Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
Editor-in-Chief
Any follower of what is being written or posted on social media since the imposition of siege on Qatar can easily note the encroachment and violation of all traditions and basics of religion and ethics.
No doubt there are many intruders who are trying to insult, defame and promote lies through social media in an attempt to keep the attention of the public away from real issues affecting their daily lives.
A recent BBC Arabic programme carried a report based on experts’ findings on electronic flies and how they operate. Accordingly, half of the tweets, directed against Qatar from the blockading countries, are run by the so-called electronic flies with considerable number of tweets a day. They post the tweets on fake accounts attributed to the names of some known figures in the society to “authenticate” the ‘information’ they publish.
These accounts use #tags in order to control the public opinion and contain critics to the position of the country they belong to or support their stances about the unjust siege imposed on Qatar.
The GCC community has enough awareness and ability to differentiate between intruders and those who are genuine parts of their societies. Additionally, the claims of the blockading countries and their variable stances according to the situation and desires have become a story of the past and no one is considering it. Due to the advanced technology the world has taken the shape of a global village.
The truth cannot be undermined despite efforts of falsehood to overrun the realities. Therefore, whatever they have mobilised in their media campaigns to accuse Qatar of supporting terror, their efforts proved futile. Doha has proved the opposite and obtained worldwide support and sympathy.
Qatar is small in size, a fact which we do not deny, but thanks to God and the wise leadership, the country is in the ranks of the advanced countries of the world.
The findings and index of (national and international surveys and studies) have been indicating Qatar at the forefront always.
We do not care much about the siege because we are depending on ourselves more than ever before. The statement made by Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, “Every cloud has a silver lining”, during his speech after one and a half month of blockade, interprets the case before and after the blockade and indicates that we are moving towards the future and also tells us on what basis we are finding the new reality under the current circumstances.
The political game has changed now, and siege countries have found themselves besieged and under fire from global human rights organisations for their stance on dialogue and violations of international laws and conventions. Qatar’s position is encouraging and the time the blockading countries will be asking for dialogue will come sooner than later.
Magic has turned on the magician, and Qatar will remain great with its leadership and people and lessons we have learnt from this crisis will be our motivation for more work and success in all fields. How great you are Qatar in the eyes of free nations around the globe. Long live with prosperity, peace and progress.
