How this royal portrait boosted Qatari national identity
A sense of national identity has been growing steadily in Qatar since the Saudi-led blockade began in June 2017, and it seems as though an image of the Qatari emir has helped it along the way.
For the last two years, a portrait of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani adorns many cars, shopwindows, skyscrapers and other public places in Doha. The image — drawn by now famous Qatari artist Ahmed Al Maadheed — is more than a royal portrait or state-sponsored graffiti; it has become a crystallization of the blockade-induced national sentiment.
The growing sense of unity among once disparate Qatari groups is caused by the blockade that was imposed in June 2017 to break Qatar, according to Ross Griffin, assistant professor of postcolonial literature at Qatar University.
When Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt began their trade and diplomatic blockade on Qatar, the international media was quick to refer to it as the Gulf’s "biggest diplomatic crisis in years.” Citing Qatar’s links to extremists groups and to Iran, the so-called Anti-Terror Quartet imposed 13 demands and a strict deadline, while panicked Qatari residents hurriedly stockpiled food in anticipation of what was to come next.
Yet 1½ years later, many international media outlets and academics note Qatar is not only surviving but thriving.
