Rana Ayyub, the controversial journalist, has been getting called out from all sides for her Houthis-supporting tweet in which she had called Saudis especially the leadership “bloodthirsty”. Netizens from Saudi Arabia expressed their displeasure over the misleading tweet posted by Ayyub. Irked by the backlash, Ayyub blamed PM Modi for the attack she might not have expected to receive from Saudi netizens. In a tweet, she wrote, “Saudi trolls are being cheered on by Modi supporters in India. You missed nothing.”
A few hours later, netizens from the United Arab Emirates also called out Ayyub and questioned her support for Houthis Terrorists. Hassan Sajwani, an Emirati businessman, said, “The likes of Rana Ayyub are the biggest culprits. Under the smokescreen of “Humanitarian Voice”, they constantly back Houthis, Hamas, and Muslim Brotherhood aligned groups. Ms. Rana forgot that Houthis killed two innocent Indians (her countrymen) last week in Abu Dhabi. Shame!”
She ignores the atrocities and war crimes committed by the Houthis but calls Saudis “bloodthirsty”. These white label Islamists are even more dangerous than the terrorists themselves ! Shame ! pic.twitter.com/O8qjX9dkdL
— حسن سجواني 🇦🇪 Hassan Sajwani (@HSajwanization) January 23, 2022
He further mentioned how Ayyub conveniently ignored the war crimes committed by Houthis and called Saudis bloodthirsty. He said, “She ignores the atrocities and war crimes committed by the Houthis but calls Saudis “bloodthirsty”. These white label Islamists are even more dangerous than the terrorists themselves! Shame!”
She was also called out by other people such as lawyers based out of New York who accused her of spreading propaganda.
This is supposed to be a "journalist" for @WaPo – engaging in the kind of outright propaganda that would make "Pravda" proud. "Bloodthirsty Saudis" makes it sound like #KSA is there just to kill people rather than protecting their own civilians from ongoing attacks. Disgraceful! https://t.co/iNigeQnnWz
— Irina Tsukerman (@irinatsukerman_) January 23, 2022
Many Muslims also called her out for supporting Iran-backed terrorists.
As a #Muslim, I feel disgusted @RanaAyyub is supporting Iran-backed sectarian terrorists who killed and displaced millions of Muslims from #Iraq #Syria #Lebanon and #Yemen. https://t.co/Av0zAxOOpn
— Farjad فَرجاد 🦋 🌺 🪐 (@farjad99) January 23, 2022
Many from Saudi continued to call her out. Some even accused her of not being a good Muslim for not covering her head.
As a muslim you should be ashamed you don’t cover your hair and face as millions of muslim women do! Shame on you! https://t.co/JLh1gMnFWQ
— Mohamed Al-Abdullah (@sclcldv) January 23, 2022
Ayyub had posted a tweet against Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen that also destroyed a prison run by a Houthi rebel group. The strikes were in response to a deadly drone attack in UAE by Houthis, a member of the Saudi-led alliance. The group has been launching missile and drone attacks in Saudi Arabia.
Notably, Houthis control a large territory in northern Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition is supporting the internationally-recognized Yemen government to fight the group. As the coalition supports the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi government in Yemen, the netizens from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were shocked to see an Indian journalist supporting Houthis.
The Indian netizens also criticized Ayyub for her misleading tweet on Saudis.