# Emir of Qatar to pay all fees to take Israeli's to court over flotilla **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 13, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045 "2010-06-13T21:28:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/21 "2010-06-14T09:56:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One of the world’s richest men, and he can’t afford a staff grammarian? Or do really wealthy guys like to show off their ability to afford more apostrophes than us common folk? these were my own words and my first language is not English ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/22 "2010-06-14T10:14:11Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Since justice is obviously his aim, I’m sure that he’d be more than willing to pony up for those legal fees as well… > > (I’m not holding my breath, however). > So, is the debate something along the lines of ‘Look how evil Israel is! Even the Emir of Qatar, an obviously righteous and unbiased individual is willing to use his own money (which he earned by doing good deeds, helping the people, feeding the squirrels and otherwise leading a good and carbon free life) to get justice! We should all now beat out chests and take up the pitch forks in our anger over Israel and it’s treatment of those poor activists who were simply attempting to break the blockade of our suffering Palestinian brethren and sistren who are struggling to get chocolate and coriander and all the other necessities of life in what is obviously a humanitarian crisis to rivals the worst atrocities of the past…\…’? > > -XT Well you could look at it from a few ways I expect. For a Muslim point of view and something which I have mentioned before there is a need for Muslims to ‘find their way back’. This is hard for me to describe so forgive my English. Muslims know that they have been very much influenced by the West and Western ways. Ways which are contrary to Islam. They know and recognise this. There is a strong movement back to basics. back to Islamic morals. Now the Emir of Qatar is probably trying to find his way back. By that I mean that it is the duty of a Muslim to protect and defend another Muslim. Then a duty to protect Jews and Christians. Since oil was found and the Arab Muslims have found wealth, they have deserted their faith and they have deserted the poor Muslim nations in favour of wealth and US and Western influences. This is against Islam. So what you have is people like Mubarak, Amr Moussa, The Emir and many others recognising that they fear the USA more than they fear God. A Muslim to fear anything more than God is unislamic. So the flotilla has kind of ignited that feeling to get back to Islam. To defend the Palestinians, other Muslims. This is not something I can write here about easily. You have to talk to Muslims to understand this. That is why Erdogan and Ahmedinejad are seen as more moral, more just and more Islamic than the corrupt oil sheikhs and despotic leaders of the Gulf and region. Maybe the Emir has had his light switched on and realised that this life is short and since he is Muslim his deeds today will dictate his fate after death. That is the feeling here. It’s not about how evil Israel is at all. It’s about how they have allowed themselves to be dictated by the West and to have lost their morals and dignity. ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/23 "2010-06-14T10:19:30Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Perhaps he could take in a few 10s of thousand Palestinians with that kind of money. None of the other Arab states seem willing. Also note that Egypt also is a participant in the blockade of Gaza; not ramifications from that action? you are you saying Palestinians should be forcibly removed from Palestine and moved to other Arab countries. Have you ever spoken to a Palestinian? Has any one of them said they want to move? They do NOT want to give up their land. Thats the point. Egypt’s Mubarak has opened indefinitely with the full backing of the Arab League the Rafah crossing. I doubt he done that for a moral sake though. He is more scared about losing his throne next year. But I may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/24 "2010-06-14T12:06:35Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One of the world’s richest men, and he can’t afford a staff grammarian? Or do really wealthy guys like to show off their ability to afford more apostrophes than us common folk? Come on, mocking a non-native speaker’s fairly trivial English writing errors is hardly adult argument. Just because his POV is… interesting and not precisely popular isn’t good excuse for this. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/25 "2010-06-14T12:46:03Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > these were my own words and my first language is not English It’s not that bad, however your habit of posting ambiguous OPs that mix your own editorializing with summaries (uncited) of presumably Arabic news sources is confusing and doesn’t match board culture here. I’d suggest clearly indicating you’re giving a summary and making direct citation to your news sources (e.g. “Emir buys big ass cars” Times, 11 June 2010, p.1 - that would doubtless reduce the miscommunication levels. > [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Well you could look at it from a few ways I expect. > > For a Muslim point of view and something which I have mentioned before there is a need for Muslims to ‘find their way back’. > > This is hard for me to describe so forgive my English. > > Muslims