A nighttime drive down Al Waab Street toward the harbor in Doha, Qatar, puts one literally in the spotlight of what some are calling "one of the biggest cases of public counterfeiting in the history of design." That's what officials at the Spanish industrial design firm Santa & Cole think, anyway. They're the firm that designed the streetlights shining down on drivers along this roughly 10-kilometer stretch of road. Problem is, the 920 streetlights lining that roadway are alleged copies.
It may not be the biggest case of counterfeiting in the history of design, but it's likely the biggest in the history of streetlights.
Towering up and leaning over the street like splayed chopsticks, the streetlights are almost exact replicas of Santa & Cole's "Latina" streetlights, designed by architect Beth Galí and installed on streetscapes from Spain to Italy to the Netherlands. Qatar could have been another official entry on that list. In late 2005, Santa & Cole were invited to present a lighting design for transforming Al Waab Street ahead of Doha's hosting of the 2006 Asian Games. Those designs were then allegedly taken by the State public works authority, Ashghal, and sent to another firm to more affordably replicate the lights Santa & Cole had proposed.
Santa & Cole and Galí are so upset about the breach of intellectual property that they've launched an online campaign about the alleged counterfeit, QatarFakes.com. An extensive and document-rich timeline of the entire process is detailed on the site.
Despite a Cease and Desist letter [PDF], numerous attempts to negotiate, and an attempted arbitration through the World Intellectual Property Organization of the United Nations, the streetlights still stand in Doha.
Santa & Cole argues that the poorly built streetlights are not only a breach of intellectual property rights, but also create a negative impression of their design.
Officials in Qatar have declined to participate in any negotiations or arbitration related to the streetlights. With little recourse, Galí has filed a lawsuit against the State of Qatar with courts in Barcelona, which has the support of Santa & Cole, the Barcelona Center for Design and the Design For All Foundation. She calls the whole ordeal "a large-scale forgery case that is threatening the creativity of professionals and European companies." She's hoping the lawsuit will put an end to this years-long battle. For now, drivers in Doha will continue to navigate Al Waab Street under the glow of these controversial streetlights.
Historic and culturally important landmarks are being destroyed to make way for luxury hotels and malls, reports Jerome Taylor
Behind closed doors – in places where the religious police cannot listen in – residents of Mecca are beginning to refer to their city as Las Vegas, and the moniker is not a compliment.
Over the past 10 years the holiest site in Islam has undergone a huge transformation, one that has divided opinion among Muslims all over the world.
Once a dusty desert town struggling to cope with the ever-increasing number of pilgrims arriving for the annual Hajj, the city now soars above its surroundings with a glittering array of skyscrapers, shopping malls and luxury hotels.
To the al-Saud monarchy, Mecca is their vision of the future – a steel and concrete metropolis built on the proceeds of enormous oil wealth that showcases their national pride.
Yet growing numbers of citizens, particularly those living in the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, have looked on aghast as the nation's archaeological heritage is trampled under a construction mania backed by hardline clerics who preach against the preservation of their own heritage. Mecca, once a place where the Prophet Mohamed insisted all Muslims would be equal, has become a playground for the rich, critics say, where naked capitalism has usurped spirituality as the city's raison d'être.
Few are willing to discuss their fears openly because of the risks associated with criticising official policy in the authoritarian kingdom. And, with the exceptions of Turkey and Iran, fellow Muslim nations have largely held their tongues for fear of of a diplomatic fallout and restrictions on their citizens' pilgrimage visas. Western archaeologists are silent out of fear that the few sites they are allowed access to will be closed to them.
But a number of prominent Saudi archaeologists and historians are speaking up in the belief that the opportunity to save Saudi Arabia's remaining historical sites is closing fast.
"No one has the balls to stand up and condemn this cultural vandalism," says Dr Irfan al-Alawi who, as executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, has fought in vain to protect his country's historical sites. "We have already lost 400-500 sites. I just hope it's not too late to turn things around."
Sami Angawi, a renowned Saudi expert on the region's Islamic architecture, is equally concerned. "This is an absolute contradiction to the nature of Mecca and the sacredness of the house of God," he told the Reuters news agency earlier this year. "Both [Mecca and Medina] are historically almost finished. You do not find anything except skyscrapers."
