Truthful Visitor on Doha Press
Do you ever visit QatarLiving.com? It’s one of those places where you can end up passing a lot of time, and it is also a place where there is both a lot of information and a lot of misinformation. There are some very good posts, and then there are some poseurs.
A recent Forum discussed the statement by Qatar Attorney General Dr Ali bin Futais Al Marri that “no one is above the law.” As forums often do, the threads segued into a discussion of freedom of the press in Qatar.
I almost split my sides, I was laughing so hard. I asked Truthful Visitor if I could print his post on this blog, and he gave me permission. I hope you enjoy it as I did. 🙂
Don’t you folks know that all the newspapers in Qatar are screened by the Ministry of Interior every evening before publication for the following day? Anything that doesn’t fit the required image is cut out.
Hence you always get the presence of evil (there’s always an Asian gang being deported for doing something dreadful like burglary or selling liquor) page 1, bottom of the page, that covers the Evil In Our Midst; then the sycophantic article about HH who has just made some pithy pronouncement on The Necessity For Mutual Understanding And Education Across The World, page 2; some phony figures about how much more the Pearl property or other investments have increased pages 3 – 5; some baloney about how safe the country is for investment, page 6; then the gushing op-ed about how the best societies in the world are so great because they have been enforcing Islamic values, pages 6 – 8; Qatar Airways wins award for best in-flight hot towels, page 9, and a new order for 500 Airbus aircraft (thanks to the strategic profitability of the airline! ha!) . And not to forget, Gulf Escapes Economic Downturn for the fourth week in a row, page 10 ad infinitum.
The Filipina maids found dead and decayed in the desert? The photos of the police when they turn the water cannons on the labour camps outside the Industrial Area? Oh no. Those photos were seized under duress. These things are just not family -friendly, now are they?
If it doesn’t fit the great narrative of Qatar, it’s not really news!
Thank you, Truthful Visitor. (truthfulvisitor/-a-t-/me.com)
Debate on Media Freedom in Doha, Qatar
From today’s Gulf Times:
Debate on Qatari press law
The Doha Centre for Media Freedom (DCMF) will hold a roundtable discussion on the Qatari press law that dates back to 1979, on Wednesday, at The Ritz-Carlton Doha, an official said yesterday.
According to the official, under the discussion will be the need for a Qatari media, and the view concerning modification and changes to the accrual Press Law, in order for it to match the requirements of the current era.
Discussions will be moderated by DCMF deputy director general Maryam al-Khater, while senior media officials of the country, editor-in-chiefs, senior journalists, heads of media organisations and others are expected to be in attendance.
After an introductory presentation of the most-recent study prepared by DCMF on the Press Law, comprising recommendations, suggestions, and analyses, the floor will be opened to what is expected to be a “vigorous debate”, the official said.
“The DCMF calls on all media specialists to exercise their right of expression by participating in this gathering and sharing their thoughts about the possibility of amending the negative provisions of the law for journalists’ rights as well as adding provisions which respond to their ambitions,” the official added.
The event coincides with the National Day for Human Rights, which falls on November 11 every year.
There was an earlier report, on June 24th, that most of the original members of the DCMF had resigned:
Media Freedom Centre team leaves office
DOHA: Robert MĂ©nard, director- general of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom and his team have left the Centre.
“We no longer have either the freedom or the resources to do our work,” said Menard, in a statement issued yesterday.
The heads of the assistance, research and communications departments have also left the Centre, said the statement.
The Center was set up on the initiative of H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned and Reporters Without Borders in December 2007.
MĂ©nard, who became director-general on April 1, 2008, was the founder of Reporters Without Borders, which he headed for 23 years.
I imagine this is going to be a very interesting “vigorous” debate, of interest to all those who write – or blog – on Qatar. One of the things I notice in both Kuwait and Qatar is that in the interest of self-preservation, the newspapers self-censor. For example, when a crime is committed, if it is an Asian, or even, rarely, a westerner, the name of the criminal can be printed. If it is a local citizen, they do not print the names, not ever, unless it is a rare case where the defendant is convicted and appeals – on rare occasions, the name will appear then. In order to spare the family the embarrassment, I have been told, but I would think that the fear of embarrassing the family would have a strong deterrent effect on young men, for example, who think it is OK to abduct, rape and humiliate young men and women, without fear of having their crime made public.
