The recent exposure of Hillary Clinton’s emails is arousing resentment in the Arab media in moderate countries as they demonstrate her apparent support for extreme Muslim elements in the Middle East and the chaos caused by the so-called Arab Spring.
Some of the emails from former US Secretary of State Clinton that were recently released as part of President Donald Trump’s election campaign apparently reveal direct American involvement in the Arab Spring events and a deep connection between the Obama administration and Qatar that included a joint effort to establish a media channel and an economic fund to be used by the Muslim Brotherhood as a means of intervention in Arab countries in the region.
One of the emails reveals a plan between Clinton and the Qatari government to establish a media channel with initial funding of $100 million. This plan followed complaints from the Muslim Brotherhood about the weakness of their media system compared to other media outlets.
The idea was to establish a communication channel run by the Muslim Brotherhood and similar to the Voice of America.
The emails revealed that the intention was to place Khairat el-Shater, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood and an Islamist activist who ran for president in Egypt, at the head of the media channel and entrust him with the $100 million.
The emails also reveal the depth of the connection between Clinton and the Obama administration and the Qatari Al Jazeera channel as a propaganda mouthpiece that supports political Islam organizations and encourages chaos in Arab countries.
Among other things, it appears that Clinton acted to market a positive image of President Barak Obama through Al Jazeera and portray him as a supporter of Muslim communities.
The emails indicate that Clinton met with the heads of Al Jazeera at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar, during a quick visit that left her no time to visit an American base there. Clinton met the American officers for a brief meeting, after a meeting between her and the directors of Al Jazeera.
The meeting was also attended by senior Qatari government officials and also included the possibility of a reciprocal Qatari visit to the United States.
The exchange of messages shows that Clinton sought to take advantage of the channel and broadcast a 15-minute program in Arabic that would emphasize the Obama administration’s commitment to Muslim communities around the world.
Clinton also asked to meet with Qatari journalists for a discussion on the relationship between the Obama administration and Qatar.
Another issue that emerges from the emails is the launch of an Egyptian-American investment fund, which was also intended to operate in Tunisia, for economic and welfare purposes. Jim Harmon, an American banker close to Obama, was elected to head the fund, but alongside the first $60 million from Egypt, Qatar had pledged a $2 billion aid package to Egypt.
The emails indicate that the Qataris had sought to use the fund to intervene in the affairs of Egypt and Tunisia with money derived from the Muslim Brotherhood’s patronage. One of the emails reveals that Harmon urged Qataris to join the American effort in this matter.
The emails also reveal that in July 2009, one of the US State Department officials met with senior Hamas figures Mahmoud Al-Zahar and Bassem Naim for a meeting in Switzerland, which was also attended by the US Ambassador to the United Nations Thomas Pickering. At the end of the meeting, Naim expressed hopes that it was the beginning of the correction of the injustice that lasted in the three years prior to the meeting.
Another email reveals that Saud bin Faisal, the former Saudi foreign minister, hung up the phone on Clinton when she demanded he not send troops to Bahrain in 2011. It should be noted that the Saudis then acted to save the Bahraini regime from a so-called popular uprising inspired by Shiite organizations affiliated with the Iranian regime.
There are articles in the Arab media stating that the emails are further evidence of the Obama administration’s volatility and lack of support for the Arab regimes alongside incomprehensible support for extremist movements and political Islam.
Articles in the Arab media attack US presidential candidate Joe Biden, stating that he “belongs to the same rotten tree” and that if he wins the world will witness far more serious events than the events of 2011 and the Arab Spring, which the Obama administration promoted as if they were spontaneous popular uprisings.
Articles claim that the email affair exposes Obama’s destructive role and the depth of his ties to Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Al Jazeera’s assistance in these efforts.
The various testimonies indicate that Clinton pulled the strings of the so-called Arab Spring though she knew it was not a spontaneous event and helped promote them through the investment fund as well.
“This is a testament to Obama’s dark chapter,” read one of the Arab articles, “a testimony to American support for political Islam and chaos.”
An article also notes that Biden at the time opposed bin Laden’s assassination.
The Clinton email affair was at the center of the 2016 election in the US, helping Donald Trump to portray his rival as corrupt and unfit for office.
Since then, Trump has been raising the issue and demanding the emails be exposed. Trump expressed frustration that current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has so far failed to release some of the classified emails and expressed dissatisfaction with him, prompting Pompeo to promise to disclose the emails.