The Doha Debates - Qatar's forum for free speech in the Arab world

ARABS TELL GOVERNMENTS TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS MINORITIES

Tue, 1 May 2012 08:01:00 GMT

A former Archbishop of Canterbury has attacked religious laws in Saudi Arabia, saying they prevented non-Muslims from worshipping and were “profoundly unjust”.

Lord Carey of Clifton, speaking at the latest Doha Debate, said there were other governments whose attitudes ranged from “gloomy” to “downright awful”.

“The worst,” he added, “is Saudi Arabia where non-Muslims cannot worship.”

The Common Practice of Marrying Within the Family

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:43:00 GMT

Marriage within the same family is a common practice in the Arab world and the Gulf region.

Marriage between family should be discouraged? The audience opinion

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:43:00 GMT

Media students Amit Chowdhary and Sandeep Reddy spoke to audience members after The Doha Debates' March debate - This House believes marriage between close family members should be discouraged. The motion of the debate was passed 81% FOR and 19% AGAINST. Here is the video of what some of the audience members had to say.

ARABS VOTE TO DISCOURAGE CLOSE FAMILY MARRIAGE

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 06:47:00 GMT

The Doha Debates threw themselves into one of the Arab world's most sensitive social issues, arguing the rights and wrongs of inter- marriage between blood relatives and voting overwhelmingly to discourage the practice.

In a lively session that featured geneticists and cultural commentators, speakers grappled repeatedly with the scientific and religious aspects of consanguineous marriage - the union of two biologically-related people, including, most controversially, first cousins.

Arab women say they'll be better off after the revolutions

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:53:00 GMT

Women’s prospects in the Middle East are brighter now than before the Arab revolutions, a young audience at the award-winning Doha Debates voted last night.

The motion “This House believes women will be worse off after the Arab revolutions” was resoundingly rejected 26% to 74% in a lively debate that repeatedly raised the question of whether women would face new restrictions from the rise of political Islam.

Post-Revolution Tunisia: Have Women Gained or Lost?

Tue, 7 Feb 2012 11:43:00 GMT

We watched them march, chant, strategise and even brave tear gas. As a result, dictatorships toppled and so too did ignorant stereotypes about Arab women. The women of the Arab Spring have been anything but overlooked, voiceless victims. In fact, Arab women have been integral participants in the pro-democracy uprisings that have transformed the Middle East over the past months.

Majority of Arabs believe Bahrain's promise to reform

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 07:36:00 GMT

A majority of Arabs claim to have confidence in Bahrain's government to carry out promised refoms in the wake of protests in the Gulf Kingdom in 2011, according to the latest Doha Debates opinion poll.

The findings are in sharp contrast to the views of the audience at the December Doha Debate where 78 percent of the audience gave the government a vote of no confidence on its promise to reform.

Not surprisingly, the opinion poll which surveyed 1,008 people in the GCC, North Africa and the Levant, found most support for the government in neighbouring Gulf states.

Sixty percent of those polled in the GCC claim they were against the public protests in Bahrain and 41 percent from the region believe the Bahraini government's crackdown of the public demonstrations was 'the right thing to do'.

Highlights

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 11:43:00 GMT

Here are the highlights from our March debate - This House believes marriage between close family members should be discouraged. Be sure to watch the full episode on BBC World News, or on our website or on our official YouTube channel.

This video is the work of Amit Chowdhary and Sandeep Reddy. Communication Students from Northwestern University In Qatar.

The Doha Debates at the International Conference on Consanguinity

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 11:43:00 GMT

The Doha Debates attended the International Conference on Consanguinity in Muscat from March 17th to 19th, 2012. In March, The Doha Debates discussed the controversial topic - This House believes marriage between close marriage should be discouraged. The Doha Debates got some in-depth analysis of the situation from both a genetic/scientific and social/economic point of view at the conference in Muscat.

Turks tell Arabs: don't follow our example

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:58:00 GMT

This House believes Turkey is a bad model for the new Arab states

Results: motion passed, 59% to 41%

Istanbul, Turkey: Ankara's human rights and media freedom record came under sustained attack at the latest Doha Debate, as a majority-Turkish audience told Arab states not to follow their country's example.

The debate, at Bosphorous (Bogazici) University, overlooking the historic waterway, provoked heated arguments between panelists and audience members before 59% voted for the motion: "This House believes Turkey is a bad model for the new Arab States".

Ece Temelkuran, an award-winning Turkish journalist and author, who was recently dismissed from her newspaper, drew applause whenever she cited examples of the government's crackdown on critics, including journalists, students and academics.

"Arabs should talk to Arabs about which model is best for them," she said. "They should hear their own voices...Turkey cannot be a model because Arabs already have enough problems."