A UK-based journalist was ordered to remove her “Palestine” t-shirt or be denied boarding on her Etihad flight at Abu Dhabi Airport, a reminder of the lack of free speech in the Gulf emirate.
UK Journalist Finds There Are No Free Speech Rights In Abu Dhabi Airport
Leyla Hamed was questioned over her “Palestine” t-shirt, which she claims she always wears when traveling to show her support for the Palestinian cause and opposition to Israel.
After ignoring a more polite request to remove her shirt, she was told she could not fly without changing her top. When asked to justify why she had to remove the shirt, she was told it might make other passengers “uncomfortable.”
Those who know me know I always wear Palestine t-shirts when I’m traveling. They have become my airport outfit.
I just came back from South Korea and Japan. No problems at all — quite the opposite.
A Korean photographer even asked me for some photos in Jeju when wearing this. pic.twitter.com/cVIGGsv1VO
— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) September 26, 2024
She said the reason was because the logo was written in Arabic (it literally says Palestine) and it was not allowed at the airport.
Then she said it could make other airport passengers feel “uncomfortable”.
I have no words. pic.twitter.com/kM6sBX87Y9
— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) September 26, 2024
As View From The Wing notes, all public protest is banned in the United Arab Emirates. So is public criticism of the government, its policies, and officials (including the monarch). There’s some irony that this happened in a “Muslim” country, but its rulers view public protest as a threat to stability.
People ask me all the time why I leave hateful comments up on my blog and the answer is simple: the answer to speech is more speech. Rather than hide from the hate and ignorance that exists in this world, whitewashing it as if it does not exist, I prefer to leave it for everyone to see…and that is not even a commercial decision (I think the liberal comments policy here turns more readers away than draws them in), but a moral conviction.
I don’t support Hamed’s point of view and think she displays bigotry by complaining about the in-flight map:
I’m traveling with Etihad Airways (owned by Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ) and this is what I see pic.twitter.com/gNbcoCJj5y
— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) September 26, 2024
(she should fly JetBlue instead…)
Is she really upset that Tel Aviv is displayed? Bigot indeed.
But hateful bigots should be allowed to voice their opinions too, especially in public places like airports.
It’s not for me to tell the United Arab Emirates or Abu Dhabi how to regulate speech…but the effect of refusing to let Hamed wear her innocuous “Palestine” t-shirt was a whole lot of worldwide negative media scrutiny. Hamed may not come out looking good, but neither do the officials in Abu Dhabi…
Finally, I cannot help but remark here that I am heartened to see Israel expand its defensive efforts to Lebanon and do not think, at least not yet, that the Middle East is spiraling out of control. Rather, I believe this is a reckoning long overdue. Enough of the days of rockets launched into Israel from the Iranian-backed terrorist organization we call Hezbollah. It’s time to eliminate that threat once and for all. Don’t think that is possible? Look at Germany and Japan today. Let Iran be afraid that if it does not stop funding terrorism, it will be the next target. Not with ground troops, but with the sort of pager and walkie-talkie-like maneuvers of 21st-century war that can inflict immense damage and fear while greatly reducing the risk of collateral damage.
“Is she really upset that Tel Aviv is displayed? Bigot indeed.”
But you have yet to call out people who erase the West Bank and Gaza off of maps as bigots…
I will right here. Bigots as well!
There’s no such thing as the West Bank. That is a fiction created by the Jew-haters like Alert. There is, however, Judea and Samaria in that same geographic area.
Oh look Matthew, someone who is bigoted.
Also, thinking that Israel’s actions in Lebanon is solely about Hizbullah when Bibi is displaying maps at the UN showing the “new Middle East” as already having south Lebanon annexed into Israel, rightwing Israeli groups already naming settlements in south Lebanon, and both the West Bank and Gaza wiped from the map is hilarious and certainly not bigoted.
Let the peace-loving people of the world rejoice that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is dead.
@Matthew … Yep . I toasted the IDF this morning with champagne . IDF has come back Roaring : The Lion of Judah .
So you’re ok with Israel annexing other countries, bombing civilians, etc?
@Aaron … Regarding the terrorists , their train has departed , hopefully to lay low for a good long time .
Iran and everyone else respects Israel’s talented “Special Operations” and coordination .
