Human rights

[Arjan Van Schotte]

Big corporations are as sensitive as teenagers when it comes to criticism.

hahaha, that encapsulates what i've been attempting to say...

[Beefymcfc]

If somebody robbed you, would you want to take a hand?

City would take a burger, but who knows!

[paulh]

Ok so if we're on zoning in on the UAE lets starting zoning in on this country we live in which if we are comparing to the propaganda on UAE we are just as bad in different ways. Due to the influence of our friend the USA we are killing innocent afghans and Iraq people daily in the name of war on terror!

People in glass houses

[Beefymcfc]

Ok so if we're on zoning in on the UAE lets starting zoning in on this country we live in which if we are comparing to the propaganda on UAE we are just as bad in different ways. Due to the influence of our friend the USA we are killing innocent afghans and Iraq people daily in the name of war on terror!

People in glass houses

Although I agree with the philosphhy, how many people are we killing?

[Arjan Van Schotte]

Ok so if we're on zoning in on the UAE lets starting zoning in on this country we live in which if we are comparing to the propaganda on UAE we are just as bad in different ways. Due to the influence of our friend the USA we are killing innocent afghans and Iraq people daily in the name of war on terror!

People in glass houses

and i would hope that the fans of al-ain would be far from overjoyed if their club was bought by george w bush or tony blair.

you're not really getting this are you?

[paulh]

Just trying to point out no nation is pardon the pun "whiter than white" even a Sweden or a Switzerland.....

[Socrates]

I Think there's a big difference in accepting that the world is rotten in general and consciously buying products from someone you know has blood on their hands.

Welfare bought through torture, dictatorship and patriarchy is freedom based on the acceptance of captivity.

I'm still gonna watch city but I don't like our owners' political luggage.

Judging by the moral relativism here I would have thought I was in academia and I watch football to get some release from that stuff.

I'm not judging anyone, we all have our own conscience and values.

We could do something though, if we wanted. Politics isn't hard. Big corporations are as sensitive as teenagers when it comes to criticism.

Substantially agree but would mitigate further on the political baggage on the basis they are moving things the right way and are almost certainly the least worst option for that country right now.

[Dubaimancityfan]

I just came across this post which I have been bypassing for the last few days as the title didn't really jump at me and I had no idea it was about the UAE.
As someone who has lived in this country for a long time (yes I’m not an Emirati) I think I'm well placed to make some informed comments.
There were a lot of well- balanced posts in this thread and some not so much. Mansour 21 made some very good comments even though some of you were skeptical about them as he is an Emirati but as a neutral, I can say that all he said is factual.
Ant made some well-informed comments as he lives/has lived in Egypt and he knows what’s going on in this region. I’m sure he knows why people in the UAE (citizens and expatriates) look with shock and horror at what’s happening in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Tunisia where Islamist parties have taken over (or trying to in Syria) and want nothing even remotely close to ever happen in this country.
Simply put the 95 who were arrested were an arm of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (although all UAE citizens) and wanted to turn this country over to the MB. Did you expect the UAE government to sit still and let them succeed with their plot!
The fact that about 30 of them were found to be no guilty at the conclusion of the trial should tell you something about the fairness of the UAE courts.
Arjan, you make a lot of claims and I don’t know where you get yr intelligence from but have you ever visited this country. I know you’ve made yr views clear in the past, but what gives?
As for the dirt bag journo who wrote this article, I think a lot of you have addressed his character and I don’t need to add more. I wonder if he will write a similar article about Chelsea. And don’t tell me that Abramovich is not ruling Russia. If he was not a Putin stooge he would not have survived for so long as we have seen what happened to other so called Russian oligarchs who did not follow the instructions of Moscow central!
The Emirati citizens enjoy some of the best standards of living in the world and they are cared for by their government from cradle to grave. Things are not perfect in this country (can any country in the world claim that) and changes need to be made but I see the UAE government addressing a lot of issues and bringing in improvements at a steady pace. This is a young country which was formed 42 years ago from seven independent Emirates, so don’t expect too much in such a short time. It is a miracle in itself that it has survived and thrived this long when you look at other much older and established Arab countries which are breaking apart.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I just came across this post which I have been bypassing for the last few days as the title didn't really jump at me and I had no idea it was about the UAE.
As someone who has lived in this country for a long time (yes I’m not an Emirati) I think I'm well placed to make some informed comments.
There were a lot of well- balanced posts in this thread and some not so much. Mansour 21 made some very good comments even though some of you were skeptical about them as he is an Emirati but as a neutral, I can say that all he said is factual.
Ant made some well-informed comments as he lives/has lived in Egypt and he knows what’s going on in this region. I’m sure he knows why people in the UAE (citizens and expatriates) look with shock and horror at what’s happening in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Tunisia where Islamist parties have taken over (or trying to in Syria) and want nothing even remotely close to ever happen in this country.
Simply put the 95 who were arrested were an arm of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (although all UAE citizens) and wanted to turn this country over to the MB. Did you expect the UAE government to sit still and let them succeed with their plot!
The fact that about 30 of them were found to be no guilty at the conclusion of the trial should tell you something about the fairness of the UAE courts.
Arjan, you make a lot of claims and I don’t know where you get yr intelligence from but have you ever visited this country. I know you’ve made yr views clear in the past, but what gives?
As for the dirt bag journo who wrote this article, I think a lot of you have addressed his character and I don’t need to add more. I wonder if he will write a similar article about Chelsea. And don’t tell me that Abramovich is not ruling Russia. If he was not a Putin stooge he would not have survived for so long as we have seen what happened to other so called Russian oligarchs who did not follow the instructions of Moscow central!
The Emirati citizens enjoy some of the best standards of living in the world and they are cared for by their government from cradle to grave. Things are not perfect in this country (can any country in the world claim that) and changes need to be made but I see the UAE government addressing a lot of issues and bringing in improvements at a steady pace. This is a young country which was formed 42 years ago from seven independent Emirates, so don’t expect too much in such a short time. It is a miracle in itself that it has survived and thrived this long when you look at other much older and established Arab countries which are breaking apart.

