Bahraini newspapers on Friday focused on the Qatari crisis, marking three years after the four countries — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE — calling for combating terrorism announced their boycott of Qatar. The "Al-Watan" newspaper, in its editorial entitled "Qatar's Black Day", said that it is a "dark occasion" that brings to mind Qatar's bad actions and massive involvement in hostility to its neighbors in the Arabian Gulf and the Arab world, noting that Qatar's decades-long treachery still continues through its keenness to spread chaos and terrorism worldwide. Another opinion piece by the newspaper's international affairs editor, themed "1095 Days since the Boycott... Qatar's Intransigence Continues", said that the four countries had announced their boycott of Qatar because of its support for terrorist organizations, interference into their domestic affairs and attempts to strengthen its ties with Iran at their expense. The writer stressed that reconciliation efforts with Doha had reached a deadlock despite the huge damages the boycott has inflicted on it, and its dire need for an end to it. In another article themed "Qatar...World Terrorism State Sponsor", the same editor said that Qatar's name has always been associated with terrorist acts and support for extremist organizations. He pointed out that the four countries had asked Qatar to stop providing financial and media support for terrorism, as well as harboring its elements, noting that Doha has been involved in supporting Iran, the state sponsor of terrorism in the region, and its affiliate terrorism organizations, such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Al-Ashtar Brigades and the Ahrar Al-Bahrain, among others. The newspaper also shed light on Qatar's terrorist media arm, Al-Jazeera satellite channel, which, they said, is known for disseminating lies and rumors, as well as misleading Arab viewers and promoting everything aimed at serving Qatar's agenda in the region, including its goals of destroying countries and national armies. It also said that the Qatari channel promotes the extremist discourse in the region, through airing interviews with the leaders of extremist organizations. The newspaper also published a poll in which the citizens criticized Qatar's policies toward Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE, praising the measures taken by the four countries against Doha due to its subversive role. The newspaper also highlighted Qatar's human rights violations, citing its revoking of the citizenship of the citizens who oppose the regime and tribesmen who are against its support for terrorism, in addition to its ill treatment of expatriate workers, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, as revealed by international reports. The "Akhbar Al-Khaleej" newspaper also tackled the same topic. In an article entitled "Three Years into the Gulf Crisis, Qatar is still out of Tune", Dr. Omar Al-Hassan stressed that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE found no option but to announce their boycott of Doha to urge it to rectify its conduct, and be committed to the goals for which the Gulf Cooperation Council was established in the 1980s. The newspaper also contacted a number of politicians and human rights activists who emphasized that three years of boycott have revealed Qatar's continuous involvement in efforts to destabilize Bahrain and interfere into its internal affairs, through media escalation, supporting the activities of armed terrorist activities, financing Iran-backed groups and spreading chaos in the country, in breach of convention, agreements and the principles of international law. They also affirmed that the reasons for which Doha had been boycotted are still there, as Qatar continues supporting terrorism, interfering in the domestic affairs of the countries of the region and using its media outlets to promote the hate discourse, falsify facts and repeat the same allegations, stressing that the three years of boycott have proved the soundness of the decision taken by the four countries calling for combating terrorism. — Bahrain News Agency
