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HASSAN ALJEFAIRI’S DIARY - BOOK 2014-

IN ENGLISH - PART 3

27-05-2014 - 13:07 - McDonald – Lagona

The traditional grocery stores that we used to have in Msheireb had disappeared. Instead, now supermarket stores are spreading among a large number of districts in Qatar.

Woqod petrol stations have small supermarkets but they seem to me empty and not many people buy from them, unlike the small supermarkets in Dubai petrol stations where girls will greet you and meet you with a welcoming smile. They are very busy in Dubai and every time you drive on the high way you will feel like you want to stop over for some snacks or a cup of tea.

During the coffee break in one of the general assemblies of woqod in Qatar, I suggested to some of their executives to employ girls to serve in woqod mini supermarkets because women were created to serve while men were created to build.

Woqod can employ men to drive their long heavy weight vehicles and let the girls work as cashiers or shop assistants in their mini markets.

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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

Mini supermarkets in Dubai became popular and liked not only by Hassan but by so many people.

Hassan wants Qatar to be more civilized and of course wants to see one female in Qatar for every one male, but woqod is not fulfilling Hassan’s wish, instead it employs one female for every twenty or thirty males.

In Dubai more goods are sold in less time while the girls cost less because they are efficient and quick. In Dubai you see millions of customers everywhere buying from hypermarkets in big quantities reducing the price paid. When people shop more quickly, they will of course shop more cheaply.

Executives and board members of woqod did not appreciate what Hassan was doing for them and for Qatar. When Hassan was detained, they did not care.

HASSAN IBRAHIM ALMULLA ALJEFAIRIQatari writerwww.hassanaljefairi.com

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http://www.hassanaljefairi.com/


IN ENGLISH - PART 3

31-05-2014 - 21:53 - McDonald – Airport

I spent some of my childhood in my great grandfather’s house Ali bin Saleh Albaker in Aljasra. Our close neighbours were Almanaa family. Their brother in law was Marzouq Alshamlan who was the agent of coca cola in Qatar.

His son Shamlan was my classmate. Children and I went on a school trip to visit the coca cola factory in Qatar.

The coca cola production line was the oldest line known to me in Qatar.

I still remember how the end - product “A bottle of coca cola” was filled, checked by quality control staff and finally produced.

The bottles were filled while placed on continuously moving belt. The automated machine filled the bottles one after another.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

01-06-2014 - 23:15 - McDonald – Markhiyah

The sky scrapers that we are building today, Dubai had already built them sixteen years ago.

The tall buildings in Dubai were supported by steel frames inside them.

Influential people in Qatar built for themselves big houses. They called them palaces but they were not real palaces. They were big villas surrounded by bad roads that had so many pot holes in them.

Qatar suffered from bad infrastructure in the 1970s, Qatar inherited poor facilities from the previous governments of the 1960s and the 1950s.

The first oil shipment exported out of Qatar was in 1949, but our oil revenue was taken. Only a small amount of money was spent on roads and power.

The infrastructure that we needed for the operation of our society was much below the standard because our population was very small “60000” and Qatar could have been built with a good basic structure but our public money unfortunately was wasted or taken.

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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

U.A.E. had their first oil shipment exported out of Abu Dhabi in 1965. That was sixteen years after Qatar. The Americans built the Empire state building in New York. It was the most famous skyscraper in the world but now the tallest skyscraper in the world is Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

France built the Statue of Liberty and gave it as a gift to the USA. It was made of copper and stood on an island at the entrance to New York.

Qatar built the Oryx statue that stood on the Post Office roundabout. Some ignorant insisted to have it removed claiming that perhaps some people would worship it. Some other ignorants agreed to remove it and had it removed. Hassan Aljefairi since then became an angry man saying the Qatari people were civilized and would not worship an Oryx statue.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

Dairy Queen 02-06-2014 13:55

Buildings in Barahat Aljufairi were made from materials that could be found locally like wet and soft earth.

Most of our houses were single storey homes but some others had a room or two on the roof.

The materials used were mainly mud but wood was also used.

We did not have wood in Qatar; therefore Captain Ibrahim had to import wood from East Africa, where there were forests.

Our houses were influenced by our very hot climate. The walls were thin and made of mud and stones so heat would not be retained.

The windows were relatively large and kept widely open for the breeze to come in.

Glass was expensive. People did not use it, so Captain Ibrahim did not import glass from India.

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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

After I was born, English people built their houses on the hill tops of Rumeilah to make them easier to defend. They were surrounded by sea water near where Al bidaa Park today.

Arches were built in our houses. Arches represented Islamic structure.

Only natural materials were used for building our houses such as sand, mud and stones or the Jandal “Danjal” wood that Captain Ibrahim Almulla imported from East Africa or the wood for doors and windows from India.

Qatari people knew how to make materials made of clay, but most of the clay that we used in Barahat Aljufairi brought from Bahrain.

Plants were the most important source of materials. The Jandal wood was obtained from plants in Africa and the other wood from plants in India

Some trees in India were old. Every year a tree grew a new layer of wood. When a tree was cut down, the layers could be seen as rings. By counting the rings, Indians were able to tell its age.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

Captain Ibrahim sailed back from India back to the Gulf bringing with him rice, spices and always wood.

His sailing ship was loaded with wood but went fast because its main body was designed to move along the smooth surface of the Arabian Sea freely without great effort.

His son Mohammed became a famous Captain. Mohammed bin Ibrahim Aljefairi built also a house in Baraha near Souq Waqif, his brother Abdulla and my grandfather Hassan built houses too, therefore Baraha was called Barahat Aljufairi. Other old members of my family built more houses. Barahat Aljufairi became more lively because most of Qatar old international trade was carried by our old sailing ships. Piles of wood were put on the decks of our sailing boats. Large strong bags were used to store rice were loaded on the floor and plenty of sacks full of spices were kept on the side.

The large bags and the heavy sacks were carried to Amarat Al jufairi which was a two storey building that was built with stones, mud and wood for keeping the imported goods from India and East Africa.

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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

Some of our sailing ships were built with teak wood that made them strong enough to carry more cargo from distant India and East Africa to Qatar.

Some wind was required to move them. Our boats were powered by good quality sails. They were big boats, big enough to call them ships. Some of them had two sails. The sails were made of special material that resisted strong wind. Some of our ships had more than one deck built under the other. The decks were packed with imported goods. The quantities carried were unloaded by hand and then carried to Amarat Aljufairi for future use. Bundles of Jandal “Danjal” wood were among those goods.

People went to Baharat Aljufairi to buy and sell things. Baraha became lively after trading existed.

My grandmother Hessa told me that our family owned a cow that had big milk producing breasts. They were big enough to hold large volumes of milk. Once our cow gave a birth to a baby, she would give a lot of milk for more than nine months. She was milked twice a day.

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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

First quantity of milk was taken by the people of Barahat Aljufairi. The second quantity was sold to people in AlJasra. Our cow was a good breed that suited our hot climate.

Members of my family kept chicken for their meats and for their eggs.

Goats were bred in Barahat Aljufairi for their milk and meat. We paid Beduins money to take them to the desert so they could eat grass or plants. Our goat numbers were low so they did not cause any damage to our wild plant life. We sold their skins. In the olden days, we did not throw anything away.

Officials of the department of culture at the Amiri Diwan did not recognize Hassan Aljefairi’s efforts to document Qatar’s culture. They did not appreciate the time that he spent to write about the valued things such as buildings, passed down from previous generations. They did nothing for him when he was detained.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

McDonald - Markhiyah - 04.06.2014 - at 07:20

Qatari students must wear a modern dress as a school uniform which is usually similar in many countries in this world.

