Once upon a time UAE was not as unpleasant

Once upon a time I used to say nice things about Dubai and United Arab Emirates! You can see my comments in the article below (published in Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in March 2006) on the controversy surrounding Dubai's acquisition of six key ports in the United States. I no longer think of UAE-Dubai as a pleasant place. The financial crisis in 2008 and the Arab uprisings of 2011, which claimed some star dictators, have made the Gulf Arab states, in particular Saudi Arabia and UAE, paranoid. I have experienced their irrational behavior and foolish arrogance, before and after leaving the UAE. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette journalist Heather Wecsler was kind enough to email me her article - Shakir Husain)

Americans in Dubai react to flap

Fears over port deal baseless, Arkansan says

BY HEATHER WECSLER ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

    Like others in the United Arab Emirates interviewed by the Democrat-Gazette, former Arkansan Winfred L. Thompson sees no reason Americans should fear a deal that would allow a Dubai firm to take over operations at six U.S. ports.

    U.S. policymakers’ criticism of the deal has baffled many who live in this Arab country that boasts Western-style resorts, gleaming skyscrapers and global business aspirations, Thompson said.

    “Generally, there is shock and disappointment that an Emirati company is viewed with such suspicion,” the former Conway resident said by e-mail from Sharjah, an emirate — essentially another city-state — roughly the same driving distance as between Little Rock and Sherwood.

    “Emiratis generally think of themselves as friends of the United States and cannot understand why the sentiment is not reciprocated.”     

Last week, a federal panel opened a 45-day investigation into whether the deal with Dubai Ports World, a state-owned company in the United Arab Emirates, threatens national security. The firm offered to submit to the highly unusual review after U.S. lawmakers of both political parties threatened to block or postpone the entire transaction, which the Bush administration approved in January.

    Under the deal, Dubai Ports World would assume control of shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans with the company’s $6.8 billion purchase of London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. A British citizen will handle the company’s U.S. operations until the federal committee completes its review.

    Just as it has been in the United States, the Washington debate over Dubai Ports World has been front-page news in the nation where the holding company is based. But there, it began mainly as a business story.

    Dubai Ports World is one of the flagship corporate entities of the fast-growing emirate, touted in local media for its successful container terminal operations around the world from Australia to Venezuela to its own shores.

    “People here never expected a straightforward business transaction to become so complicated, particularly since DP World is already in so many countries,” said Shakir Husain, a business reporter who has been covering the company’s most recent ports deal for the Gulf News. The 91,000-circulation publication, based in Dubai, is the largest English-language daily newspaper in the United Arab Emirates and indeed the Arab world.

    Dubai is one of seven sheikdoms led by hereditary rulers that formed a federation after gaining independence from Great Britain in 1971.

    A country where less than a fifth of the population are Emirati citizens and about half come from South Asia, the United Arab Emirates might not even be best described as Arab.

    Mazen Hayek, a Lebanese citizen who has lived and worked in Dubai on and off since 1998, said he went to the country in part because the United Arab Emirates, unlike some of its Middle Eastern neighbors, has embraced First World business practices. For instance, he said, people are hired on the basis of merit rather than just family connections.

    “You come to Dubai, and you have world-class professionals from every single nationality in the world, working here freely and having access to services,” said Hayek, who works in communications. “That’s the strength of the U.A.E.”    

For more than 20 years, Dubai — the nation’s financial capital — has worked to diversify its economy. Today, only about 15 percent of Dubai’s revenue comes from oil, but the city is Middle East headquarters to more than 800 U.S. companies.

    Dubai also attracts more than 5 million tourists a year, many of them from Europe, with such once improbable desert attractions as two water parks and Ski Dubai, a man-made snow park inside Dubai’s largest mall.

    An American who has worked in public relations in Dubai for four and a half years likened the emirate to the Hong Kong or Singapore of the Middle East.

    “If Americans knew what Dubai stood for ... then I don’t think the story would have had the sort of traction it has,” said the American, who asked that his name not be used. “It wouldn’t make sense, but because nobody knows what Dubai is, it’s easy to emphasize the Arab in United Arab Emirates.”     Thompson, another American now living in the United Arab Emirates, said he detects some “blatant prejudice” in the discussion of the ports deal.

