Qatar’s sheikhs openly show their contempt for women
Everyone is talking about the homophobic gaffe made by World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman (60) in the German TV documentary “secret matter Qatar”. And rightly so. But what almost goes under the radar is a scene that is at least as appalling. In it, a group of Qatari men justifies the oppression of women – with an insane comparison.
When ZDF man Jochen Breyer (39) asks why women in the emirate should walk around veiled in public, the friends of the World Cup ambassador answer in a bizarre way.
“Compare: in front of you is an unwrapped candy. You don’t know if someone touched it or bit into it. And a wrapped one. Which one do you take?” one of the sheikhs asks the ZDF man with a smile.
To which Breyer replies, “Probably the wrapped one.” The sheikhs nod in satisfaction. But the journalist immediately clarifies: “But women are not sweets!”
The humiliating candy comparison that the men use to justify veiling has been around for many years, and it also circulates on Islamist websites.
The wealthy men even advocate locking up women: “Why should a woman leave the house? Give up all the money, the care, the love?” asks one. The viewer senses: For the sheikhs, the systematic discrimination of women is a matter of course, which is addressed openly and amused.
FDP Vice President Johannes Vogel (40) comments on the scenes clearly on Twitter: “Women are not candy. Homosexuality is not ‘mental damage’. But the World Cup award to Qatar is and remains a serious mistake.”
Human rights organizations have long denounced the discriminatory laws and rules for women in Qatar: Among other things, a complicated system of male guardianship severely restricts their freedom and independence – for example, in getting married, studying, working and traveling. Almost none of this works without the explicit permission of men.
