The invitation to Fatima Nau’ot by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage to the Doha International Book Fair made us question the way guests are selected and invited. Fatima Nau’ot is known for her anti-Islamic views and for persistently attacking Islam and Muslims figures. She also did not miss an opportunity to attack Qatar.
Her invitation was cancelled after strong opposition from the public to allow this “category” of people to enter Qatar regardless of their status. This makes us think how invitations are usually extended to participants and guests for events in Doha.
This incident is not the first one. The figures in question are subject to opposition from the public because their views will never agree with that of Qatari society or the larger Muslim society.
I do not want to mention every public authority that has extended such invitations in the past, and has been forced to cancel the invitation under pressure through media, social media campaigns and other means.
In fact, the cancellation will go in favour of the inviting authority, including of course, the Ministry of Culture who responded to public demand.
Our objection to the invitation of some figures to attend events held in Qatar is not because we have ideological differences with them, or disagree on some intellectual issues, but because of their openly offensive attitudes that are detrimental to our country and its leadership. Unfortunately, such people don’t respect privacy, harbor deep grudge and hatred against everything related to Qatar. Qatar has always taught us to be open-minded and not to disagree with others regardless of our differences in opinion, since we are not in the habit of cursing others.
Qatar never rejects objective criticism, but does oppose subjective ones. It welcomes objectivity and confirms that it is not infallible, as long as it is working on initiatives that serve the nation.
Our main disagreement is with those who curse Qatar, not over difference of opinion or views.
When such people have nothing else to say, they start using offensive words against Qataris. They also do not hesitate to use offensive language because they were beaten in civilised debate and objective discussion on Qatar’s trends, policies and initiatives.
Prior to all this, we disagreed with such writers because they insulted religion, swore at Islamic values and improperly depicted our beliefs.
Our society will never accept such attitudes in the garb of encouraging creativity and claiming open-mindedness and freedom of speech while it challenges the principles of our nation and aims at destroying its roots.
We do not want to see various conferences and events held in Doha turning to open invitations for x, y and z, without knowing who they are and what they are coming for exactly.
Unfortunately, those who oversee the invitations are often not familiar with the event and do not know the people being invited. They may just approve a list of names prepared by others or list “inherited” over time.
It could also be because of personal relationships that link some locals to the people invited without knowing their offensive views toward the state, its people, and its open-handed initiatives.
Yes we are for openness and we are not narrow-minded but we never accept people who openly defy Islamic values, in addition to expressing views that are against the nation and its leadership, and nursing a grudge against Qatar. If they had their way, they would not hesitate to change colours and will pay tribute to the country.
What was hidden in the past is no longer feasible, especially in the light of freedom provided by information technology, often known as the “media highway”. Therefore, everything is clear and it is no longer possible to fool the Arab people with deceitful words.
Fatima Nau’ot’s invitation was a surprise to everyone. Her presence wouldn’t have added any value to the Doha International Book Fair, it would have rather reflected negatively on the event.
Organisers of conferences, meetings or seminars must select well-respected, knowledgeable, and well-mannered individuals sensitive to other people’s religion and culture. We are not looking for quantity, but for quality. We should invite influential thinkers whose presence makes a difference and individuals with a good record are most welcome.
We hope that organizers of events, conferences and tournaments will properly select committee members who will be able to play an effective role and not simply do a “job” without understanding the real purpose behind it. Such events should be invested in properly to highlight the civilised image of our country, and inviting dignitaries is only a part of that. In addition, we should take the opportunity of showing our invited guests the positive aspects of our state by organising programmes and tours to meet that objective. In many cases, we don’t prepare any beneficial tour programmes for our guests so that after the event, they go back to the hotel without seeing the true spirit of Qatar, which is in my opinion unacceptable.
So we should reconsider the invitation process of prominent personalities including media professionals who will attend events in Doha, and that ministries and government institutions that host conferences shouldn’t be blindly following the same old methods.