    “Of course, the United States has a right to assure the safety of our ports, but the assumption that an Arab company is automatically suspect — while a British company is not — is appalling,” said Thompson, chancellor of the American University of Sharjah and the former president of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

    “There has been much more terrorist activity in the United Kingdom than there has ever been in the Emirates.”     

Specifically, he mentioned that three of those suspected in last summer’s suicide bombings of London’s transit system were native Britons, albeit of Pakistani descent. The fourth was Jamaican.

    Husain, the Dubai reporter, said many of his readers see lawmakers’ objections to the transaction as politically motivated.

    “People think it’s ignorance, politics and bias [against Arabs],” he said.

    He said the U.S. government’s extra scrutiny of the ports deal has added to the suspicions of people in Dubai who already disagreed with U.S. policies toward the Middle East.

    “In this climate of suspicion, when something like this happens, it just adds to the suspicion,” Husain said. “It’s damaged the position of the United States.”    

Still, he said the negative reaction has hurt the United States' reputation mainly among local professionals who may choose not to invest in American businesses.

    He and others in Dubai stressed that the United Arab Emirates, while overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, is dominated by religious moderates.

    Some local mosques had peaceful demonstrations against the Danish newspaper that published cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad, and Zayed University fired a professor who showed the cartoons to her class. But the United Arab Emirates experienced none of the violent protests seen in Muslim countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan.

    “Although there has been a robust consumer boycott of Danish goods, Denmark and the U.A.E continue to enjoy normal diplomatic relations,” Husain said.

It’s more a land of busy merchants than fanatical mullahs.

    Still, politically and culturally, the United Arab Emirates is not a Western democracy. While the country plans to hold elections later this year for some seats on the Federal National Council — the legislative branch — sheiks still dominate state affairs, according to the CIA's World Factbook. Foreign workers — who make up the vast majority of the population — have no political rights. In its 2005 Human Rights Overview, the Human Rights Watch said those workers are particularly vulnerable to nonpayment of wages and unsafe working conditions.

    Critics of the Dubai Ports World deal also have noted that two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers came from the United Arab Emirates and about half the money spent on the attacks was wired to al-Qaida terrorists from Dubai banks. Opponents also have contended that Dubai has been a transfer point for smuggled nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

    But Hayek, the Lebanese Dubai resident, said he thinks Americans should seize any opportunity to work more closely with Dubai’s business professionals.

    “We know the U.S. has embarked on efforts to win hearts and minds through several public relations initiatives in the Arab and the Muslim world,” Hayek said. “The best allies, the best people who are fit to be won in terms of hearts and minds, are the people of Dubai.”    

 If the United States fails to build a relationship with such moderates, Hayek fears Americans will be stuck dealing with Muslim radicals.

    Thompson said his homeland and its Arab ally share more in common than just the first word of their names.

    “The U.A.E. is a very cosmopolitan country which, like the United States, has business interests all over the world and, again like the U.S., is a haven for people all over the world,” he said. “I wish more Americans got a chance to visit and get a true picture what the place is like.”

RAYGISTAN PROCLAIMED, SUPREME LIFESTYLES PROMISED

[Here is a chapter from my political novel The Merchant King, published in India in 2012. Have fun reading!]

RAYGISTAN PROCLAIMED, SUPREME LIFESTYLES PROMISED

In the middle of his intense learning process, there was some disturbing news that made Falcon restless. Some youth from Balad who had left years ago to fight alongside the Mujahideen against Soviet forces in Afghanistan had returned after the war there ended.

Among them was Falcon's half brother Fahd, born to their father's Yemeni wife Zainab. Fahd returned with his Pakistani wife Gulbadan, who was from Peshawar. The group of returnees wanted to create a Kindom-style ruling system. Senior Kindom operatives, called Kindominions, channelled funds and military advice to the Mujahideen and Fahd remained loyal to them.

