Dubai: Qataris have lashed out at alleged remarks denigrating their country, demanding it be treated with the respect it deserves.
Last Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Al Saud, Chief of the Saudi General Intelligence, yelled into a phone at a meeting to coordinate arms shipments for Syrian rebels last summer that Qatar is “nothing but 300 people…and a TV channel”, in reference to the Doha-based pan-Arab network Al Jazeera launched in 1995. “That doesn’t make a country,” the prince allegedly said according to “a person familiar with the exchange” that the newspaper did not identify. The report added that “Saudi officials declined to comment on the exchange”.
No official reaction was issued publicly in the Qatari capital Doha, but Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Al Attiyah shared his feelings through his Twitter account. “One Qatari citizen is worth an entire people and the people of Qatar are equal to an entire nation,” he posted. “This is what we teach our sons, with all respect and appreciation to the others.”
The tweet was immediately taken up by the local blogosphere and has so far been retweeted 1,259 times while expressions of support immediately followed on social networks. “God bless you, Bu Mohammad,” Saadoon Al Kuwari, a blogger, posted as he addressed the foreign minister. “We have been taught genuine religious values and morals and respect for others. Qatar means everything to us.”
Dera Al Dossary posted that “Qatar is a great country thanks to its people and its [political] positions.” “Quality and not quantity is the true yardstick. Countries cannot be assessed by the number of their people, but rather by their positions and achievements,” Al Dossary posted. “I am willing to sacrifice my life for Qatar.”
Another blogger, writing under the moniker Aber Sabeel, said that Qataris were a proud people.“All our hearts beat as one. Qatar is the land of glory and prominence.”
For Abdul Rahman Al Harami, “great men build the true sovereignty of countries”. “It is the success story of Qatar and of its great men.”
Qatar supporters created a hashtag (in Arabic) to share their feelings and boost the campaign defending the Arabian Gulf country. “Qatar reminds me of Switzerland,” Andu; Mohisn Al Mogren posted on Twitterm using the hashtag. “It is a small country geographically, but it is large in its investments and in its love for its people.”