Good to know you are ok with a genocidal apartheid regime’s colonizing expansion policies.
STFU Aaron
Make me. I dare you.
You MAGA Daddy will when he puts his manhood in your eager mouth.
Thats clearly your fantasy, not mine, since you keep bringing it up.
I keep bringing it up because it’s true, and funny.
Yeah, sure, that’s the reason lol
The number of anti-Semites, Jew-haters, and terrorist-lovers who are commenting – whether out of sheer hatred, unfettered ignorance, or likely a combination of both – is despicable. There are box seats reserved in hell, probably right next to the Hitler Suite, for all of these folks.
If anyone here is a bigot it’s you.
It gets better and better . Nasrallah is believed to have been watching Netanyahu’s address to the U.N. at the time of the well-aimed attack . Never has the choreography of a speech + action been more prescient . Netanyahu ought to receive Concurrent awards of an Oscar And a Heisman .
And a trial for being a war criminal.
@Aaron … likely in a “kangaroo court” , if it ever occurs , which is very doubtful . Heads of state during a war do what they need to do .
Nah, he can get the Slobodan Milošević treatment. Deservedly so.
No one will miss Nasrallah … and the IDF didn’t miss him either .
You all realize that Iran’s neighbors hate them, right?
Especially the UAE so this is hardly surprising.
Meanwhile…it’s become apparent that Bibi is currently the leader of The Free World.
Joe has zero idea where he is and has ZERO influence.
Which also makes a potential Kamala administration neutered before she even takes office.
@JH … +1 . Yep . The Arabs have distrusted them ever since they supported Iraq in the conquering of Kuwait . When Kuwait recovered Kuwait , Kuwait’s first act was to expel the Palestinians .
And Palestinians are now allowed back into Kuwait, and the Kuwaiti government provides aid to the Palestinians.
The Emiratis and Saudis establishment figures have long been extensively bigoted against Shias. It’s been a feature of the region even well before 1979. But they have also long been biased against: anything that even has the scent of democracy and democratic rights for Muslims regardless of religious denomination; and opposed to local or regional power centers that have a populist element.
The national aspirations of Palestinians have never been a primary interest of the Gulf countries’ rulers. Just an exploitable cause at times for some of them, but they have very much willing to throw them under the bus and done so in various ways over the decades.
Last I check most Palestinians are actually Sunni. More the reason I always thought Iran was just using them as suckers.
Netanyahu is a rogue, a violator of international law, and a war criminal — and as such it is no surprise that war-monger Netanyahu was a sort of useful idiot in the growth of the very Hamas and Hezbollah which he now finds useful to fight so as to keep himself in power and illegally grab more land for Israelis.
I think you give him far too much credit.
But that is exactly what he is doing.
@GU … Netanyahu is a patriot , who administers payback to the enemies . Good for him .
Netanyahu was literally a very material supporter of Hamas within the last 25 months.
And Netanyahu is better than Nasrallah? Former US ambassador to Israel,Martin Indyk( jewish himself),stated Bibi plays martyr to a conflict he manufactured….Isn’t this a travel blog? Gotta give Ben credit per se.
Yes, he is.
And you’re being a bit of a stereotype yourself with your German heritage,…Churchill said Germans are either at your feet,or at your throat.
Matthew is a zionist, if nothing else.
The origin of this conflict and the 75 years of violence, is Israel. Matt and Bibi think they can kill their way out — they’re wrong.
We’ll see.
From your text to g*ds eyes! G*d wiling. And the sooner the better.
Matthew, see what? You won’t be satisfied until all blood is shed? What a silly reductive response.
War is not pretty. Sometimes war is just.
But apparently, resistance to occupation isn’t.
If you believe 10/07 was a “just” resistance to West Bank occupation, then I do not see a point in continuing the discussion.
So in your opinion, what is a just resistance to the occupation that imcludes killing, razing villages, etc? Basically all the stuff I listed below?
@Aaron: repelling, at any cost necessary, those occupiers…from the land. If someone shows up at my house and tries to break in, they will die. Full stop. But I won’t chase them down the street. I’ve even called for chopping off the hands of those “smash and grab” thugs in the USA who break into stores. I believe in private property and that includes for Palestinians.
