This is what Qatar’s wealth has done to me… and I have not wronged anyone!
I do not seek enmity, nor do I intentionally cause discord, but I choose to speak the truth as it is, not as it wishes to be told. I am not the one who claimed that journalists were on “the payroll” of a Gulf state, nor did I admit to turning pens into soft tools serving foreign agendas.
No, this was explicitly stated by Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, the former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, in a documented interview on May 7, 2022: (watch the video below)
“Yes, we paid journalists; some became deputies, and some are now considered patriots. We would publish for them annually, while some received monthly salaries. Almost all Arab countries did that.”
Do we need clearer evidence?
I only remind you of what has been said. But as soon as I do that, accusations rain down on me, as if I were the one who took payment, or I signed off on it, or you flipped against your country in the name of “the cause.”
Yes, I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, like every Moroccan who was raised to view Jerusalem as a national issue. Yes, I reject aggression, condemn the occupation, and grieve over scenes of massacres. But at the same time, I refuse to allow this noble grief to be exploited to mobilize the Moroccan street, distort institutions, or destabilize the country.
Suddenly, the same voices we recognized at every turning point returned, rallying the same slogans and distributing the same accusations: traitors, normalizers, agents… as if defending Palestine necessarily entails striking Morocco’s sovereignty, inciting youth against their country, and belittling anyone who does not shout along with them.
It is the same faces; some media figures are known for their financial loyalty, while others are activists who have abandoned social issues in their country to use “Gaza” as a cover for agendas financed by Qatar and promoted through its mouthpieces. Those who pay, those who write, and those who incite have suddenly become “champions of great causes,” while their patriotism is measured by how much they harm their homeland.
I have not wronged anyone. All I have done is open a window to the light amidst the darkness. I chose to be a citizen before being a journalist because what is happening today is not merely a matter of opinion… it is a matter of national security.
