Final Verdict: Guilty As Charged
The British ‘beach sex’ couple that’s been at the center of so much media attention recently is off the hook. The Dubai Court of Appeals dropped their three month prison sentences, deciding instead to ship them off immediately. Michelle Palmer, the once Dubai resident who reportedly threw things including racial slurs at the authorities, mistakenly thinks she and her friend have been vindicated. Regarding the court’s ruling, she said: “It just proves our innocence after all the bad stuff that was written. That’s it.” What Ms. Palmer seems to have failed to understand is that the court upheld the guilty verdict handed down to her and Mr. Acors. The prosecution’s attempts to get the jail sentences increased were denied and for some reason, the court decided against any prison time at all choosing instead to deport the foreigners. I had said in a previous post that the two Brits deserved to be punished. I think that in some ways, the drama they’ve endured combined with their deportation is good enough – it sent out a message that needed to be heard.
Nevertheless, I can’t help but wonder whether this all ended the way it should have. The reason I say that is the apparent lack of remorse demonstrated by Ms. Palmer’s asinine comment. Either she doesn’t understand or does not care that she flouted various laws (assuming she is a bigot, there’s no reason she would care about the effects of her arrogant post-colonial mentality). Let me be clear – it doesn’t matter whether or not the two were having sex, even hugging and kissing in public is forbidden. I can’t understand what could possibly have allowed Ms. Palmer to think that she and her consort have been vindicated aside from a supreme sense of arrogance and a complete lack of regard for anything Dubai’s (Arab) authorities have to say. They don’t know jack anyways… a silly people, greedy, barbarous and cruel.
Ugh. What a vapid idiot. Know the laws of the country you’re visiting. If you are a resident and you are vehemently against such laws (though come ON, sex on the beach is illegal nearly everywhere), then protest against them, don’t flout them!
Flouting the laws *is* a form of protest.
“” Let me be clear – it doesn’t matter whether or not the two were having sex, even hugging and kissing in public is forbidden. “”
Can you see how the idea of forbidding such behavior is fundamentally illegitimate in a society based on secular-liberal principles?
Related point: Can you see how basing a society on something *other* than secular-liberal principles is fundamentally illegitimate?
“Let me be clear – it doesn’t matter whether or not the two were having sex, even hugging and kissing in public is forbidden.”
Anybody who thinks that two human beings should have their lives destroyed and go through the hell of prison over kissing in public is indeed “silly, barbarous and cruel.” I realize the color of these people’s skin makes it impossible for you to consider the possibility that these two are in fact innocent, but I think it is telling that the arresting officer never testified in court and the defense never had a chance to cross-examine and question him, at which point the truth may have come out. This would be considered a fundamental injustice anywhere, and really calls the credibility of the police and prosecution into question.
If you know anything about how the police operate, when they arrest you for one offense they have a tendency to tack on a whole lot of other offenses you may or may not be guilty of in an effort to destroy your credibility and to make you plead to a lesser offense. If you ever have the misfortune of experiencing police brutality, you will likely find yourself accused of “resisting arrest” and “assaulting a police officer.”
So when I hear this woman allegedly assaulted the cop with a shoe and said bad things about Islam, or that they had public sex (with their clothes on), that sounds like the kind of thing the police and prosecutors in an Islamic country would throw in to make a more powerful case. If she had really assaulted that cop, you can bet your ass they would be charging her with assault. The fact they blew a kiss out of all proportion but ignored an alleged attack against a cop speaks volumes.
joe – yes to both of your questions… Dubai is filled with hypocrisy.
sean – FYI, the color of my skin is not that much darker than theirs… While my opinions are not about me being racist, I can admit that I have some prejudices just like everybody else; they tend to be based in some sort of reality. I’m fortunate that I have not experienced police brutality, but I have had the misfortune of experiencing racism from the descendants of Imperialists. Perhaps my prejudice allows me to more readily accept the reports of demeaning slurs being used, and that an arrogant post-colonial mentality was behind their action (at least hers). As I’ve repeatedly stated, what I think is most worthy of punishment is the attitude.
As far as innocence and guilt are concerned, I’m only talking about facts: public displays of affection are illegal; they broke that law. I have issues with this law and countless others like it, but that doesn’t matter. I also think the traffic laws in VA are ridiculous, but if one breaks them he/she pays the consequences.
“”I have had the misfortune of experiencing racism from the descendants of Imperialists.”"
Wait, who?
Descendants of the Caliphate?
The Mughals?
Mongolians?
Japanese?
Which empire, exactly?
News-flash: Historically speaking, nearly every state on the winning side of a power imbalance has tried using it for imperialism, up until very recently. The fact that the Western powers were the latest beneficiaries of that power balance during the most recent time-period prior to the global renouncing of most forms of colonialism is relevant in some ways, but not nearly so much as you think. When it comes down to it, most of us — of every color — are descendants of imperialists in some sense or another.
Kalash, what’s good. This is your boy Endangerspecwear. I agree that there should’ve been an extensive reprimanding of the couple. Although they were foreign, I think it sends the wrong message to the indigenous Dubai folk about the application of their laws by the govt. On the other hand, it was a total disrespect by the Brits. The woman, Palmer, shouldve known better.
The term Imperialism dates back to the mid 18th or 19th century; it was meant to describe the actions of dominant European powers (and Japanese, to a lesser extent). When I say Imperialists, I’m referring to the European powers who between the 18th and 20th centuries came to colonize most of the globe.