Doha means 'the great tree' in Arabic. It is a word that melts in your mouth, just like the dates served in majelis with steaming mint tea. You savor its exoticism, also its enigma, perhaps locked up in the video surveillance cameras that observe you, and in the imposition of a strict bureaucracy that has installed for the foreigner the always blurred figure of the so-called sponsor or intermediary. The capital of Qatar, a pea on the world map, is an invented city. In the 1990s, after the discovery of high-quality oil and gas, it was built on the desert sand as a luxury oasis.
Even the beach itself artificially brought to its facades five-star hotels, such as the St. Regis or the Intercontinental; sticky sand under the water where burkas and bikinis coexist without burning. It is called Muslim liberalism open to the world and its Western customs, but guarantor of theirs. At least in public. In private it is something else, and under the abayas draped suits emerge in red Valentino – owned by Qatar, just like Harrods – and champagne is toasted. At sunset you can hear the prayer of salat, and a group of women covered in rigorous black enter Victoria's Secret.
There are no taxes, and everything shines between intense blasts of bakhoor. Even the antiquities collected in its magnificent Islamic museum have been imported. The emir's sister, Al Mayassa, has achieved the admiration of sharp art dealers through millionaire bids, while her mother, Sheikha Mozah, nicknamed by her detractors the Desert Barbie, is the country's best ambassador .
Reputation is bought. Also ambition. For this reason, the Al Thani family, experts in soft power, convinced the best architects to sign their skyline based on blank checks. And to sociopolitical gurus to provide content to flagships of their public diplomacy: Al Jazeera, Qatar Airways or Qatar Foundation. The decoration was growing. Galleries Lafayette imported the same thing, hosting prestigious Yankee universities, sponsoring the Muslim Brotherhood and offering themselves as a neutral space for dialogue with the Taliban.
The main characters of the human comedy begin to parade through closed stadiums with grass imported from the US, equipped with air conditioning systems on the outside. They are seen to be pleased with the extravagance and order of a dry and peaceful country that admires the West even though it is ruled by an absolutist monarchy. It's hard to move up in the 21st century where a raped woman is accused of adultery.
Criticism for the violation of human rights in Qatar dot its image as the pearl of the Gulf. A week ago, British LGBTI activist Peter Tatchell was invited home after publicly displaying a banner. And Amnesty International calls for justice for workers from Bangladesh or Nigeria, mistreated and harassed. How many workers have died building the World Cup stadiums? "We are using this tournament as a vehicle for change," Hasan al Thawadi, the World Cup's chief executive, responded. At night, Doha lights up its towers with the desire to become a global beacon. But first, they must replace the stigma with the individual freedom of their women and homosexuals, and eradicate the ghettos where their modern slaves live, where the echo of the goals will reach through state-of-the-art loudspeakers.
