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Rabat – Racist, Islamophobic and critical campaigns have been overwhelming people in the Middle East, particularly Qatar, the host of the FIFA global football competition World Cup 2022.
The latest frustration from people in Gulf countries, including Qatar stemmed from a cartoon by a French newspaper, which depicted Qatari football players as terrorists.
Le Canard enchaine published the cartoon in its October issue, focusing on Qatar as the host of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
The feature shows depictions of long-bearded men, wearing Qatar’s football jersey. Some of the drawings depicted the characters carrying weapons and guns in a desert setting, while others are wearing white robes that men wear in Gulf countries.
The caricature sparked outrage and backlash, with internet users sharing several hashtags to support Qatar.
“This is how the French media represents the Qatari national football team,” one Twitter user said.
Another Twitter user described the posting of the caricature as “disgusting,” while others emphasized that French media and government is inherently racist and Islamophobic. “They just can’t digest the fact that Muslim country is hosting a FIFA World Cup.”
Qatar responded to the controversy, calling on France to show a “little sportsmanship.”
Hamad Al Kawari, the President of Qatar’s national Library said that “caustic satire is welcome,” but the French weekly resorted to “lies, hatred, and grudges to attack Qatar and denigrate it.”
Al-Kawari was not the only high-ranking official to condemn the campaigns directed against his country.
In October, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani slammed the “unprecedented” criticism against his country, emphasizing that the wave of criticism began when the country secured the hosting right for World Cup 2022.
“Since we won the honor of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign that no host country has faced,” the emir said in October.
FIFA awarded the hosting rights to Qatar in 2010.
The Qatari emir said that his country dealt with some of the criticism with positivity as it helped the country to “develop aspects that need to be developed.”
The emir of Qatar regretted that the campaigns against his country reached an amount of “ferocity that made many wonder, unfortunately, about the real reasons and motives behind this campaign.”
The ongoing campaigns against Qatar prompted support and solidarity from many activists, journalists, and internet users, among others.
#I_Am_Arab_and_I_Support_Qatar is one of the viral hashtags that people across the Arab world are using to show solidarity and support for Qatar amid the campaigns against it.
“A special greeting and congratulations from Morocco, and specifically from the Moroccan Sahara to our people in the sisterly country of Qatar on the occasion of organizing the World Cup, which will undoubtedly be the most successful event,” Moroccan journalist Nacir Abessamad wrote on Twitter as he used the hashtag.
#TheWorldSupportsQatar hashtag has been also trending on Twitter, with people using it along with pictures of world-class stadiums and venues in the Gulf country as it prepares to host the World Cup tournament.
