A visitor to the Qatari capital, Doha, phoned me seeking my opinion on the “conference”. When asked what conference he was referring to, he was surprised I was not aware of what he considered a conference that caught the attention of the whole world. In fact, I never heard of that conference and I have not met any one who might have even heard of it.
That might have been a failure on my part at a time when our region is witnessing an endless series of conferences being held here and there.
The conference that visitor was referring to was a gathering that took place in Doha, capital of the Gulf state of Qatar, which coincided with another conferences held in Sanaa, Yemen, and another in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I went on checking until at last I came across a short report in a Lebanese newspaper about the Doha conference.
The problem with that conference relates to its name. It was not a conference as described by its organizers, but rather a symposium attended by a number of politicians and academics. It brought together such contradictory figures that only Osama Bin Laden and George Bush were the only two figures missing. The list included Martin Indyk, former American ambassador in Tel Aviv, a man accused of holding extremist views against the Arabs as well as sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, leader of the religious inciting movement in the region.
Usually, speakers taking contradictory positions in a symposium is an indication of its success. However, in this particular case, the gathering turned out to be a dialogue of the deaf. Meetings held in our region provide an opportunity for people to make political pronouncements with the same rhetoric repeated again and again under the same slogans and banners that have assumed a sacred status. Such gatherings have become a symbol of contradiction instead of construction.
In Doha, which hosts a huge American military base, is also found the tallest minaret; it incites people against the Americans. This minaret has inflicted the kind of damage on American interests in the Arab region that even Al-Qaeda could not have done. Is this a deliberate policy aiming at specific objectives?
My answer to such question is that it isn’t. It is a case where every one in the region is racing to put themselves in the limelight regardless of the long-term damage this may leave on the ground.
The Brookings Institution has opened a branch in the Qatari capital to further cultural and intellectual relations with the Arabs. What an insignificant move when compared with what is being done by the pupils of Sheikh Qaradawi, who in just one day could spoil what the Brookings Institution could not fix in a whole century!
This is a fact that is being missed by many Western intellectuals who happily accept invitations for such gatherings, unaware their presence only adds flavor to a noisy party of belly dancing and unaware that with such a noise, no one would listen to them.
Such gatherings are mere symposia attended by a limited number of individuals each unwilling to change his position. What on earth can Martin Indyk offer to convince Qazi Hussein Ahmad, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan?
The problem with the Americans is not their attending such gatherings but rather their inability to understand the region. This is what drove Richard Pearl to admit he couldn’t understand why his government continues to grant Egypt $2 billion a year while Egyptian journalists and religious men continue attacking the United States. Pearl should know that the reason is that his government cannot peddle influence or comprehend the Arab decision-making process.
That is why when former US President Bill Clinton comes to address Saudi businessmen in Jeddah this week he will not convince those who believe in the same ideas Pearl came to explain. Indyk would have his voice turn hoarse and husky talking to those solid deaf walls of that hall in Doha.
Contradictions
A visitor to the Qatari capital, Doha, phoned me seeking my opinion on the “conference”. When asked what conference he was referring to, he was surprised I was not aware of what he considered a conference that caught the attention of the whole world. In fact, I never heard of that conference and I have not met any one who might have even heard of it.
That might have been a failure on my part at a time when our region is witnessing an endless series of conferences being held here and there.
The conference that visitor was referring to was a gathering that took place in Doha, capital of the Gulf state of Qatar, which coincided with another conferences held in Sanaa, Yemen, and another in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I went on checking until at last I came across a short report in a Lebanese newspaper about the Doha conference.
The problem with that conference relates to its name. It was not a conference as described by its organizers, but rather a symposium attended by a number of politicians and academics. It brought together such contradictory figures that only Osama Bin Laden and George Bush were the only two figures missing. The list included Martin Indyk, former American ambassador in Tel Aviv, a man accused of holding extremist views against the Arabs as well as sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, leader of the religious inciting movement in the region.
Usually, speakers taking contradictory positions in a symposium is an indication of its success. However, in this particular case, the gathering turned out to be a dialogue of the deaf. Meetings held in our region provide an opportunity for people to make political pronouncements with the same rhetoric repeated again and again under the same slogans and banners that have assumed a sacred status. Such gatherings have become a symbol of contradiction instead of construction.
In Doha, which hosts a huge American military base, is also found the tallest minaret; it incites people against the Americans. This minaret has inflicted the kind of damage on American interests in the Arab region that even Al-Qaeda could not have done. Is this a deliberate policy aiming at specific objectives?
