The current crisis in the Persian Gulf has demonstrated the strength and resilience of Qatar. They determine the present and future of this country, and despite the surprise of the incident and the feeling of despair caused by the blockade, thanks to them we can with relief say that all that is done, all the better.
The crisis has a positive side. It promotes the growth of civic responsibility, the unity of the country for protection from enemies. In addition, he reveals the creative power of channels of public communication, is able to expose the lies, reveal the real picture of what is happening and thereby to counter the information campaigns against Qatar.
In this context, one should highlight the activities of two young men, citizens of Qatar is Ahmed Yousef al-Hail and his brother Falah Youssef al – Hail. In the midst of the crisis in the Persian Gulf Ahmad al-Hail brought his Twitter account in Russian language and began to post messages about the injustice of the situation around Qatar. Its purpose is to reveal the truth to the Russian public, which receives false information about Qatar thanks to the information campaign, the media of the Gulf countries. Its goal is to tarnish the image of Qatar in the world.
To shed light on what is happening, the journalists of “Al-Sharq” met with a young man. The following is their dialogue.
The national goal
Asharq: How did the idea to turn your Twitter account into a media platform for the promotion of truthful information about the situation with Qatar?
Ahmed Yousef al-Hail: My idea was caused by a sense of duty and responsibility towards their country. As a people today, we must take the side of the wise leadership of our country, to protect it, using all possible instruments to influence world public opinion, destroy the image of Qatar who, by bribing the media are trying to impose on the world the country, told us the blockade. Together with my brother we tried to use our knowledge of the Russian language, to expose their lies and to refute the trumped-up message. On our homepage, we publish detailed reports about the economy of Qatar, the level of income per capita, the level of spending on research projects, communications in Qatar and much more. All of this information is unknown to the Russian people, with whom I have my research activities and social networks.
I considered it my civic duty to defend their country in the midst of crisis and to expose the false information that is distributed by certain channels of Gulf countries in the framework of a fierce and systematic campaign, which was followed by the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar, as well as imposing economic and social siege. So, with the help of knowledge of Russian language and friends from Russia I started to use your Twitter account for lighting situations and submitted evidence of falsity of these channels. All this in Russian.
وسائل إعلام روسية تربط تصعيد الدول الخليجية الثلاث نقف #قطر بزيارة الرئيس الأمريكي للرياض pic.twitter.com/OmgX01iMcv
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) 10 Jun 2017
View on Qatar
How did you manage to change the view of Russians about Qatar?
Through the dialogue between me and the Russians. I explain to them the situation in our country, provide them with data which confirm my words. In fact, I was surprised that they expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They used information campaigns against their country, we have similar experience, so they supported us. Many Russians expressed sympathy for the Qatari people, using the hashtag # российский_народ_вместе_с_катаром.
In addition, the Russians expressed respect to the firm stand taken by Qatar in the midst of the crisis, saying also that they respect our country’s sovereignty and its rejection of foreign aid.
The response in the media
Did your efforts response in the Russian media?
— Yes, the Russian media supporting our campaign. Several television channels took interviews, and recently in Doha I was visited by the journalists of the channel “RUSIA al-Yaum”, we wandered the streets of Qatar and its trade areas. They were surprised by the abundance of food products of high quality and at affordable prices for all. They filmed it and shown on Russian television.
For us it is very important that in Russia there are the media that refute the messages broadcast by the channels of the Persian Gulf. The staff of these channels lacks professionalism and objectivity, as they’re heading outside and you can see that the main benefit from their work remove United States. That is why the Russian channels show how ridiculous the agreement against Qatar, and the cynicism of the media who support this agreement. This will have an impact on public opinion in Russia.
The truth as it is
What are your impressions of the Russian group of journalists that visited Qatar?
— The team of the Russian TV channel and was surprised at how Qatari people rallied around their leadership, the extent of his devotion to His Highness Sheikh TA’mim bin Hamad al-Thani, Emir of Qatar. In addition, they were impressed by the beauty of our country and the progress made by our people. By the way, was another Russian TV channel, whose team visited Qatar. She contacted me and asked me to accompany them during the tour to local attractions in order to encourage Russian tourists to visit Qatar and to enjoy its beauty.
Contributed to a crisis in the Persian Gulf your popularity in Russia?
— Yes, today my blog is known to many Russians, Russian channels, talking about me as a young man who protects the truth and respects the Russian people, and for me, as a citizen of Qatar, is a matter of pride. I’m not looking for glory. The only thing I want is to do his duty towards his country, to convey to the world the truth and refute the lies with which Qatar want to tarnish.