Balad's emergence as a strategic port between Africa and Miserabilia was not lost on Kindom's rulers. They would be fool not to have it under their sphere of influence. The man who could do their bidding was Fahd.

The island's doddering chieftain Nasir was increasingly behaving in unpredictable ways. It was a sad sight to see him waving with both hands and sending flying kisses to British Fly's female crew who flocked to the beach in their bikinis.

The high council of elders sought to restrict his movement outdoors in order to avoid embarrassment. Balad was no longer the obscure nation it once had been.

Neolandia wanted the guarantee of a continued military base. President Henry made it clear that he would prefer an amenable man like Falcon, who was kept abreast of the situation. It was agreed with ConCorp that Falcon would soon return to Balad to take over the reins.

But before that a quick visit to the great city of glamour, Uhlalaland. Balad could never become a destination for Supreme Lifestyles if the leader of that country was not given a glimpse of the glitzy world.

Before going to Uhlalaland, ConCorp wanted Falcon to meet a group of people. ConCorp collected considerable data on people who could help Balad's transformation into an economic superpower. On the top of the list was Balwinder Singh "Bally", an Indian geek who worked on a Neolandian project that would make the painfully slow Internet a thing of the past.

The second was Hyder Ali "Hey", an extraordinary brain who could unravel any tricky problem in money matters. He was of Pakistani origin and had fled his country after his wife's relatives bayed for his blood because he had dared to marry the girl of a tribe that considered itself higher in social status than his lesser Karachi family.

The third was Sulaiman Isa "Suli." He was an expert in real estate. He came from the island of Khalli Walli and had sailed around the world offering his expertise.

Bally, Hey and Suli were convenient, modified names that were easy on Neolandian tongues.

"With these men in top jobs, Balad won't look like a white man's colony," Benjamin joked with ConCorp.

One urgent matter that nagged Falcon was the issue of succession, which could turn into a crisis if the old man Nasir kicked the bucket. There was a real chance of violence breaking out as Fahd and his supporters were capable of anything when challenged.

Benjamin, on the other hand, was thinking about a grand farewell for the man who would be king.

Putschinsky graciously agreed to host it at his Grand Sunray Hotel and Casino, the Sunray business empire's showpiece location in Uhlalaland.

An international fashion show at the hotel had just ended, so Putschinsky, knowing well that he was going to be entertaining some of Neolandia's most influential people at the hotel, asked the fashion models to enjoy his hospitality for a bit longer. This was Putschinsky's idea of adding glamour to the party.

Putschinsky, being smarter than others in the ways of the world, had set his sights on doing business in Balad.

Benjamin was always precise and immaculate with his planning. He could stage-manage spectacular events that left people thinking they had happened spontaneously.

On the guest list: Senators, casino magnets, real estate developers, drug traffickers with front companies involved in legal businesses, diamond merchants, financiers, ship owners, oil and gas chief executives, film directors, actors, book publishers, diplomats, newspaper editors had all come to the party in honor of "Neolandia's Great Friend in Miserabilia."

That is how Big Bucks and ConCorp had advertised the event. Crown Prince Falcon delivered a speech that was high on promises and direct in its message. It lifted everyone's spirits. It is not everyday that one gets to be at a party full of fashion models and a brand new nation is suddenly proclaimed into being. "Our dear Neolandian friends, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen," Falcon began his address, "we are about to embark on a great journey of nation-building. Together we will create and share the biggest cake of globalization. Come to our nation, Raygistan, and you will have a market of four billion consumers eating out of your hand. Ours maybe a barren land, but those who decide to put in money today will enjoy an eternal harvest of Supreme Lifestyles."

This was not a speech written by professional writers. It sounded like a human being speaking from his heart. No spin of words, pure passion.

"Raygistan" was the word that had surprised Benjanim. What was Falcon talking about?

Another point: Balad's own population was hardly 100,000, a company-size country, but the crown prince was promising a market of four billion consumers!

That was a salesman genius talking, Benjanim thought.

Cynical newspaper editors thought the crown prince had dreamt up some fantasy land, but senators and businessmen saw more clearly the vision of a land where people would live Supreme Lifestyles.

The speech ended with a deafening applause.

