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Am I preaching and criticizing the Crown Prince?


Yesterday, I received an email from a Saudi I know from Twitter.

We had discussed in length before, not politics but a common interest we have. Over the last few days however, things had gone downward. He was obviously unhappy with me and I was quite sure it was because of something he misunderstood about me. But he wouldn't back down.

His email last night was very harsh, he was criticizing me, saying that I “lecture and preach against Saudi Crown Prince actions and the issues of Saudi Arabia” while I said nothing about what was going on in France.

I was very annoyed by this email and especially by its tone, but as some of you might share this opinion, I thought I should write a post about it.

Do I lecture and preach against the Crown Prince? Do I highlight the issues of Saudi Arabia? I don’t. I absolutely don’t.

I realize however, and I am sometimes considering stopping this column for that particular reason, that some of you don’t understand the difference between pointing out gently the weak points of a person in order to help that person improve, and criticizing that person harshly in order to weaken them.

If I wanted to criticize the Crown Prince I could just translate what I am reading everywhere about him. I don’t do it simply because I disagree. Your Crown Prince is a misunderstood man, it’s quite obvious to me. I am a free mind, I have observed the Crown Prince probably more than any French journalist has, I know his true nature and if he was kind enough to hire me to help him with his communication, which I think he would benefit from, I wouldn’t even write anything about him at all.

I wish your Crown Prince all the very best. There certainly are choices in front of him, I hope he is considering all options, and I trust that God will inspire him to go for the best options, although quite obviously good advisors can also help a lot when it comes to considering your options and going for the best one.

On the point about me not mentioning what’s going on in France, you have to know one thing about me. I am on Twitter only for you Saudis. I don’t like Twitter, don’t like the user interface, don’t like the character limit, don’t like how it feels like a mudfight in here.

I think I have 3 French-speaking followers on Twitter and one of them is also my friend on Facebook. I follow a few French people because they are interesting but most of my online life is on Facebook. On Facebook, I have around 800 friends and 200 more followers, and more than the number, all my usual suspects are there. Facebook is where it feels like family.

Facebook is where I discuss French politics, and environmental issues and other things I am interested in. 

Facebook is also where I discuss Saudi Arabia with French people, mostly by engaging with my friends who are posting about your country, they never post I am afraid to say nice things about you. I am defending you the best I can, just like I defended Emmanuel Macron when he was running for president (I spent weeks on this).

If at the end of a conversation about Saudi Arabia, they are as much as unsure of what to think, I think that’s good already. Because as it stands, most people are certain your country is the land where the devil himself lives.

I don’t expect a medal, and I certainly won’t be able to do this forever as it is quite time-consuming, but if you guys could at least give me the benefit of the doubt for trying my best, it would be great.

And now due to popular demand, I will write an article about what’s going on in France. But I also have a job interview later today, wish me luck.

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