Recently, the world witnessed an embrace between the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, 40, and the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), 35, on January 5, 2021, when the former arrived to attend the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Al Ula, a historic city in Saudi Arabia, through which the ancient Silk Road passed. Though it was Bahrain’s turn to host the summit, the venue was shifted because of the importance attached to healing the rift with Qatar.
An important invitee was Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, whose presidency will end on 20th January 2021, despite all that he is doing to avert the inevitable. Some U.S. scholars have hastened to shower praise on Kushner for his exertions to effect the rapprochement. Of course, Kushner would have worked the phones but these scholars have failed to raise the question: Why did Kushner exert himself now? The blockade goes back to June 2017. If he wanted to do it, Kushner could have done it earlier. Obviously, these scholars do not want to speak truth to power, even as the power in question is setting down.
The Origins Of The Blockade
Most Western scholars and their Indian acolytes have sought an explanation for the blockade in the strained bilateral relations between Riyadh and Doha. Qatar, that has a land border with Saudi, had a violent border dispute in 1992. Though the border dispute was settled in 2001, Riyadh recalled its ambassador from Doha in 2002, ostensibly for Al Jazeera’s objectionable coverage of events in Saudi Arabia. Qatar promised action and the ambassador returned in 2008.
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