Tonight I did something totally different: my dear husband gave me his ticket to the Doha Debates, and I spent a couple of hours in the company of adults engaged in an intellectual conversation.
Apparently the Qatar Foundation hosts an annual series of debates on hot topics relevant to the Middle East. Today's debate was centered on the following statement: "This House believes it is time to talk to Al Qaeda". Two speakers supported and two opposed the motion. You can get the full details on the speakers and the format at the Doha Debates website: www.thedohadebates.com. In case you want to see it yourself, tonight's debate will be broadcast internationally on BBC World on September 8 and 9; I recommend checking it out.
The speakers defending the House position basically said that it is time to end the violence, and the only way to do that is to negotiate. Violence only begets violence, but solutions come from dialogue. The speakers opposing said that negotiation requires both rational leaders and achievable goals; Al Qaeda is an organization of extremist sociopaths whose main goals are creating mayhem, violence, and the eradication of the West.
At the end of the debate, the audience voted 2 to 1 in favor of the House. I have to say, I doubt that a Western audience would have voted that way, but this was not a Western crowd. I'd guess that slightly less than half of the audience were wearing traditional Arabic dress, and the conversation felt like it assumed a basis in Islam. Everyone agreed that Al Qaeda is a group of extremist sociopathic murderers; there was the additional insult of how it has distorted Islam and erased its emphasis on compassion and mercy. But there were members of the audience who come from places like Iraq and Afghanistan who asked questions, and their general position was that we just have to stop the violence. It was interesting, though. There was this strong, urgent sentiment that the most important thing is to stop the violence, but there were also a few questions that struggled to find some atonement - people will want to see the terrorists punished.
Anyhow, it was an enlightening evening; I know for sure that an open debate like this would not occur in our neighbor, Saudi Arabia. Let's hear it for the Emir's dedication to free speech.
