On Feb 15 we wrote a post about “Preserving UAE National Identity” and the launch of a campaign we called “Emiratians” , we still have this campaign in our plan and we will hopefully launch it in December 2010. What triggered this today was an article published in Foreign Policy titled “Dubai Goes Legit”, Also Local UAE News Magazine mentioned it ….
Is Dubai living an identity crisis??
Here are some quotes of what was written in the article to start a discussion.
It is a place that has avoided the religious and tribal conflicts of its neighbors while pursuing a single-minded foreign policy.
Dubai, an emirate with seven times more expatriates than locals, is going through a major identity crisis.
It’s easy to forget that Dubai is a conservative Islamic emirate, with a set of rules to match.
What is new is the increasing lack of identity many Emiratis feel in their own country.
the UAE’s 800,000 citizens “are lost” among millions of expats
I don’t know about you but reading all of this just upsets me. Not that its not true, but the fact that its happening and we are letting it, depresses me more. With the Emiratains campaign inshalla we will be able to increase awareness between both Emiratis and Non-Emiratis, and also change the feeling of being “alienated”. We are lacking our “Emirati values”, and we are having alot of cultural misunderstanding. Don’t you think its about time to do something to be able to reply on such articles?
“Who Am I? Who Are You?”
