Gulf-uckyourself

On the patriotism of being a Khaleeji

The Qataris are resisting with poise. Bahrain is stronger than we thought and Oman is joining the huddles again. Saudi isn’t taking the bait and the Kuwaitis are drinking Starbucks again.

There’s no place in the world like the Gulf. And there’s no shareable patriotism, one that crosses country lines, like the patriotism and pride of being a Khaleeji.

To my fellow Khaleejis: I’m sorry I took our siblinghood for granted. I’m sorry I once hated living on this peninsula. I’m sorry I made fun of us and I’m sorry for not appreciating you enough. I’m sorry for not honoring your kindness and generosity and sense of belonging as much as I should have. I’m sorry for dismissing you and imposing a level of hierarchy at times where companionship was needed most. I’m sorry for not cherishing the similarities we have and rolling my eyes when a Kuwaiti tells me, for the millionth time, that the Saudi Angaris and Kuwaiti Anjaris are actually the same family. I’m sorry for taking everything for granted. I hate this war so much and I want it to end.

One thing I will disagree with you guys on is the level of disdain from knowing that certain other countries (legally I can’t name them, sadly) are secretly happy about all of this. Of course they’re happy. Do you blame them? We are the luckiest, happiest, most prosperous region in the world. We won the ovarian lottery. We saw the world through a completely different lens and I feel really, really sad for every motherfucker who didn’t live our lives.

So let them be happy. They deserve to be. We didn’t need their support then, we don’t need their support now… because we will beat this.

A friendly, final reminder: we will win this.

We will rise up. We will grow much, much stronger. We don’t need anyone else.

🇸🇦🇶🇦🇰🇼🇦🇪🇴🇲🇧🇭