Instead, they are forced to wear national costume when they go to school as uniform, but this national costume prevent them from running, jumping, moving and playing freely.

I am Hassan Aljefairi saying that Qatari people can always remember and remind others with their heritage by wearing their national costume when working in Government offices, or on festival days like Eids, national days, weddings and social gatherings.

Our national costume has a long history. We do not have to force our children to wear it at school to remember it.

Government officials send their children to International English speaking schools and make them wear modern dress, but force our children to wear our national costume.

HASSAN ALJEFAIRI’S DIARY - BOOK 2014-11

IN ENGLISH - PART 3

They want our children to pray at school but their children do not pray at English speaking schools, Instead they make them do school activities like, sports, swimming, arts, drama and music. They make out of their children directors and Ministers but make out of our children drivers and watchmen.

There are also other ways for identifying our country.

Our flag can be used as a way of identifying Qatar, or allowing Hassan Aljefairi who is belonging to Qatar to appear in the media or the press. Hassan Aljefairi’s diary is documenting so many facts related to Qatar’s heritage and culture.

Our Qatari culture is very strong and cannot be easily lost. I, Hassan spent many years of my life in Lebanon, England and Bahrain. I did not lose my Qatari identity. Instead, I became more Qatari identified.

I wore modern dress when I was living abroad. Today, I am wearing my national costume and I am more Qatari than I had ever been before.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

They want our children to wear national costume not for identifying Qatar, but to make Qatari people more obedient and more silent. And they want Hassan Aljefairi to shut his mouth.



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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

Dairy Queen - Landmark - 04.06.2014 - at 13:34

When I was the Manager of Gulf Air in Qatar, I saw millions of riyals profit made every month when the ground services prepared the aero planes for making their journey through the air.

There were a lot of activities to make the planes ready for flying.

The passenger cabin had to be freed from all dirts and other things. Thousands of meals were prepared by the catering department at Doha airport to provide the airlines with the food needed and the drinks required. Tons of luggages were loaded and huge amounts of cargo were put on the planes.

Big money was made from the handling and the ground services.

A huge revenue was generated from the services that were made to passengers and cargo.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

The duty free shops were making easy income because the goods were not taxed and there was more money to be made from renting spaces, car park and transporting passengers and goods.

What happened to those millions of riyals that belonged to Qatari people? Who made such growing income disappear? Such growing income belongs to the present generation and the future generation. Unfortunately some traitors that belonged to both generations had worked hard to put Hassan Aljefairi behind bars.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

04-06-2014 -20:37 –McDonald – Markhiyah

The land along the east coast of Africa was an important place from which wood, food and African men originated.

The east coast of Africa was important for old members of my family who used the profit that they made from their trading to free the African men.

African men who worked for my great great grandfathers were freed so they were not owned by others and they were not forced to obey any one. Some of the old gold that my very old relatives had was originated from East Africa.

They travelled in their Sailing boats as far south as Madagascar.

Portuguese used their large boats for transporting people and goods to East Africa and wanted to takeover East Africa and control the coast line.

They started to take part in a violent physical struggle with our men and went in a war with them.

Portuguese were able to control the ports.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

The ports of Zinzibar and Mumbasa were very important to our men but the Portuguese had larger ships and more advanced weapons.

They were able to cause harm to our force and make damage to our boats. They were able to limit our influence in the ports of Mumbasa and Zanzibar.

The Spanish also made use of the east coast of Africa to get gold.

The Dutch competed with the Portuguese and Spanish because East Africa became an important source of trade in ivory.

The English ships at a later time also took part in gold trade and ivory.

All of those had participated in the crime and made a lot of our men die.

HASSAN I ALMULLA ALJEFAIRIQatari writerwww.hassanaljefairi.com

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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

05-06-2014 - 19:02 – Food Court -Villagio

Hassan was born in Doha. Doha is the capital of Qatar. Qatar is a country in our Earth. Earth is the third planet from the sun. The sun is 1.3 million times larger than the Earth. Our Solar System is made up of the sun and the eight planets including Earth that move around it. Our Solar System is a tiny part of the huge Milky Way galaxy. Our Milky Way galaxy contains approximately 400 billion stars.

Stars are grouped into galaxies and there are more than 80 billion galaxies in the observable Universe. A big galaxy is made of one trillion stars. The universe was the result of a massive explosion called the Bing Bang. Scientists still do not know how big the Universe really is, but they do know that it is expanding.


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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

05-06-2014 -22:23 –Burger king – Markhiyah

In some undeveloped countries, you have to be a religious person. You are not allowed to believe in the process of change, when over long periods of time, one species (type) of animal or plant became another species, because evolution denies the truth of religious statements that say the opposite.

Some ignorants may put you in jail just for believing in Darwin’s evolution theory saying that animals and plants change so they are better able grow or develop well in their environment.

For example, if you believe that our ancestors were developed gradually from ape-like millions of years ago, some ignorants may stone you or condemn you and then kill you as a legal punishment for believing in Science.

You are not allowed to accept that modern humans first appeared half a million years ago, you are not permitted to have a feeling that individuals with the advantage live longer, breed more successfully and pass on the advantage to their children.

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Such punishments in undeveloped countries violate human rights and break the international agreements for freedom of beliefs and freedom of speech.



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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

07-06-2014 -17:47 –McDonald – Markhiyah

I want to see Qatar changing. I do not want to see the Ports, Airports, Airlines, Al Jazeera, Aspire, Katara and most things owned by the state. You can get rich if you want to, but you need to pay for the services. My Government needs an income to pay salaries for those who serve you.

The old Qatar of arranged marriage and the four males for every one female has to disappear. More modern Qatar is being built and more civilized my society is becoming.

I am not worried about losing traditional ways of life like separating boys from girls. I want the new in my new land.

Development is for both, my land and my people.

I want my people to walk and work. I don’t like to see more and more cars on the road because the traffic will be very bad like in Bangkok, where you need to spend five hours travelling regularly between your home and place of work. Instead you can take the metro. You need to move quickly and work hard in Hassan’s land; otherwise someone else will come and take your job.



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IN ENGLISH - PART 3


In Hassan’s land, you can have a great deal of money and assets, but a part of your income will go to my Government.

My Government in return will build for you good roads and will provide you with power. If the roads are not good and the power did not reach you, then you will have all the right to ask questions. You will have all the means to question my Government, for example, through political parties, free press, free media, NGOs, activists like Hassan Aljefairi, human rights organizations or Environmental societies.

My land is the land of your dreams. You need to gain knowledge through study and work hard to be able to make more money and become a good looking person and have the feeling of satisfaction.

In my land, you can say hello to a girl and a girl can say hello to you. There will be always a job waiting for educated, polite and civilized people. In the long run, those who want to remain uneducated, impolite and uncivilized will have no future in Hassan’s future land.




IN ENGLISH - PART 3

07-06-2014 -20:07 –Burger king

I am getting angry when I see easy money making my people inactive. Due to gas and oil huge revenue in Qatar a lot of parents employ house maids to take care of their children because they are busy buying and consuming goods. Some parents have no time to give attention to their children themselves so they pay servants to do that for them. Families also employ drivers to transport their children and look after all their needs.

Most of the time, there are no parents accompanying the children. Children are not learning anything because servants have not got too much knowledge to give it to them. The parents do not usually read, so they also have nothing to give.

Some parents live unreal lives when the father is only interested in cars and the mother is rounding daily in a shopping centre looking for more and more clothes, shoes and make up. Some mothers spend more time in beauty Saloons than spending it caring for their children, but God revenges from them and make them look not beautiful.


