An open letter from a Qatari to expats who stood with Qatar during the blockade

To

QATAR & CITIZENS OF QATAR …

Lately, I have been thinking a lot .. As to why I was born here. What is it I am supposed to give you or get from you..Well .. Being “Mulood Qatar”, I had seen Qatar & its people from the time when there was only  a Pyramid shaped Sheraton hotel & beautifully architected Qatar Post Office building visible from most lovely place of Qatar, Corniche. Freedom you say is the birthright of everyone here ..  I grew up in here enjoying every moment of it. I grew up at a time when life was simple, Full of joys & Laughter ..Contentment & No greed..No Jealousy.. I never knew what Discrimination & Intolerance was, Gender or community or religion or caste or color or money..Infact I never felt I wasn’t a Qatari .. The environment I lived in had people from different countries , religions,caste .. but I never felt different .. The indian school I used to go had friends.. Friends who are from different countries .. Different religions ..but whenever there was break .. used to eat together from one tiffin … The Emir of the country had never made the expatriates feel different .. Specially the only Biggest & one and only Government hospital, HAMAD MEDICAL CORPORATION .. The Medicines .. The treatment .. where equal to Free of cost ..Home rents and food were cheap ..

As I grew up .. I saw the the city moving towards the development … Now .. from corniche I see is huge progress of infrastructural development of Sky lines .. Advanced technology … After almost three decades of living here .. I found this country different .. I was in fear that maybe , there would be Taxes .. or maybe there would be situation where expatriates would face discrimination ..or maybe the life of expatriates will be made hell like the neighbouring countries did  .. But to the surprise, although there were tough times like recessions .. there was never been partiality with expatriates. Of course , Qatarization came in but I believe it’s the right of the country and for its citizens.And also as the time changes, it was sure for expenses of rents and food to go high..But there had never been partiality or discrimination like the neighboring countries did with Expatriates . In fact , There was one of the National Day dedicated to all the expatriates living in Qatar with the theme “ONE LOVE” ..

Dear Qatar .. What you have given to everyone is one of the most beautiful concepts, To cherish & Nourish ..You are the Most beautiful & Lovable country of the world among others .. Qatar ..  You are the land of goodness & Prosperity , Unity & Equality..You are the King of Middle-East & Gulf .. Qatar .. You are the rarest Diamond that shines forever. You are the easts Golden sands, You are the Jasmine in its freshness & Greenness .. Qatar .. You are the Purest pearl ever seen  & Your People are most Generous, Humble &  fine example of Humanity. Qatar .. You are a Father who never forgets its People and always been there in front whenever there had been worst situations ..You are the Joyous Dream that turned you into a Paradise..In your Heart ..Everyone dwells ,In your eyes everyone are Seen.. You are a perfect smiling image of the Nature which makes you the world’s Precious Treasure .. In my heart .. and for sure in everyone living over here .. WE LOVE YOU ..WE SUPPORT YOU ..

Thank you Qatar & its Citizens for accepting us .. For never treating us as Expatriates but as your own brothers.. Thank You for Loving us and showing us to live life with Humanity ..Thank you for making us settled in Life by making our careers , dreams &  imaginations come True .. Thank you for showing us to Live united ..by Nations ..By Religions …By Color .. By LOVE  … Thank you for all the memorable moments and occasions you have given .. specially by including us in Natinal celebrations … Maseeras .. etc .. WE LOVE YOU TILL LAST BREATH OF OUR LIFE ..

LONG LIVE QATAR .. LONG LIVE ITS BRAVE EMIR ..

We all are with Tamim al majd.

Qatar is more than my homeland for me and for many others. Qatar deserves the Best. Tamim is "Almajd" for all of us. Long live Qatar - Long live Tamim.

Hamad....

I have been here for 40 plus years...i stand With Qatar....

Qatar is my homeland...

Hamad....

I have been here for 40 plus years...i stand With Qatar....

Qatar is my homeland...

Analogical metaphors: Does one bad egg mean the entire dozen is bad? Globally, does terrorism equal all muslims? Locally does Doha news comments page equal all expatriates? In any nation, whether citizen or foreigner, people will have diverse opinions or information shared but it does not mean they do not stand in solidarity. I have been amused at some of these articles about how expatriates are being thanked for standing with Qatar and I cant help but wonder why people seem to think that this country functions differently to any other country. Back in South Africa, I had bosses who were ghastly and the same applies here in Qatar but its not because of the country, its because of personality, a global conundrum, that actually determines place in a community. Wehave the personalities who have to comment on every single news column till death kills their opinions and the one who has to make everyone's life a misery. Sadly the latter is almost instantly found in every single country across groups of people, not just in "expat" community. At any point in life a local can disagree with a local and an expat with an expat or a local and an expat and it will be over mundane things - but when the need arises, they will stand together because they are still part of one country, citizen or not.

