Emirates accuses the Qatari media of undermining efforts to resolve the crisis

The Gulf Cooperation Council will hold its annual summit on 5 January 2021, almost a month later than planned, amidst the talks that several of its members have been engaged in since 2017 in a diplomatic conflict that could come to an end at that date.  

On Tuesday, however, the minister of state and foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash, accused the Qatari media of "undermining" the efforts under way to end the crisis between Doha and several of its neighbours.  

Gargash did not specify which media he was referring to, but his comments came the day after a reporter from a Qatari television station in Al-Jazeera reported that his phone and those of dozens of his colleagues had been hacked. An expert investigation in Canada, on which the journalist relied, said countries in the region could be behind the hacking.   

"The political and social atmosphere in the Arab Gulf is geared towards ending the political crisis and towards the best way to ensure Doha's commitment to any agreement that will benefit the region," he said through his Twitter account, without pointing to any particular medium.  

On Twitter, the Emirati minister welcomed the "social and political climate in the Gulf" as conducive to ending the crisis with Qatar, but added that "the Qatari media platforms seem determined to undermine any agreement. It is a strange phenomenon and difficult to explain".  

One of the elements that explain these disputes is the Qatari giant Al-Jazeera, a media whose information has given rise to continuous friction with its neighbouring countries. In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain blocked internet access to several Qatari media.   

Among the list of requests imposed by these countries to lift the veto is the channel, however Qatar denies accusations of supporting Islamist movements and fuelling unrest in the region through its media.   

Qatar has shown itself willing to negotiate, but rejects the capitulation demanded of it, which includes, among other things, closing down the television channel and ceasing to finance other media, including Arabi21 , Rassd, Al-Araby al-Jadeed and Middle East Eye.  

The document specifies that both Al-Jazeera and all its affiliates should be closed down. Al-Jazeera, which is over 20 years old, is one of the most popular Arab satellite channels. Its satellite signal and internet access to all of the channel's channels, including sports channels, have been blocked by the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. The channel has long been accused of providing a platform for Islamist movements and disagreements in the region, which the channel denies.  

In 2017, the network called it a "desperate attempt to silence the free media" and to reduce freedom of opinion and press in the Middle East. The media group released a written statement reaffirming its intention to continue working "without any restrictions by governments or entities. 

"We have been accused of bias, of catalyzing the Arab spring, of having an agenda and of favouring one group over another. We reject these accusations and our screens are a testimony to our integrity," said the text circulated by Al-Jazeera, which refers to its website. "We defend freedom of expression and believe in the right of people to knowledge. We do not take sides, we are not messengers or spokespersons and we have never been," he insisted.