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Some fathers spend hours in a coffee shop talking and gossiping, therefore I am getting more angry because too much talking and gossiping is usually for women and not for men. Some mothers are interested only in their looks. Looks are important but not on the expense of paying attention to their own children.

Some men do a lot of shopping buying fashion clothes and expensive shoes. I thought that this practice was usually done by women not by men. Children grow up without being educated with safety, so they buy expensive cars, drive them fast and then have accidents and die. Young men in Qatar have money but have no girl friends; therefore they become depressed and very angry. They want to die because they have no happiness to lose. That is why they drive very fast not worrying about losing their lives. When Hassan AlJefairi started writing and talking to make young people happier, some officials did not try to reward him for that but wanted to see him behind bars. Young men whom Hassan did his best for them were the ones who arrested him and put him in prison.



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IN ENGLISH - PART 3


In the very olden days, my ancestors “Bani Khaled tribes” lived in Zubara at north west of Qatar a simple life. They decided to discover unknown lands and find out if they could get more drinking water and food.

Improved navigation techniques allowed them to sail by the coast and discover new places.

Many years later they settled in Qaband on the other side of the Gulf in Persia. In 1840 they came back to Qatar. They were called the Arab Hawalah. Since then, they made more daring voyages travelling through the coast of Ras AlKheimah so as to learn about unknown places behind the Gulf of Oman. They followed the route of Omani traders and continued all the way to East Africa. The Omani traders had already opened up the profitable trade route to Zanzibar and Mumbasa. The Omanis found their way to East Africa long time ago and continued all the way to India. Old members of my family were fair traders and kind, therefore so many people in India became Muslims due to their kindness and good treatment.



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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

08.06.2014 - Landmark- Carrefour - Coffee shop - at 19:25

The story of the Arab liberals and France is exactly like the story of the crow who wanted to be a peacock.

The crow flew down into the garden. There were some beautiful blue and green peacock feathers on the ground. The crow took the feathers. He put them on top of his short, black feathers and lived with the peacocks. But they soon saw he was not a peacock. They were very angry. They hit him and said, “Go away, you are not a peacock”.

The crow went home. But he still had his peacock feathers. He wanted the other crows to see him. He wanted to be the most beautiful crow.

The other crows did not like this. They hit him and took away his peacock feathers. “Go away” they said. “We don’t want you”.


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So the crow went away. He could not live with the peacocks. And now he had no friends. Arab liberals were not supported by the French government. They were not French so France did not want to help them and did not want to do anything for them. And at home, their own Arab Governments went against them. The voice of liberals had died like when the Christianity in the Arab world died. Like when the voice of Hassan Aljefairi in Qatar was forced to faint and die.

Hassan Aljefairi raised this problem during a forum held by Ministry of Culture. The Ambassador of France was present when Hassan complained that liberals in the Arab world were not being supported by France. Some French people got angry with Hassan and did not like what he said.



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IN ENGLISH - PART 3

08-06-2014 -20:15-Landmark-McDonald

Another story was about a big family that lived in a small house. They were not very happy.

They were told by the wise woman to take all their eight animals into the house to live with them. The next week, they went back to the wise woman. “This is terrible” they said. “The animals eat our food. They fill all the rooms. They sleep in our beds”.

The wise woman told them “Now go home. Take the animals out of the house”. They went home and took the animals out of the house.

The next day, they went back to the wise woman. This time they were happy. “Thank you, thank you,” they said. It is very different without the animals. Now we can eat and sleep. Now we like our house. Exactly like what the Arab dictators did to their own people. They brought the extremists to some parts of the Arab world. They allowed the terrorists to cross the borders.

Few weeks later, the extremists caused destruction to the cities and ruined people’s life. They made them refugees and homeless.


IN ENGLISH - PART 3

They killed their children and raped their women. But unlike the animals, they could not take the terrorists out of peoples houses. The extremists did not want to leave.



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Landmark - Mcdonald - 08.06.2014 - at 20:43

The third story was about a girl who lived on a farm. She took the milk to the town to sell it.

The farm girl went to town with the milk. On the way, she thought, “I can sell the milk. Then I can buy some eggs. I’ll keep the eggs and soon I’ll have chickens. Then I can sell the chickens and buy a new dress. I’ll wait for a rich man or a prince. Yes, I’ll marry a prince”. She walked down the road and closed her eyes. Her foot hit a stone and down she went. Down went the milk, too, all over the road.

What happened to Hassan Aljefairi was exactly the same.

Hassan went to Ezdan Hotel for a walk. On the way, he thought, “I shall work hard. I shall persuade my government to make out of Qatar a modern state, not a religious state, and to recruit thousands of single females to work in Doha. Qatar will be more civilized. Then, millions of tourists and investors will queue to travel to Qatar.


IN ENGLISH - PART 3

They will spend billions of riyals. Our economy will be diversified. Dubai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore will be jealous from Qatar.

Hassan was very happy. He walked down the road near Ezdan Hotel and closed his eyes. He was thinking about Qatar being a developed state. He received a telephone call from a police officer waking him up. After few minutes, he was arrested. He was taken and put behind bars.


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08-06-2014 -21:37-DGR Circus-Landmark

One more story is about Joha when he walked with his son down the road to sell his horse in town. A boy said, “Why is that man walking?

He has a horse. Joha got on the horse and his son walked behind him.

Then a woman said, “That man is on the horse and his poor boy is walking”.

Joha got down and put his son on the horse. They walked some more.

“Isn’t that terrible!” said an old man. “Young people have no love for their parents these days! Look at that boy on the horse. His poor father is walking”.

“He is right,” said Joha. He got on the horse behind his son”. Then they saw some girls. “Two people on a horse!” said the girls. “The poor animal” Joha and his son got off the horse. They put the horse on their backs and carried it over the bridge. The horse moved and kicked. They all fell off the bridge and into the river.


IN ENGLISH - PART 3

Joha and his son climbed out of the river. “Next time,” said Joha, “I am not going to listen to other people”. I am going to do it my way”.

The same thing happened to Hassan AlJefairi. He gave low income people some gifts and hand outs, some people said, “He is showing off”.

When he wanted Qatar’s economy to be diversified, they said, “It is not of his business” when he wanted Qatari children to join English speaking schools, “He is not a good Muslim” some people said.

“I don’t care” said Hassan AlJefairi, “I am going to do it my way”.




IN ENGLISH - PART 3


This morning’s comparison is about the hungry wolf who saw a dog in the yard. He saw a man come out of his house. The man gave food to the dog. The dog said to the wolf, “you are always running and fighting. Your life is not easy. Come live here. Life is easy here.”

“Look at your neck! It’s all red” said the wolf.

“It’s because of the chain” said the dog.

“A chain” said the wolf. “You have to stay there all day? You cannot run or hunt?

“Then no thank, my friend. I can’t stay here with you. I don’t want a chain on my neck. Good bye.” And the wolf ran away, still hungry.

The same thing is happening to Arab people. We are given food and somewhere to sleep, but we do not have freedom of speech. “This is the richest country in the world”, I said “It should be the most beautiful country in the world but it is not.” Some government officials did not like what I said. I was given food and allowed to sleep but in prison.




IN ENGLISH - PART 3

Mcdonald - Markhiyah - 09.06.2014 - at 07: 43

Another comparison is there when a large family of mice lived in a store. The store keeper was not happy and got a big, black cat.

The mice agreed to put a bell on the cat. “That way we can hear it coming”, they said. But they could not agree who was going to put the bell on the cat. The mice moved out of the store.

The same thing was happening in Qatar until now. No one would dare to put bells on big fat cats.