Excellent post and another example why people should listen more to posters opinions who live or have lived in a country thats the topic of conversation.

I lived in South Africa for 10 years yet I still got cunts like Socrates trying to give me a fucking lesson on whether or not Mandela was a terrorist back in the day !!!

[Mansour21]

I just came across this post which I have been bypassing for the last few days as the title didn't really jump at me and I had no idea it was about the UAE.
As someone who has lived in this country for a long time (yes I’m not an Emirati) I think I'm well placed to make some informed comments.
There were a lot of well- balanced posts in this thread and some not so much. Mansour 21 made some very good comments even though some of you were skeptical about them as he is an Emirati but as a neutral, I can say that all he said is factual.
Ant made some well-informed comments as he lives/has lived in Egypt and he knows what’s going on in this region. I’m sure he knows why people in the UAE (citizens and expatriates) look with shock and horror at what’s happening in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Tunisia where Islamist parties have taken over (or trying to in Syria) and want nothing even remotely close to ever happen in this country.
Simply put the 95 who were arrested were an arm of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (although all UAE citizens) and wanted to turn this country over to the MB. Did you expect the UAE government to sit still and let them succeed with their plot!
The fact that about 30 of them were found to be no guilty at the conclusion of the trial should tell you something about the fairness of the UAE courts.
Arjan, you make a lot of claims and I don’t know where you get yr intelligence from but have you ever visited this country. I know you’ve made yr views clear in the past, but what gives?
As for the dirt bag journo who wrote this article, I think a lot of you have addressed his character and I don’t need to add more. I wonder if he will write a similar article about Chelsea. And don’t tell me that Abramovich is not ruling Russia. If he was not a Putin stooge he would not have survived for so long as we have seen what happened to other so called Russian oligarchs who did not follow the instructions of Moscow central!
The Emirati citizens enjoy some of the best standards of living in the world and they are cared for by their government from cradle to grave. Things are not perfect in this country (can any country in the world claim that) and changes need to be made but I see the UAE government addressing a lot of issues and bringing in improvements at a steady pace. This is a young country which was formed 42 years ago from seven independent Emirates, so don’t expect too much in such a short time. It is a miracle in itself that it has survived and thrived this long when you look at other much older and established Arab countries which are breaking apart.

Thanks mate, i would like to add that one of the members convicted (a female) was allowed to get medical treatment outside the country and all her bills are getting covered by the government, even one of the members before his trial ended he thanked Sheikh Khalifa(the president) for his kindness for letting her get treated he also said that his friends wont like his comments but it had to be said.

[Arjan Van Schotte]

Mansour, I understood ALL the women were acquitted -is that not correct?

Good post regarding this particular case Dubai, although I don't agree with all. Yes I have visited. Dubai just the once, other emirates several times, and I have lived in the region, which sparked a specific interest in human rights, specifically the treatment of foreign workers and the rights if women (see other thread). Do I expect our owners to overturn homophobic laws overnight? No I don't, I understand the ramifications of that.

