Doha: A Liiiiiiitttttle Bit Like Home

Skyline of New Doha

     When we arrived in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, from Dubai, I was immediately thrilled with the contents of my surroundings. There was finally a city with a skyline, something that I have not seen since I left the U.S, made up of skyscrapers that looked pristine and modern. The hotel we stayed at, called The Swiss-Bell Hotel, was extremely nice. The rooms were enormous with free Internet access, unbelievably comfortable beds, and one of the most excellent bathrooms/showers that I have ever experienced.

     Qatar is a unique country, in the Gulf area, in that is trying to present itself to the world as a forum for fair and free international policy. Although the government is autocratic, lead by Hamad bin Khalifa Althani, the founding of Al-Jazeera is arguably the most shining example of free press in this part of the world. Qatar is home to one of the largest U.S military bases, outside The United States itself, and also engages in some interactions with countries like Iran, promoting progress for peaceful foreign policy, through out the region.

     The Doha Debates are a huge statement on the way Qatar wants to present itself to the world. A place where international and controversial topics can be discussed and debated in a fair setting. This year’s Doha Debate was about the French ban on the face veil and I was lucky enough to be sitting in the audience watching. The proposition argued that the veil is not appropriate in a country where there is a separation of church and state and the face veil heightens the risk of terrorism as well as creates a general anti social attitude and separation within a community. The opposition argued that the ban was targeting too small a group to be affective, it was immoral for governments to tell people how to dress, and it was just another example of the increased “Muslim bating” that has been seen around Europe in recent years. The two sides went back and forth and it was all very interesting, but in the end the opposition won.

     After the debate we went to The Souq Waqif, or “The Old Souq”. In some areas it looked like a re-done and re-built version of the older areas, where up and down the street there are fancy restaurants that are significantly more expensive then ones you traditionally see in Souqs. Then you walk down the way a bit and you come upon a labyrinth of all the same type of stores that you would see in Souq Mutrah, and there were portions of it that were in doors that looked a lot like Souq Mutrah. The merchandise being sold in this part of the Souq ranged from a cafeteria of herbs and spices to actual falcon shops.

     Souq Waqif was actually renovated relatively recently and parts of this are easy to see. None, if any of the souqs that I have been to thus far have had the style of restaurant that is common to the new “Old Souq”. The shop owners are a lot more like the one in Oman than the ones in Dubai and just call to you from their stores as opposed to being overly aggressive. This may be due to less poverty and subsequent desperation or it could be due to a more lax attitude. Either way it lead to a much nicer Souq experience.

Al Jazeera Logo 

     The highlight of the second day in Doha was the tour of Al-Jazeera head quarters. Al-Jazeera is the best example of free press in the region and it was really great being able to see the foundation of how it all functions. Al-Jazeera was formed in 1996, when the BBC shut down their Arabic channel, in an effort to bring accurate information to the people of the Arab world, a luxury that many in the region lacked. The news station was able to be created as well as is still sustained by government loans which creates suspicions in some people’s minds where the news station’s loyalties lie, however, it seems that in most cases the information reporting is pretty accurate. In 2006 Al-Jazeera English was formed so that non-Arab audiences could still be able to view the content of their broadcasts without a language barrier. The tour started out with Al-Jazeera English and it was unbelievable to see the way one of the most controversial news organizations in the world functioned. The entire newsroom was beating to the same pulse, it seemed, as we watched broadcasters being filmed and other employees constantly going about doing their business. We got to pay a visit to the original room that Al-Jazeera was built out of and it was really impressive to see how the channel has grown over the past 14 years.

     The final day in Doha we went to visit Education City. The Emir’s wife has been very public in her quest to improve the country’s education and Education City is one of her most triumphant victories. Starting with Virginia Commonwealth and coming to include Northwestern and Georgetown, seven of America’s finest schools have opened campuses in this oasis of western education in the Middle East. All of the campuses are located in the same plot of land and all of them are relatively close to one another allowing students to have the ability to meet people from different schools and share what they have learned. Also, students are not required to be Qatari and many of the students we met were Palestinian or Jordanian as well as one Omani. We started the day at 7:30 with one of the most compelling lectures I have ever listened to from the Dean of Georgetown. Almost all of the campuses only offer one major or specialization and the idea is to choose a campus/major that suits your interests. Georgetown’s major is International Affairs and the Dean lectured us on Qatar’s role in Gulf and World politics as well as other interesting topics. We then headed to the Texas A&M campus for a lecture by “The Qatar Foundation”, which is the organization founded by the Emir’s wife that has allowed all of this to happen. The rest or our morning and early afternoon was filled with tours of campuses which was very interesting and all of them were equipped with gear, just as advanced as you would see in The United States. We ate lunch with students from the Northwestern campus, whose specialization is in Journalism. It was great to meet students from the university and talk with them over lunch as well as watch their student made films. While almost all of their families came from The Middle East many of them were from places like Canada, The U.S, or Europe, because that is where their families’ currently reside. The end of our day consisted of two more very interesting lectures and a nice relaxing final night at our fantastic hotel.