Everyone would say “Not I, Not I”. Then, they would stop talking. Only Hassan Aljefairi would not shut his mouth.



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09-06-2014 - 12:55 - Landmark – Food court

Today, there is a story about a boy who stayed with the sheep all day. He did not want to be alone. He shouted, “wolf wolf”.

The people immediately came. “Where is the wolf”? they asked.

“There is no wolf”, said the boy. “I wanted to see you and talk to you”. The people were not happy.

The next day, he did it again. The people came. They were very very angry.

The third day. The boy was alone with the sheep. He heard something behind the trees. It was a wolf. The wolf was coming to eat the sheep. “Wolf! wolf!” shouted the boy.

The people in the village heard the boy but did not come. The boy ran away and the wolf killed the sheep.


IN ENGLISH - PART 3

Exactly when I was still a boy. I heard all the lies from voice of Arab radio and here Cairo radio about the Arab troops defeating Israeli troops. Today I get the news from the BBC broadcasting service only. I do not trust any Arabic channel. I trust Monte Carlo and the CNN more.



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Dubai had a rail system long time ago. Their trains run under the ground and above the ground. They started building it sixteen years ago, but we in Qatar are building our rail system now. Why are we always late?

I am getting angry. Some of our officials who call themselves VIPs are making me upset. This is the richest country in the world. We have oil and gas but Dubai does not have neither oil nor gas, why is it more advanced?

If our officials want to keep us always behind, then why do they call themselves very important persons?

Dubai trains can have from one to eight cars and each car can carry up to one hundred passengers while we here in Qatar have neither trams nor cable cars. There are so many cars on the road. We are stuck up to an hour in the traffic. What did the officials do for us to call themselves very important persons?

They call themselves VIPs. They drive big cars and live in big houses. They have polluted our land and air with their waste. Many countries have laws to protect the environment, but here in Qatar our air is being polluted.


IN ENGLISH - PART 3

They waste electricity and water. They use so many plastic and paper products. They do not turn off the water when is not needed. They do not turn off the light and the air conditioners when they leave their rooms. They do not walk, ride bikes or use public transportation. Instead they go for falconry. Birds called Alhabara are in danger of extinction. They have hunted them for pleasure. They have also destroyed our desert with their four wheel drive cars. I asked them to plant my one million desert tree forest and water it with treated sewage water. They would not do that for me. Instead, they want to send me to jail.

Some parts of our desert are dirty, and other parts are contaminated with so much dumped rubbish and left garbage.



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Mcdonald - Markhiyah - 11.06.2014 - at 07:11

I did not see my great grandfather Captain Ibrahim Almulla but I saw Captain Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Aljefairi his son.

My grandmother Hessa took me to his house. We sat on rugs on the floor to eat.

A large flat serving dish was put on the middle of the rug and we all ate from it.

Every one of us washed his hands both before and after eating.

I was told by my grandmother Hessa not to sit on the floor before the captain, instead wait until he sat and then sit but not very close to him in order to leave a space for an older member of the family to sit near him.

I was instructed not to start eating before he did and to take only a small amount of food with my right hand from the part of the platter nearest to me.


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I was told not to leave and go before the captain did. I was told not to speak until he started a conversation.

My grandmother warned me not to make noises with my mouth as I ate.

She made sure I arrived to the sitting room on time and greeted the captain first and then everyone else. I had never arrived after he started eating.

I had never left the sitting room when he was there. My grandmother Hessa would be very angry with me. I kissed the captain’s head when I greeted him and did not talk when he had a conversation with other members of the family.

I always stood when he stood, walked or approached giving my seat or a space to him. There were certain manners and ways to act if you were a grandson of a captain. You needed to show politeness and respect not only to the captain but to everyone around him. I always spoke respectfully with a low voice to him and to other old members of my family.


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My grandmother reminded me with our family manners and told me not to chew my food with my mouth open and to sit properly on the floor.

I named my first son after him. Mohammed was my first child and was called Mohammed on the day he was born.



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Mcdonlad - Markhiyah - 11.06.2014 - at 07:43

People require food and water to survive. When food and water in Qatar are in limited supply, we need to burn fuel to run the turbines of our desalination stations to remove salt from sea water.

We need also to fuel our aero planes to fly them abroad and load them with tons of food to feed people in Qatar.

But we should do that to bring Hassan Aljefairi’s friends from Britain, European Union, U.S.A, Philippines, India, and Nepal who can build Hassan’s country and make it beautiful.

We should not burn fuel and pollute our air to bring beggars who are badly educated to Hassan’s land. Hassan wants people to build his land not to beg in his land. Please get those beggars out of my land.



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Mcdonald - Barwa village - 11.06.2014 - at 10:51

My father Ibrahim told me that our shore near Barahat Aljufairi had some shell fish which fixed themselves to rocks under water, sea stars and plenty of other living things that were able to survive the waves that hit the shore heavily again and again. The fish were able to survive the sudden changes in water levels that occurred with high and low tide.

They were so much sea stars, shells and crabs hiding underneath. Our sea used to be rich with large groups of fish living in it. There were plenty of coral reefs that existed in our warm shallow waters. He said: “But, when crossing the Indian Ocean, the water looked black because it was so deep.

It was so deep that sunlight could not pass through. There was only a very little life beneath the surface to the ocean floor. It was very black that only very few animals had to live in that darkness.



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11-06-2014 - 11:10 - The Mall – Food Court

Small mouse Lemurs look similar. Looking so similar makes it difficult for the lemurs to find members of their own kind or species during mating season.

However, it seems that the lemurs can identify their own species by song. Scientists recorded the mating calls of the three species of mouse lemurs. They discovered that the lemurs reacted more to the calls from their own species. This allows the mouse lemurs to pick the right mate, even at night.

But boys in Qatar University are separated from the girls. Boys and girls both are not encouraged to sing. Even mouse lemurs in Madagascar have more freedoms.

Boys and girls cannot easily get married because marriage is arranged in Qatar. The divorce rate between my people is 42%, the highest in the world due to arranged marriages.

It is like buying a water melon; you do not know what is inside, red or white. Unlike the mouse lemurs, the boys cannot make mating calls and get married.


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They borrow big money from the bank. They pay dowry but the huge amount of money that is brought to the bride by the husband is spent on shoes, make up, a wedding dress…etc.

A large amount of cash is being spent on a new car and two big wedding receptions, one for the ladies and one for the men. Then more money is spent on a honey moon trip. All borrowed and the man has to remain most of his life under debts.

Few months later they get divorced. Divorce rate is the highest in Qatar. Even higher than the divorce rate in Europe.

If the lemur is allowed to pick the right mate, why a university student is not allowed to pick his future wife.

Due to this social problem, Hassan Aljefairi interfered. Hassan asked Qatar University to introduce the co-education system where boys and girls can study together in one building. Some ignorants did not like what Hassan said. They fabricated a false accusation against him and put him in jail.




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Mcdonald - Barwa village - 11.06.2014 - at 11:47

Captain Ibrahim Almulla and his men used to get fresh drinking water from the sea.

There was a place near Bahrain where fresh water rose from the Earth’s crust to our Arabian Gulf floor and moved freely into the surrounding sea water through cracks in our sea floor.

That made life richer and more varied. Life was rich in our waters because our waters were shallow and light forced its way through to a short depth.

Light was the source of life, therefore I hate the abaya because it prevents the sunlight from reaching our little girls.

The abaya makes me feel depressed and sad.

Because in the deep zone of the Arabian Sea, where there was no light, there was no life.


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It was very dead deep there, because there were no plants to use sunlight to form nutrients from carbon dioxide and water.