The problem of 10/07 was that Hamas crossed into Israel and killed/raped civilians deliberately. 10/07 cannot remotely be viewed as an act of self-defense. It was an act of desperation to prevent KSA from normalizing relations with Israel.
The problem continues to be that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, which is why the blood is on their hands, not on Israel. The blood of every dead Israeli and Palestinian since 10/07 is on Hamas. You cannot blame new West Bank settlements for 10/07.
While the cause for a war may be considered just and give rise to call a war a just war, that doesn’t mean any and all included war crimes and other illegal activities by the belligerents in a “just war” are just. If so, then the terrorism from Hamas, Hezbollah and other anti-Israeli militants can just as easily try to claim the banner of “just war” when their war terrorizes civilian populations and is but politics by other means. I don’t want to see the world backslide even more on the rules of the game set up based on the lessons of World War 2 and the Holocaust — there has already been too much of that and it is where the world goes when rogues rule.
Sadly, these Jew-haters and assorted anti-Semites seem to forget that the genesis of the current conflict is that Iran-supported Hamas terrorists (whose very constitution calls for genocide of all Jews) murdered over 1200 innocent civilians at a PEACE music festival, kidnapped 251 innocent civilians, raped and mutilated grandmothers and then paraded their mutilated bodies down the streets of Gaza to the raucous cheers of Jew-hating animals.
Unless and until these Jew-haters start their screed with an acknowledgement of this FACT, and also call for the release of the remaining 100+ hostages (all of whom have either been mistreated, starved, and some killed, all in violation of the Geneva conventions that they like to raise when they think that Israel is the perpetrator), they need to shut their pie-holes.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp [if the link is missing, google “Hamas Covenant” and the document, as hosted on Yale University’s server, should appear as the first result]
I don’t know if links will post, but if they do, these folks should read the Hamas Covenant, their constitution, and see who they are really supporting. Of course, since most of these folks are Jew-haters like Hamas and Iran, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if many have read the Hamas Covenant and simply shrugged it off, since they largely agree with the anti-Semitism embodied in that vulgar document.
“I cannot help but remark here that I am heartened to see Israel expand its defensive efforts to Lebanon and do not think, at least not yet, that the Middle East is spiraling out of control.”
Being heartened to see the number of CIVILIANS slaughtered to DEATH and shreds in TWO nations now because Israel gets away with it is so sick that I wonder how you can call yourself a man who knows Jesus Christ. You sicken me. This also shocks our church.
Women. Children. Unborn babies in the womb. Why? Because of the BLAST THEM ALL to get one or two terrorists. NO OTHER NATION in the WORLD could so this. YOU ARE THE SICK BIGOT.
Sick sick sick.
You are not a Christian.
Jesus does not defend this.
Stop reading UA’s menu and start reading the New Testament.
Mark, any critically thinking person can easily distinguish between a celebration of hostilities aimed at ending violence and the death of civilians.
World War II was rough as well…but sometimes difficult and deadly work has to be done in order to save more lives…and to protect and defend those who you have been entrusted to serve, the primary function of government.
You minimize what happened on 10/07 and sickeningly reduce Israel’s efforts as getting “one or two terrorists.” Sick sick sick. Imagine rockets coming down in your backyard and your daughter being raped and murdered.
Thankfully, it is not you who determines who is a Christian. I’d invite you to stop fashioning a God in your own image…
Read Romans 13. Read Augustine and Aquinas. Or even the words of Jesus that you (likely) twist to serve your own warped ethic. Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.
Ok, but aren’t you minimizing everything that happened before 10/07 and after? Nothing about the Palestinians – male and female, so imagine it’s your sons as well, not just your daughters – being raped in Israeli jails and detention centers? Or the settler violence -with the IDF blessing, protection, and participation in many cases – against people in the occupied West Bank? The razing of Palestinian villages and expulsions of it’s occupants? The killing of it’s occupants if they refuse to leave? The burning of Palestinian farms and poisoning of Palestinian livestock? The slaughtering of Palestinians marching peacefully along the Gaza border in 2018? The diversion of water supplies from Palestinian areas and villages to Jewish settlements? You honestly think Jesus would approve of all of that? I doubt he would.
I don’t mean to minimize what has happened before…any of the things you mention. I’ve said numerous times that I do not support settlements in the West Bank, Gaza, or southern Lebanon.
