Canada - Saudi Spat Results In Veiled 9/11 Social Media Threats

||| Infographic KSA.png |||

The Canadian - Saudi spat which we informed you yesterday about (see our related coverage) quickly got ugly on social media when a Saudi non-profit organization tweeted an image (which has by now been deleted) of an Air Canada plane flying towards Toronto tower, in a clear reference to the 9/11 attacks.

You will remember that 15 of the 19 hijackers on that gruesome day were Saudis and that the mastermind behind the planning, Mr Osama bin laden, came from a wealthy Saudi family.

The tweet, clearly aimed at the Canadian government, stated: "Sticking one's nose where it doesn't belong!"

"As the Arabic saying goes: 'He who interferes with what doesn't concern him finds what doesn't please him.'

Related coverage: <a href="http://thegoldwater.com/news/33253-Canada-Foreign-Minister-Freeland-Tweets-Lead-To-Dramatic-Rift-With-Saudis">Canada Foreign Minister Freeland tweets lead to dramatic rift with Saudi Arabia</a>.

As the tweets were later deleted and the non-profit has not been on social media since, we can only assume that the Saudi government intervened as the image quickly went viral on social media, with many in the US and Canada saying it was made in poor taste.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now deleted, here a screenshot of the threatening Saudi &quot;infographic&quot; featuring an airliner headed for the Toronto skyline. <a href="https://t.co/LrkCLxxjFk">pic.twitter.com/LrkCLxxjFk</a></p>&mdash; Tobias Schneider (@tobiaschneider) <a href="https://twitter.com/tobiaschneider/status/1026473539573100544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

At the same time however, the Saudi state airline Saudia declared that it would be suspending all flights to and from Toronto whilst any new trade and investment with Canada on behalf of the Saudis has been frozen.

Estimates from Bloomberg and the Financial Times claim that the Saudi companies, which are mostly state-owned, have some $6 billion invested in Canada.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Supporters of Saudi Arabia actions should read this. He was sentenced to 10 years and flogging. The first 50 lashes were televised. His crime. He blogged in support of human rights. <a href="https://t.co/0ZAMv5NsK6">https://t.co/0ZAMv5NsK6</a></p>&mdash; Richard McFadyen🇨🇦 (@RTMcFadyen) <a href="https://twitter.com/RTMcFadyen/status/1026489228119535616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

All this results from Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland’s social media messages in the past few days stating her concern over human rights activists being held in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Foreign Minister released another statement directed at the Canadian government over their ‘meddling in its internal affairs’, stating: "any further step from the Canadian side in that direction will be considered as acknowledgement of our right to interfere in the Canadian domestic affairs."

"Canada and all other nations need to know that they can't claim to be more concerned than the kingdom over its own citizens."

Source:

https://twitter.com/tobiaschneider/status/1026473539573100544