Songs From the Past

This is a song I remember from my first trip to Dubai, back in the day.

Kohail Update

A letter written by Mohammud Kohail, the Canadian currently in a Saudi prison awaiting execution, to the Prime Minister of Canada has surfaced. In it he alleges that he was tortured in order to elicit a confession. The story and excerpts from the letter are here.

What's in a Name?

The Dubai RTA is selling naming rights to its Metro stations. Gulf News has the story here.

Its difficult enough to find your way around Dubai what with all the confusing signage and Arabic names. One would think that a Metro station would be named for its geographical location. Hence, the Marina Station would be close to the Dubai Marina, Jebel Ali Station would be close to the Jebel Ali Port, and so on. How much sense does it make to say, take the red line to Intel Station, transfer to the green and get off at CNN Station?

Yes, That Will Teach Her!

In a precedent setting court judgement, a woman has been ordered to pay diyyah or the death of her unborn child. The amount was set at 20,000 dirhams, or 1/10 of the amount for a woman under Shariah Law. The court found her guilty of failure to "exercise due care and diligence while driving and to keep a safe distance between her vehicle and others on the road". But the article in The National says that she was hit from behind and pushed into another vehicle. In every other country in the world, the driver of the vehicle that hit her from behind would be held responsible for the accident. Could the fact that she is Lebanese and not Emirati have anything to do with the judgement?

Oh, yeah, it's not clear to whom she should pay the diyyah.

Head Count

The KSA executed 8 people during the month of April. They were either murderers, rapists, or both. This brings the year to date total, according to my tabulation, to 27.

There has been no news concerning the Kohail brothers since early April.

Pork Ban

Yes, banning the sale of pork in a Muslim country is the obvious response to the Swine Flu pandemic. Those labor camps with workers crowded in 12 to a room will not be a breeding ground for disease transmission. Nor should the crowds of people milling about beside the Creek on Sunday cause you any concern. Feel free to wander about the souks and breath deeply of the desert air. Have no fear, because we have banned pork.

UAE Torture

ABC News has a story about torture in the UAE implicating Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, brother of Sheikh Mohammed. Its seems that Issa was displeased with a grain merchant and took him out to desert to have a business "discussion". He had it video taped. Said "discussion" is reported to have taken place in 2005.

Hillary Clinton has not commented but don't forget the close ties Bill has to the UAE and the concerns raised about her relationship with the UAE as Sec of State.

Blood Money

Reports out of the Kingdom indicate that the family of the young man that died in the fracas involving the Kohail brothers want $5 Million as "blood money".

In many cases involving the death of one party, regardless of cause, blood money is offered as compensation to the victim's family. However, in this case, the family refuses to discuss a reasonable amount and insists on $5 million. Meanwhile, the Canadian government is applying pressure to the Saudis but probably will not pay the blood money. And the Kohails have no way of raising that amount.

Oops is a Technical Term

According to news from Saudi Arabia, approximately 200 mosques in Mecca are not facing the correct direction. Worshipers concerned about the validity of their prayers have been assured that their prayers were valid. Many of the mosques are more than 50 years old and the mis-alignment was discovered due to better measurement technology (and someone looking down from a high rise apartment).

I wonder if any of them were built by the Bin Laden Construction Company?

It makes me remember the story about a major US construction company who had their plans for a Saudi offshore quarters building rejected because the toilets happened to be oriented tewards Mecca.

Kohail Verdict Reinstated

The death penalty for Mohammed Kohail, a Canadian citizen, has been reinstated by the Saudi courts. A link to the story is here.

Head Count

Saudi Arabia beheaded 6 during the month of March. Most were murderers, although one was convicted of "gang crimes", whatever those are.

All is quiet on the Kohail front. There has been no news about the young Canadian since mid-February.

Head Count

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia added five to their tally last month. Year to date total is 13.

Dubai Festival of Censorship

Author Margaret Atwood has decided to withdraw from participating in the first Emirates Airlines International Festival of Literature. She is withdrawing in protest of the Festival banning the book "The Gulf Between Us," by Geraldine Bedell. It seems one of the characters in Ms. Bedell's fictional novel is a gay sheikh in an unidentified Gulf Kingdom. The organizer of the Festival, Isobel Abulhoul, felt that the work "could offend certain cultural sensitivities."

According to the Festival's website, they claim the following list of values:

• Literacy is the key to all knowledge
• Literature is a unique and exciting mode of cross-cultural communication
• Imagination, innovation, and talent should be nurtured
• Education should be universal, stimulating and relevant
• A wider awareness of Arabic language and culture will contribute to the future development of the region

Several other authors are now reconsidering their participation in the light of the censorship.

Tennis Troubles

The Wall Street Journal Europe has pulled their sponsorship of the WTA Dubai Open. The UAE has refused a visa to Israeli Shahar Peer citing security problems. However, most see it as retaliation for the recent difficulties in Gaza. Rupert Murdock said in a statement, "The Wall Street Journal's editorial philosophy is free markets and free people, and this action runs counter to the Journal's editorial direction."

In addition, the Tennis Channel has decided not to televise the event saying, "Preventing an otherwise qualified athlete from competing on the basis of anything other than merit has no place in tennis or any other sport, and has the unfortunate result of undermining the credibility of the very nature of competition itself."

Peer is ranked 48th.

One of Dubai's strategies for economic development is to become a major sports venue.

More Free Market

Further to the post below, now the Ministry of Labour has passed a decision regulating the temination of UAE nationals in the private sector. UAE nationals cannot be terminated for "flimsy reasons" and the company must show that they are "not efficient" or have violated labour laws.

Yup, That's the Free Market in Action

The Commander in Chief of the Dubai Police has warned companies not to terminate UAE nationals if they downsize during the current global financial crisis.

He said that such acts violated the laws and norms of the country. He also said that the companies must keep UAE nationals employed in order to preserve the national identity.

He stated that the Dubai Police will "commercially boycott all companies that terminate UAE nationals without giving them any notice or a chance to search for another job under the pretext of the current economic meltdown."

Valentines in the Sand

Saudi Arabia bans all things red before Valentines Day. Valentines Day is considered a pagan holiday by Muslims and is not to be celebrated. No red roses, no teddy bears and certainly no red pajamas. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice will be out in force to ensure that shop keepers comply and that there is no mixing of the sexes. But, love will out as the prohibition has caused a flourishing black market for red roses.

Kohail Update

The Saudi High Court has ordered a review of the murder conviction of Canadian Mohammud Kohail. This decision should buy more time for the young man and for the Canadian government to seek his release.

Head Count

Saudi Arabia started off 2009 with 8 executions. There was one rapist and seven murderers.

Also, the news has gone strangely silent about young Canadian Mohammud Kohail and his brother.

Saudi Divorce Rate Increases

The average monthly divorce rate in 2008 was 1,980 vs. 1,500 in 2007.

According to family medicine consultant Dr. Ahmed Abdul Moneim, the reasons are “absence of religious values, low incomes, intervention of relatives in the personal lives of the married couples and the adverse effect of satellite cable programming.”

Adverse effects of satellite cable programming?? WTF??

And maybe divorcing your wife under Sharia Law is just too darn easy.