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עמוד:*55
55 * The drastic change in Qatari attitude towards alcohol misled even esteemed international publications . The American magazine of international relations and U . S . foreign policy, Foreign Affairs, even argued that Qatar "allows the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public spaces" . 77 As mentioned above, this statement is inaccurate . British Foreign travel advice properly stated : "it is an offence to drink alcohol or be drunk in public" . 78 Foreign diplomats noticed the change . U . S . Ambassador to Qatar from 1995 to Patrick N . Theros, addressed in a later interview the Qatari approach to alcohol 1998, laws . He explained that Qataris believed they should have these laws : "They would rather disobey the law than see the state abolish the law” . 79 Other American diplomats mentioned that alcohol was available in hotels and liquor stores, and even during Ramadan, it could be found in hotel mini - bars . 80 The policy change was criticized by the religious and conservative public in the emirate . In 1998, in an unusual display of public dissent, Islamist Abd al - Rahman bin Umar al - Nuaimi presented a petition to the emir signed by eighteen others, which objected to government policies regarding women and alcohol . 81 Yusuf al - Qaradawi, the Doha - based influential scholar, explained in an interview with an American reporter that the problem was the growing presence of the U . S . military, not just in Qatar but across the Gulf : "everywhere your military goes it has insisted on alcohol, night clubs, discos, and bars . And, in Islam, these things are all very definitely haram [ = forbidden on religious grounds ] " . 82 A Western diplomat in Doha told another reporter that "True, some Qataris complain that the emir is going too far" . 83 One man summoned the courage to say to an American journalist that he "abhors the legalization of alcohol", but he declined to be identified as anything more specific than "a Qatari citizen" . He asked to remain anonymous due to his employment by the government, and didn't want "trouble at work" . 84 The citizen's fear reflects the fact that the government was behind the Eric Rouleau, "Trouble in the Kingdom", Foreign Affairs, Vol . 81, No . 4 ( Jul . - Aug . , 2002 ) , p . 82 . 77 GOV . UK, Foreign travel advice, Qatar, "Alcohol", https : / / www . gov . uk / foreign - travel - 78 advice / qatar / local - laws - and - customs ( Accessed on 29 October 2021 ) . Ambassador Patrick Theros, interviewed by : Charles S . Kennedy, The Association for Diplomatic 79 Studies and Training Foreign Affairs, Oral History Project, p . 256 https : / / adst . org / OH % 20 TOCs / Theros - Patrick - N . pdf ( Accessed on 22 December 2021 ) Michael Ratney to Sec . of State, 'Qatar Forges its own Wahhabi Path', 8 November 2007 . 80 Jill Crystal, "Political reform in Qatar", in Mary Ann Tetreault, Gwenn Okruhlik, Andrzej Kapiszewski 81 eds . ) Political Changeinthe Arab GulfStates : Stuck inTransition ( Boulder, Colo . : Lynne Rienner ( Publishers, 2011 ) , p . 122 . Weaver, “Democracy by decree", p . 54 . 82 TrofimovStaff, "In Quiet Revolt" . 83 Ibid . 84
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אדמוני, אריאל
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