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11-06-2014 - 13:07 - Carrefour – Coffee shop

Not only plants need sunlight, but sunlight is important for most living things. The abaya is preventing our girls from getting sunlight.

Our girls should not be forced to wear abayas at school. They have to be in a state of being free from an illness like anemia or other illnesses.

The sunlight has vitamin D that will help the girls towards a good health. When I said that the abaya was not an Islamic and the girls should not wear it at school, I was accused of being secular. But secularism is not against religion. Secularism has nothing to do with religions or spirits. Secularism is about keeping religion apart from the state or the Government, where the rule should be the rule of law, where all are equal towards the law and where equal opportunities are given to all citizens.

Some officials do not want our women to be empowerd, and they know that the abaya will prevent the Qatari girl from running, playing and have any physical activities at school. The abaya will slow the girl’s movement and will make her less free to work and to walk.


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Our girls are not being taught swimming at school, so they are not getting any sunlight.

Not only that, but if they fall in the water, they cannot swim. They will die.



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11-06-2014 - 14:27 - Landmark – Food court

We had plenty of beaches in Doha and in other towns and villages in Qatar.

On the beaches there were crabs. More crabs were found near the water. Plenty of wild plants were growing in our sea water. There were a lot of shell and long- winged sea birds on our beaches.

Some influentials had put their hands on our beaches and took them for free. Our beaches suddenly belonged to them. The huge land on the sea- side was divided between them. No one was allowed to question them. No parliament, No NGO s, No opposition, No political parties, No free press, No free Media, only Hassan, the activist was there and was one day put behind bars to frighten him. They made him sign a lot of papers, so it would be easy in the future to silence him. Hassan was used as an example for those who wanted to speak loud. They stopped Hassan from entering conferences and succeeded to make him without sound.



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I was born in Msheireb at the centre of Doha. Doha is the capital of Qatar. Qatar is located at the centre of the Arabian Gulf. I call it Hassan’s Gulf.

My gulf cleans itself naturally, but my gulf cannot absorb large amounts of wastes especially what is called the balancing water that the oil companies use for balancing their ships. My gulf is threatened by the dumping of this balancing water and other wastes.

Most of the pollution in our gulf is related to human activities. Saddam Hussein did not only invade Kuwait but also destroyed its oil wells causing wide destruction on living things in our gulf.

My American friends came from U.S.A and worked under our hot sun to put out the fire caused by Saddam who wanted to occupy all GCC countries including Qatar after Kuwait.


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I tried to write in the Local newspapers, Arabic and English that oil pollution from damaged tankers or drilling platforms in one GCC country can affect badly other GCC countries because our gulf is a continuous small body of water with no boundaries and therefore all GCC countries must co-operate to protect it including Iran and Iraq. Some badly educated persons controlling the local press stopped me writing in its pages.

Qatar government controls the resources in our Qatari waters. It has to allow only safer oil tankers to enter our waters. It is not fair that a Qatari citizen called Hassan Aljefairi is not rewarded but put in Jail while some ignorant citizens who do nothing for Qatar have thousands of Riyals credited to their bank accounts for free.



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14-06-2014 07:38 McDonald – Markhiyah

I do not know why influentials in Qatar are worried because of me. I am not a politician and I am not a popular man. I am not popular because people know that I shall make energy more expensive, and this will force them to preserve our current energy resources by increasing the efficiency of their energy use.

When they need to pay the real cost of energy, they will protect energy from overuse. They will become more efficient. Efficiency is the percentage of energy that is actually used to perform work. When they pay their electricity bills, then they will understand what energy conservation means. They will know it very well when they reduce their energy use.

My great grandfather Captain Ibrahim used his sails to capture wind energy. He shipped coal from India to Qatar. Coal gained in popularity when was used for cooking.

Old members of my family used coal or wood or kerosene for cooking more wisely and when I make the electricity in Qatar in the future more expensive, people will take steps to use it more wisely.


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They will need to place a good insulation like a layer of material that will trap the air. Ministries will need to use insulation to increase the efficiency of their cooling systems. Ministries will be given limited budgets for electricity and therefore will need to use fluorescent bulbs for their offices because fluorescent bulbs provide the same amount of light as old bulbs but use about one fourth as much energy. When I make people pay more money for petrol, number of cars will be less on the roads of Qatar and more people will use the metro. Also the number of miles people drive will be reduced.

This makes Hassan unpopular and therefore Government of Qatar should not be worried because Aljefairi is an environmental activist. He is not a politician. Therefore there is no need to fabricate an accusation to put him behind bars.



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For children

The favourest port for Captain Ibrahim Almulla was Bombay. Bombay was near the sea. Some people lived around Bombay. Some people lived in poor housing called slums.

Bombay was always a large town. There were lots of fishing boats but near the port. Some people worked in the port. Some people worked in the shops and in the markets near the port.

When Captain Ibrahim made a profit from his trading, he invited poor people for food. Porters and sails men in the port of Bombay knew Captain Ibrahim. They went to his boat. There were lots to eat.

Today Bombay is much larger than it was in the olden days. Buildings were smaller. Today there are lots of cars and buses in Bombay and the air is much dirtier. Bombay had a civilization in the olden days. There were more shops and restaurants in Bombay than other cities.


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The sailors of Captain Ibrahim enjoyed stopping over in Bombay. They also enjoyed eating fruits. In Qatar there were no fruits. On that day Captain Ibrahim bought for his sailors fruits. When he made some profit, he always bought in Bombay port fruits for them.

There were lots of monkeys in India. They lived in forests but very few of them came near Bombay port.

There were large birds lived on some of the islands in the Indian Ocean. Sailors came to those islands and killed those birds, because they could not fly. But our sailors did not kill those birds, because Captain Ibrahim would not let them.



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14-06-2014 20:17 Burger King– Markhiyah

In the early 20th century, Dubai was a successful trading port, but our Government in Qatar did not try at that time to make out of Doha a trading town, Instead they made it a religious and a conservative small town.

The first oil shipment was exported out of Qatar was in 1949. This brought a lot of money into Qatar, but Qatar did not change much because the money was taken and transferred to private accounts abroad.

Many of us lived in Qatar as merchants and we could have easily made out of Qatar the world’s most influential trading centre, but our Government officials were not business minded. Until today, I am trying hard to change their mentality, but some still do not want to be open-minded.

They made out of Qatar more conservative or more strict, so people from abroad did not want to come to relax on its beaches but every year, there were millions queuing to buy tickets to travel to Dubai for pleasure and shopping, while in Qatar were queuing to get out of Qatar as soon as they had a public holiday or a short leave.


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Since 2002, I tried hard to persuade some officials to make my country’s earnings come from business, not oil or gas. I did not fail but they failed to work hard and preferred to get easy money from exporting oil and gas. The failures made my Doha town fail in becoming the busiest global trading town.

Doha was a fast growing city, but it was built with the oil and gas money. Any time, there is a sudden drop in oil and gas prices, Doha immediately will look like a ghost town. Billions of riyals were spent on Football stadiums, Aspire zone, the Museum, Katara and Qatar foundation but millions still visited Dubai, only much less number of tourists travelled to Qatar due to the Government’s close mentality. Some Government’s officials did not like criticism and every time Hassan Aljefairi criticized them by talking or writing, they got angry with him and took it personal. While Qatar was sleeping or was made to sleep, Dubai was becoming like no other place on earth. We built in Qatar big businesses, large shopping malls, five star hotels, sky scrapers, new airport and a new port, but millions of people wanted Dubai’s shopping malls and hotels, because freedom was more important to them than big businesses and sky scrapers.


