Over the last few weeks, a new hashtag has begun spreading across Arabic-language social media: "#اقترح_طريقة_لقتل_الشواذ" which translates to "#suggest_a_way_to_kill_the_faggots."
This person suggested they be burned.
#اقترح_طريقه_لقتل_الشواذ ••~ يحرقونهم بالنار وهم أحيااااء 🌚✌🏻️
Translation: “#suggest_a_way_to_kill_the_faggots they should burn them alive."
This person suggested they be tortured and killed.
تعذيب ثم قتل #اقترح_طريقة_لقتل_الشواذ
Translation: “#suggest_a_way_to_kill_the_faggots torture then killing"
The hashtag appeared to have been born after this video was posted online on January 25 with the hashtag "زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة#" which means "faggots'_wedding_ in_ Jeddah":
#زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة #زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة #زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة #زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة #زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة
It was said to be a same-sex wedding that took place in the Saudi Arabian city Jeddah, though that turned out not to be true.
There was mass outrage on Twitter in Saudi Arabia. Some said it was part of a conspiracy against the country, which is the home of Islam's holiest city, Mecca.
في حملة تشويه عظيمة مستهدفة جدة و اهلها #زواج_للشواذ_في_جده الجهات الرسمية يقولوا ان التصوير خارج السعودية و لغير سعوديين اصلا."
There were demands for retribution.
#زواج_للشواذ_في_جده يجب القصاص منهم ليتعضو كل شاذ والله يهديهم
And memes:
#زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة ..
#زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة
#زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة
A spokesman for police in the region issued a denial that the event happened on his turf, reportedly saying, "There is no faggots' wedding that happened in Jeddah."
#شرطة_مكة تنفي #زواج_للشواذ_في_جده، وتؤكد: الجهات الأمنية لم تسجل ولم تضبط أي حالة مماثلة، محذرة من نشر الشائعات ...
Later that day, there were reports that four people were arrested on accusations that they appeared in the video. But the people reportedly taken into custody were in supposedly in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, which is 600 miles to the east of Jeddah.
#الهيئة تقبض على شباب أقاموا حفل لزواج "شواذ" في #الرياض ، بعضها ما زال في شهر العسل . #زواج_للشواذ_بالرياض -
There are doubts about what actually happened or if the arrests occurred as reported.
Some reports claimed the police found gay porn on the mens' cell phone, silicone breasts, and sex toys during the arrests. But Saudi Arabia's leading papers didn't cover the story at all, and CNN Arabic, based in Dubai, said that police accounts could not be confirmed.
But the issue was kept alive on social media, including a video posted February 5 by Saudi YouTube personalities Fe2aFala saying those arrested are animals who should be "cured," "impaled" — or both.
View this video on YouTube
Saudi Arabia usually punishes people accused of homosexuality with jail and lashes, unlike neighboring Iran which does utilize the death penalty. But this was about a month after Saudi Arabia's highly publicized execution of 47 political dissidents, and many people took to Twitter to call for the people arrested in this case to be executed too.
That's when the hashtag "اقترح_طريقة_لقتل_الشواذ#" — "#suggest_a_way_to_kill_the_faggots" — began.
Twitter appears to have deleted some tweets with this hashtag, but many are still out there.
This person took a cue from ISIS and suggested throwing them off buildings.
#اقترح_طريقة_لقتل_الشواذ نطبق فيه الشرع .. نرميه من أعلى ارتفاع في منطقته👌 يتكسر ويكون عبره. بلا حقوق انسان بلا بطيخ
This person cited Islamic scripture:
#اقترح_طريقه_لقتل_الشواذ عن ابن عباس: قال رسول الله "من وجدتموه يعمل عمل قوم لوط فاقتلوا الفاعل والمفعول ..
Translation: “#suggest_a_way_to_kill_the_faggots as narrated by Ibn Abas that the God's prophet said 'those who you find committing the act of people of Lot should the active and the passive be killed..'"
LGBT-rights supporters have attempted to respond to the hashtag with their own, "سنحترم_حقوق_المثليين#" "#WeWillRespectGayRights."
#سنحترم_حقوق_المثليين لا تشغل بالك بحياة البشر الخاصة ولن تكره أحد. أنت تكرههم لأنك قعدت تتخيل بيعملوا ايه. ماتتخيلش! روح اعملك سندوتش جبنة.
"#WeWillRespectGayRights" don't be obsessed with other people's lives so you don't have to hate anyone. You hate them because you are imagining what they are doing. Stop imagining! Go make yourself a cheese sandwich."