagrant violation of the international law, human values and the international conventions on human rights”, according to Qatar State News Agency (QNA).

He also emphasized Israel’s breach of truce agreements in the past, giving the example of the ceasefire of the 8-day war in 2012, which Hamas seeks to recommit to together with Israel.

QNA also highlighted, “HE the Foreign Minister warned that in front of the failure of the Security Council to stand with the truth, respond to the voice of human conscience against injustice and, take a positive and effective attitude to issue a decision of an immediate halt to Israeli attacks, the continuation of this aggression will lead to dire results in the entire region.“ The Foreign Minister Al- Attiyah believes that a joined Arab action needs to take place for the support of Palestine.

On July 11, the Speaker of the Arab Parliament, Ahmed Mohammed Al- Jarwa called for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to stop the Israeli occupation and genocide, and criticized the unacceptable international silence.

In humanitarian efforts, Qatar has already donated £ 500 million to Palestine, but continues to call for intervention in order to achieve a ceasefire. Just Staurday night, a conference was held at the Four Seasons Hotel, with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, where HE, Foreign Minister Al- Attiyah criticized the lack of interest of the international community and their moral and humanitarian responsibility towards the Palestinians suffering and stated the support from a list of countries who will help and contribute to Qatar’s efforts to achieve peace. Ban Ki-moon, who regrets the Israeli escalation, met yesterday with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and HH the Emir, who said that a failure to achieve a truce would end in serious humanitarian consequences.

On Sunday, HH the Emir also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived in Doha the same day, to discuss the developments in Gaza, as well as emphasizing the importance of international intervention. HH, the Emir then stated Qatar’s stance to end Israeli occupation and genocide of Palestinians.

This conflict between Israel and Palestine, resulting in genocide of innocent civilians can no longer go on. Means to mediate are being discussed to put an immediate stop to the Israeli occupation and inhumane attacks, but what can you do?

Qatar itself donating £ 500 million as humanitarian aid to Gaza emphasizes its support to the Palestinians, and there are charities available you can donate to for Palestine.

In January, Qatar Charity donated 1 million US Dollars to Palestinian refugees, and during this crisis, various options are applicable for your donation, such as donations for shelter, food and medical aid. You can choose where your money will aid the people of Palestine.

Raise awareness on social media platforms, as HE Foreign Minister Al- Attiyah stated the lack of international interest and Speaker of the Arab Parliament Ahmed Mohammed Al- Jarwa criticized the international silence. It is also our very responsibility to raise awareness and reach out to inform others about the circumstances of this conflict, to end the silence and avoid others from obtaining news from biased media coverage.

Thirdly, some people have called on boycotting companies that are supporting the struggle and/or supporting the Israeli occupation. Boycotts continue to show success, as in the UK in June 2014, for example, the department store chain John Lewis stopped its sale of SodaStream products due to pressure from the public and the lack of sales.

Some people have been sharing lists of companies to boycott, but we thought we'd list their reasoning below. Of course at the end of the day, it's up to you to decide what you think is the best alternative to the issue at hand. Remember, boycotting can also hurt innocent franchisees. Another alternative is to write a letter to the companies to voice your concerns. The list is comprised of international companies supporting Israel in its occupation of Palestinian land, that you can avoid using or buying from in order to help end the violations against human rights the Israeli occupation commits. Boycott, Disinvest and Sanctions (BDS) is an international campaign using economic and political pressure to end the occupation and support the human rights of Palestinians. Think before you buy and show your support on Twitter or Facebook using #BDSinQatar, thus further raising awareness.


