Editing History of Qatar (section)

===Protests and reforms===

{{Main|Qatar National Unity Front}}
Large numbers of protests against the British and the ruling family occurred during the 1950s. One of the largest took place in 1956; it drew 2,000 participants, most of whom were high-ranking Qataris allied with [[Pan-Arabism|Arab nationalists]] and dissatisfied oil workers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Herb|first=Michael|title=The Wages of Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE|url=https://archive.org/details/wagesofoilparlia00herb|url-access=registration|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0801453366}}</ref> During another protest which took place in August 1956, the participants waved [[Egypt]]ian flags and chanted anti-colonialism slogans.<ref name="ibrahim">{{cite web|url=https://www.gulfpolicies.com/attachments/article/1632/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%83%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%8A%201950-1963%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%B1(%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9%20%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9).pdf|title=الحراك الشعبيفيقطر 1950–1963 دراسة تحليلية (Popular movements 1950–1963, analytic study)|publisher=gulfpolicies.com|last=Shahdad|first=Ibrahim|access-date=1 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215309/https://www.gulfpolicies.com/attachments/article/1632/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%83%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%8A%201950-1963%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%B1(%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9%20%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9).pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In October 1956, protesters tried to sabotage oil pipelines in the Persian Gulf by destroying the pipelines with a bulldozer.<ref name="ibrahim"/> These were major impetuses to the development of the British-run police force which was established by the British in 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moi.gov.qa/site/english/aboutmoi/|title=About Ministry of Interior|publisher=Qatar Ministry of Interior|access-date=1 February 2015}}</ref> The demonstrations led Ali bin Abdullah to invest the police with his personal authority and support. This was a significant reversal of his previous reliance on his retainers and [[Bedouin]] fighters.<ref name=cs/>

Public services developed slowly during the 1950s. The first telephone exchange opened in 1953, the first desalination plant in 1954, and the first power plant in 1957. A dock, a customs warehouse, an airstrip, and a police headquarters were also built in this period. In the 1950s, 150 adult males of the ruling family received grants from the government. Sheikhs also received land and government positions. This mollified them as long as oil revenues increased. However, when revenues declined in the late 1950s, Ali bin Abdullah could not handle the family pressures this engendered. Discontent was fueled by his residence in [[Switzerland]], extravagant spending, and hunting trips in [[Pakistan]], especially among those who were excluded from the regime's largesse (non-Al Thani Qataris) and among other branches of Al Thani who desired more privileges. Seniority and proximity to the Sheikh determined the size of allowances.<ref name=cs/>

Succumbing to family pressures and poor health, Ali bin Abdullah abdicated in 1960. Instead of handing power over to Khalifa bin Hamad, who had been named heir apparent in 1948, he made his son, [[Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani|Ahmad bin Ali]], ruler. Nonetheless, Khalifa bin Hamad gained considerable power as [[heir apparent]] and deputy ruler, in large part because Ahmad bin Ali spent much time outside the country.<ref name=cs/> One of his first acts was to increase funding for the sheikhs at the expense of development projects and social services. In addition to allowances, adult male Al Thani were given government positions. This added to the anti-regime resentment already felt by, among others, oil workers, low-ranking Al Thani, dissident sheikhs, and some leading government officials. These individuals formed the [[Qatar National Unity Front|National Unity Front]] in response to a fatal shooting of a protester on 19 April 1963 by one of Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali's nephews.<ref>{{cite book|last=Halliday|first=Fred|title=Arabia Without Sultans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T56CBAAAQBAJ|publisher=Saqi Books|year=2001|isbn=978-0863563812}}</ref> While the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] monarch was at the ruler's palace on 20 April 1963, a demonstration occurred in front of the building. Police fired and killed three demonstrators, prompting the National Unity Front to organize a [[general strike]] on 21 April.<ref name="ibrahim"/> The strike lasted around two weeks with most public services affected.<ref name="alkuwari2">{{cite web|url=http://dr-alkuwari.net/sites/akak/files/lfsl_lkhms_lmd_llnshr__myw_1963.pdf|title=الدراسة الجامعية في مصر و حركة 1963 في قطر (University of Egypt and 1963 movement in Qatar)|publisher=dr-alkuwari.net|language=ar|access-date=25 January 2015}}</ref>

The group made a statement that week where it listed 35 of its demands to the government entailing less authority for the ruling family; protection for oil workers; recognition of [[trade union]]s; voting rights for citizens and the [[Arabization]] of the leadership.<ref name="ibrahim"/><ref name="alkuwari2"/> Ahmed bin Ali rejected most of these demands and moved to arrest and detain fifty of the most prominent National Unity Front members and sympathizers without trial in early May.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kadhim|first=Abbas|title=Governance in the Middle East and North Africa: A Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G-etiAFUzJ0C|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|page=258|isbn=978-1857435849}}</ref> The government also instituted some reforms in response to the movements. This included the provision of land and loans to poor farmers, instituting a policy of preferential hiring of Qatari citizens, and the election of a [[Central Municipal Council|municipal council]].<ref name=cs/><ref>{{cite book|last=Hiro|first=Dilip|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obVTAQAAQBAJ|title=Inside the Middle East|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|page=15|isbn=978-0415835084}}</ref>

The infrastructure, foreign labor force, and bureaucracy continued to grow in the 1960s, largely under the instruction of Khalifa bin Hamad. There were also some early attempts at diversifying Qatar's economic base, most notably with the establishment of a cement factory, a national fishing company, and small-scale agriculture.<ref name=cs/> An official gazette was first published in 1961, and in 1962, a nationality law was introduced.<ref name="zahlan1">{{Harvnb|Zahlan|1979|p=102}}</ref> No cabinets existed during this period, however, British and Egyptian advisers helped establish a number of governmental departments, such as the Department of Agriculture and a Department of Labor and Social Affairs.<ref name="zahlan1"/>