Dr Alawi's most pressing concern is the planned £690m expansion of the Grand Mosque, the most sacred site in Islam which contains the Kaaba – the black stone cube built by Ibrahim (Abraham) that Muslims face when they pray.
Construction officially began earlier this month with the country's Justice Minister, Mohammed al-Eissa, exclaiming that the project would respect "the sacredness and glory of the location, which calls for the highest care and attention of the servants or Islam and Muslims".
The 400,000 square metre development is being built to accommodate an extra 1.2 million pilgrims each year and will turn the Grand Mosque into the largest religious structure in the world. But the Islamic Heritage Foundation has compiled a list of key historical sites that they believe are now at risk from the ongoing development of Mecca, including the old Ottoman and Abbasi sections of the Grand Mosque, the house where the Prophet Mohamed was born and the house where his paternal uncle Hamza grew up.
There is little argument that Mecca and Medina desperately need infrastructure development. Twelve million pilgrims visit the cities every year with the numbers expected to increase to 17 million by 2025.
But critics fear that the desire to expand the pilgrimage sites has allowed the authorities to ride roughshod over the area's cultural heritage. The Washington-based Gulf Institute estimates that 95 per cent of Mecca's millennium-old buildings have been demolished in the past two decades alone.
The destruction has been aided by Wahabism, the austere interpretation of Islam that has served as the kingdom's official religion ever since the al-Sauds rose to power across the Arabian Peninsula in the 19th century.
In the eyes of Wahabis, historical sites and shrines encourage "shirq" – the sin of idolatry or polytheism – and should be destroyed. When the al-Saud tribes swept through Mecca in the 1920s, the first thing they did was lay waste to cemeteries holding many of Islam's important figures. They have been destroying the country's heritage ever since. Of the three sites the Saudis have allowed the UN to designate World Heritage Sites, none are related to Islam.
Those circling the Kaaba only need to look skywards to see the latest example of the Saudi monarchy's insatiable appetite for architectural bling. At 1,972ft, the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, opened earlier this year, soars over the surrounding Grand Mosque, part of an enormous development of skyscrapers that will house five-star hotels for the minority of pilgrims rich enough to afford them.
To build the skyscraper city, the authorities dynamited an entire mountain and the Ottoman era Ajyad Fortress that lay on top of it. At the other end of the Grand Mosque complex, the house of the Prophet's first wife Khadijah has been turned into a toilet block. The fate of the house he was born in is uncertain. Also planned for demolition are the Grand Mosque's Ottoman columns which dare to contain the names of the Prophet's companions, something hardline Wahabis detest.
For ordinary Meccans living in the mainly Ottoman-era town houses that make up much of what remains of the old city, development often means the loss of their family home.
Non-Muslims cannot visit Mecca and Medina, but The Independent was able to interview a number of citizens who expressed discontent over the way their town was changing. One young woman whose father recently had his house bulldozed described how her family was still waiting for compensation. "There was very little warning; they just came and told him that the house had to be bulldozed," she said.
Another Meccan added: "If a prince of a member of the royal family wants to extend his palace he just does it. No one talks about it in public though. There's such a climate of fear."
Dr Alawi hopes the international community will finally begin to wake up to what is happening in the cradle of Islam. "We would never allow someone to destroy the Pyramids, so why are we letting Islam's history disappear?"
Under Threat
Bayt al-Mawlid
When the Wahabis took Mecca in the 1920s they destroyed the dome on top of the house where the Prophet Mohammed was born. It was thenused as a cattle market before being turned into a library after a campaign by Meccans. There are concerns that the expansion of the Grand Mosque will destroy it once more. The site has never been excavated by archaeologists.
