The 16th Doha Forum organized by Qatar’s foreign ministry, was attended by heads of state from South Africa, Afghanistan, Yemen, Mauritius, and Niger, as well as Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General.
The foreign minister of Qatar, SheikhMohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani , stressed the need to support human rights and increase security for the people of the Middle East and around the world.
In a speech he said: “Repression, tyranny, double standards and violating human rights and basic freedoms constitute the underlying threats to elements of human security.”
'Together, we can move from aspiration to action,' #UNSG Ban tells leaders at #DohaForum https://t.co/kgOa3ZikQ2 pic.twitter.com/vrmNsUt62a
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) May 21, 2016
Sheikh Mohammed stressed that achieving peace within the Middle East is directly linked to ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem.
He also made it clear that the main foreign policy instrument of his country is the soft diplomacy of “mediation” efforts, while at the same time “discouraging the use of force to resolve disputes”.
Many Arab leaders and governments have come to view Israel’s occupation of Palestine and its behaviour towards the Palestinians as strictly an Israeli-Palestinian problem, not an Arab one.
It is for this reason that Qatar’s official foreign policy towards the occupation and the plight of Palestinians sets it apart from the majority of the Arab world.
(AL JAZEERA, PC)