My answer to such question is that it isn’t. It is a case where every one in the region is racing to put themselves in the limelight regardless of the long-term damage this may leave on the ground.
The Brookings Institution has opened a branch in the Qatari capital to further cultural and intellectual relations with the Arabs. What an insignificant move when compared with what is being done by the pupils of Sheikh Qaradawi, who in just one day could spoil what the Brookings Institution could not fix in a whole century!
This is a fact that is being missed by many Western intellectuals who happily accept invitations for such gatherings, unaware their presence only adds flavor to a noisy party of belly dancing and unaware that with such a noise, no one would listen to them.
Such gatherings are mere symposia attended by a limited number of individuals each unwilling to change his position. What on earth can Martin Indyk offer to convince Qazi Hussein Ahmad, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan?
The problem with the Americans is not their attending such gatherings but rather their inability to understand the region. This is what drove Richard Pearl to admit he couldn’t understand why his government continues to grant Egypt $2 billion a year while Egyptian journalists and religious men continue attacking the United States. Pearl should know that the reason is that his government cannot peddle influence or comprehend the Arab decision-making process.
That is why when former US President Bill Clinton comes to address Saudi businessmen in Jeddah this week he will not convince those who believe in the same ideas Pearl came to explain. Indyk would have his voice turn hoarse and husky talking to those solid deaf walls of that hall in Doha.
Contradictions
A visitor to the Qatari capital, Doha, phoned me seeking my opinion on the “conference”. When asked what conference he was referring to, he was surprised I was not aware of what he considered a conference that caught the attention of the whole world. In fact, I never heard of that conference and I have not met any one who might have even heard of it.
That might have been a failure on my part at a time when our region is witnessing an endless series of conferences being held here and there.
The conference that visitor was referring to was a gathering that took place in Doha, capital of the Gulf state of Qatar, which coincided with another conferences held in Sanaa, Yemen, and another in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I went on checking until at last I came across a short report in a Lebanese newspaper about the Doha conference.
The problem with that conference relates to its name. It was not a conference as described by its organizers, but rather a symposium attended by a number of politicians and academics. It brought together such contradictory figures that only Osama Bin Laden and George Bush were the only two figures missing. The list included Martin Indyk, former American ambassador in Tel Aviv, a man accused of holding extremist views against the Arabs as well as sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, leader of the religious inciting movement in the region.
Usually, speakers taking contradictory positions in a symposium is an indication of its success. However, in this particular case, the gathering turned out to be a dialogue of the deaf. Meetings held in our region provide an opportunity for people to make political pronouncements with the same rhetoric repeated again and again under the same slogans and banners that have assumed a sacred status. Such gatherings have become a symbol of contradiction instead of construction.
In Doha, which hosts a huge American military base, is also found the tallest minaret; it incites people against the Americans. This minaret has inflicted the kind of damage on American interests in the Arab region that even Al-Qaeda could not have done. Is this a deliberate policy aiming at specific objectives?
My answer to such question is that it isn’t. It is a case where every one in the region is racing to put themselves in the limelight regardless of the long-term damage this may leave on the ground.
The Brookings Institution has opened a branch in the Qatari capital to further cultural and intellectual relations with the Arabs. What an insignificant move when compared with what is being done by the pupils of Sheikh Qaradawi, who in just one day could spoil what the Brookings Institution could not fix in a whole century!
This is a fact that is being missed by many Western intellectuals who happily accept invitations for such gatherings, unaware their presence only adds flavor to a noisy party of belly dancing and unaware that with such a noise, no one would listen to them.
Such gatherings are mere symposia attended by a limited number of individuals each unwilling to change his position. What on earth can Martin Indyk offer to convince Qazi Hussein Ahmad, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan?
The problem with the Americans is not their attending such gatherings but rather their inability to understand the region. This is what drove Richard Pearl to admit he couldn’t understand why his government continues to grant Egypt $2 billion a year while Egyptian journalists and religious men continue attacking the United States. Pearl should know that the reason is that his government cannot peddle influence or comprehend the Arab decision-making process.
That is why when former US President Bill Clinton comes to address Saudi businessmen in Jeddah this week he will not convince those who believe in the same ideas Pearl came to explain. Indyk would have his voice turn hoarse and husky talking to those solid deaf walls of that hall in Doha.