But the term Raygistan puzzled Benjamin, so he went to clarify it with Falcon.

"You have Hindustan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, right? We have chosen a new name for our country. Balad doesn't sound like a proper country. Now we call my country Raygistan."

At Putschinsky's casino, the future king of Raygistan had set the dice rolling for the biggest gamble that a nation could play.

Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates throw a diplomatic fit

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have thrown a diplomatic fit by withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar.

They said the move was necessary to protect their ‘security and stability' as Qatar had not implemented a Gulf regional pact on noninterference in each other's affairs.

The two countries also roped in Bahrain to give more weight to their latest tantrum to get wider support for their unholy alliance with Egypt's military dictator (newly promoted) Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.

A Qatari government statement points to the possible reason behind their actions: 'The moves taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain have nothing to do with their national interests nor their security and stability, but there is a difference of opinion and position on a number of issues outside the Gulf Co-operation Council.'

The three ambassador-withdrawing states are fully aware that their own populations do not support their alliance with the Sisi republic.

In fact, their new attempt to put pressure on Qatar could well be a sign that their Egypt policy is not working.

One problem is the financial cost of the coup. The UAE-Saudi oil billions cannot subsidize the military takeover of a country of 80 million people. Algeria is a different story as the regime there can extract oil and support its own totalitarian machinery.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are known to indulge in dramatic acts of putting pressure on countries and individual critics to advance their strange brand of politics.

They want to control policies of other nations and insist on dictating the Arab League agenda. Even mighty states do not make such demands on others so blatantly.

If Qatar were to adopt the Saudi-UAE logic, it could object to their foreign policy towards China, Britanya, Qatland, Panchewingstan or That Country.

'These countries, they are supporting a coup d'etat where thousands of Egyptians are being killed in front of the whole world. And they want Qatar to support such a policy,' Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the former Qatar ambassador to the UN and US, told Al Jazeera.

It's not just about foreign policy, the Saudi-led fountains of wisdom also want to close Al Jazeera.

Well, it's no secret that Saudi Arabia and the UAE do not like Al Jazeera, which is a far more successful and professional media network than anything Saudi and UAE money can create.

Dubai-based Al Arabiya of Saudi MBC Group and Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp through its Murdoch venture Sky News Arabia seek to spread UAE-Saudi ideas. Then there is a UAE English daily directed at Western audience.

These outlets are as trustworthy as their owners. Sad state of affairs or not?

Let's hope Al Jazeera, which has been soft-pedaling on Saudi Arabia and UAE for a long time, will pay attention to serious stories in these two countries.

Getting Nasser Bin Hamad to speak more often won't be a bad idea!

'I am sure.. these countries will realize that trying to impose the philosophy of my way and the highway will not work with Qatar,' he said in the interview.

Germany will be Israel's diplomatic proxy in Muslim countries

There are reasons why most Muslim countries do not want relations with Israel. Germany, it seems, doesn't understand this.

German newspaper Der Spiegel reports that under an agreement the Germans will represent Israeli diplomatic and consular relations in countries where Israel has no embassy.

Notably, Germany will be at Israel's service in Indonesia and Malaysia.

It's no secret that Israel has created significant direct presence in some Southeast Asian countries, but in Muslim countries public opinion doesn't allow this.

In Arab states, Israel has infiltrated power structures by using European and US entities.

Arab despots anyway don't have to worry about public opinion as long as the Pentagon is their patron and they are able to subdue their populations using bribery and brutality.

Now Germany wants to become Israel's formal proxy in Muslim countries. One must ask why.

In the 20th century, Nazi Germany massacred Jews, forcing them to flee Europe. The Jewish migration to Palestine later created Israel and forced Arabs off their lands.

In the 21st century, Germany is an ally of the apartheid Zionist state to the extent that it wants to help Israel in Muslim countries. What are you trying to do, Angela Merkel?

If governments in Muslim countries are interested in having links with Israel, the process will have to be an internal one, without any chicanery from Israel's western collaborators.

The German gesture to Israel comes amid growing international boycott of the repressive militaristic state.