In Kuwait, they publish the crimes committed, at least. In Qatar, you would think from reading the papers, that these crimes don’t exist. They do. They aren’t reported.
I think it is very cool that in Qatar, many of these issues are opened for public debate, as in this media debate, and in the ongoing Doha Debate series.
Driving in Qatar
You probably think I am cursing when I am talking to you on the road.
I am not.
I am saying “Your poor father! He told you about turn signals! Weren’t you listening???”
I am saying “If your mother could see your bad manners, she would be so ashamed of you!”
I am saying “Hahahahahahaha! You got your picture taken!”
Moving into my lane when I am already in it, is bad manners. Honking at me to make me let you in is WORSE manners. Didn’t you see me? Oh! Here’s a thought – did you check your side mirrors before you thought to change lanes??
Have you noticed? I let the guys in who USE THEIR TURN SIGNALS! They are communicating in a polite way. I let them in in front of me. I am nice about it.
Changes in Qatar Rent Laws
From today’s Gulf Times Qatar
New rent law seen a victory for tenants
By Sarmad Qazi
In a major victory for tenants, rent disputes can now be taken up with the Rental Dispute Resolving Committee (RDRC) regardless of whether the contract was registered or not, a senior official said yesterday.
This follows amendments in the rental law.
Law number 20 of 2009 sees changes to some provisions of the previous law number 4 of 2008 issued by HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on October 25, the official said adding it further protected the rights of tenants in Qatar.
“There are two things in the new rule: you can come here, whether or not your contract is registered and speak to a judge, and secondly the landlord must now give at least six months notice of eviction,” the official said.
The law number 4 of 2008 was aimed at regulating the market by making registration of rental contracts mandatory and by establishing the RDRC with its own jurisdiction to take up grievances at a time of near-record inflation in the country.
“But we know the law missed out on rental contracts made prior to the 2008 law or based on goodwill and word only. In these cases we weren’t able to address any complaint,” the official at the RDRC’s headquarters in Muntazah (now Rawdat al-Khail) said.
“This amendment changes all that,” he added.
However, according to him, with the rents showing declining trends, the number of disputes is also falling; currently only 15 new cases are being filed at the RDRC every day.
The nature of cases varies from landlords wanting to hike the rent despite a two-year freeze since 2008, to non-payment claims and eviction notices.
A year ago the RDRC was registering 1,500 cases a month.
The official also dismissed questions about the effectiveness of RDRC saying so far this year its five committees have addressed and closed 1,205 cases. Only “600 or so are ongoing,” he said.
The committees have three members and one judge each.
“Yes it is true that 50% of RDRC decisions are later challenged in the appeal court (in Dafna), but 90% of the time the judge there upholds the rulings,” the official said.
Veteran lawyer Ala’a Hamad, a partner at the Arab Law Forum, yesterday said every new law requires takes time to prove its effectiveness.
“This was a new law and the more it’s practiced, it will prove its effectiveness.
“The tweaking is an ongoing process just as with foreign investment and other laws,” Hamad said.
Garden Saga
This has provided us with an ongoing burble of amusement, every time we drive into our compound.
Someone wants the name of the compound in the garden. It seemed a simple enough request, doesn’t it?
The first try I saw, was a perfect ‘A’ followed by a second ‘A’. I started laughing. It was being put in by laborers who are probably illiterate in their own language, much less have any idea about western letters. To them, these are just meaningless shapes, not symbols for sounds. The second ‘A’ was gone the next day, torn out, and replaced with the appropriate letter.
But concrete blocks are big and unwieldy. When the name was finished, it was big, with no spaces between words, and no ‘s’ on the end.
They tore it out, too.
Now, working with smaller bricks, working with templates, working with a diagram, the name is finally being completed accurately. It is actually lovely, so we can’t laugh anymore.
I wonder how we would do, trying to lay out the same in Arabic . . .
Kuwait Headscarf in Qatar souks
I can only imagine this was sent to the wrong country. Qatar’s colors are a blood-brownish marron red and pure white; these are Kuwait colors on a traditional headscarf:
I found it in the Suq al Waqif.
