Users took to social media to condemn satirical newspaper drawings depicting Arab men as long-bearded, furious, carrying guns and wearing suicide vests.
The French cartoon in question has sparked controversy on social media for its "racist and Islamophobic" depiction of the Qatar national football players ahead of the World Cup, which begins on Nov. 20 in Doha.
The cartoon uses traditional representations of Arab men as long-bearded, angry, masked and carrying all kinds of weaponry, from machetes and rifles to rocket launchers, and was published last month by the French weekly Le Canard enchaine.
A picture of a player sporting the fabled No. 10 shirt, known as the most dangerous player in many teams, was portrayed donning suicide vests.
Many Twitter users condemned the satirical weekly, claiming that the pictures mirror a racist tendency in Western criticism of Arabs and Qataris before of the World Cup, particularly in the French press.
Hamad al-Kawari, the Qatari minister of state and head of the Qatar National Library, was one of several who swamped to denounce the caricature and encouraged the newspaper to at least project a simple sense of sportsmanship.
"Even harsh satire is welcome! But Le Canard enchaine decided to resort to lies, hatred and resentment to attack Qatar and denigrate it," al-Kawari said.
Some readers also condemned the newspaper for the cartoons' underlying anti-Islam sentiment. Some people cited the illustrations of Muslim women on the cover of the October issue, where they are shown donning a full-body black veil.
"It is not new to them, as they have already mocked and insulted the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in almost the same manner," one user tweeted, referring to a previous controversial caricature of Prophet Muhammad in French media.
"A despicable cartoon published by Le Canard Enchaine that exposes its true racism and anti-Muslim hate," said another person.
The online response to the cartoons coincides with a rise in Qatari resentment over increased foreign media criticism of the country's alleged questionable domestic policies before the World Cup.
The "attacks" by Western nations against Doha, according to Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, were an example of what he called "hypocrisy."
He said that the critics represented a "minority of people," while criticizing European nations among those who purchased the most tickets.
"Among the 10 countries that bought the most tickets, we find European countries like France," Al Thani said.
Earlier this year, a number of French cities, notably Paris, said that they would not show the event on big screens in protest of Qatar's record regarding the environment and various domestic policies.
French media has expressed some disapproval of France's choice to work with Qatar to provide security personnel for the World Cup, notwithstanding this criticism.