Israel not only practices apartheid against Palestinians, it is a source of destabilization in western Asia, Africa and other regions. Inside Israel this happens: I Traveled to Palestine-Israel And Discovered There is no ‘Palestinian-Israeli Conflict’

The US-subsidized Israeli project has become a tool for advancing European and US colonization and resource grab across the world.

Germany will lose respect and influence if it allies with Israel in a dubious manner.

For UAE, now everything in the Iranian garden is lovely

The United Arab Emirates would have liked to feed me to its camels because of my views on Iran.

They thought I was an ayatollah cheerleader for not applauding their vehement opposition to Iran. The fact is I didn't feel comfortable borrowing the US nonsense of Iran being evil or terrorist. Talking to other people I didn't sense anyone was looking forward to a war with Iran. Even the UAE officials were well aware of the catastrophic consequences if the Pentagon started a military adventure against Iran. But it's Washington that dictates the wider security policy of the region and Arab "allies" just have to follow the Pentagon script.

It's no secret that the Pentagon views the control of energy-rich western and central Asia as absolutely vital to its global domination. Manipulating small Arab states with docile populations is  key to US wars in the region.

Mind you, I didn't express those views very openly but only occasionally talked about UAE policies in private conversations when I used to work in that country. In any case, they heavily monitor phones of journalists and keep a wide network of informers to find out what people (especially those in media, government, finance etc) say in private.

The business hub of Dubai and the big brother capital Abu Dhabi do not seem to have a unified approach towards Iran. Goods and money flow between Dubai and Iran with ease. On the other hand, Abu Dhabi being a major exporter of oil doesn't care much about the relative small amounts of money Dubai earns through its re-export trade with Iran.

Prodded by Uncle Sam, Baba Saudi and European Union aunties, the UAE pursued a belligerent policy towards Iran for many years.

It became such a regional centre of propaganda against Iran that even normal trade and tourism activities seemed like serious criminal offenses.

If a country is so big a threat to your security why not just cut off all relations. No, you could not expect such forthrightness from the UAE, which wasn't prepared to lose money yet wanted to please the United States and Europeans.

Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US Department of Treasury, visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi to warn local companies against trading with Iran.

The level of rhetoric from the US official was so alarming that a UAE cabinet minister contacted reporters to get details of  his statements at a 2007 press conference.

I mention these incidents to show how viciously Iran was being targeted not long ago. Iraq was already under Western control and they were salivating at the thought of grabbing another energy fruit in Iran.

An Iranian-born author connected with a Zionist network wrote fiery columns against the Iranian government and his word was considered sacred in Gulf Arab establishments.

In 2008, UAE-based banks had mostly stopped issuing letters of credit for Iran trade amid escalating Washington-Tehran tensions.

This was happening despite:

- the UAE's $12 billion annual trade with Iran;

- Iranians being among top buyers of Dubai property;

- UAE companies craving for access to a market of 70 million in the neighborhood;

- 250 weekly flights catering to a heavy flow of people between the two countries;

- almost half a million Iranians living in the UAE.

(These figures are from five years ago)

Taking all this into account, it was deceptive on the part of UAE officials to indulge in regular anti-Iranian rhetoric.

Now compare the sudden changes in the UAE's policy since the US and Iran agreed on a nuclear deal in November 2013. What official hocus-pocus will be delivered to justify this change of tack?

The UAE has started pursuing Iran like a besotted lover at the highest level.

An Abu Dhabi-based hotel company may become the first foreign hotelier to enter Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution toppled the US puppet Pahlavi in 1979.

At UAE airports, staff greet Iranian visitors with "khosh amadid". Possibly immigration guys are also putting their name cards in the passports of Iranian girls.

The UAE is known to frequently use its dispute over three islands in the Persian Gulf (historically accurate name) in piling pressure on Tehran at regional conferences.

What a ruckus the UAE caused when Iranian president Ahmadinejad visited one of the contested islands in 2012:

- the UAE government summoned the Iranian ambassador and called back its own from Tehran;

- foreign minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan held meetings in Abu Dhabi with ambassadors representing UN Security Council members to condemn the 'provocative visit';

- foreign ministers of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council called a special meeting to discuss the row.