I think anyone who rapes should be executed, Israeli, Palestinian, or otherwise.
We are called to be peacemakers and that does involve compromise and occasionally turning the other cheek while not neglecting our duty to protect and defend those that have been entrusted to us.
I support Israel to the extent that I believe a stable Israel is in the best interest of everyone in the region and the USA/West. The sooner KSA and other Gulf nations recognize Israel, the sooner these nations can work together toward a viable homeland for the Palestinian people that begins with recognition of Isarel’s right to exist and the right to Palestinians to live without fear, at least without fear of Israel.
Palestinians have had opportunity after opportunity for peace and a recognized homeland but have not taken advantage of it, to their great detriment. The violence will continue until terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah lay down their arms.
“homeland” is a pipe dream , a fiction … used to assuage Western liberals at the NYT .
It can never happen due to deep and insurmountable hatreds .
Meanwhile, today, it’s reported that Iran is choosing not to respond and is quiet in their rhetoric and threats. Why? Because the West is finally in. position of strength after decades of being terrorized by savages around the world.
It’s about time they get the message. It is the unfortunate truth that diplomacy doesn’t always work. Especially when dealing with radical religious extremists who groom suicide bombers and promise virgins in heaven. The price is high, no doubt, but over the decades ahead this will be a defining moment of when we finally silenced Iran and their proxies and created a safer world for generations. The lives we saved will be far greater.
“… the West is finally in a position of strength … ”
Because of one man : Netanyahu .
Because of one nation : Israel .
He is opposed by the terrorists , And by the weaklings undermining the West .
Perhaps you should reconsider your no-holds-barred support for the Putin-loving Trump if you really care about “the strength” of “the West”.
Iran’s nuclear weapons options are unfortunately expanding because of Russia and, sort of ironically, because of Israel.
Israel is really no reliable US ally either, but it never has been with Likudniks running the show. And the idea of Israel strengthening “the West” gets undermined by the Likudnik warmongering and Israel’s coveting of lands that are and/or will be illegally occupied by Israel,
In fact I’m a Harris supporter. Just an FYI. Don’t assume that everyone supporting a position of strength in the Middle East is somehow a right wing MAGA dude.
Even in the Dem majority state of Hawaii , it is difficult to find an admitted “Harris supporter” .
Harris is not , and never will be , part of the intelligentsia .
Why ? Because she lacks the ingredient of intelligence .
I was replying to Alert. I had already read your claim that you were a Democrat in the Adams piece.
Ditto, Antwerp. I am very much a Zionist to my core (albeit with some reservations about Bibi, as I would have voted for Yair Lapid), and very much a mainstream Democrat who will be voting for VP Harris as soon as my ballot arrives. Most of my friends are democrats, and almost all of them are staunchly pro-Israel. While the MAGAts have really tried to make Israel a partisan issue, it never was until about a decade ago. Until then, support for Israel was not just bipartisan, but nonpartisan as well.
Harris is ridiculous .
As a westerner who believes in free speech including speech I dislike, I am inclined to side with her, but this isn’t my country and rules are rules.
The UAE is an authoritarian state which invests heavily in having the tools for a totalitarian state and in spreading corruption. This is how they try to lock in the very power dynamics which are relevant to the wealth of the ruling establishment figures and their preferred peons.
The fact that the girl’s T shirt includes the entirety of Israel in ‘Palestine’ tells me all I need to know about her.
Yes, certainly a bigot. She should be allowed to wear her shirt, though.
Depends what is under the shirt , no ?
If it is good , take the shirt off .
Hamed is another of Khamenei’s useful idiots.
If a person’s ancestors and their community lived for several continuous centuries across the lands of a country later recognized under international law as a new country for a different community, is it really bigoted for the former to think that land belongs to the former’s community at least as much or more to those who lived there for centuries in continuity than it belongs those who believe it belongs to their community but not to the other community despite the latter’s own ancestors or they themselves having migrated there in this century or the last from other continents and/or several hundred miles away?
If you see a descendant of an Algonquin or an Ojibwa with a map of much or all of the Americas marked as “Indian country”, what is your reason for viewing that as bigoted if it is deemed to be bigoted?