Dear Hamad,

In a short while after the announcement of a blockade, in the meanwhile, an observation was written in Malayalam, one of the important Indian language portals named islamOnlive. I am so satisfied that the inclusion of blockade countries implementation of the inhuman way was clearly explained.

Blockading countries horrible demands are remembering one of the old stories. The anti-social elements would do whatever they wanted. When people come to the location, the attackers will point their finger to very far and will start to shout.

International media shows that all evidence against countries those who are accusing extremism and conspiracy, are the real masterminds of all illegal movements and activities. They have participated in conspiracy against tiny country and they were also engaging to tarnish one of well-known media in the world especially in the Middle East. Terror and conspiracy accusing countries were the main sponsors of derailing elected government and organization in the region.

Abdul Azeez Manjiyil

Dear Mr. Hamad,

We are Qatar..

we fight at home too with out brothers n sisters but that doesn't mean that we are enemies or we want bad for each other.. at the end of the day we sit on the same table for dinner n watch same TV n same cough.

Similarly, we expats n Qataris have disputes or arguments but we are very much have one goal.. n that's "MAKE QATAR THE BEST TO LIVE N WORK."

Let bygones be bygones.. lets pray bout positive things to come up n lets make Qatar a BEAUTIFUL DESERT DREAM (thtz my book name writing in).

LONG LIVE QATAR.. May Allah protect n bless Qatar n Emir.. AAMEEN

A nice word of appreciation is always a warmth whether its from a boss, or brother or even parents.

Thanks for the wonderful words and thoughts our dear ones !

We had planned our annual vacation as usual and it happened to be just after this incident.

Being in India this is the first time I was following so much on the news, not the worry, but how my home country is being so badly criticized and teased by other neighboring places and the patience of each and every citizen both local and expatriates not giving the slightest care but moving on with the same spirit of unity and love.

It was just only the strong confidence in our own leaders and ministers that brought each one of us to live,work and sleep peacefully.

I still have my courageous,bold and strong countrymen in communication and this gives a feeling that though we are miles are apart its just a smile that brings us together.

Wishing all the very best to see the best of Qatar as usual and always and for ever !!

Let peach love and joy be the only bond between all of us that no one can break.

Thank you,

‪Dear Hamad,

Thankyou very much for your kind words about expats. When I saw the lines you mentioned about the expats rushing to the super markets on the first day of blockade thinking that the expats will leave the country in few days, I thought I will clarify to you which will help all citizens of qatar will have a better understanding about expats. We ( including me) rushed to the supermarket to collect food items was after deciding to stay back in this country and to fight alongwith you guys against the unrealistic blocking of qatar by neighbors. If we decided to leave, we would have bought flight tickets instead of food. The reason we decided to stay back in qatar was because you have provided us freedom to work, freedom to live, freedom to work, freedom to enjoy our life, and we love Qatar. Anytime it's our commitment to be with all of you until this country say bye bye to us. May be we don't speak the local language, but we very well understand your human language. We believe " A friend in need is a friend indeed". Let's unite to fulfill "Vision 2030".‬

Hi Hamad, Hope you saw this too

It's a Poem about different cities in Qatar using synonyms in English words, I was inspired to do this to portray the unity, liveliness and love experienced in the country. I do not mean any harm or disrespect to any individual, group or location. #IStandWithQatar

