The United Nations just re-elected a veteran human rights abuser to a seat on the Human Rights Council. That tends to happen every year, but there is special cause for concern when the abuser is Qatar, which has long hosted the political leadership of Hamas.

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly approved a second term for Qatar on the Human Rights Council. Doha will sit on the Council until 2027. After the vote, Qatar’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, saluted the “international appreciation for Qatar’s firm commitment to protecting and promoting human rights at the national and international levels.”  

Her colleague, Qatar’s permanent representative to the UN Office at Geneva, Hend Al-Muftah, once said Jews are “our enemies,” spread antisemitic conspiracies about “the American Zionist” controlling the press, and called gays “disgusting.” 

In word, Qatar continues to portray itself at international forums as a champion of human rights. In deed, Qatar is anything but. And evidently, the UN is happy to play along.

In its annual report on human rights across the globe, the U.S. State Department noted “significant human rights issues” in Qatar including “credible reports” of abuses like “enforced disappearance,” “arbitrary arrest,” and “extensive gender-based violence.” 

The emirate also exploits migrant laborers — who make up approximately 90 percent of the Qatari workforce — discriminates against women in marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance, and represses the LGBTQ+ community. 

Then there’s the issue of terrorism.

Qatar has maintained a relationship with a host of terrorist organizations for decades, Hamas being one of Doha’s foremost clients. In 1999, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who is the father of Qatar’s current emir, offered Hamas officials refuge at Doha after their expulsion from Jordan. 

At the time, Qatar’s foreign minister said that Hamas officials were “welcome as guests in Qatar” but that Doha “will not allow any political activity from the country.” 

In 2012, the elder Mr. al-Thani became the first head of state to visit Gaza after Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007. During his visit, the emir pledged $400 million to Hamas. Qatar’s support for Hamas-run Gaza didn’t stop there. At least until the current war began, Doha pumped hundreds-of-

millions of dollars into Gaza annually. Jerusalem greenlit some payments to subsidize government salaries, hopeful that the Qataris would moderate Hamas. Yet as evidenced by the horrors of October 7, that assumption proved wrong. 

Moreover, a former Mossad official, Udi Levy, noted in a February 2024 documentary that “the Qataris had a special envoy that came every month with a private jet, enters Gaza with a suitcase, gives it to Hamas, says hello and goes back,” and that “nobody knew exactly what was going on — how much money they practically gave to the people.” 

Plus, Hamas collects taxes on goods that come in and out of Gaza, giving Hamas access to the Qatari cash — some of which likely flowed straight into Hamas’s coffers.

Meanwhile, Qatar continues to host Hamas’s political office and shelter senior Hamas leaders. In fact, Hamas officials watched and celebrated the October 7 invasion from the safety of their office in Qatar. 

Qatari officials frequently present their relationship with Hamas and other extremist groups as an asset that the emirate can leverage to service countries wrestling with Islamist threats. 

Only following Hamas’s October 7 attack and amidst the ongoing multi-front war in the Middle East, those defenses are growing weak. Despite Israel agreeing to multiple proposals, Qatar has repeatedly failed to leverage its relationship with Hamas to secure a ceasefire deal and pressure the terror group to release their remaining hostages. 

And despite its lofty rhetoric, Doha has not divorced from Hamas or indicated any intention of doing so. Talk about failing to protect human rights. 

America and the West would be foolish to fall for Qatar’s virtue signaling. Secretary Blinken warned Qatar in March to give Hamas an ultimatum: enter a hostage deal or risk expulsion from Doha. 

Washington has yet to put teeth behind that warning and the Qataris have proven unwilling to comply on their own. That should signal to America and partners that the Qataris are not the honest brokers nor the human rights champions they claim to be.

This piece was co-authored by a Ph.D. student in Middle Eastern Studies at Bar Ilan University, Ariel Admoni. Follow him on X @arieladmoni.