{"id":14062,"date":"2012-01-17T09:46:59","date_gmt":"2012-01-17T05:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=14062"},"modified":"2012-06-26T09:32:19","modified_gmt":"2012-06-26T05:32:19","slug":"pork-alcohol-and-the-pearl-setting-the-limit-to-modernity-and-the-global-ambition-of-qatar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-society\/food\/pork-alcohol-and-the-pearl-setting-the-limit-to-modernity-and-the-global-ambition-of-qatar\/","title":{"rendered":"Pork, Alcohol and Qatar: Setting the Limits to ‘Modernity’ and Global Ambition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Qatar\u2019s debate about allowing alcohol and the sale of pork amounts to far more than a discussion about adherence to the energy-rich Gulf state\u2019s constitution and laws; it is a debate about the powers of the country\u2019s ruler and its national identity.<\/p>\n

The outcome of the debate will not only determine the future of Qatar\u2019s effort to become a global sports hub \u2013 a key pillar of the national identity Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani is seeking to shape \u2013 but also its positioning as a forward-looking sponsor of change in a region stretching from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Gulf that is wracked by anti-government protests and convoluted transitions to more open societies.<\/p>\n

It is a debate that is being closely monitored by critics of world soccer body FIFA\u2019s decision to award Qatar the hosting of the 2022 World Cup; a wide-range of sports officials and athletes who anticipate a Qatari bid for the 2020 Olympic Games and the 2019 World Athletics Championships; and policy makers and pundits across the globe.<\/p>\n

Caught on camera by CBS News in April of last year, US President Barak Obama described Sheikh Hamad as \u201ca big booster of democracy all throughout the Middle East,\u201d but noted that \u201che himself is not reforming significantly.\u201d Mr. Obama suggested that Qataris with a per capita annual income of $145,000 felt little urge to rock the boat. Emir Hamad has since Mr. Obama\u2019s quip announced elections next year for a royal advisory body. Qatar\u2019s debate on moral mores nontheless appears to contradict Mr. Obama\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n

The debate attracted international attention following last month\u2019s unexplained banning of alcohol in restaurants on Qatar\u2019s man-made island, The Pearl, which says it aims to \u201credefine an entire nation\u201d and is popular with Qatar’s growing expatriate community, as well as online calls by Qatari nationals for a boycott of state-owned Qatar Airways because of its serving on-board of alcohol and recent introduction of the sale of pork in a shop it owns in the capital Doha.<\/p>\n

The debate about the country\u2019s national identity is particularly sensitive given that Qatari nationals account for approximately only one quarter to one third of the country\u2019s 1.7 million inhabitants with foreign labour and expatriates forming a majority at a time that the relationship between rulers, governments and the public across the Middle East and North Africa is being redefined.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to create a dialogue that resonates with and talks to the youth. This is an opportunity to inspire and engage young people\u2026. Sports are at the heart of Qatar\u2019s development\u2026 Sports like education and arts are part of our national identity,\u201d Noora Al Mannai, CEO of Qatar\u2019s bid to win the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games, told a recent brainstorm in Qatar designed to define the role of government, NGOs and business in sports.<\/p>\n

Ms. Al Mannai said \u201cempowering young people\u201d was one reason for the bid alongside Qatar\u2019s efforts to mediate conflicts and reduce regional obesity and diabetes levels.<\/p>\n

The ban of alcohol on The Pearl extends beyond public venues to the kitchen, where one resident, Jenifer Fenton, writing on Arab News Blog, said it could also not be used for cooking. Restaurateurs and residents have yet to receive a justification for the ban. The ban does not affect major hotels in Doha that are allowed to sell alcohol to non-Muslims or the Qatar Airways shop that sells alcohol and pork to licensed foreign nationals for private consumption.
\nSpeculation about the reasoning includes the ruler and the government wanting to project a more pious image in advance of the country\u2019s first election of a royal advisory body to rumours of a financial dispute between the government and the resort\u2019s developers.<\/p>\n

Qatar has long sought to differentiate its interpretation of the teachings of the 18th century puritan warrior priest, Mohammed Abdul Wahhab, from that of strict Saudi Arabia where in contrast to Qatar women are severely restricted and Islamic law is rigorously applied to all not just Muslims and Saudi nationals.<\/p>\n

The debate is likely to engender empathy in the Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa as Islamist forces emerge as winners from the popular revolts sweeping the region.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it has sparked concern among secularists in Tunisia where the Islamist Ennahada party won the first elections following last year\u2019s overthrow of President Zine el Abedine Ben Ali that the country may focus more on relations with the Gulf than on its traditional ties to Europe. Ennahada officials were quick to assert during Sheikh Hamad\u2019s recent visit to Tunisia to mark the first anniversary of the toppling of Mr. Ben Ali that the country would not jeopardize its relations with Europe but was basing its foreign policy on achieving the revolution\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n

Qatari critics of alcohol argue that the emir\u2019s tolerance violates the country\u2019s constitutions and laws which do not grant the emir the prerogative to allow its sale or consumption. In doing so, the critics are implicitly sparking a rare debate about the powers of the ruler.<\/p>\n

Hassan Al Sayed, a professor of constitutional law and former dean of the College of Law at Qatar University, says according to Ms. Fenton, that there is no Qatari law that allows for the sale of alcohol and that in fact several laws, including the constitution, criminalize it. Even \u201cif there is any decision coming for example from the Emir or any department here (legalizing alcohol)\u2026 no in fact, this is not okay and this is against the law,\u201d Ms. Fenton quotes Mr. Al Sayed as saying.<\/p>\n

Mr. Al Sayed says that for Qatar to legally allow the sale and consumption of alcohol it must change its constitution, which in article 1 stipulates that \u201cIslam is the State\u2019s religion and the Islamic Sharia is the main source of its legislations.\u201d Mr. Al Sayed argues that the legal ban applies also to free zones the government said it would create for fans attending the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n

A majority of Qataris is likely to oppose constitutional reform out of fear that the country would lose its Islamic identity, a key element in the national identity it is trying to shape.<\/p>\n

Restaurant executives are optimistic that the ban will be lifted and that Qatar is not on the verge of declaring itself dry. The recent resignation of Khalil Sholy, the managing director of United Development Company (UDC), the developer of The Pearl, has fuelled hopes of a resolution.<\/p>\n

That however could take several months. UDC said in a statement posted on the Qatar Exchange that Mr. Sholy will retain his powers as managing director and president for three months \u201cto assist the person who will be elected by the board of directors to fill the position.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JAMES M. DORSEY: The debate will determine Qatar\u2019s effort to become a global sports hub, and its positioning as a forward-looking sponsor of change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":14064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,56,37,83,82,152],"tags":[3886,2009,10742,1080,2398,3593,324,425,1922,10758,10860,1060,2399,2805,18342,470,319,5232,191,10852,10745,18324,16480,1808,18307,291,10857,18275,18322,18302,8397],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14062"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}