Doha Debates to start new series on September 27

The Doha Debates, a series of public forums on burning issues of the Arab and Islamic world, will start its new series on September 27.

Ahmad Maher, former foreign affairs minister of Egypt, Michael Tarazi, Palestinian American lawyer and legal advisor to the Palestinian National Authority's ministry of foreign affairs, Ghada Karmi, a researcher on Arab and Islam studies, and Hussain Ibis, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, will discuss whether Arab governments have failed the Palestinians.

Chaired by internationally renowned broadcaster Tim Sebastian, formerly of the BBC's Hard Talk programme, the Doha Debates series will be broadcast on BBC world.

"The Doha Debates form part of the vital push for change and reform that is being spearheaded in Qatar," Tim Sebastian said in a statement on the programme's website.

"The Doha Debates are a unique venture for this region and, I believe, a vital exercise for a free and modern society."

The Doha Debates are open to the public and are hosted at the headquarters of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, a non-governmental organisation chaired by Shaikha Mouza Bint Nasser Al Misnad, wife of the Qatari Emir.

Each month the series' organisers invite speakers to debate sensitive issues of the Arab and Islamic world in front of an audience that is encouraged to participate by asking questions. The purpose is also to create a sense of social responsibility that will carry through to real life, organisers said.

The Doha Debates have a format similar to the traditional 'Oxford Union' debate, where two teams argue for and against a motion, usually a controversial statement. The discussion is then thrown open to the audience that is invited to pass or reject the motion.

In the first edition, the debates discussed whether Arab women should have full equality with men, whether the war on terror has become a war on Islam or whether mosque and state should be separated, among other controversial issues.

Participants in the debates included renowned journalists, clerics, politicians such as Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohammad, Rabbi Michael Melchior, member of the Israeli Knesset and Deputy Minister of Education, Gasan Khatib, Minister of Labour for the Palestinian National Authority, among others.