Why the hate for Qatar when people flock to Dubai?

[piddocktrumperiness]

I 'm not quite getting why people are quick to criticise Qatar and its human rights record and treatment of LGBTQ+, when every country in the gulf does the same. This government is in bed with the Saudis, sold lots of landmarks to the Qatari Royal family and many brits are quick to emigrate to Dubai. We even accept sponsorships from these countries.

For the record I'm not condoning any of these Gulf regions- I believe they are all equally bad and treat not only LGBTQ+ badly, but every nationality that is not white American/European/Australian.

I just don't think you can pick and choose- you either state that you condemn all of these regions, or you kind of keep quiet. If the World Cup was held in the Emirates, with most of the games in Dubai, I don't quite imagine the same criticism take place?

So why is the news singling out Qatar?

A few years ago in Qatar they took every child bearing aged women off a plane that was ready to take off and performed internal exams to see if they had given birth as a newborn baby was found abandoned in the toilets of the airport. They also have no respect for women and would. It even transit though Qatar let alone visit it. I don’t like football so won’t be watching anyway.

I'm gay and don't want to go somewhere it's illegal to be gay. If you have a problem with that, you're the one who's revolting.

I’m female, I live in the uk where less than one percent of the more than half a million rapes per year in the country lead to a conviction, where disabled children are denied access to schooling and healthcare, where children are used to carry drugs from place to place and women are expected to give birth in dangerous hospitals and we treat refugees with an utter disregard. We are not intrinsically better than other cultures. We have different but equally horrifying attitudes. IMO the only thing that drives change is not keeping yourself separate from “different” and every country/culture benefits from seeing themselves through others eyes.

I'm not the person you quoted but I've been to the US twice. Knowing what I know now I would never go again.

The last time we were there, more than a decade ago, the waitress in a diner ranted to us about how black people didn't tip enough. We were a group of white people and the waitress was white. The racism was completely out there in the open even in a professional setting and it was incredibly uncomfortable to be around. A bit of an eye opener.

Of course this country has faults, massive ones in some cases, but you really want to say that we are just as bad? Not buying that, sorry.

How will you know (not that I particularly feel a ranking is useful) that you aren’t “just as bad” if you never interact with anyone but people like yourself?

Lots of us who hate the qatari regime also hate the regimes in other countries, I didn’t watch the world cup held in russia for similar reasons.

I haven't been to either. But my friend says they are quite different in atmosphere, Qatar much more conservative and treatment of women worse.

Wow. Do you have a source for this? I'd like to do some reading on it

www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/21/australian-women-sue-qatar-airways-over-forced-examinations-at-doha-airport
here you go

I was asked by work to go to Saudi and Qatar to meet with potential new clients.

I turned it down. Because I knew that I wouldn’t be acknowledged there. So what’s the point. We won the clients. The clients will speak to me over the phone. Or if they come here. But if I go there I’m a second class citizen for being a woman and will go unacknowledhed? No.

Thanks @EvilRingahBitch that's absolutely horrendous. I've transited through Doha a few times and always felt safe. Will consider new routes from now on definitely!

It's amazing that some countries are so backward.

Religions are the cause of so much violence, suppression and discrimination.

I'm stunned every time I remember that most of the big religious groups in the UK still don't permit marriage between gay people. It just shows how ignorant and controlling religious groups are.

Perhaps the way to describe this attitude is 'cognitive dissonance'. People are happy to condemn one thing, but take advantage of it when it suits them.

Leaving aside the whole human rights issues etc, I have never understood the attraction of Dubai as a place to visit, and have no idea why anyone could possibly want to go there.

@MrsMamaD aside from the massive hypocrisy of 'turning a blind eye' to certain things in Dubai! Their human rights record is appalling. People are brought in to build the vast, brash buildings and are promised a better life, instead they live in hellish conditions and are paid barely anything! It's not about the not being allowed to drink, it's the human rights records these countries have,

My friend works in the ME. Currently in Qatar but previously,briefly,in Saudi Arabia. He found the latter far far worse on human rights than Qatar is.

@PilatesPeach exactly! Aside from the homophonic laws, lack of rights for women I'm astounded so many people don't realise how much human trafficking and suffering and poverty is abundant in these places! My friend lived in Qatar and one of the bedrooms had a lock on the outside but not the inside. This was the room for the 'staff'!

I have never understood the attraction of Dubai as a place to visit, and have no idea why anyone could possibly want to go there. it’s quite beautiful. There are hills made entirely of stone with deep tunnels with rivers at the bottom, and the wildlife is different and fascinating. Like anywhere there is more than shopping mall. It’s not a destination I’d particularly choose but I find it odd to judge it on it hotels and shopping centres.

I flew Qatar airlines once to Aus about a decade ago with young dc. Just walking through the terminal in transit several men walked over and brazenly touched my (blonde) dd's hair, stroked their backs on the escalator etc.

Disgusting.

Even in Dubai (supposedly less backwards) the official advice my daughter and I were given was that it is ok for men to use the lexus taxis that operate everywhere there and probably ok for 2 women to use together but not advisable for a woman to use on her own.

Is this the Qatar Marketing & Reputational Rehabilitation Board posting again?

You're not very good, are you?

Look, you got the world cup by nefarious means. You've supervised many thousands of impoverished workers to death. You have one of the world's shittest human rights records. Behind that shiny facade of glittery cities, majestic curated landscapes and David Beckham's bought-and-paid-for grin you are socially stratified to penalised gay people, women, the non-elite and foreigners for being born.

Just own it.

It's "utterly revolting" to refuse to condone the use of slave labour and persecuting people for their sexuality? Have a word with yourself.

You don't have to interact with people to know what goes on in Dubai and Qatar.

You live in a country where rape is illegal and the victim won't be stoned for being raped. The law provides for disabled children to have access to education and healthcare. It is illegal to use children to carry drugs and indeed to supply certain drugs. The law provides that hospitals should be safe and that discrimination is illegal.

Yes, I know that there are an awful lot of things wrong with the relevant systems, but the point is that, however imperfect the operation of our laws is, the law does not condone the problems you raise. That is not the case in Qatar and Dubai.

"There's always one who comes to defend themselves acting like having homophobic laws is no big deal"

There is a certain irony in the UK leaving Europe to take back control then using parliamentary sovereignty as justification for breaking international law and then criticising other countries because they do not have the same attitudes/ laws we do.

By all means, we can disagree with those laws and choose to boycott the event.

That might be stunning if religion had actually succeeded in banning gay marriage under UK law. Happily, it hasn't.