What I will mention here is history, which everyone over the age of fifty will recall, especially those who lived in the Salwa region or in neighboring areas and villages, whether in Saudi Arabia, Qatar or the United Arab Emirates (UAE). What I will mention here is well known to every sincere Qatari and it will only be denied by those who want to intimidate Qataris to keep them silent. What can be seen on the surface is just the tip of the iceberg; what is hidden is much greater. Our forefathers have said that a person acquires some characteristics from his name. This is very recent history and I don't know why such facts are being obliterated, as our fathers used to talk about them and they are mentioned in our literature. In this article, will present you with information which is known by many old people who are still with us. You can ask them if you want to verify the information. Dear brothers and sisters, do you know that the final agreement for the demarcation of the borders between Saudi Arabia and Qatar took place when I was just 14 years old? The greatest evidence is what took place before this agreement, including skirmishes in Al-Khufoos region in 1992. For this reason, I will explain to you the history of this region, when and how it actually came under Qatari rule. Southern Qatar is a region under dispute and was not under any rule until 1965. It is located between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It includes Al-Kar'aniyah, Mas'eed, Saylain, Abu Samrah and some other small areas and villages. Bedouins lived in these areas during the summer and after the end of the spring they used to make a living from the bounties of the sea. Among those who lived in these areas during the summer season were the members of Al-Ghufran Aal Murrah tribe. This custom continued for hundreds of years. Here is a simple introduction explaining what took place in 1965. It was a sensitive and difficult period in the history of the region and no one can deny it. Amid the hardships of that difficult period, Britain exploited people's preoccupation with overcoming their problems and granted Qatar ownership of the Neutral Zone, provided that Qatar protected the rights of the Bedouin tribes. Truly speaking, the stance of Sheikh Ahmed, the ruler of Qatar at that time, was not wise. He was totally biased in favor of the British against his brethren. This caused the Qatari people to view him as an employee of the British and not as the Qatari ruler. The greatest evidence for this was that the Qatari people and the Kingdom were among the strongest supporters of the rectification movement led by Sheikh Khalifa in 1972 to liberate Qatar from the British mandate and colonialism. My grandfathers Hamad and Ali were among the supporters of Sheikh Khalifa to end British hegemony in Qatar. Regrettably, our forefathers made many sacrifices in order to expel the Turkish occupier and British colonialist so that Qatar would be free and proud and could take its own decisions. And now Hamad Bin Khalifa has brought Qatar back to square one by making it a land colonized by foreign forces. It is as if the sacrifices of our forefathers to liberate Qatar from British colonialism have been wasted. Finally, most of the members of Al-Ghufran tribe have left their region in Southern Qatar. They have been unjustly stripped of their citizenship without giving them any option. I challenge the Qatari government to prove its justification, which is merely based upon lies. What took place was a contravention of the human rights of the people of that region by the government of Hamad Bin Khalifa, when it was supposed to secure and guarantee those human rights. Therefore, I demand that all the rights of Al-Ghufran tribe in Qatar be restored backdated or that the region should be returned to the Kingdom, which will not have any objection to granting full rights to everyone who has been stripped of his rights, including the right of citizenship.
