I don't know if you've seen this one before


This photo was taken in Marina Mal in Kuwait. I don't know if they still have that. I thought it was sexist and unnecessary.

This other photo, however, shocked me. I was dropping a friend of mine to his house and I took this photo of the house across the street.


It doesn't say it in english but in arabic it says "No parking for non-qataris". This is wrong on so many levels. I need to mention that this neighborhood doesn't have many Qataris living in it and this particular street has many Indians. I should also mention that the owner of the house walked up to me once when I was waiting for my friend out side the house and asked me where I was from.

It's ok if you don't want people to block the entrance of your house but this has nothing to do with their nationality! I thought of parking there and leaving my car overnight just to see his reaction.

I can understand the intention behind this cartoon and the cartoonist's concern about the cleanliness of the streets and roundabouts. Abdulaziz Sadiq is a Qatari artist/musician whose work is regularly published in Al-Raya newspaper. Despite that some of his cartoons can be seen as offensive by some none Arabs, his work usually delivers important messages.

In this particular cartoon, Sadiq shows some workers, from the look I'd say from India or Nepal, laying in a roundabout to rest with their trash littering the place. So why Friday?

Friday is when most workers (usually Asians) get their day off and tend to go out for the weekend just to change some scenery away from the construction dust. Friday is also a family day in most malls and public parks. Family day in Qatar means only women and Qatari and white people are allowed in. The exception might also include well dressed arabs. This excludes most other workers who are usually too busy with their jobs to come to places like this.

The Problem? Well, I can tell you that this problem will get worse and, in my opinion, obvious reason behind this. Workers have a day off and they can't hangout in usual hangouts, roundabouts seem to be a good choice. With the new law banning workers from residing in "family neighborhoods", most of these workers will have to move to remote areas. This will not solve the problem. When they get their weekly break, they'll try to find a ride to Doha and get their cut of the weekend. Commuting back and forth might not be feasible for most of them and this keep them in their hangout spots for longer periods.

I see many Qataris throw trash out of their cars. So I don't think this cartoon was intended to deliver a "do not litter" message to the addressed people because in any case, they can't read the cartoon! Then what is the idea behind it? Suggesting banning these from more places on weekends? or perhaps suggesting a curfew after a certain time on Fridays?