Out and About in Dubai

Yesterday, DB forwarded me the following statement from our internet service provider (du) regarding the start of censorship:

“It is our constant endeavour to maintain the perfect balance between ensuring that all our customers’ requirements are met, and that we comply with all the guidelines of the TRA, including those on internet content filtering.

The World Wide Web offers us great opportunities to get and share information and to communicate. However, it is imperative that when making use of this technology for its enormous benefits, we respect the moral, social and cultural values of the United Arab Emirates.

du will be blocking all content that is not in line with these values, effective from 14 April 2008. Due to the nature of the content filtering process, some harmless sites may also inadvertently be blocked. We request our customers’ assistance in informing us when a site that they consider harmless has been blocked, by writing to safesurf@du.ae so we can look into the matter.

du counts on the understanding, support and encouragement of each of our valued customers as we continue to further strengthen our portfolio of products and services, and with all the systems that will fall into place in the process.”

Previously, du customers (me) were able to access many sites that were blocked by the other UAE internet provider (Etisalat). Sites like s k y p e. Which is still working by the way.

Websites that contain pornography, hatred, child abuse, alcohol, gambling or terrorism are blocked using filtering software that recognizes the subject material and blocks the sites from being viewed. For more on this story, click here.

So if I were to access let’s say the p l a y g i r l website, this is what I would see:

My question is - why do they bother? Well, I know why, but It’s not like we can’t use a p r o x y to access these sites.

Tags: government | 1 comment »

Since I was a bit lazy in writing last week, I guess you could call this post “Week-in-Review.”

Let’s see, first there was an explosion in an industrial zone called Al Quoz, then there was Earth Hour. And get this, the UAE now has its first ever female judge. Hurray!

Last Wednesday, while driving DB to work at about 7:30am, we saw a plume of smoke (see photo) that seemed kind of close to us. Later that morning, we found out that there had been an explosion in a fireworks warehouse in Al Quoz, which is about a 5 minute drive from DB’s office. Over 80 warehouses were consumed by the fire, three people were killed, and two are still reported missing.

This past Saturday was Earth Hour which started last year in Sydney:

“Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

On March 31 2007, for one hour, Sydney made a powerful statement about the greatest contributor to global warming – coal-fired electricity – by turning off its lights. Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world.

In 2008, 24 global cities participated in Earth Hour at 8pm on March 29. Earth Hour is the highlight of a major campaign to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.”

This year, Dubai was one of the cities that participated in Earth Hour:

“Dubai residents showed they cared about the environment and saving energy by switching off lights at their residences as well.

Some major landmarks in the city which marked Earth Hour by switching off their exterior lights included Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Emirates Towers and Madinat Jumeirah.”

However, the lights that can probably power a small country at Nad al Sheba racecourse where the Dubai World Cup was taking place, could not go dark. For my part, I am ashamed to say that we didn’t exactly participate. Although we did turn off all the lights and computers in our apartment, it was only because we weren’t home. We spent the evening at a friend’s apartment playing Nintedo Wii and completely forgot about the whole event.

In other news, Abu Dhabi appoints the first ever female judge in the history of the UAE:

The appointment of Khuloud Ahmad Al Dhaheri as a judge in the court of first instance was announced in a decree issued by His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

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Hurray!! After almost two weeks of not being able to access certain websites (namely ALL blogspot pages) due to blotched censorship (my theory), I am now able to access them again. Now I don’t have to go through anonymous proxies to view all my favorite blogs.

Wonder how long this will last before they start censoring again? I don’t know why the government bothers. Blocking a website usually increases a site’s popularity and surfers will just go through anonymous proxies to view them anyway.

Tags: blog, government | no comments »

Sharla Musabih founded the UAE’s first women’s shelter for abused women in 2001, called “City of Hope,” and was also instrumental in the Dubai government’s decision to ban child camel jockeys. She is now in the middle of some terrible allegations where she is being accused of accepting bribes, exploiting the women that she was supposed to be protecting, and selling their babies.