Ottoman and Abasi columns of the Grand Mosque
Slated for demolition as part of the Grand Mosque expansion, these intricately carved columns date back to the 17th century and are the oldest surviving sections of Islam's holiest site. Much to the chagrin of Wahabis, they are inscribed with the names of the Prophet's companions. Ottomon Mecca is now rapidly disappearing
Al-Masjid al-Nawabi
For many years, hardline Wahabi clerics have had their sites set on the 15th century green dome that rests above the tomb holding the Prophet, Abu Bakr and Umar in Medina. The mosque is regarded as the second holiest site in Islam. Wahabis, however, believe marked graves are idolatrous. A pamphlet published in 2007 by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, endorsed by Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, stated that "the green dome shall be demolished and the three graves flattened in the Prophet's Masjid".
Jabal al-Nour
A mountain outside Mecca where Mohammed received his first Koranic revelations. The Prophet used to spend long spells in a cave called Hira. The cave is particularly popular among South Asian pilgrims who have carved steps up to its entrance and adorned the walls with graffiti. Religious hardliners are keen to dissuade pilgrims from congregating there and have mooted the idea of removing the steps and even destroying the mountain altogether.
Officials of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), the human rights department at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Red Crescent visit Qatar’s prisons regularly to make sure that prisoners enjoyed their full rights according to international standards.
“The doors of the prison are always open for these human rights organisations to conduct field visits inside the various departments and make sure for themselves about the standard of the services presented to prisoners,” said Colonel Mohamed Saud al-Utaibi, director of the Penal and Reformatory Institutions department of MoI at a recent interview with local Arabic daily Al-Watan.
Col al-Utaibi welcomed such visits and pointed out that these representatives could meet prisoners alone to hear from them about their rights. He also indicated that remarks of such organisations are usually very simple and are taken into consideration accordingly.
Col Al-Utaibi affirmed that the inmates, whether Qataris or expatriates have equal rights and duties governed by the prisons law no 4 for 1995, which does not distinguish between Qataris or non-Qataris.
“According to the applied regulations, each inmate has the right to make two phone calls a month. In addition, exceptional phone calls are allowed in case of necessity or for reasons estimated by the director of the department or prison officials. Further, non-Qataris are allowed to receive periodical phone calls from their relatives, whether they were inside Doha or abroad,” pointed out the director.
Col al-Utaibi said that recently new methods of communication have been adopted through the Internet such as Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Facebook and Twitter, which would be offered free for the inmates.
“This would make things easy, especially for foreign inmates, and ease the burden of cost on their relatives. This idea was highly received by the inmates and they are eagerly waiting for its launch. However, this would not in any way be an alternative for the usual visits they are entitled to,” he said.
He explained that prisoners are housed in wards according to the type of crime they had been convicted of. Some wards have two persons, and others four or six, according to the type of building.
“Classifying inmates is considered one of the modern approaches in penal treatment inside prisons and it is among the provisions of law no 4 for 1995. Each category of prisoners is classified into grades according to age, type of crime, criminal history, and similarity in social and cultural backgrounds. Each category is given special place at the prison to facilitate the process of rehabilitation,” said Col al-Utaibi.
He further pointed out that this classification serves the interests of prisoners themselves for some were not really criminals but were deluded into crime. Therefore, it is not proper to put them with “criminals that may adversely affect their conduct”.
Prisoners are kept occupied through a variety of constructive activities including handicrafts, agriculture, sports and different cultural activities. There is also a separate workshop for female prisoners, where they practise suitable crafts such as clothes making, and drawing. Currently there are 13 female inmates in the prison.
During Ramadan, inmates of each ward enjoy a quality group Iftar. “Recently the department has hired qualified cooks and the meals offered to inmates are excellent in quality and quantity,” said the director.
Non-Muslims are offered their meals in a normal manner and they abstain from eating in front of their Muslim counterparts in Ramadan as a way respecting their feelings. However, they share their Iftar and Suhoor to enhance the spirit of participation among them.
The present central prison was inaugurated on February 13, 1986 on Salwa Road.
“It was given a modern design taking into consideration that prisons are places for correction, rehabilitation and reform,” explained Col al-Utaibi.
The prison contains eight buildings and two new buildings have been added lately. Col al-Utaibi indicated that there is a plan to build two more new wards.
“The issue is not to find new buildings to accommodate more prisoners for the perspective of the Ministry of Interior is to reduce the rates of crime. Consequently, the number of prisoners would decrease, and this has been really achieved lately,” stressed Col al-Utaibi.
