<story><title>Why the Arrest of a Lebanese Doctor Should Terrify Every Visitor to the UAE</title><url>https://insidearabia.com/why-the-arrest-of-a-lebanese-doctor-should-terrify-every-visitor-to-the-uae/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dwater</author><text>It was the location of the movie &amp;quot;Sex and the City 2&amp;quot;. The UAE has put a huge effort into internationally branding themselves as a luxury tourism destination. I imagine there are loads of visitors who have no idea what the laws or legal system are like.</text></item><item><author>foobarian</author><text>As if anyone traveling to a place like that is not already terrified.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>apohn</author><text>&amp;gt;It was the location of the movie &amp;quot;Sex and the City 2&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;It wasn&amp;#x27;t filmed there.  It was filmed in Morocco and they just said it took place in Abu Dhabi.  The UAE government said they couldn&amp;#x27;t film there.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Sex_and_the_City_2#Filming&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Sex_and_the_City_2#Filming&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;It might seem like a random topic for me to know, but I lived in UAE for a portion of my life and the government is pretty mindful of having their name associated with some of the themes you&amp;#x27;d typically see with that particular TV series.  So I was quite surprised when they claimed it was Abu Dhabi, and not surprised that they actually filmed it elsewhere.</text></comment>
<story><title>Why the Arrest of a Lebanese Doctor Should Terrify Every Visitor to the UAE</title><url>https://insidearabia.com/why-the-arrest-of-a-lebanese-doctor-should-terrify-every-visitor-to-the-uae/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dwater</author><text>It was the location of the movie &amp;quot;Sex and the City 2&amp;quot;. The UAE has put a huge effort into internationally branding themselves as a luxury tourism destination. I imagine there are loads of visitors who have no idea what the laws or legal system are like.</text></item><item><author>foobarian</author><text>As if anyone traveling to a place like that is not already terrified.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dillondoyle</author><text>I can&amp;#x27;t find it.. but i read an article last week that went through how these oppressive governments are using sports (and their money) to build up their image. Russia did it before their first invasion. China did it twice with the olympics.&lt;p&gt;the use of sports and FIFA is an example of this.&lt;p&gt;*qatar not uae, is the absolute worst place to hold a giant soccer tournament. They have to use special AC units inside giant stadiums (built on deaths of lots of migrant workers) because it&amp;#x27;s a hot desert. But they claim they are still &amp;#x27;green&amp;#x27;&lt;p&gt;Saudi using art is an example too. They paid a ton of money to use the name Louvre even though their museum has nothing to do with the institution. ironically he refused to loan his $450 million &amp;#x27;da vinci&amp;#x27; to the real museum. Evidently sitting on a yacht hidden because good chance it&amp;#x27;s not by da vinci&amp;#x27;s hand.&lt;p&gt;As a queer person who loves to travel (or did before covid) there are some countries i just refuse to visit, despite the awesome cultural heritage. I know that citizens don&amp;#x27;t always necessarily agree, but many do. And I just can&amp;#x27;t support the expansion of authoritarianism - and potentially risk my life.</text></comment>