From Doha with love: How Qatar is now teaching us ethics

This Wednesday marks the opening of a new edition of the Paris Peace Forum, a diplomatic gathering meant to promote peace, cooperation, and dialogue. A noble idea, at least on paper. But this year’s edition descends into sheer cynicism and, frankly, a moral disgrace.

One of the key topics? “The role of digital media in conflict resolution.” A vital conversation, no doubt, in an age of hybrid warfare and online manipulation. 

But who is co-organizing this session with France? QatarDebate, a supposedly educational initiative fully funded by the Qatari regime.

That fact alone should raise every alarm.

Qatar: Mediator or Master Manipulator?

The session, co-hosted by QatarDebate, bears the title: “Mediator or Manipulator? The double-edged role of digital media in conflict resolution.” The irony couldn’t be more glaring. 

The Qatari regime, the same state behind Al Jazeera, a network notorious for spreading divisive, ideological content, is being invited to discuss responsible media?

Let’s not forget: Qatar maintains close ties to Hamas, a group responsible for the October 7 massacre, where 1,200 Israeli civilians were murdered. 

This is a regime that funds extremism, curtails free speech at home, and exports a soft power narrative carefully wrapped in culture and education, all while fueling regional instability.

And yet, France is giving it a platform to speak on peace and media ethics?

Diplomacy Without a Moral Compass

This invitation raises a larger question: Where does French diplomacy draw the line? Can a nation be a credible peacebuilder while giving airtime to states that bankroll terrorism and jail dissent? Is moral clarity no longer a requirement for partnership?

By allowing QatarDebate to co-organize a session at this forum, France legitimizes its image makeover, and worse, ignores the regime’s actual behavior. It sends a dangerous message: that money and influence can whitewash any track record, no matter how stained by violence and manipulation.

Handing Qatar a microphone at a peace forum is not just tone-deaf, it’s an insult. An insult to the victims of terror, to journalists silenced by authoritarian regimes, and to anyone who still believes peace depends on truth.

This is not diplomacy. This is moral expediency dressed up as dialogue.

France can and must do better. Not every “partner” deserves a seat at the peace table, especially not one whose hands are anything but clean.