The Doha Debates

Last night, I was lucky enough to attend the Doha Debates. (Unfortunately, Patrick had to give up his ticket as he was called to an evening work meeting at the last minute). My friend and I had a great girls night out evening instead.

It is a debate format created in Doha back in 2005 and now quite well known and televised around the world. According to the website, the Doha Debates are: "a unique venture in the Arab world, providing a battleground for conflicting opinions and arguments about major political topics of the region....For the first time in their lives, many young Arabs are having their say on key political questions and challenging politicians and experts face to face." It is now called the leading forum for public discussion in the Arab world.

In a part of the world where battles are being fought with real weapons and bombs, and lives torn apart by the conflict of war; the Doha Debates seek to introduce possibilities for change and dialogue using the very powerful weapon of words. As the mission statement reads: "....the Doha Debates unleash the power of words: to change minds, to re-examine conflicts and to project new solutions."

The motion discussed last night related to the release of the Lockerbie bomber to Libya. The house stand: it deplores the release. The debate is always chaired by Tim Sebastian, previously a BBC foreign correspondent who was quick to challenge and question each of the speakers and their points of view. The speakers were a British MP Mr. Daniel Kawczynski and a Libyan writer and political commentator and critic of Libya, Guma El-Gamaty on the FOR side of the motion. Speaking AGAINST the motion were Dr. Swire, whose daughter was a passenger on Pan Am Flight 103 and Dr. Mustafa Fetouri, a Libyan professor.

The debate was fast and furious, with both sides presenting laudable arguments that set one thinking. The questions from the audience were mostly relevant and interesting such as: "What moral message are we sending to the world?", "How can we be concerned with the release of one man against all those held in Gauntanamo without trial so far?", "Why did the convicted al-Magrahi not go forward with an appeal if he was innocent? and "When has Libya dealt compassionately with any of the dissidents jailed for years without trial in Libya?"

Dr. Swire's words rang loud for me when he said that we had visited enough destruction on the world and that it was about time we behaved like brothers. However, I could not get the pictures of wounded and destroyed families of all those victims out of my head. In the end, I voted for the motion, together with 53% of the rest of the audience of 350.

The program will be broadcast on BBC World News on 24 and 25 October 2009. According to the blurb, the Doha Debates have the largest audience of any BBC television service.

It was good to feel a tiny part of the changes that are slowly happening in the Arab world.