What was once a platform to broadcast trivialities has, in the last year or so, matured into a powerful global phenomenon. Read more »
Media
The heart of the UAE, captured by one photo
In an instant, through that iconic photo, Sheikh Mohammed channelled Sheikh Zayed’s lasting image and personality into the heart of every Emirati. Read more »
If you think Dubai is bad, just look at your own country
I recently figured that if British journalists such as Johann Hari (Tuesday, 7 April) who come to Dubai don’t send back something sensationalist it won’t get printed and they won’t get paid. After all, sleaze sells. I called a British journalist friend of mine and said: “I’m going to write an article about London, the same way your compatriots write about Dubai.” Read more »
Dubai, tennis and The Lord of the Rings
The next time you read a Dubai-bashing article in the western press, remember that there is potentially more accuracy in The Lord of the Rings – which took place in a world that never existed. Read more »
Of Arabs, Jews and an internet that never forgets
Technology doesn’t always work in one’s favour, which could be something very positive for governance in the Arab world as we lack even the basic understanding of transparency. For example, it may keep officials in check when they finally realise that their actions, intentional or not, are recorded for ever and can’t be undone. Who knows? Maybe, thanks to the internet, one-day corruption in the Middle East will once again become taboo, rather than practised in broad daylight. Read more »
Al Jazeera and the released terrorist’s birthday party
The problem with watching Al-Jazeera in Arabic isn’t just that the channel gives ample airtime to militants and terrorists to share their “perspective”, but because its conspiracy theories and controversies give the station so much influence on the easily-swayed Arab mindset. Read more »