"This new kind of city is a sharp break with the past. For most of human history, people lived and worked in the same place..."

"... and cities grew up around that basic fact. They transform, rebuild after fires and disasters and become richer and sometimes poorer, but they draw their resilience from their rootedness, the fact that people feel they belong there. To say 'I am a New Yorker' or a Londoner or 'I am from Pittsburgh' or Detroit or Rome or Barcelona — that is not just a map. It conveys a deep sense of history, belonging and meaning, a personal identity, not just a transaction. Those identities are messy and unequal, but they are substantial. They are one of the primary ways people answer the basic questions of who they are and where they belong. And they are part of what brings people back to hang on and rebuild, no matter what.... Place, kinship and a shared way of life were the basic materials of human identity...."

Writes Richard Florida, in "Could This Be the End of Dubai? (NYT).

"The war is a reminder that no city, no matter how go-go and glamorous, can buy its way out of the forces of history and geography.... For many, [Dubai is] not a real home. And so when the going gets rough, why would they stick around?"

The man in the video stammers: "Oh my, they's over the beach club. It's fucking mental. Look at that. Literally literally directly above us. That is insane. They were so loud. That is fucking mental. That is that is that is that is oh my god. I have no words. In the safest country — uh, city — in the world. Wow."

AND: What I get from Florida's presentation of the problem is that it's a mistake to want to live in "this new kind of city" like Dubai. It lacks meaning and humanity. It's "not a real home." But some people do relocate to places like this, and then if war spills over into it, they're surprised that something real happens. They thought they were in a disembodied paradise, so the intrusion of reality seemed "fucking mental." But it's the disembodied paradise that's insane. You're a human being. Live somewhere human or be flummoxed when humanity arrives. 

"In the two weeks since commercial flights began between Tel Aviv and the Emirati cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Israelis have caused a remarkable tourism boomlet in the Gulf nation."

"Suddenly, Hebrew can be heard throughout the markets, malls and beaches of a destination that was strictly off-limits until the two countries achieved a diplomatic breakthrough in August and established normal relations. More than 50,000 Israelis have brushed aside covid-19 concerns, a terrorism warning and decades of tension to make the three-hour flight across the Arab Peninsula.... The first Israelis to arrive described a congenial culture clash unlike anything they have experienced in the region. 'This is much warmer than what we felt in Jordan or Egypt,' said Arieh Engel... ... Engel had just had 'Happy Birthday; sung to him in Arabic, English and finally a halting Hebrew by the staff of the Arabia Tea House in Dubai’s Old City.... 'They are so rich here,' marveled Reem Iluz, a Tel Aviv construction engineer loaded down with bags in the palatial Dubai Mall, somewhere between the 2.6-million-gallon aquarium tank and the 19,000-square-foot ice rink. 'They have a lot to lose if there is no peace.'... For Dubai’s first public Hanukkah, the JCC is holding a nightly extravaganza at the base of the 163-story Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Hundreds of Israelis dance, while the music of singers and a DJ flown in from Israel echo off the surrounding towers. 'I really think this is the best place to be a Jew,” [said Rabbi Mendel] Duchman..."

From "Package-tour diplomacy: Thousands of Israeli tourists flock to Dubai after peace deal" (WaPo).

From the WaPo comments — this has a lot of likes:

"A Scot is facing a three-year jail sentence in Dubai for reportedly putting his hand on a man in a bar."

"Jamie Harron, who is 27... said he was trying to avoid spilling his drink in the crowded Rock Bottom Bar when the incident happened.... The charges he faces in connection with the incident are said to be twofold - drinking alcohol and public indecency."

BBC reports. 

At the Google Grab Café...

... you can join me in Dubai.

I chose Dubai as a place to (virtually) visit, because it came up in today's blogging.

You can talk about anything you want.

Please consider shopping through The Althouse Amazon Portal, including, perhaps, buying the book that's influencing me, "How to Talk About Places You've Never Been: On the Importance of Armchair Travel."

"The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has helped a small Cornish village buy its Methodist chapel."

"One villager, Valerie Wallace, had the idea [to email him] as a last ditch attempt, with the group having failed to raise sufficient funds elsewhere. 'We thought nothing of it and then we began to get phone calls from Dubai... We thought we were being hoaxed but it was no hoax.'"

Reports the BBC.

"The father of a 20-year-old woman let her drown in Dubai rather than let lifeguards rescue her."

"Two rescue men were at the beach and they rushed to help the girl. However, [the father] considered that if these men touched his daughter, then this would dishonor her. It cost him the life of his daughter. The father was a strong and tall man. He started pulling and preventing the rescue men and got violent with them. He told them that he prefers his daughter being dead than being touched by a strange man."

The father was arrested.

"A Norwegian woman who was sentenced to prison in Dubai after reporting that she was raped..."

"... has been given a pardon and will be heading home soon, she said Monday."

When I clicked on the front-page teaser — "Woman pardoned for rape report" — I thought I was going to a story about a false report of rape, and I was curious about the sympathy for women who do such harmful things. But that is not what happened here. Marte Deborah Dalelv reported a rape, and she was then "charged with having unlawful sex, making a false statement and illegal consumption of alcohol" and given a 16-month prison sentence.

"In order to stay competitive, airlines need to keep pace with the rapidly changing demands of corporate travelers..."

Says Nigel Page, Emirates' vice president of commercial operations.

"That's why we consistently invest in refining and enhancing our first-class product." The Dubai-based carrier delivers on its promise—thus far, it's the only airline to offer showers for first-class passengers aboard its fleet of 21 A380 jets.

Showers. In-flight showers...



What other rapidly changing demands are corporate travelers making? Personally, I'd like to see a bowling alley.

The crime of "coercion to commit sin."

In Dubai, foreigners are getting jail time for this crime — for things like sexy text messaging.

"Dubai court annuls marriage to 'bearded lady.'"

What's under that veil may not be what you'd hoped for.

Wearing street clothes on the beach, looking at women dressed in bathing suits.

Such are the crimes of the poor working men of Dubai.

"Arab progressives are stunned by our behavior."

Thomas Friedman writes about the Dubai ports issue:

As an Arab businessman friend said to me of the Dubai saga: "This deal has left a real bad taste in many mouths. I mean this was Dubai, for God's sake! You could not have a better friend and more of a symbol of globalization and openness. If they are a security danger to the U.S., then who is not?"

So whatever happens with the Iraq experiment — but especially if it fails — we need Dubai to succeed. Dubai is where we should want the Arab world to go. Unfortunately, we just told Dubai to go to hell.

(TimesSelect link.)

In Dubai: compulsory hormone injections for gay men.

Andrew Sullivan links to this disturbing news report from Dubai:

The Interior Ministry said police raided a hotel chalet earlier this month and arrested 22 men from the Emirates as they celebrated the mass wedding ceremony - one of a string of recent group arrests of homosexuals here.

The men are likely to be tried under Muslim law on charges related to adultery and prostitution, said Interior Ministry spokesperson Issam Azouri.

Outward homosexual behaviour is banned in the United Arab Emirates and the gay group wedding has alarmed leaders of this once-isolated Muslim country as it grapples with a sweeping influx of western residents and culture.....

The arrested men have been questioned by police and were undergoing psychological evaluations on Saturday. Azouri said the Interior Ministry's department of social support would try to direct the men away from homosexual behaviour, including treatment with male hormones.

"Because they've put society at risk they will be given the necessary treatment, from male hormone injections to psychological therapies," he said.