The Peninsula Newspaper
Wednesday, 14 September 2011 02:39
Recently I noticed a scene which evokes a lot of grief and little celebrations and disappointment in the achievement of many of the desires, wishes and initiatives. When we present our situation and talk about the present and future and political, cultural and social movements in our society, we find a wide gap that separates us from each other in the difference, compatibility, support, and rejection!
We do not gather, talk, discuss, watch, listen and meet with each other except in rare occasions, perhaps we gather under a wedding tent or in a funeral meeting after performing the duty and burial of the dead in Abu Hamour cemetery! There is complete absence of civil society organizations with their all models and their diversity, even the social clubs are empty of content, objectives and roles, for which they were hailed in the past (do we call it as a good time) and have become empty today. There is a lesson for every wiseman in the cultural club “Jasra”! All initiatives are in the waiting line or have been aborted from the presentation on the cooperative societies, consumer protection association, passing through the economic, academic, social, educational, intellectual and media institutions as well as the association of journalists, media, writers and intellectuals. There is no end of the specialized associations that focus on the individual initiatives that take care of men, women and children!
The talk of our colleague and respected writer Mariam Al Saad, in her interview with Al-sharq is like the singing of the swan which a listener believes she is playing fresh tunes, but she bears within her heart the whine and groans. Umme Ghassan referred to her experience in the seventies, the formation of consciousness that was reflected in her writing and her novels, the crystallization from the Journal of Qatar Arabism to the journalism of wall at the University of Cairo with the participation of Dr Mohammed Kafod, Dr Jassim Al Nasr, Dr Marzouk Bashir and Dr Zakia Mal Allah and the contribution of Awadi and many of the national elites (Where are they today!) Their cultural activity was linked to the Club of Qatar, one of the active unions and clubs of students in Gulf, which emerged in that period. It is an embarrassing irony that an educated Qatari cannot launch a club or a gathering outside his community and succeed in his leadership since the beginning of the formation of consciousness in the middle of the last century to this day at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century. He cannot get the approval to establish a cultural association or culture club in his country! Umme Ghassan described the intellectual scene and the Qatari cultural movement as barren and bare which is suffering from emptiness and decay. It is a case which did not see the fundamental changes even in the era of Arab revolutions! The Ministry of Culture uses its official agenda which did not change for many years, since its existence and its past inheritance. It did not produce what adds to the cultural life and drive it. It didn’t infuse the enthusiasm. Most of the writers outside its planning, do not participate and are found to be absent from the scene. The meetings and festivals such as Doha festival, which is the capital of culture and was a flamboyant propaganda, didn’t quench the hunger! There are references to the long haul with the press and censor and prevention of many articles from the publication. Unfortunately, the censor is still breathing a sigh of relief. It breaks into our home and enters through the window, despite its exit from the door when the Ministry of Information was dissolved. The ban on the books and novels of some Qatari authors (D. Ahmed Abdul Malik and Noura Al Saad) is still continuing because they are Qataris, even if they were foreigners, when there was the problem! It is not surprising to see the bold articles and intellectual production on the internet, social networking sites and forums, which does not have a place in any internal congregation and on the shelf of a local library or monthly or seasonally cultural festival or even annually event such as the book fair!
The independent research centers are the most important features that characterize the modern societies. They are defined as the organizations or institutions that aim to conduct a focused and intense research and provide solutions and suggestions to the problems in general and especially on social, economic, political, strategic, technological or military and security affairs. Their scientific and research activities are performed through seminars, conferences, editing the books and periodical publications. Although there are some research centers that carry the sounding names sponsored by our private and public budget, such as the Rand Corporation and Brookings Institute, the volume of influence in the society at the grassroots level is not worthy to be mentioned and the attendance in any of the seminars and lectures which are held by these can be counted. They have their own agendas, policy and financiers. However, some time ago a website of Arab community was launched for democracy, which is a pioneer in studies of democracy in the Gulf and the Arab world. It is supervised by a researcher and Qatari academician Dr. Ali Khalifa Al Kuwari. It is an independent academic endeavor in which the personalities from Qatar, Arab and Gulf contribute to the endowment of studies of Shura and democracy. We could have not known about those personalities if their names were not published by our generation! We hope that these initiatives will transform into a positive factor contributing to the movement of cultural and social community. The site published a study conducted by the Qatari researcher Mohammad Al Khalifi entitled with demographic, who will stop the snowball? It deserves all the merit to be the subject of research in an open Gulf symposium or a conference dealing with the defect of population and demographic structure not only in Qatar but in the entire Gulf countries without exception.
At this particular time we need the efforts and initiatives, which start from the heart of the Qatari society and its intellectual and cultural symbols. We should not wait that the initiatives will come from the top of the pyramid or from abroad. It is time to talk to each other loudly and listen and ask questions, issues and absent and silenced problems. We must deal with them in research and study with the figures and statistics by holding seminars and lectures, creating social forums, personal sites and forums and taking advantage of the findings, recommendations and solutions as well as their publication in the media. We have entered the era of Arab Spring with all problems, challenges and changes posed by the one who stands idly, waiting, hesitant, scared and apprehensive and he does not move forward and does not come back day after day. The train does not wait for any one, either you change yourself or get changed
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