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People did not want anyone to interfere in their personal or private lives. I went to conferences and spoke to Government officials telling them a new airport or a new port will not make out of Qatar a popular spot for tourists if you refuse to change your mentality and become more open minded like Hassan Aljefairi. They did no effort to change their mind but made up their mind and took a decision to have me detained.

Today millions from abroad go to Dubai to relax on its beaches. We have the same beaches in Qatar but the millions are not coming, only few thousands coming. When I said that there were public beaches in Dubai but our public beaches in Doha were stolen by some influentials, they fabricated a false accusation against me and put few days in jail. Those few days imprisonment was a final warning to me. They made me sign so many papers. I do not know when they are going to put me in jail again.

Very skilled and high quality people from different back grounds live in Dubai to work, but in here, some of our Government officials made Qatar become the place where a lot of beggars live but do not want to work.


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I saw many of them from different Arab nationalities go to the charities and take free furniture and free food.

I welcome Qatar’s growth, but the growth must be based on diversified economy that can make money coming from businesses not oil. I want to see people from different backgrounds to come to build my country Qatar and make out of it the wonder land.

I do not like those who come but do not want to work hard. Instead, they go to the charities to get free money and free food. When those people get free money and free food they do not want to work. That is why Qatar is the richest country in the world but still undeveloped.

Some foreign Arab workers work for the charities and give those beggars free food and free money because they are from their same country or their same nationality.

The beggars get easy money so they do not have to build Hassan’s country. That is why Hassan gets with the beggars very angry. Hassan is also angry because Qatar’s growth is not going together with the growth of quality in education. Foreigners have no problems because they go to their community schools, but our Qatari children have problems.


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They are badly educated. You can see the very beautiful buildings of our Qatari independent schools, but the teaching inside those beautiful buildings is not good.

Hassan requested the officials to send Qatari children to English schools. The officials did not. Instead, they sent their own children to English schools.

Officials and people of Dubai worked hard to get where they are now. They say that there is still a lot more work to do. Our officials in Qatar do not work hard. That is why people queue in thousands to leave whenever they have leave.



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National geographic published that as both humans and animals get older, memory gets worse. Humans seem to use more of their brain for language and less for memory.

I, Hassan Aljefairi say that primary education is very important but our children are deliberately given a primary education that is poor in English, Maths and Science.

Some people did not help me in my campaign because they were themselves badly educated so they did not understand what I was talking about.

Other people did not encourage me because they were ignorants and did not realize that investing in quality education was always a priority.

A lot of people did not approve what I was fighting for. They were not realizing that one day prices of oil and gas can drop and therefore we need to prepare the future generations to deal with the future economic difficulties.

Some officials are not ignorants but know very well that as humans get older, memory gets worse, therefore they are deliberately trying to damage children brains by giving them bad education which is poor in English, Maths, Science Sports and arts.


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When I came to help the children, their parents did not try to support me because some of them were ignorants and some were betraying not only Qatar but their own children. When they came to know that Hassan Aljefairi was detained, none of those traitors sympathized or felt sorry for him.

Some parents did not show an approval for Hassan’s fight for quality primary education and for reminding them that one day their children will not find jobs or at least good jobs. When he was arrested, some unfaithful did not say a word.



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Captain Ibrahim Almulla and his sailors traded in the port of Zanzibar. They did hard work. They did not have time to relax on its beaches.

Captain Ibrahim used some of his profit to free African men. The African men after being freed requested Captain Ibrahim if they could go with him back to Qatar. Captain Ibrahim agreed. The men were happy, played on the drums and danced the Liwa and Zar. The music of Liwa and Zar was native not only to Zanzibar but also to Mumbasa. It was part of their culture. It was originally created in East Africa. The drums were the main musical instruments.

The sound of the drums brought happiness to our sailors, and then to the people of Qatar who enjoyed listening to the drums. Men and children were dancing and singing happily. A show no one could escape it in Qatar.

The African music had brought different sounds that influenced the life style in Qatar. It was a new music to the region. Despite of the poverty that we suffered in the olden days, happiness existed when the drums produced the sounds that could be heard in Barahat Aljufairi and its suburbs from time to time.


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Al zar and Liwa go back hundreds of years ago to early East Africans who made their own drums much before the Omani rules.

My father Ibrahim told me that sometimes two groups of African men played unknown strong, regular repeated sound and movement. They were communicating with each other but some of our local people in Qatar did not know that.

African men moved and sang playing on the drums. All the instruments created a sound that had power to affect people beliefs that we the captains were able to cross the Arabian sea and bring new amusement and leisure to our region that was open not to India alone but to East Africa and the whole world.

Zar music was called Tanboura. The Tanboura brought happiness to people in Qatar, both adults and children because it was lively and made people easily sing and dance.

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Barahat Aljufairi became famous for its lively Tanboura music. Tanboura became popular among people in Al Bidaa and Al Jasra too. Doha was a small fishing village. It was quiet until Tanboura came to shake it and shake its people. Tanboura and Liwa music became a popular part of our life especially for those who needed to forget about their sufferings and about the many difficulties they faced in life.

People in Doha used to be open minded unlike nowadays, when some people are being difficult and hate arts.

People of course did not play music written on paper. They depended on their memories. Not much music culture existed in Qatar before the liwa and Tanboura. Some one used to sing on board the sailing boat called Nahham.

Today when people visit Qatar to attend conferences or other international events, government officials must show them the Liwa and the Tanboura because both of these two arts are part of our Qatari culture.


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Tanboura became one of the musics of Qatar. Children have to learn it and play it at school. They should know more about it. It was invented in East Africa but we brought it to here.

It is now one of our music, but we need to show it to you and share it with you.



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Burger king - Markhiyah - 16.06.2014 - 19:39

Many people work in cities, but in Qatar some Arab expatriates have Jobs in Ministries in Doha city but they do not really work.

Only Doctors and Engineers work, but Arabic administrative staff do not really work.

Some illiterate Government officials employ them. Doha city is gaining hundreds of them every week. They are bringing only problems. They are not technicians. They are not skilled labourers. They only sit in Government offices to drink tea and read the newspapers.

Today, Doha if facing many challenges: pollution and a failing complicated administrative system that employs too much staff from the Arab world that are not needed. I am talking about a system of government in which most decisions are taken by unelected officials.

Some of these officials are not qualified or highly educated. They do not have a vision. Unlike Hassan Aljefairi, they are not faithful to Qatar and its people.

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They employ Arab staff that are not needed. They make them a burden on our economy.

Because of these unqualified officials, our hospitals are overcrowded and our schools are overcrowded. Education is not of that high standard. The quality of education for Qatari people is deteriorating, because there are so many children in our class rooms. Their parents are not really needed to work for our Government, but some ignorants employ them.

Those Arab bureaucrats came from undeveloped Arab countries that have Governments suffer from too much unneeded complicated administrative procedures.

I wanted to help our Qatari Ministers to make most of the services to be provided by private companies rather than the state. This will make ordinary people go to the Government for help and will make middle and high income people go to independent companies.

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This will support the Ministers and will enable them to provide services with more efficiency and better performance. Some Government Ministers were not sincere and did nothing when Hassan Aljefairi was arrested and put in jail.



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18-06-2014 - 13:24 - Ezdan Mall

Ministries and Government departments in Qatar were filled with Arab people that were not really needed.

This made Doha grow but this growth was not healthy because these people were employed by the public sector. The public sector in Qatar is not productive because only the private sector works. Too much Government administrative staff had contributed to more problems like heavy traffic, pollution, crime ---etc. There were unqualified urban planners who did not make a master plan for Doha, therefore brand new towers and hotels were built without planning and then immediately were demolished after completed.