The story first broke in Gulf News here and here earlier this month and is another example of poor journalistic coverage by this so-called newspaper. Out of 10 letters-to-the-editor that was published online on March 17, seven were in response to the City of Hope article and expressed such sentiments as, “I never thought I would see Gulf News stoop so low,” and that “The article regarding Sharla Musabih was disgraceful and showed a complete lack of journalistic skills,” and still more, “Publishing Sharla’s response in a separate article shows the disgusting bias the newspaper has allowed into its pages.” I could continue quoting more, but I think you get the gist.

Sharla’s story was covered today in the New York Times: “Voice for Abused Women Upsets Dubai Patriarchy.” Some quotes from the article:

“She founded the Emirates’ first women’s shelter here and she became a familiar figure at police stations, relentlessly hounding officers to be tougher on abusive husbands. She has also earned many enemies.”

“To Ms. Musabih and her supporters, the accusations, which appear to be baseless, are the latest chapter in a long campaign of threats and defamation that began with angry husbands and has grown to include prominent clerics, and even the directors of a new government-financed women’s shelter, who, she says, would like to silence her.”

“Ms. Musabih, 47, a boisterous American transplant who was born and raised on Bainbridge Island, Wash., argues that confrontation is essential in fighting the patriarchal Arab traditions that allow men to beat their wives with impunity. She and her supporters also say the Emirates have not acknowledged the severity of their problem with human trafficking, the brutal business in which foreign women are lured here with promises of jobs and then forced into prostitution or servitude. Last year the United States State Department placed the Emirates and 31 other countries on a watch list for failing to effectively combat the illegal trade.”

If you read the two Gulf News articles I have linked above, as well as the New York Times article, you will see the quality of “news” that I am getting here in Dubai. I complain constantly to DB that it’s like second-grade reporting here.

(But then I remember that “freedom of the press” and “freedom of speech,” two things (of many!) that I had taken for granted in the U.S., do not exist in Dubai. Otherwise, a blog such as Secret Dubai Diary would not be blocked by the government.)

I have not met Sharla in person, but I believe in her cause and applaud all the good work that she has done to help abused women and children. And the Dubai government must recognize her work as well, otherwise, they would not have opened up their own, government-sanctioned, shelter for women and children:

“In the early spring of 2007, government officials approached Ms. Musabih about plans for a new state-sanctioned women’s shelter, apparently intended to replace hers. At first she welcomed the idea, because her shelter was often crowded and she was struggling to manage financially. They praised her pioneering work and said she could help direct the new shelter as a board member.

As the project evolved, it became clear that the government’s approach was vastly different from Ms. Musabih’s. It hired a director with a background in management and a more subdued style. On the grounds of an old rehabilitation center 20 minutes from Dubai with high fences and guards, the new shelter, known as the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, resembles an American low-security prison.”

At least, I hope they recognize her work. For all I know, this new government shelter could be just another PR stunt so that Dubai and its leaders can show the world that they “care.” If they truly cared, they wouldn’t be trying to defame Sharla and oust her out of her own organization for she’s probably the only person that has made any progress within the police departments and court system in helping abused women and children get help.

Tags: government | no comments »

So I have been experiencing a complete shutdown of blogspot blogs in the last few days and last night I wondered if it had to do with Secret Dubai’s blog being blocked. SD’s blog is one that I have been reading since before I moved to Dubai and still continue reading because she tells it like it is - about the government hypocrisy, corruption, over-ratedness, and of course, lack of free-press, that is Dubai.

7days had this to say about the blocking of SD’s blog:

But for some reason, it seems that in the process of blocking SD’s blog, ALL blogspot blogs have been blocked by my internet service provider, du. Etisalat customers cannot view SD’s blog but CAN access other blog sites. (Note: Dubai has 2 ISP: Du and Etisalat). I think perhaps du didn’t know how to do a one-blog block and just did a blanket block.

In any case, please continue to read SD’s blog here on her mirror site and let’s hope a community of readers and bloggers can help unblock the site again.
 

Edit 04-16-08: Looks like both blogspot and the mirror for Secret Dubai Diary is now blocked by du as well. But you can click here to subscribe via email or via RSS by inputing this feed address into your RSS reader of choice: http://secretdubai.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Tags: government | 2 comments »