For the past four months, protesters have taken to the streets in Beverly Hills to urge Qatar’s regime to secure the release of hostages held by its terrorist ally, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip and stop its alleged financing of Islamist terrorism and antisemitism.
The Beverly Hills Synagogue---along with Rabbis United—on Monday organized the latest demonstration in front of Qatar’s consulate in Beverly Hills, with roughly 100 attendees.
The high energy and charismatic Beverly Hills Synagogue Rabbi, Pini Dunner, told the Jerusalem Post he made a direct appeal to Emir of the tiny oil-rich Gulf state, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani: “If there is a shred of humanity left inside you, do what you have to do, and what we know you have the power to do — get the hostages released by Hamas and end the misery right now. And that misery is not just for the families of the hostages and the hostages themselves, but for the Palestinians you claim to care about, who are suffering immeasurable misery as a result of the war triggered by October 7.”
Today we held a protest rally outside the #Qatar Consulate in Beverly Hills. I was joined by 50+ rabbis from across the US, from RabbisUNITED. The Qatari ruling Al Thani family is personally responsible for the barbarity of the October 7th massacre, and for every hostage still… pic.twitter.com/jsI8X1FEBa
— Pini Dunner (@pinidunner) February 27, 2024
A number of posters at the rally read “Qatar: You can set the hostages free” and “Qatar funds & hosts Hamas. Free the hostages.” Dunner said “As part of the protest, we declared an upcoming ‘day of rage’ against Qatar, as yet undated.”
The Post disclosed last week a Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) report showing Qatar’s regime trained Hamas terrorists at its police college in 2023.
California’s fashionable Beverly Hills city has seen some of the most creative and hard-hitting protests against Qatar’s authoritarian Islamist regime. In November, Dunner and city council member, John Mirisch, rallied along with other community residents in front of the Qatari-owned Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills Hotel. The demonstrators urged a boycott of the luxury hotel.
Zvika Mor, whose son was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and is still being held captive in Gaza, expressed support for the rally against Qatar’s regime in Beverly Hills.
He told the Post that “We don't know what's going on with him, whether he's alive, whether he's healthy or needs medical attention. Hamas does not give us any information about our hostages. As far as we are concerned, Qatar is responsible for the lives of the Israeli abductees. Why? Because Hamas is Qatar and Qatar is Hamas. We all know that Qatar finances terrorism all over the world.”
Mor added that Qatar is not a mediator in the negotiations. Qatar is terrorism itself. Without Qatar's funding, Hamas would not be able to build tunnels and buy weapons and kill Israelis. As the hostages are in danger, so is Qatar.”
Mor, like a number of Israeli and American experts on the Middle East views Qatar and Hamas as a monolithic entity. He said, ”Since Qatar is Hamas, you should know that Qatar murdered men, women and children. Qatar will test women in front of their young children. Qatar exhumes bodies of women and children. Qatar hanged children on clotheslines. Qatar burned children and parents after tying them up with iron wires. We will not be silent about Qatar's crimes.”
Mor and others hold Qatar accountable for the crimes committed on October 7
Mor continued “ The whole world knows that Qatar finances terrorism in many places. Qatar murdered 32 American passport holders on October 7. Qatar kidnapped 8 American citizens on October 7. United States citizens are in danger because of Qatar. Qatar, note that you are responsible for the hostages held by Hamas. If they are in danger, you are also in danger. You must return the Israeli hostages today. You are not a negotiator. You are terrorism itself.“
The running bill of particulars against Qatar ranges from hosting the fugitive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, before he launched his infamous mass murder plan to funding al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The Post has reported on Qatar’s financing of the Lebanese terrorist movement, Hezbollah, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Former Beverly Hills mayor speaks up
Former Beverly Hills mayor and current City Council member, John Mirisch, announced a plaque to memorialize the victims of the October 7. He said there is no better location for the plaque than the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive because of the proximity to the Qatari consulate and its Maybourne Hotel.
His message for Qatar’s regime from the rally: “You want to destroy Israel. But we will continue to stand with Israel. We will not give you a pass any longer. We see you. We are watching you. We will continue to expose your malignant jihadism and Jew-hated. We will not remain silent. We will not be bought. You are not welcome in your community. We are not afraid. Qatar, the jig is finally up.”
In October, Mirisch, spearheaded the effort to pass the first US city council to condemn Iran, Hamas and Qatar for their role in the slaughter of 1,200 people. According to the resolution,“The City of Beverly Hills unequivocally condemns those who have supported Hamas, harbored Hamas, and who have after the fact celebrated the death of the Jews and praised the Hamas terrorism attacks in state sponsored media, including the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar.”
Abraham Cooper, the prominent Rabbi and associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the “clock is ticking against the remaining hostages.” He said we demand that “Qatar see to it that the hostages are released quickly and a good place to start would be with the six American hostages that are still being held inside of Gaza.”
Cooper termed Qatar as “both villain and firefighter.” He stressed Qatar is the “arsonist” who can also put out the flames. Cooper said Qatar should not provide lifelines to Hamas. He said Qatar has a chance to change its ways but he is not holding his breath. Cooper also took Qatar to task for its “two-faced approach to the world.”
Roz Rothstein, founder of the pro-Israel organization StandWithUs, which fights campus-based antisemitism, criticized the Qatari-owned pro-Hamas outlet Al Jazeera at the rally. Congressional representatives are urging the Department of Justice to compel Al Jazeera to register as a foreign agent. In 2020, the DOJ ordered the US-based 'AJ+', an Al Jazeera affiliate, to register under The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Qatar has defied American law for four years.
Qatar’s embassies in Washington D.C. and London refused to answer numerous Post press queries.