Halloween Post Mortem
Hallowe’en is really more a cultural tradition these days than a religious event. We no longer worry about spirits walking around on Hallowe’en, and wear costumes to try to scare them away from us. In fact, many of the trick-or-treaters who came by our house last night were pretty! There were fairies, and little mermaids, and some very alluring witches.
In fact, there were so many trick-or-treaters that we ran out! How embarrassing! I thought I had a LOT, but there were more trick-or-treaters than we had treats.
It was a great evening, altogether, and next year I will know better.
Here is our not-scary pumpkin. I wish you could see the ears – it is an orange cat pumpkin, in honor of the Qatteri Cat.
All the visitors made the Qatteri Cat jumpy. He was happy to stay inside and hide with all the action in the streets last night.
Back in Traffic; How Do You Alphabetize / File?
So today I became, once again, a legal driver in Qatar, five months to the day from my arrival. Yep, for those of you who never have the joy of trying to maneuver through the complexity of getting a license in a foreign country – you have NO idea. NO idea. There are people who try and try to get a license and never do.
We are really lucky. We have some very good people who help us get things done. Somehow, it’s my turn to be lucky today.
When I showed up at the office, however, one of the HR girls told me “Oh! Flana is not here today! You will have to come back.”
You all know how nice I am. I smiled at her and said “my husband told me to be here today to get my driver’s license. Someone is going to help me.” Smile again, big smile.
Sure enough, someone is going to help me, and it is someone who I like, someone who has helped me before and who is always calm and patient and knows how to persist pleasantly until he gets what he wants from the bureaucrats. In fact, I admire him, because people end up liking to help him. He is low key. He takes me to the driver’s station, where, because of my advanced age (DO NOT ASK) I have to have an eye test. This leads me to wonder. Doesn’t everyone have to have an eye test?
Then I wait, in the special ladies’ majlis:
I had to wait quite a long time, but I was comfortable, and while I was waiting, I read all the driving safety signs they had up along the ceiling. They were all in English and Arabic, and they were great thoughts, but too many words. Like if you are reading that many words: If you are driving too fast you may not get home alive (that is not a real one, but that was the gist of most of them) so I was creating a new driving safety campaign called the equal campaign:
Speed + Texting = (shows a vehicle turned on its side and all smashed
Speed + Weaving = Two or three crunched vehicles
Texting + Driving = QR (enormous fine)
Something simple to read, graphically simple, something you can glance at and get the meaning.
When I got my driver’s license, I was really happy, except for one tiny little thing – it’s kind of my name but not exactly my name. It’s an easy mistake to make, names can be complicated, but . . . it isn’t my name on my license. It’s my face, it’s my information – it isn’t my name. For half a heartbeat, I consider saying something and then Wisdom kicks in and I zip my lip.
So then, driving home in traffic, I got to thinking about names and how we file things, alphabetically, and even Europeans sometimes file us wrong, which has led us to first class seats because airlines can’t find us, etc. It isn’t always such a bad thing.
Then I started wondering about how Arab speaking people file. Like do you have half the files in the “A” drawer, like Al So-and-So and Al Somebody Else, and how do the sun and moon words affect the filing, like Ar Rayyan, or Ath Thalaka, or As Shams, etc. Once you have filed someone, the goal is to be able to retrieve that information? How does alphabetization work in Arabic? How are things filed?
So being stuck in traffic might not be so bad if someone answers my question and I learn something. 🙂
Stuck in Traffic on Musheirib
With all the re-routing off Al Rayyan as we convert to the Heart of Doha, I found myself inching along Al Musheirib this week, along with the noon-time crowd. When there is nothing else to do – take some photos. We drive right by every day, but do we look?
Many of these spots will disappear.
Boutiques? (!)
And here is one of my favorites – see it, just over the street sign? Cheep and Best?
The More Things Change
“. . . When we first came to Doha,” I laughed to my friend, “the first thing my husband warned me was never never to get behind a truck carrying concrete blocks. They weren’t tied down, and now and then a bump or a lumpy corner would send concrete blocks all over the roads. They don’t do that any more. They have rules now.”
Spoken too soon.
The very next week, I saw three trucks in a row, laden with concrete bricks, moving slowly down B-ring; one red, one white, one blue. I got stuck, first behind one, then behind the second.
No one was endangered as I took these photos. Traffic was at a standstill.
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