Take this THUMAAMA

BIN OMRAN is being a home run

From the core of ALKHOR and ALMIRQAB

To the mansions of ALMANSOURAH and ALMURAIKH

From the rooms in RUMAILAH

To the moons in MUNTAZAH

Off the hills in DUHAIL

Through the valleys in FEREEJ AL-ALI

Enjoying the cuteness of QUTAIFYYAH and JEBAILIYYAH

Relishing the coolness of ALKHULAIBAT and ALKHULAIFAT

I LOVE QATAR

ALBIDDA beam with joy

ALLUAIB loaded with love

In BIN AMEER and BIN MAHMOOD

The mood is amiable and cheerful

It's justly in ALJASRA, healing in HILAL

In MUITHER and ALSADD

No moment of madness nor sadness

Onaiza is nicer, Dafna is finer

AiN KHALED, oh Yes! I can lead

#InTamimITrust

Kisses from ALKHEESA

Welcoming looks from AL-LUQTA

ASPIRE to stay healthy

With care in WUKAIR

MESSAIEED, MESSAIMEER and MESSILA lands

Filled with blessed and merciful clans

KHUWAYR, KHATARAT and KHATIRIYAT

Mercurial in harmony and sanctity

Share rib cracking moments at MSHERIB

With a lot of laughter at GHARRAFA

Upholding morals at MAMOURA

Tending the nursery at ALNASR

Sack the rivals at SAKHAMA

Nudge the foes at NAJMA

Reduced them to Charlatans

Far from TARFA and SALATA

Clad in armour from ABU HAMOUR

Yearning for a united front in RAYAN

Without crack as in WAKRA

Without bars as in BARWA

Doff your heart for Tamim

A rare PEARL of DOHA

#iStandWithTamim

NB: All rights reserved

Hi Hamad,

Thanks a lot for taking your time to post this article…its indeed very touching & of course realistic too.

Enjoyed reading it & could connect with it.

Very much like Mohdata...even I couldn’t stop laughing on reading your signature line…’not the typical "local" guy in immigration’.

As a Qatari, you are based in this country…but for most of the expats, we normally shift bases. But then when it comes to being true to the land you live, that feeling surely remains; especially when you know that the country you are living in has shown such a tremendous maturity & grace in handling the situation. Apart from being a learning experience it was also a matter of feeling proud to be part of this country.

Deep

Sorry for the double post; ql, you need to fix this "post comment" issue soon... The first comment never appeared or got confirmed and then magically appeared after I typed and posted again...esh hadha? :-)

Haha ' not the typical local in immigration'' that made me laugh...agree about the expat and local relationship being complicated; but you did well to acknowledge that it's mostly due to wrong assumptions and believing negative stereotypes and that most locals love and welcome foregners and most expats love Qatar and the locals in equal measure...I also would advise you to separate workplace issues from the general social life we all share after work... In every country, workplaces by nature are unpleasant places...a Qatari boss could be torturing another Qatari or expat and an expat boss could be targeting another expat or a Qatari; that's the workplace in general for you I guess... But outside the office, most interaction among locals and expats is loving and friendly and we are as happy and as duty bound as you locals to help and stand by Qatar in its time of difficulty... We have been with Qatar and helped it through its wonderful progress and we are as saddened by this blockade as you...Many of us were born and raised here and its just as much our country as it is yours... I've lived in all the gcc countries and love them all and hope for them to resolve their petty differences and be united; but if not, then yes its Qatar where my heart is; it may be a beige flat featureless desert for others but I personally find this desert more soothing to my soul than any glittering skyline in the world...

Lots of love,

Not your typical expat doing 40kph in the fast lane :-)

Hamad Al-Mansouri,

Dear Brother, we thanks you as well for accepting expats as an integral part of Qatari society.

May ALLAH Subhaan wa Taala Bless us all, materially and spiritually, AAMEEN.

Haha ' the typical guy in immigration' that made me laugh; agree with you about the Qatari expat relationship being complicated but its mostly because of wrong assumptions about reach other and because of everyone believing all the negative stereotypes... but you did well to acknowledge that most Qataris love and welcome foreigners and most expats love you and Qatar in equal measure... And I personally try to separate the workplace environment from the day to day life we all share in Qatar...i say this because in any country, workplaces by nature are horrible places and full of bad employees and employers...an expat is suffering somewhere right now under a local boss and a young Qatari guy is being isolated by his expat senior too...a Qatari boss could be annoying a Qatari junior and an expat boss could be torturing another expat; that's the workplace for you I guess... I'm only concerned with how we all treat each other on the roads or in the malls or the parks or the mosques... That part is mostly a great experience - other than the occasional rude local in his flying and xenon flashing land cruiser or the guy in immigration you mentioned haha - so yes, as you say, we love Qatar as our home too and we are just as happy and just as duty bound as you, to stand with Qatar in its time of difficulty... The only difference is you have a local passport and we have our international ones...Many of us have been born and raised here and helped Qatar through its great progress and there's no way we will allow that progress to be slowed by a silly blockade...i love and have lived in all the gcc countries and hope these brotherly states can resolve their petty differences and be united... But if not, then yes its Qatar I am with...yalla bye bye :-)