Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DOHA1237
2006-08-17 14:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Doha
Cable title:  

PALESTINIAN DIASPORA IN QATAR: C-NE6-00547

Tags:  PINR KPAL QA 
pdf how-to read a cable
R 171405Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5400
INFO GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY AMMAN 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN 
AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 001237 


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2016
TAGS: PINR KPAL QA
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN DIASPORA IN QATAR: C-NE6-00547

REF: STATE 113998

Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 001237


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2016
TAGS: PINR KPAL QA
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN DIASPORA IN QATAR: C-NE6-00547

REF: STATE 113998

Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Embassy officer spoke to several Palestinian
private-sector businessmen on issues facing the community in
Qatar. They viewed the election of Hamas as a protest vote
but believed Hamas should have been given a better chance to
govern and through governance, adapt to the reality of the
peace process. There are no clear views on Hamass entry into
the PLO, although Palestinians in Qatar tend to favor Fatah
and its views. The votingmechanism for the PLO is not clear
among the Palstinian diaspora here. End Summary.

Hamas Electon Victory
--------------


2. (C) Paletinians in Qatar felt that prior to the election
f Hamas the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) had made many
concessions to the Israelis in the past several years and got
nothing in return. The Israelis continued military
interventions and killings, rejected the Road Map, and
withdrew from Gaza without P.A. cooperation, contacts said.
Palestian negotiators were not taken seriously and the people
felt "depressed." Thus the vote for Hamas was a vote to end
futile compromises.


3. (C) Palestinian and Arab contacts told us after the
election that Hamas had come to power through the ballot box
as the West wanted. The U.S. should accept the results and
give Hamas time to adapt as it grapples with the
responsibility of government.


4. (C) Palestinians seem to be somewhat less concerned than
their Qatari hosts about the spread of Islamic parties in the
region because such a phenomenon would be viewed in relation
to the accumulated sufferings of the Palestinian people.

Fatah Stronger in Qatar
--------------


5. (C) Hamas does not have a major base of support in Qatar,
despite the fact that Khalid Meshaal resided in Doha in the
late 1990s. Hamas does not have an official office in the
country. The majority of Palestinians in Doha support or have
connections to the Fatah movement: P.A. president Mahmoud
Abbas lived in Qatar for a long period, where he worked in
the Ministry of Education; the current Palestinian Ambassador
is a Fatah official. On the other hand, the influential
cleric Dr. Yousef al-Qaradawi, a naturalized Qatari and a
product of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, has links to Hamas and
is defender of Hamas's terrorist actions against Israel.

Religious Views
--------------


6. (C) The Palestinian community is diverse in its religious
views, but the clear majority favors a moderate and tolerant
practice. At the wealthy end of the economic spectrum, some
hold liberal and secular views mixed with a European social
attitude. Hard-line Salafi views have penetrated some
families in the professional middle classes.


7. (C) A majority of the Palestinians in Qatar are from the
Gaza Strip -- from families that were outside Gaza at the
time of the 1967 war. This region of historic Palestine was
more socially conservative than the West Bank. It is some of
these families that became increasingly conservative in the
1970s and 1980s. There are between 12,000 and 18,000
Palestinians in Doha, although the number is hard to fix
because they hold a variety of passports and travel
documents.

PLO and Elections
--------------


8. (C) The entry of Hamas into the PLO is not a topic that is
actively discussed. Of course, Palestinians are aware that
entry into the organization would mean that Hamas would have
to resolve its positions on Israel and Oslo, but this is
treated as an interesting political question rather than
something constituents should take sides on.


9. (C) The focus of Palestinian political activity is the
Palestinian Embassy, which coordinates official visits and
organizes community events. The embassy is one of the oldest
Palestinian missions.


10. (C) Palestinians are generally not aware of plans for a
Palestinian National Congress. Recollections of the previous
Congress are vague. Control of the PNC/Palestine Liberation
Organization is not a "hot topic" among the majority of
Palestinians in Doha today, but it could be more current
among Hamas supporters. Among all, deteriorating economic,
social, and security conditions in the Gaza Strip are issues
for discussion.


UNTERMEYER