know that they have been very much influenced by the West and Western ways. Ways which are contrary to Islam. They know and recognise this. > There is a strong movement back to basics. back to Islamic morals. eh. Romantic clap trap. The Muslims I run into in Africa seem fairly indifferent. Never mind it strikes me as fundamentally questionable that ‘Western Ways’ have much to do with your problems, rather than your own internal social problems. > [@](#): > > Now the Emir of Qatar is probably trying to find his way back. Somehow I find this hard to believe (although it’s such romantic fuzziness it could mean anything). > [@](#): > > Since oil was found and the Arab Muslims have found wealth, they have deserted their faith and they have deserted the poor Muslim nations in favour of wealth and US and Western influences. This is against Islam. What does this even mean? That they’re corrupt self-serving gits? That is hardly news, nor is it in any way evident that Western influences has made them so, looks rather more like the sickness of Arab culture itself with all the tribal primitive squabbling. > [@](#): > > So what you have is people like Mubarak, Amr Moussa, The Emir and many others recognising that they fear the USA more than they fear God. A Muslim to fear anything more than God is unislamic. That rather presumes you know God’s will, now doesn’t it? > [@](#): > > That is why Erdogan and Ahmedinejad are seen as more moral, more just and more Islamic than the corrupt oil sheikhs and despotic leaders of the Gulf and region. Ahmedinejad? Bloody hell mate, if that’s “more islamic” then the lot of you are more fucked than one would have suspected. While I don’t much care for the American obsession with Iran, it’s frankly sheer idiocy to think of that man as moral and just when he’s responsible for bloody repression in his own country. Rather seems like “defending Muslims” can be really translated to “Arab obsessions with Israel” given the oppression in Iran of late. > [@](#): > > Maybe the Emir has had his light switched on and realised that this life is short and since he is Muslim his deeds today will dictate his fate after death. Or he’s engaged in some easy publicity seeking to shore up the home front. > [@](#): > > It’s not about how evil Israel is at all. > It’s about how they have allowed themselves to be dictated by the West and to have lost their morals and dignity. That would be a hell of a lot more convincing if in fact all the talk about this solidarity wasn’t so focused on Israel. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/26 "2010-06-14T14:04:00Z")
Oh, Marmite Lover has a point. Atfer all, if the original “truths” of Islam are found in men like Muhammed, then the “true” Islamic values definitely include gross and blatant greed, Jew-hatred, murder, and barbarian tribal raiding. So really, they are keeping up the old spirit. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/27 "2010-06-14T14:08:57Z")
> [@wmfellows](#): > > Come on, mocking a non-native speaker’s fairly trivial English writing errors is hardly adult argument. Just because his POV is… interesting and not precisely popular isn’t good excuse\* for this. Huh. The wording of the OP made it sound like it came straight from a press release, and deserving of the same mockery as that frequently directed at native English posters’ misuse of apostrophes. I wish to emphasize that I certainly was not mocking His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani (may Allah’s blessings continue to rain down on him!) Ow! And of course it is highly praiseworthy and just that His Excellency has intervened in this matter (may his fortune ever increase!) Quit! \*you’re short an article here, I believe Stop that! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/28 "2010-06-14T14:11:00Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > By that I mean that it is the duty of a Muslim to protect and defend another Muslim. Kind of funny that you say that, because I visited Doha this year. There’s lots of Muslim workers imported from other countries – the Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, elsewhere, and some percentage of those are Muslim. And Qatar has absolutely horrible laws that promote the abuse, exploitation, and maltreatment of these workers. The Emir I think can be lauded for a number of things he has done, but the idea that he stands to defend the poor Muslims who are literally building his country from nothing is just not the case at all. But when it comes time to take a stand against Israel, well, that’s no problem at all. [Read this.](http://www.solidaritycenter.org/content.asp?contentid=632) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/29 "2010-06-16T06:35:28Z")
Well, look, taking a stand against Israel is easy if you’re the Emir of Qatar. Condemning Israel, offering to pay the legal bills of anti-Israeli groups, and expressing solidarity with Palestinians are all popular moves and doesn’t really cost anything (except the legal bills). Reforming Qatari society to improve the lot of guest workers is hard, unpopular, and will have an impact on Qatari society. If I were the Emir, I’d rather just condemn Israel too. ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045/30 "2010-06-16T23:24:18Z")
[quote=“wmfellows, post:25, topic:543045”] Rather seems like “defending Muslims” can be really translated to “Arab obsessions with Israel” given the oppression in Iran of late./QUOTE] You do realise that Iran isn’t an Arab country, don’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045.md?page=1)