The unqualified Government officials did not improve residents lives by planning beautiful Doha with good streets and nice buildings. There were no trees and flowers planted.

Some of those ignorants lived in Qatar using more electricity and more water. Adding more carbon dioxide to our air and made it dirtier. They were here to make Doha more beautiful but they made it look uglier.


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Today, streets in Dubai are filled with trees and flowers while Doha is still gray and ugly. When Hassan Aljefairi got angry, the officials did not like his anger. They employed more unneeded Arab administrative staff to work for the Government. They made the traffic heavier. They made it easier and cheaper for these people to drive their cars unnecessarily making Doha more polluted and our road dirtier.

More people from some Arab countries moved to Qatar because it was like a charity getting free food and free money. They were paid to sit in Government offices for drinking tea and reading newspapers. It was not a real job. It was a crime made against Hassan’s people. Public money was wasted. Hassan’s land did not become the wonder land but became gray and ugly. Some of our Government officials who made it look gray and ugly today sit in the front seats and call themselves VIPs.

Qatar is the richest country in the world, so it should be the most beautiful country in the world, but it is not. San Francisco did not have oil or gas, but its people built the Golden Gate Park, one of the largest parks in the United States. Today, there are millions of flowers, trees and different plants in it.


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People in California did not have oil wells but were able to create a park in an area that was covered by sand.

Qatar is rich and creating a city like Dubai or Singapore is possible because we have all the money and the facilities so building a new Doha town will not be a big challenge if we work very hard.

Now San Francisco, is home to the oldest public Japanese garden in the U.S.A, while Qatar the richest country in the world is still ugly and gray.

Las Vegas also did not have oil or any other resources. It was also created on a land covered by sand. Las Vegas is now a child – friendly city, and many parents take their kids there on vacation.

A global city like Dubai is an important world center for business, trade and finance while Doha still depends on Government spending to fill its hotels and towers with visitors and participants to conferences.

Jobs in Qatar now are another problems. Locals are badly educated so companies in the private sector do not want them. Locals want to work for the Government but the Government does not want them.


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The Government sends them to the private sector and the private sector sends them back to the Government. If one does not want to work for the private sector, it can be hard for him to find a job in the Government.




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Our Qatari children especially the girls are not taught swimming at schools, therefore if one of the girls falls in the water, she will immediately die, while long time ago, during a climb up, an avalanche buried Japanese climber Junko Tabei in the snow. It was doubtfull that she would survive. Luckily, a group of climbers from Nepal found and saved her. Twelve days later, on May 16, 1975, Tabei achieved her goal and became the first woman to reach the summit.

Some wicked women in Qatar did not appreciate the efforts that Hassan Aljefairi was making to empower them. He wanted to teach them Science in English, arts and make them practice sports to make out of them fit and strong. But most of them ignored Hassan and started making jokes at him. The result was most of them became overweight or diabetes, while long time ago Amelia Earhart became a pilot at age 24. In May 1932, she broke a world record: is the first woman to fly a plane alone across the Atlantic Ocean.

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In Qatar, Hassan Aljefairi wanted to teach the women Mathematics in English to make out of them Engineers, Accountants, Auditors and Executives. Instead of thanking him, they laughed at him. Today, most of them are ugly, fat, old and waiting to die. God did not forget those wicked women. God always revenged from those evil people in the end.




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In 1969, at age 16, I went on trip alone to Shiraz in Iran. So many Qatari families travelled for their summer holiday to Shiraz, but I was alone.

I used my own saving to buy a ticket. I took goods from one merchant in Doha and promised to pay him after returning to Qatar.

I sold the goods to an Irani merchant in Shiraz market “Bazar” and got my money cash. I made some profit.

I used some of that profit to pay for my one star hotel, food and seeing folklore shows in the evenings.

I visited Shiraz University. I spoke poor English, but I was able to communicate with Irani people who spoke fair English too.

I visited one of the farms in Shiraz. That successful trip encouraged me to do a second trip during the same summer.

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I paid the merchant in Qatar his money back and again I took some more supplies. I travelled again to Shiraz. Some relatives stayed with an Irani family. So many Qatari families who travelled to Shiraz during that summer stayed with Irani families too.

The Iranis were happy because we Qatari people spent money paying hotel bills, eating in their restaurants and buying goods from their shops.

We were happy too because we had fun and we enjoyed our summer holiday in Shiraz.

I made some more profit out of my second trip. My father Ibrahim was very angry with me because he thought I was too young to travel alone. Nowadays, young people often travel to different places. But in 1969, it was rare for a 16 years old boy from Qatar to travel alone to Shiraz.

When my father Ibrahim knew that I was safe and paid the supplier in Qatar his money back, he was not angry with me anymore.

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My father Ibrahim laughed when he came to know that I made a big profit which enabled me to have a free holiday plus extra cash that could be used for a third trip that summer.

He was pleased to realize that I was not a failure and he would not use his own money to pay the supplier his money back. He thought one day I would be a successful man.

After more than three trips, I came back to Qatar with some extra cash still in my hand.

Every time I returned to Doha from Shiraz I had with me a list of goods required by the merchant in Shiraz.

I gave the list of goods to my supplier in Qatar who provided me with the items on credit basis.

The supplier in Qatar trusted me and believed that I was an honest young man. My reputation was my capital and every time I paid the supplier, I got more supplies for the next trip.

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I also made some profit for my father Ibrahim when he travelled to Cairo and made me stay in Doha to sell his goods.

He was again happy when he returned back to Qatar to find out that I sold a lot of linde A/c units and Grundig televisions. We fixed so many antennas for customers in Qatar.

No one taught me how to trade or run a business. It was all in my blood. Men that worked for my father, two times more than my age, took instructions from me.

I did my successful business trips to Shiraz easily like eating three pieces of cake. And I run my father’s business in his absence with my own ability and the leadership that I inherited from Captain Ibrahim Almulla, my great grandfather.



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When I was born, my Uncle Yousef Ahmed Albaker “Meshgab” saw a new large oil well erupting. The oil production was more than doubled. The labourers got extra pay and were given more cans of Pineapple fruits.

Dukhan was famous for its clean quiet beach. Dukhan was an oil producing region. The old empty steel oil drums on the beach became useful for the labourers to celebrate the extra pay and the pineapples they received. They used the drums as musical instruments.

Beduins living in the nearby village of Dukhan heard the sounds produced from the old empty oil drums.

The labourers were singing happily until the sounds were heard in Zikreet too.

Some were playing on the steel oil drums and others were hitting the empty pineapple cans. They used their hands to hit the tops of the steel oil drums. They also sang.

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The drums were empty so the sound became more special with more vibration. The drums were the only musical instruments they had. They continued playing on the drums showing the British engineers their happiness and joy.

The empty steel oil drums created a new music in Dukhan. So many things happened in Qatar when its son was born.



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The Ministries continued employing some Arab staff who were coming from undeveloped countries. I saw some of them sitting in coffee shops during working hours. They were not building my country Qatar, Instead they dump solid waste down drains and dump chemicals into our water. Gasoline was one of the keys of pollution sources.

The Government was selling them cheap petrol encouraging to drive cars instead of encouraging them to take public transport. Some Government officials were not qualified and badly educated. They did not understand that giving out so much heat and gas was one of the sources of pollution. They did not understand what Hassan was talking about. They put him in jail and employed people exactly like them who did not treat sewage well. They did not reduce the pollutants and did no effort to use resources wisely.