Do I think that they should start by ending routine torture, and to actually implement their own labour laws? Yes I do. Was the trial of sheikh Issa a sham, and symptomatic of the ongoing disdain for foreigners? Yes it was.

[Mansour21]

Mansour, I understood ALL the women were acquitted -is that not correct?

Good post regarding this particular case Dubai, although I don't agree with all. Yes I have visited. Dubai just the once, other emirates several times, and I have lived in the region, which sparked a specific interest in human rights, specifically the treatment of foreign workers and the rights if women (see other thread). Do I expect our owners to overturn homophobic laws overnight? No I don't, I understand the ramifications of that.

Do I think that they should start by ending routine torture, and to actually implement their own labour laws? Yes I do. Was the trial of sheikh Issa a sham, and symptomatic of the ongoing disdain for foreigners? Yes it was.

Yes they were Arjen, what i mentioned was during the trial period not after.

Edit: i said convicted earlier but i meant suspect or whatever you call a suspect in trial, am sorry.

[daveh1962]

UAE is a new just 42 years old

It has oil resources beyond imagination without those not one person would know or care about it but got them it has

It is trying to build a new modern country which had little to no infrastructure and so has imported one major resource it lacks people. Now in the Victorian era Britain was a new modern country with little infrastructure no railways, no canals it started to build them using imported labour "navvies" The conditions that those navvies worked in were appalling. If you want to look at present day Britain how many Poles, Bulgarians and Romanians work in chicken factories, fruit and vegetable farms living in poor quality overcrowded housing conditions

Clearly if you highlight an unbalanced report without putting it into context then you may get a story it doesnt mean that story is right

As for a country clamping down on its citizens it is very difficult for anyone over her to judge certainly not Conn UNLESS he has been to the country discussed the situation with all parties concerned and then delivered his comments. Rather than taking a report from one organisation and making unsubstantiated claims about our owner why not do a proper investigative piece of journalism

Why not look at all owners of all clubs and their past histories you very rarely become a billionaire without having some skeletons in some cupboards. I would love to know all the history of Abramovich, Glazers, Ashley Kronke etc I bet there would be a few Thai sweatshops Russian mafia hits etc in their past but hopefully nothing as bad as selling bad meat to schoolkids that would be just too disgusting

[patrickblue]

Excellent post and another example why people should listen more to posters opinions who live or have lived in a country that's the topic of conversation.

Indeed an excellent post, and that's why I specifically asked for the views of people either living or who had lived in the UAE.

[Arjan Van Schotte]

Indeed an excellent post, and that's why I specifically asked for the views of people either living or who had lived in the UAE.

Of course, it could be argued that those living in the UAE can't be critical without risking arrest?

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Indeed an excellent post, and that's why I specifically asked for the views of people either living or who had lived in the UAE.

Of course, it could be argued that those living in the UAE can't be critical without risking arrest?

Oh please

[Arjan Van Schotte]

Oh please

A whole host of NGOs (not just western) have noted the increasing clampdown on free speech in the UAE. Have they made a mistake?

Look, there seem to be 2 discussions going on here.

1. It's none of our business/I don't care. Well fair enough.

2. Everything said about the UAE is lies. Well, if you don't believe me, amnesty int, HRW, and all the other NGOs, then go do your own research and make your own mind up.

[daveh1962]

Oh please

A whole host of NGOs (not just western) have noted the increasing clampdown on free speech in the UAE. Have they made a mistake?

Look, there seem to be 2 discussions going on here.

1. It's none of our business/I don't care. Well fair enough.

2. Everything said about the UAE is lies. Well, if you don't believe me, amnesty int, HRW, and all the other NGOs, then go do your own research and make your own mind up.

What an absolute crock of **** nobody from what I have read has taken such a stance its all about trying to put some balance and context into the argument

[Arjan Van Schotte]

What an absolute crock of **** nobody from what I have read has taken such a stance its all about trying to put some balance and context into the argument

Yeah fair enough dave, Some have done that, was just attempting to conclude my contributions as we're going round in circles a bit now.

[brite blu sky]

What an absolute crock of **** nobody from what I have read has taken such a stance its all about trying to put some balance and context into the argument

Yeah fair enough dave, Some have done that, was just attempting to conclude my contributions as [strike]we're[/strike] I'm going round in circles [strike]a bit now[/strike] since looking into this.

there you go fixed it for ya. no fee, ta.