Zionuts vs. the UAE

Though far from an objective piece of journalism, the Gulf News reported:

Ignorance about the UAE and anti-Arab racism are behind efforts to stop an American university from opening a campus in Dubai, say UAE academics.

As a note, journalists can add "so-and-so says" after anything to distance themselves from points they want to make, according to media critics.

The University of Connecticut came under pressure from state legislators about its plans with the Dubai Education Council (DEC) to establish a satellite campus in Dubai. Pro-Israel politicians and interest groups cited the UAE's 'human rights record' and its policy against normalization with Israel.

Connecticut legislator Andrew Fleischmann said the UAE must change "the way it deals with Israel" and improve the situation of its rights-less foreign workers. Maybe the UAE should open a branch of the Minutemen, oh wait, the foreign workers there have legal status, unlike some, uh hum, places Fleischmann lives in, like the United freaking States (with 12 million undocumented people - contrasted with the 4.5 million people total in the UAE).

Fleischmann argued that "many" Israeli students (who make up .03 %) and faculty members (zero currently) at UConn would be unable to benefit from it if the UAE continued to deny them entry. UConn agreed that it was "extremely important" that Israeli students had access.

Of course, the legislators did not take into consideration one of the primary reasons gulf states are trying to build satellite campuses: post-9/11 restrictions and a generally anti-Arab climate are making it much more difficult for Arabs to come here as international students. According to Randa Kayyali,

What has dropped drastically post-9/11 is the number of nonimmigrants who are issued visas and admitted to the United States as tourists, students, or temporary workers. The largest numerical drop between 2000 and 2004 (70 percent) has been in the number of tourist and business visas issued to individuals from Gulf countries, which include Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman.

It seems a balanced Connecticut legislature would address this discriminatory dynamic, if they care about equality so much.

I am not dead set against the legislature pressuring UConn, as long as decisions are based along the lines of human rights rather than policy towards Israel. Firstly, I think we need to pressure Arab countries to improve their human rights practices. The condition of foreign workers is awful.

Secondly, this would be a great precedent for divestment from Israel. If UConn said it will not do business with countries that keep large portions of second class citizens devoid of rights, Israel would fare much worse than the UAE under such scrutiny. While there is exploitation of foreign workers in the UAE, they are far better off than the Palestinians living under the apartheid-like siege of Israeli occupation. Then again, it appears the legislators are much more bent out of shape over the UAE's policy towards Israel than they are about its human rights record.