Following the Arab spring, some Arab people did not vote for Hassan Aljefairi Instead, they voted for Muslim brother hood, Alnusra, AlQaeda and Daesh. They used more water and wasted more food. The extremists had zero knowledge about identifying and limiting sources of pollution.


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Unlike Hassan who fought for avoiding and minimizing pollution and asked those Arab staff working in Government offices to conserve resources by limiting their use. Some wore suits and ties but they knew nothing about water pollution. They did not realize that water shortage occurred when some of them in Qatar used more water. They did not understand that Aljefairi needed to burn more fuel to operate more turbines to remove salt from sea water. They did not realize that more desalination meant more pollution to his air. They put on their trousers, shirts and ties and sat in restaurants and coffee shops.

They were white so if you looked at them, you would wrongly think that they came from civilized and developed countries. They did not teach us anything of a high quality. I am the one who is teaching them in reality. I am teaching them how to take steps at home to avoid water pollution.

Some ignorant officials did not create Hassan Aljefairi forest of one million desert trees. Those trees should belong to our thirsty desert.


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They needed very little water to survive. Waste water and sewage could be treated before returning it to my forest. They did not create my forest. Instead, they created a false accusation to put me in prison.




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The sailors of Captain Ibrahim Almulla shared their experiences with other sailors from port to port and a country to another. Playing on the drums and singing helped them to have good time despite of their continuous suffering and difficult life. They told stories while resting in the port waiting for departure.

Sailing ships provided homes for the sailors but the ports had places where sailors could meet and talk.

The sailors told stories for example in Ras Al kheimah, the next day other sailors would know about it in Oman. Few days later, every sailor would know about it in Zinzibar, Mumbasa and Bombay ports.

Story telling also helped our sailors to feel less lonely when they were far away from their families in Qatar.

Captain Ibrahim told his sailors stories related to honesty encouraging them to give unattended items when were found in the port to the port authorities to return them back to the real owners.


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They trusted Captain Ibrahim, because he was a man of faith. In Gulf Arab countries, a man of faith in the olden days was called Almulla, therefore he was called Captain Ibrahim Almulla.

Sailors told each other folk stories to kill time. Those stories were passed from one generation to another in Qatar. These stories talked about persons who dedicated their lives to their countries and loyalty to their peoples. The stories that were told in Qatar for example were passed few days later to people in Bahrain and Kuwait.

It depends on the direction of the sailing boat of Captain Ibrahim was going.

When aggressive men for example approached Captain Ibrahim’s sailing boat in the port of Mumbasa, he immediately gave them dates and fish. He spoke to them politely. Therefore they would not attack our men. Instead they would leave them alone.

Whether one of our men was ill, storm, accident, pirates or robbers, Captian Ibrahim often dealt with such problems so wisely. The sailors were telling other sailors in different ports stories about Captain Ibrahim’s wisdom and courage.


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When Captains died, their stories became a part of the Qatari culture because their ideals of honesty and loyalty would not die with them. A true story was told to me by my father Ibrahim about his grandfather Captain Ibrahim when he did not jump out of his boat to safety. Instead, he made all his men leave the sinking boat one by one. He stayed in his boat and saved his men’s lives.

Captain Ibrahim did not believe in super natural influences or any practice based on this unlike the porters in U.S. when they used to describe death by using rail road metaphors such as “Boarding the 11:59”.

The story in a play was based on the superstition that any porter who heard the whistle blast of the 11:59 knew he was destined to die within the next twenty – four hours.

The story of “The 11:59” makes no sense to me because I am a grandson of Captain Ibrahim who did not believe in foolish ideas. You can have me seated on any train departing at 11:59 to any destination. You can make me ride a horse or a camel and make me hear the whistle of the 11:59. I shall be pleased to start my journey at 11:59. I shall be much obliged also to return back again at 11:59 riding a donkey or a cow or whatever you like.


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Captain Ibrahim started his journey as a strong man and returned back as a strong man.

Only common people believe in superstitions, but neither Captain Ibrahim nor I Hassan his great grandson do.

From 1880 to 1960 – a time known as the golden age of train travel, passengers in U.S. used sleeping cars and were provided with comfortable accommodations while our sailors slept on the deck of our sailing boat that was already crowded with so many men and goods. Our sailors got used to it and killed time by telling stories to each other.



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Lot of people get rich in Qatar without going to a good college. Some people think that they belong to a certain class, but they are useless and do not do anything for the people and the country. Some of them do not want to work.

They are not interested in learning and do not want to pass the official examinations. They do not want to become outstanding scholars to pass.

They are not qualified to lead a department or a Ministry. They do not know much and do not want to learn because they think they are important descending from a family of high ranking, but in reality they do not do much for the nation.

They are not under pressure to study hard or work hard. They do not also put pressure on their children to study hard or work hard.

They do not ask their own children whether they have done their home work. They do not check their answers to make sure that they were correct.


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I, Hassan Aljufairi wasted time on my day dreams. I wanted Qatar to become the Switzerland of the East. Nobody wanted to share me this dream. Perhaps, my mind was more in peace if someone had the same dream and shared it with me.

Due to the gas revenue, Qatar was pulled up, but that did not satisfy me because I wanted my people to get good education so they could pull themselves up too. Some of them would not do that because they thought they were descended from famous and greatly admired ancestors.

They thought instead of getting a good education and work hard to build Qatar, they could get easy money for free and be lazy instead of working hard because there was no need for them to work hard.

I am, Hassan Aljufairi also descending from BaniKhaled tribes. Zubara and East of the Peninsula was under our rule, but that does not make me lazy. Instead, I still learn every day and work hard.

I am trying to help the Qatari Government officials to make good decisions. I use my brain storming to suggest ideas.


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Perhaps my thoughts were wrong but I did my best to help my Government officials to present strategies and make plans. Unfortunately those officials were not faithful. Instead of rewarding me for being a good citizen they allowed some poorly educated persons to put me behind bars.

I also did my best to empower women. I did women in Qatar a great service. I expected a reward for my service. Instead of rewarding me, they opposed my strategies of making Qatar a modern state instead of a religious state. Some of them did not support me but instead they made jokes of me after I suggested to them to put their children in English speaking schools and teach them science, arts, swimming and make them play sports.

They did not listen to me so when they became elder most of them became overweight, diabetes and ugly.

My ancestors crossed the Indian Ocean because their sailors trusted them, but today men and women in Qatar do not trust me. No one wants to listen to me.

Some of my enemies fabricated a lie. They said that my ancestors were not the Banikhaled of Zubara in Qatar.


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The lie was made up by some people who were jealous of Banikhaled because east of the Peninsula and Zubara were under Banikhaled rule.

My ancestors crossed the Indian Ocean in the olden days because they worked hard and knew the science of Algebra. They were able to navigate.

My father Ibrahim descended from his great grandfather Ibrahim Almulla the captain. My father Ibrahim was and still my idol. He was always at my side when I was growing up. I am probably would not be a successful man today without him.

Accompanying him in Qatar or when travelling abroad enabled me to learn a lot from him. My father Ibrahim did not lie and did not owe any one not even one riyal in his life.

Some people were required to pay him back but never in his life had to repay money to anyone else. I learnt from him to pay cash all in advance. He helped me to become a humble man.

I wanted to be easily understood. My basic needs are so simple. I do not need a five star hotel to stay in.


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I am happy to stay in a clean place and sleep on a clean bed in any one star or two stars hotel. I can sleep comfortably in my car. I am happy to sleep in my new 4 cylinders car listening to the BBC. Big expensive luxury cars make me feel ill. Those people who borrow money to show off are creating so much disapproval inside me.

I enjoy travelling economy class because I can meet young people and learn a lot from them.


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