Pearls, Planes and Power: A Layover in Doha

It’s always striking when global headlines intersect with personal life.  Just a few days after Trump left Doha, Qatar, with a $96 billion luxury jet gifted by Qatar, Tim and I spent 32 hours in Doha waiting for a flight transfer.

The royal families of Qatar are immensely wealthy. The city skyline gleams with glass towers and startling architecture.  But the human cost of that shine is not pretty.

As we explored the city’s museums and historic souqs, we were quietly relieved that no one asked our thoughts on Qatar's extravagant gift to the executive in the White House.

Maybe the people we encountered -- restaurant servers, taxi drivers, shopkeepers, and hotel workers -- would prefer that their government improve the plight of the working class instead of throwing more gold at our own self-styled royal.

But of course — Qatar’s government doesn’t truly represent its labor force.

95 percent of the total labor force of Qatar are immigrants without legal protections. In fact, they cannot leave their jobs without the employer’s permission. A worker cannot return to his or her home without the employer’s permission. We call that forced labor – or outright slavery.

There are the laws against dissent and protest and the severe punishments targeting LGBTQI persons. There was a time when our presidents took a moral stand against human rights abuses by imposing economic sanctions rather than arranging self-enrichment schemes.

Long before fossil fuels, Qatar's wealth came from the Gulf of Persia — where pearl divers braved weeks at sea without modern equipment, relying only on lung capacity and grit to reach the oyster beds.

The Pearl Carpet of Baroda includes 1.5 million pearls as well as diamonds, emeralds and rubies. Auctioneers at Sotheby's described it as "undeniably one of the most remarkable objects ever created."

Our hours in the National Museum of Qatar inspired our appreciation for the desert people's reliance on the waters of the Gulf. We are not as impressed by current commerce and culture.

Now Qatar’s  economy depends on the export of fossil fuels shipped through the Gulf of Persia. And it is trading influence and power through the private economic investment deals with our chief executive, his family, and friends with the implied bribe of a 747 jet that will take one billion of our tax dollars to retrofit for use for Air Force One. US security experts point out that completion will fall years after this term ends, so who, exactly, is it intended for?

In a city built on pearls and powered by oil, we’re left wondering what price we will all have to pay on behalf of those who benefit from this deal.

Imagine... no need for greed or hunger... Love from Tim and Penelope