Al Jazeera's problem is that it covers the actual news and tells the truth. This is unacceptable to the Saudis, the United Arab Emirates, and to Washington.

At the time of the US invasion of Iraq the Crown Prince of the UAE requested that Washington bomb Al Jazeera so that the Arab world would not be inflamed by truthful reporting of the US attack on Iraq. In April 2003 Al Jazeera's Baghdad office in Iraq was struck by a US missile, killing one journalist and wounding another. Of course, Washington claimed it was just a mistake.

Qatar has the highest per capita income in the world—$129,700 in 2016—a sum to which American per capita income compares very poorly. 

Qatar also hosts the largest US military base in the Mideast. This fact makes the list of demands or else that Saudi Arabia has handed to Qatar perplexing. Essentially, the Saudis accuse Qatar of "supporting terrorism" because the Emir permits Al Jazeera to tell the truth. The second demand on the list is that Qatar close down Al Jazeera.