Stopping services in the name of religion counterintuitive when ‘religion’ is not perfect.
Boycotting Products and placing economic sanctions in the name of religion is counterintuitive as ‘religion’ by itself is not perfect. A comparison of when I thought Shahira law was perfect in Qatar and what actually happened at the airport in the country I lived in.
Some Arab countries decided to boycott French products because of comments made by French President Emmanuel Macaroon on the religion of Islam. I know his comments were outright incorrect, flawed and his stance to defend ‘Charlie Hebdo’ the racist magazine in the name of freedom of speech was the cherry on top. So yes, let us boycott French products and let us also boycott products from other countries that recognize problems with the religion of Islam. For example, from the US, whose current president Donald Trump says Muslims have a problem.
China where Uighurs Muslims are placed in reformation camps to remove all their religious beliefs.
Indeed not all Arab countries practice radical Islam and as a long-term resident of Qatar, I knew it was not a radically Muslim country compared to Saudi Arabia. However, I was proved wrong when I read on the 26th of October female passengers from different countries were intrusively strip-searched to find out if they had given birth recently at Hamad International Airport. What is worse is that this incident happened on the 2nd of October and the information was released to the public only because the Australian government demanded answers and other countries following suit.
Was it Shahira Law they practised when the officials ordered an inspection of the women onboard the flights or was it gut feeling?. I did not find any news channel reporting that someone tried to stop the inspection because the action was unethical or illogical. Does Shahira Law or Islam religion allow for mistreatment of women?. The examinations happened and no one stopped them from happening. Religion or Law, what happened was utterly disturbing and disgusting, I cannot imagine the thought of the father, a brother or husband whose loved one was taken away without their permission and forced to conduct the search or not be allowed to leave this country. I do not believe Australia, UK or France are going to ban flights from and to Doha or stop existing trade deals, as it would be counterproductive during the pandemic. However, in 2021 I also do not expect many international passengers to come to Doha because of fears of human rights violations (at minimum) or sexual assault (at worst). The Qatari government is yet to release a sincere apology to the women and passengers who were affected on the flights on that dreadful day.
“I don’t know of any law in Qatar that obligates the authorities to conduct forced gynaecological exams,” said Rothna Begum, senior women’s rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, based in London.
A similar incident happened at Gatwick Airport where a baby was abandoned at an airport, but a simple DNA test was used to identify who the mother was in this case.
