Doha – The Amir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani has criticized the western countries’ stand against the Hamas-formed PA government that imposed a political and economic siege on the Palestinian people despite the integrity of the elections that brought Hamas to power.
Sheikh Hamad in a speech before the European parliament urged the West to give the PA government the chance to work for the people that elected it.
“Instead of praising the Palestinian people for exercising democracy which is a rare phenomenon in our region the Palestinians were punished” he said in reference to suspending all assistance to the Palestinians after Hamas assumed power.
The Amir wondered whether such a policy wasn’t double standard: “demanding free election then objecting to its results”.
Sheikh Hamad the first Gulf leader to address the European parliament said that “real democracy was the only method to ensure stability in the Middle East”.
