JAFFA, Israel – Saudi news media and social media lambasted the U.S. Congress after it voted to bypass President Barack Obama’s veto on a bill that would allow relatives of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government for damages.
While Saudi public opinion was divided on the presidential veto, with some praising it as a feat of Saudi diplomacy, the media and social media quite strongly criticized the congressional maneuver.
“Congress bypasses Obama’s veto, threatens to throw U.S. into legal turmoil,” read a front-page splash in the London-based Saudi paper Asharq al Awsat.
The lead story of the news site Tawasul was also critical: “Saudis call for boycott of American products: ‘Our ancestors subsisted on milk and dates’.”
Many used social media to voice their ire, sometimes in English.
Ghalia posted pictures of alleged child victims of wars the U.S. was purportedly involved in across the Arab world, and added the caption:
“TheAmericanterrorism #قانون_جاستا What is the guilt of children, women and innocent people, where are life and liberty. ”
#TheAmericanterrorism #قانون_جاستا
What is the guilt of children, women and innocent people, where are life and liberty. ✨ pic.twitter.com/sZSCtzxTcA— GHALIA (@ghalia_007) September 29, 2016
Waad tweeted: “The U.S history full with terrorism,then it called our countries (terrorists) How shamful?!”
Abdel Mone Halawa wrote:
Congress insists to punish Saudi Arabia, US policies will be tough in region, JASTA undermines trust between Arabs and US #قانون_جاستا
— Abd El-Monem Halawa (@monemhalawa) September 29, 2016
User Aziz posted pictures of the aftermath of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, images of Vietnam War casualties and pictures from inside Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison and wrote: “The world judges America.”
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