US embassy cable - 05DOHA1856

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 001856 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, KISL, QA 
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: THE DISCUSSION THAT DID NOT 
TAKE PLACE 
 
REF: DOHA 910 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) The Amir's decision in May to lease land for the 
building of churches (reftel) surfaced in non-Qatari Arab and 
western newspapers at the end of October and early November. 
At issue was the degree to which the churches would be 
welcomed by Qatari society. The fact that it appeared 
primarily in the foreign press indicates that the GOQ 
considers the issue potentially sensitive. The incident also 
illustrated the degree to which the authorities maintain 
indirect but effective control of the press in Doha. 
 
2. (C) Contrary to post's expectations, no public 
announcement followed the Amir's May decision to allow 
churches to be built in Qatar -- a decision that will make 
Saudi Arabia the only Gulf state that does not allow this 
freedom. The months passed without another word on the matter 
until October 20, when the story was carried by the 
Associated Press. (The Archbishop of Canterbury had held a 
fund-raiser at Lambeth Palace on October 6 for the Qatar 
church project, where the A.P. probably picked up on the 
story.) The article quoted the Nicosia-based Anglican bishop 
and the Qatari lawyer and former Minister of Justice, Najeeb 
al-Nuaimi. Al-Nuaimi said that few Qataris would approve of 
the decision, that their religious sensibilities would be 
"insulted," and that many Qataris were upset by the country's 
"westward tilt." 
 
3. (C) The story ran in the UAE-based English-language Gulf 
news October 23, and a three-sentence article was published 
in one of Doha's English-language papers on October 24. The 
story then appeared in an article in the Egyptian weekly "Al 
Qahira" on November 1 which included al-Nuaimi's remarks. 
Back in Doha, the story appeared in English November 3 
without any controversial quotes. The matter did not reach 
the Gulf press in Arabic until November 7 when an article was 
published in "Al-Siyasia al-Kuwaitiya" reacting to 
al-Nuaimi's warnings that the church decision did not have 
popular acceptance. The author, the liberal former dean of 
Islamic studies at Qatar University, Dr. Abdel Hamid 
al-Ansari, had sent his piece to papers in Qatar and the 
Gulf, but it was run only by the Kuwaiti paper and in the 
UAE; no Qatari paper printed it. 
 
4. (C) Al-Ansari began his article saying, "People will think 
there is a dispute going on regarding this issue, while there 
is none. Qataris feel no insult in constructing a church in 
their country." He followed with the following points: 
 
-- No legislation requires the approval of the Qatari people 
for the building of a church. 
 
-- What harm is it to Qataris if churches are built in their 
country? 
 
-- Qatar's constitution provides for freedom of religion. 
 
-- Europe and the U.S. allow the building of mosques for 
their religious minorities. 
 
-- No objection to the decision was made by Qatar's religious 
figures. 
 
5. (C) In a meeting with P/E chief, al-Ansari expressed 
frustration that his article was not published in Qatar and 
more generally that he is not allowed to reach out to a wide 
audience here. He says that he is a supporter of many of the 
government's policies, for example in partnering with the 
U.S. in national defense. He believes that such policies are 
in the best interest of his country -- but he is not allowed 
to voice these views widely. By contrast, he said that Dr. 
Yousef al-Qaradawi is given free rein to voice his 
anti-American views, even though the views do not conform to 
Qatari policy. Al-Ansari believes that Qaradawi's popularity 
is due in large part to the fact that he has access to a 
large audience. He said he could make headway in changing 
certain conservative and intolerant views if he were granted 
the same support. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6. (C) Whether Qataris indeed would welcome the churches or 
whether the conservative point of view would prevail is not 
the key question: It is our view that educated thinkers 
accept the idea of churches from several points of view, 
including the practical one that 80% of the country's labor 
force is foreign. More traditional segments of society might 
not like the idea but would fall in line behind the Amir. 
Even a Salafi-oriented official charged with facilitating the 
churches' licenses befriended the Catholic community's 
spokesman and helped speed up the process. Rather, the key 
point is that the discussion was not allowed to take place 
and average Qataris lost the opportunity to voice their 
opinions and develop the feeling that they have a role in 
shaping the country. As Dr. al-Ansari knows, the government, 
which effectively controls the press, did not allow his 
article to appear because it would spark just such a 
dialogue. 
UNTERMEYER