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Qatar

Defiant Saudi expresses love of Qatar through graffiti on roundabout sculpture

Published: 02 Jul 2017 - 09:10 pm | Last Updated: 28 Dec 2021 - 11:39 am
Peninsula

Irfan Bukhari | The Peninsula

The introduction of harsh cyber laws to deter people from expressing sympathy with Qatar in siege countries has failed as in a recent incident a Saudi painted graffiti on a sculpture at a roundabout in Saudi Arabia to support the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Two separate graffiti appeared on a sculpture in Saudi Arabia with “We are all Tamim” and “Tamim is glory” and the pictures went viral on the social media websites. Middle East Eye, an online news website also carried a story on the incident.

The authorities later on removed the writings but the courageous move of Saudi citizen won applause on social sites. The bold expression by a Saudi was appreciated by Qatari and citizens of other Gulf states. One Twitter user said that it was another writing on the wall for siege countries "but they are unwilling to read them".

While appreciating Saudi's love for Qatar and its leadership, one Qatari Twitter user advised citizens of siege countries to be careful saying: “We laud your love but please do not sacrifice. Your government has no mercy and you know expressing sympathy (with Qatar) is a crime.”

Later on when the graffiti was covered with spray, another Qatari tweeted: “I swear if you try to suppress your people's emotions, you will not be able to go back to the age of slavery.”

Immediately after severance of diplomatic ties and imposition of blockade against Qatar, people had started expressing solidarity with Qatar on social media sites.  To suppress the sentiments of love, the governments of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain had announced that any expression of sympathy with Qatar or posting of any pro-Qatar content on social network websites would be considered a crime.

The UAE had announced that anyone who violated the new law would be tried with 15 years’ imprisonment and a hefty fine of Dh500,000 while Saudi Arabia had enacted law to punish the violators with up to 5-year imprisonment and a fine of up to SR3m. These laws are still in force in these three Gulf countries. In Bahrain a prominent human rights lawyer was arrested after launching a lawsuit against the government over its restrictions imposed on Qatar.