Motorola Solutions	Motorola has installed a virtual fence to detect human movement in the West bank on occupied territory and in the Separation Wall complex keeping Palestinians from moving near Israeli settlements. Motorola has also provided a system called “Mountain rose”, which is used for communication between Israeli soldiers. In January 2014 Motorola signed a 15-year contract to assist the Israeli army in further services as such.
L’Oreal	L’Oreal Israel uses resources from occupied territory in the West Bank where it sells beauty products in absolute Apartheid territories.
McDonald’s	McDonald’s in Israel follows a policy of employing Israelis only, also in occupied areas of Palestine. It is also a major partner of the Jewish United Fund (JUW), which supports the apartheid and infrastructure and education in occupied Palestinian land.
Starbucks	The chairman of Starbucks is pro-Israeli, and has portrayed Palestinians often as terrorist and America’s common enemy and has sponsored many of Israel’s apartheid and occupation causes.
The Limited	The Limited’s Founder and CEO Leslie Wexner is board member of the pro-Israeli Emet News Service, and has views Palestinians and Muslims as terrorists in his pro Israeli propaganda.
Ahava	Ahava sells cosmetics that are supposed to come from Israel manufactured from illegal settlement in Mitzpe Shalem occupied by Israel.
Agrexco	Exports flowers, vegetables, fruits and herbs in Israel, Palestine and occupied territory. In 2006, Agrexco admitted to 60-70 of its harvests coming from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Hadiklaim	Hadiklaim is Israel’s largest dates’ export company. The dates come from the occupied Jordan Valley and Dead Sea area, and other Israeli settlements.
Africa Israel Investments LTD.	Africa Israel builds settler homes and housing in occupied territory and is responsible for Israeli settlement in Zufim and Zufim North in the West Bank.
SodaStreams	The main Plant of SodaStream is located in Mishor Edomin, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
Eden Springs	Eden Springs uses water from the occupied territory Golan Heights.
Keter	Keter is an international plastic product company and has factories in the Barkan industrial zone which is Israeli occupied territory of Palestine.
Nestlé	Nestlé owns 53% of Israel’s main food manufacturer Osem and has 9 factories in Israel, which is after China and Russia the largest number of factories in a single country, thus investing greatly in Israel.
Caterpillar	Tools of Caterpillar are used in house demolitions in occupied areas and in wall separation in Gaza. The Israeli army has used D9 bulldozers of Caterpillar and other tools specially made for warfare. Caterpillar provided equipment in 2012 to build the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem high speed Train that supports apartheid and is built on Palestinian land.
Cemex	Provides material for construction and infrastructure in Israeli settlements and owns Israeli Readymix Industries which has its main plants in the occupied West Bank.
Heidelberg Cement	Heidelberg is the largest cement producer in the world and owns three major plants formerly owned by Hanson and exploits resources in the occupied West Bank.
HP (Hewlett Packard)	HP owns Electronic Data Systems which provides a biometric monitoring systems at checkpoints and in the occupied West Bank which violates international laws. HP is used for outsourcing in Israel’s navy’s IT infrastructure. The Israeli navy has often attacked ships of Gaza’s fishermen and ships bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Veola Environment	Veola is involved in many organizations supporting occupation. It has provides waste dumps in the occupied regions in the West Bank.
Aluma	Aluma exports fruits and vegetables from the occupied Golan Heights, Jordan Valley and Dead Sea area.
Terra	Terra exports agricultural harvests with its main headquarters in Israel. Labels and boxes of the company were found in settlers’ houses in the Jordan Valley.
Mega Print	The company produces clothing and has its headquarters in the Barkan industrial zone.
IDB Group	The IDB Group controls Cellcom Israel, operating in occupied territory and other companies controlling walls and checkpoints and Israeli construction on the occupied land.
Edom UK	In 2013, packing houses contained products of Edom in Beit Ha’arava which is occupied territory. Edom’s Chairman Jimmy Russo resigned and sold his shareholding. Prior to the findings, Edom denied having any packing houses in occupied land.
K-9 Solutions	Is involved in the private security of the occupation, walls and checkpoints, by providing dogs at checkpoints to search the Palestinian people.
Ackerstein Industries	Produces concrete elements for construction in infrastructure in occupied areas of the West Bank and for the separation wall, in areas near Beit Horon.
Avi Cranes	The company provides cranes and trucks for maintaining and construction of the separation wall.
Volvo Group	The Volvo Group holds shares of Merkavim, which is an Israeli company providing bus service which transports Palestinian political prisoner’s from occupied areas to prisons in Israel. Their bulldozers and trucks continue to be used to demolish houses and construct military checkpoints.
Liebherr	Tools made by this company are used to construct and maintain the separation wall.
Falcon Technologies	Falcon Technologies supplies equipment for the control system for the separation wall.
CNH Industrial	CNH is involved in the Israeli construction on occupied Palestinian land, through providing tools for the construction as well as for the separation wall and checkpoints.
BlueBird Aero Systems	UAV’ (unmanned aerial vehicles) are provided to Israeli army and airforce and used during attacks on Gaza.
	military unit in occupied areas in Jordan Valley, the West Bank and the Israel-Egypt border.
Chic Design Industries	Chic Design produces furniture and has factories located in the Barkan industrial zone, which is occupied territory.
Cement Roadstone Holdings	Cement Roadstone Holdings have 25% shareholding of the company Mashav which owns Nesher, which provided cement for the separation wall, the checkpoints and infrastructure in the occupied regions. In 2004, Amnesty International asked for clarification of Nesher’s involvement in the building of the wall, and Nesher admitted to having built it with their cement.
Siemens	Supports construction of traffic control system on apartheid roads, on Palestinian territory. International law prohibits any construction of roads that only for the use of Israelis only on Palestinian territory
Blockbuster	Blockbusters has shops in illegal settlements and on occupied Palestinian land.
Castro	On of the companies locations is in a shopping mall in Ma'ale Adumim which is in the occupied West Bank.
Dexia Group	Dexia Group in Israel loans money to municipalities in occupied territories and illegal settlements.
Partner Communications (Orange)	Partner Communications installed a number exceeding 320 antennas and telecommunication infrastructure facilities on occupied areas in the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
RE/MAX	RE/MAX is located in the Green line offering real estate, housing and apartments in all main West Bank occupied areas.
Allied Holdings	Allied Holdings is a fund owning Emcolment which offers vehicles to Israel for maintaining and building checkpoints and roads in occupied territory.
Covenant Group	Had a contract to build tunnels and roads through the occupied areas. The companies is also involved in building housing and infrastructure on illegal settlements, through owning large shareholdings of Israeli companies.
Dekel Archer Group	Dekel Archer Group has had housing projects in the occupied Golan Heights and owns Galil Power, which installs and operates wind turbines there.
Boeing	Boeing supplies the Israeli airforce with aircraft and missile systems in attacks on Palestines, especially during the assault in 2008. Aircrafts supplied include the F-15 Eagle and the AH-64 Apache.
Carmel Holdings	Carmel owns factories and warehouses in illegal settlements of Shahak and Barkan in the West Bank.