Members of the Qatari security forces, known in Arabic as 'Lekhwiya', dive in a swimming pool at Qatar University on August 10, 2017 to sign their names by a painting of Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani titled in Arabic 'Glorious Tamim', originally drawn by artist Ahmed Bin Majed Al-Maadheed and spread across the Gulf country, as an expression of support for the monarch.
What a difference a year makes. In December 2016, pan-Arab solidarity trumped nationalism when Qatar canceled the official ceremonies celebrating independence on its National Day after Aleppo fell to Syrian loyalists. Now, six months after the beginning of a blockade of Qatar imposed by its Arab neighbors, this season of National Days in the Gulf nations (Oman celebrated Nov. 18, followed by the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 2, Bahrain on Dec. 16. then Qatar on Dec. 18) appeared more riven by intra-Arab disputes than ever. In the cracks, the flowers of a new, stronger Qatari nationalism are sprouting. National Days in the Gulf, once the preserve of simple frivolities, fireworks and corniche parades, have morphed into key nation-building exercises for the region's citizens. Even Saudi Arabia, which only formally recognized a National Day in 2005, has embraced ever-more elaborate public ceremonies.