One can now expect a different tune as Abu Dhabi tries to build bridges with Tehran. However, the UAE is yet to show it has a cohesive and long-term Iran policy.

Iran has a lot to offer its neighbors if they can develop reliable partnerships. Greater regional engagement will make it a more reasonable country. Iran on its part has to prove that it can remain responsible even in serious situations. We all acknowledge Iran's rich cultural heritage, but its officials are better off not acting proud as a peacock when interacting with their Arab counterparts.

If the outsider US has pursued disastrous policies in the region, playing one country against another, Iran also cannot escape its part in the violence and conflicts that have destabilized some places. Its ongoing support for the genocidal Assad war against Syrians cannot be justified under any pretext.

If I were in the UAE today (hypothetically speaking because I'll never live in an Arab authoritarian state again), I would not be saying nice things about Iran's role in Syria's bloodshed and constant interference in Iraq.

But then the UAE would throw me in front of its camels for not being in tune with its fickleness, its new love for Iran.

Are we seeing 'vicarious revenge' by Mubarak's old friends in Egypt?

Egyptians continue to mourn their loss of freedom and dignity since last year's military coup.

This is an extraordinary reversal of fortunes for all those who celebrated the birth of a new Egypt in January 2011 after Hosni Mubarak's decades-old tyrannical regime fell.

In the euphoria that followed the uprising, we forgot that two key backers of Mubarak's dictatorship treated the Egyptian revolt as their own defeat in that country.

Though restrained in their emotions in public, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were sad, angry and upset.

There was a feeling of helplessness in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi; they had created a network in which the Mubarak regime became crucial to the well being of the Gulf states' own systems.

When General Abdel Fattah El Sisi toppled Egypt's first democratically-elected president in July 2013, Mubarak's old Gulf buddies were quick to welcome the military coup.

They soon pledged billions of dollars to support the military rulers of Egypt.

The role of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates must never be forgotten in the restoration of dictatorship in Egypt. The moneybags funneled cash to those who worked to revive the mukhabarat state. And look at the result!

Speaking on Al Jazeera on 25 January 2014, political analyst Omar Ashour said: "It's going to be worse than Mubarak's era."

There are many explanations and points of analysis about Saudi and Emirates politics, which is governed by bedouin codes.

The bedouin code of honor prescribes "vicarious revenge for seven generations" (I am quoting from an essay written by an Aligarh professor).

Therefore, we may not have seen their full revenge against the Egyptian people for bringing down Mubarak.

It's not clear how far Saudi Arabia and UAE are prepared to go to maintain a regime of their choice in Egypt.

Egypt is a bloodied, brutal and fractured society under Sisi.

It must not suffer for the sake of perceived or real insult or offense to the honor of Mubarak's old friends.

Indonesian people show they care for Gaza

Indonesia's people have donated $15 million to build a hospital in Gaza.

This is real solidarity with a people forced to live in extreme misery under a savage Israeli military siege.

Compare these caring Indonesians with rich Arab states and their playboy billionaires who waste millions of dollars on parties, hosting European entertainers, exploding fireworks and doing other pompous activities.

The dictatorships will still make a show of helping Palestinians if people come to these moneybags and beg, pledge allegiance, kiss their shoulders, hands, knees and toes in abject obeisance.

Arab rulers give funds to Palestinian authorities to buy their loyalty and encourage corruption. The primary aim is not to build strong infrastructure projects. Arab officials also announce aid to Palestinians to increase their prestige in the eyes of their pro-Palestinian populations.

Next to Gaza is Egypt where the military rulers whip up anti-Palestinian sentiments. The junta need not be so hateful in enforcing the siege of Gaza but it seems such propaganda strangely increases the Pharaoh's political stock.

Israel can create concentration camp conditions in Gaza only with the connivance of Arab potentates. And when it unleashes its war machine against Palestinians it also wants to makes sure the injured will not get medial assistance and the dead will not find a place in morgues.

In this context, the project Indonesia's aid has created is worth much more than the price price tag it carries.