The Dark Side of Dubai

[clyrc]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html?fb_action_ids=10150458331050209&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline#access_token=AAADWQ6323IoBAIgjhWI8hEE5GZCITIe3GnLWQ6gIbmBpEsHx7T5tiqWYnsZC0phxrrWHeZBZCkHX3d9veB1pQZBhFB6hVYu3sEmFBxNT7mXbxtnVCWl8q&expires_in=5447


I have lived just outside of Dubai for over 8 years, and I wish I could say this article is unfair. Mostly, though, it isn't. I can say that my life here bears little resemblance to the lives of the Western Expats he interviewed. I pay my cleaning lady well, I try to treat everyone with the dignity they deserve, I love my Pakistani, Indian, Egyptian, Jordanian, etc. friends, my youngest daughter's best friend is a sweet Emirati girl, and I certainly do not go out partying every night- or ever, come to think of it.

Still, I wanted to vomit when I read this. Some of it I did know, but not all. It has taken years and years and paying lots of attention and trying read between the lines to try to get a grasp of what life in the UAE is really all about. The more I learn, the more unhappy I get.

[clyrc]

1. Ok, so this journalist has been discredited,

and the article is from 2009. I should do better research before I post something, I guess. Still, some of it is true enough.