Shisha cafes face extinction
Saturday, April 14, 2007 
Keri Remes of the magnificently named High-Life Hookahs sent me this image of Blair, Bush and Bin Laden. Keri is one of many people trying to persuade the government to exempt shisha cafes from the smoking ban. A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a press conference hosted by Ibrahim El-Nour of the Edgware Road Association in London. Ibrahim's impassioned plea included the points that:
"Shisha smoking is a social activity enjoyed by different age groups in a happy environment. It is an alternative culture that reflects the diversity of British society today. Its popularity is reflected in the prevalence of shisha cafes in many major cities and towns in England, Wales and Scotland. For many young people, from all walks of life, who do not drink or frequent bars and pubs, the main leisure and social activity is to visit a shisha cafe. Here, they can socialise, debate and discuss their affairs without being intoxicated, introduced to drugs or subjected to violence and anti-social behaviour."
This late attempt to secure an exemption for what are essentially smokers' clubs will almost certainly fall on deaf ears because the anti-smoking agenda is now so extreme that 'tolerance', 'compromise', even 'culture', are dirty words. Nothing can be allowed to dilute the impact of the ban which is designed not just to 'protect' barworkers but force people to give up a legal consumer product.
Shisha bars are unlikely survive the ban because, unlike a pub or a restaurant, the principal activity is smoking a shisha pipe. In New York, shisha bars are exempt from the ban. Sadly, in Blair's Britain, few people seem to care that an entire culture is about to be destroyed.
Reader Comments (4)
Kind of flies in the face of "inclusion" and "tolerance" doesnt it?
Having had the pleasure of smoking shisha in Doha, Manama, Tripoli, Bemghazi, and most recently, in Cairo, I know it to be a wonderful experience. It is a highly social activity. Sitting around, chatting, drinking mint tea, and smoking some wonderful flavoured tobaccos, I cannot see any benefit, to anyone, in losing these establishments. In the Middle East, and North Africa, shisha cafes have been operating for centuries, and, as Ibrahim says, they are like community centres. A place for all age groups to meet up and discuss events, catch up on family news, and for many, it is a reminder of their home countries. A shisha cafe is to an Arab what a pub is to a Brit.
I have worked with Arabs for 15 years, and know that 99.9% of these people are peace-loving and friendly beyond words. I think it is a crime that this portion of their culture is to be ripped from them.
I for one, will stand squarely with them in this fight they did not ask for.
Oops! A typo. That should read "Benghazi".
I personally have signed the petition on the Downing St.website which calls for exemption for shisha cafe's,however such is the hateful,spiteful,extremist,intolerant nature of the anti-smoking ban I really do feel that any exemption is unlikely to be given.I am driven to the conclusion that only by answering this disgusting intolerance with a similar intolerance and hatefulness will the goverment and it's supporters be made to realise just what they are doing to the smoker.
I am considering no longer donating blood to the national blood transfusion service,and to destroying my organ donation card.An extreme and hateful response,yes it is,but we must show these people exactly what they have done to us.
I agree with what this email says. I think that there will be a huge revolt, come July1st and many pubs and people will be so very annoyed. What a pathetic Government we have. It will be 1 rule for them and another for jo public. What ever happened to proper ventilation for good ness sakes? I am really annoyed BY the No you cant amanda H