The Doha Debates

I was referred to this show by a friend and honestly i'm quite impressed by it. The Doha Debates a show aired in BBC World, are a public forum for dialogue and freedom of speech in Qatar, in which speakers are invited to debate issues of the Islamic and Arab world in front of a large audiance. The audiance are also allowed to participate in the debates where they can ask questions. The Debates are chaired by the internationally renowned broadcaster Tim Sebastian, formerly of the BBC's HARDTalk programme.

Yesterday's debate "believed that Arab women should have full equality with men" and the motion was passed.

It was a heated discussion between the two parties, where they discussed issues of how women in the arab and islamic world should have equal rights as men do, how they should fight for their rights in the society and should not expect men to provide every opportunity to them, "if women want it, then they should fight and speak up to get it". Other issues included how the west influences women in the Mid-East, especially in issues of contraception, abbortion ...etc

Then there was the issue of women being forced to get married and unfortunately have no choice or say of their own, how women are look down upon in many arab countries, whether it is at work, home or out in the public and what Islam says about women's opportunities and where they stand. Basically, the motion was about "Equity and Equality of women", even though it did go a little off topic, however, the arguments made were quite valid. The audiance were from different backgrounds, society, countries, which was very good as you get to hear the different inputs. The speakers on the other hand were quite interesting, they brought in muslim speakers from both arab and western worlds with strong arguments regarding the topic.

Unfortunately, the show wont be on for the summer, however, will return in September for its second season. Do check the link below for past debates, which i must say quite interesting, you can also view the transcripts. Other past debates included:

- The war on terror has become a war on Islam
- George Bush has kicked open the door to democracy in the Middle East
- The Middle East Road Map for peace is dead

Doha Debates
Press Release on the Debate

Enjoy!

Any inputs?