Anti-expatriate propaganda and racist cartoon against Ethiopians in Arab News should come to a stop now

July 28, 2013

Dear Sirs, Greetings from India,

I am shocked and appalled at the ongoing continuous propaganda in Arab News via cartoon of Abdullah Sayel, who makes racists comments in the cartoon that is seen each day in Arab News which has editors who have no common sense of selection as they are very poor in English except one or to who are the best.

As a senior newspaper editor, I concur with many Saudi, Indian and Pakistani friends that the cartoons are indeed very bad in taste and has touch of racism in it. Why this propaganda against the Ethiopian brothers and sisters and that too in the blessed month of Ramadan?

I really fail to understand the logic and stand of Arab News of embarking on this systematic hate campaign against the Ethiopians. Why the once upon a time good newspaper has suddenly become hostile towards the expatriates?

Last week Arab News launched a tirade against the Indians advocating the Saudis to get rid of the Indians.Then it started campaign against the poor Bangladeshis labeling them as dreaded criminals, followed by hate against the Pakistanis referring to them as robbers and thieves, and now the Ethiopians. Why all this anger, hate, and spitting of venom against the poor expatriates? Then Arab News protested that the expatriates had remitted 40 billion riyals to their countries, which is a sheer nonsense. Ok, what’s wrong if they remitted. They had slogged hard to earn that money and send it back home to their families and children. They did not send the money robbing or killing anyone. They had every right to send their hard earned money to their families.

May be what comes to my mind, would be to please the government. But then this is extremely cruel and bad on part of the newspaper, which it should not do.

The best for the people who are against discrimination and racism is to totally boycott Arab News and relaya the same to their friends and relatives. A paper that is totally racist and anti-expatriates should not be purchased or subscribed too. Arab News should take a lesson from Khaleej Times which was boycotted by the Indians expatriates after it ran a story against them. In two days times the circulation of Khaleej Times crashed drastically by 70 percent, no buyers, no advertisers. Perhaps this would happen to Arab News if the expatriates boycotted the newspaper.

I hope that this anti-expatriate propaganda and or racism cartoons against Ethiopians would come to a halt immediately. Activists like Mr.Abdullah Al Alami, Mr. Ahmed Al Omran, Mr. Sultan Al Qassemi, Ms. Muna Abu Sulayman, etc would ensure that this racism in Arab News against expatriates stop now.

I wish all of you a blessed and happy Ramadan.