Jen had a scheduled Arabic Drumming lesson at the Katara Cultural Village (Fred Armisen would be proud, even if she isn’t a fan), so Corey, Liz and I tagged along and explored the area. It’s north of downtown Doha, along the coast just before a ritzy area known as The Pearl.
Like seemingly everything in Doha, this area was still under extensive construction, but there was a lot to see. A beautiful amphitheater, a beach area that looked like it was poised to become a nighttime market, some spectacular buildings, and the Al Jazeera Cafe.
In case you don’t know, Al Jazeera is the state-owned broadcaster in Qatar and has become a worldwide cultural force. It is not universally-liked in the Arab world and from what I gather, it is one of the main reasons that Qatar is currently under a blockade led by Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Bahrain, and Egypt. These countries are no fan of a free press, so it’s no surprise that they initiated this blockade with the tacit (if not explicit) backing of the Trump Administration. I don’t know how “free” Al Jazeera is, to be honest so I’ll not comment any further on the politics of these nations.
The Al Jazeera cafe was part museum, part hang out cafe. We were able to browse through a sobering array of artifacts recovered from journalists who were killed while doing their jobs. About half of them were killed by US airstrikes or cruise missile strikes; not sure if they were collateral damage or not. As Americans, we couldn’t help but feel some shame for these actions, but the people there were friendly, helpful and engaging.
It was not all a sombre affair; we had a very futuristic coffee break on a fully touch-screen table with games and app-based menus.
And a few other assorted shots:
