Okaz

In the views of this racist man, my beautiful Bedouin mother must be deprived of her nationality simply because she pronounces certain Arabic words differently from him. He sees anyone who speaks a dialect other than the one spoken in his village as a non-Saudi.

WILL my mother survive the racist discrimination against her?

My mother is a Bedouin who has never stepped outside of the boundaries of her extended tribe. My mother is an elderly Saudi national, and she pronounces certain letters and words differently like many others who live in the Arab Gulf countries do. Is this enough evidence to raise questions about her roots and the legitimacy of her Saudi citizenship?

A while ago, I read on the Twitter account of an old man who questioned the lineage of people who spoke a dialect different from the one spoken in his village. This old man is from a noble family and has a large number of followers on Twitter. Yet he claims that anyone who speaks differently from him is not a genuine Saudi.

In the views of this racist man, my beautiful Bedouin mother must be deprived of her nationality simply because she pronounces certain Arabic words differently from him. He sees anyone who speaks a dialect other than the one spoken in his village as a non-Saudi.

I tried to argue the point with him, but it became clear to me that all racists accept nothing except their racist views. They want us to give in to them completely, or no deals.

My mother is a great person. We learned from her how to face the hard realities of life with patience, equanimity and firmness. My mother never instigated us against our country and she never discouraged my brother from joining the soldiers fighting on the southern border against the Houthi militias. She never stopped my brother from joining the forces that answered the call for help from Bahrain and be among the first Saudi soldiers who set their foot in the Gulf kingdom more than seven years ago. When she lost her daughter in a school bus accident, my mother showed mercy on the driver responsible and asked the authorities to allow him to go back to his family and to never hold him accountable for her misfortune.

What did my mother do to be a victim of racism and to be deprived of her citizenship as demanded by the racist neighbor who foolishly believes the dialect spoken in entire Saudi Arabia is the dialect spoken in the village he belongs to?

My mother is a great, beautiful and pure person, and because of her, I am writing this article. I direct my message to those who spread hatred and racism in society. I ask them not to hurt us and our loved ones. Our mothers are dear to our hearts, so do not use your racism as a weapon to attack them.

Finally, my mother is a Saudi, who was born in this land where her ancestors lived and were buried. Her ancestors’ graves scatter in many nooks and corners of this country, such as Semah, Al-Dhulm and Waqba. My mother gave this country what was not provided by those who were obsessed with their hateful racism.

My mother faced many bitter days in her life. She went to sleep hungry on many nights so that we would not go hungry. It is in her right to stop the harm done to this country by these neo-racist blabbers who see in the dialects spoken by people the opportunity to degrade them.