In the Middle East, religion isn’t what you believe, it’s what you are.
Some discussion I read once said that yes, if you have the temerity to say “atheist” on the application then logically you are not welcome in God’s country. Since the detail “religion” is important, are you applying to get denied a visa to make a point, or do you want to get in? I don’t recall that they ask for any proof of current status, but I’ve never applied to get in (unless you count Tiran Island, which technically is a disputed no-man’s land. For that, from Egypt, they just wanted passport information, not religion.)
On application to extend my Dubai business visa I was asked what religion I was by a young woman processing my application. I was expecting the question as I had been forewarned but actually being asked and hearing the question stumped me and I hesitated and stammered a bit.
She just smiled and said she would put me down as christian. I asked if there was an option for secular humanist and she said no.
Yeah, my first thought was that the answer to the OP is “the color of your money’s the same in Dubai as any other tourist”.
But why would you think they might not be welcome? :dubious: Like there are no countries with a large number of official and unofficial antisemitic stances amongst a large part of their population. It iIsn’t out of the question to just wonder if Dubai is one of them.
Things have improved since my last visit to the Middle East. The circumcision exam seemed kinda intrusive to me a few years ago.
A relative of mine worked in Dubai for about 6 months. He mentioned that the border control agent made some kind of joking, but not hostile, reference to his “German” (i.e. obviously Jewish) name, and he didn’t have any trouble during his stay.
If you have an Israeli stamp on your passport or an Israeli passport, you will not be allowed into any state that does not recognize Israel.
That being said, Bahrain is the only Gulf state with a synagogue and the Bahrain ambassador to the US is Jewish so your best bet might be there
Yemen once had a massive Jewish community but only a thousand is remain. Anyway, DONT VISIT YEMEN!
There are a few other tiny Jewish communities in the Mideast’s Arab states.
if you are staying in a place where the staff don’t mind if you’re American, you’re probably fine.
Remember that Saudi Arabia (and probably other Gulf states) are strict about non Islamic religious objects. If you have a siddur in you’re bag you might be fine, but if you’re wearing a shtreimel or a giant magen david, you will not be let in.
:dubious:
You do know that Muslims consider Jews to be “people of the book” so would probably treat them decently.
Longshanks- the issue the Saudis (who follow the quite strict Wahabbi form of Islam) have is that while they do allow private religious expression by people of the book, they forbid organized services and outward religiousity because they are worried about proselytization. (which is silly as Judaism forbids proselytizing). In my limited knowledge of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and sharia, the Saudi Wahabbi stance is a fairly new form of fundamentalism that ignores the spirit of the Koran and the Hadith, especially given that Jewish communities thrived for hundreds of years under Islamic states. (same goes for salafism)
Well in the OP Dubai was mentioned which is in the UAE not Saudi Arabia but as for other countries in the middle east they may also do as SA do.
Apparently one of the searches now for people entering the Dome of the Rock/Temple Mount grounds, is that they not be carrying a bible. They have had numerous instances (s I read) of groups holding noisy and obnoxious prayer sessions and disrupting the site.
What does that have to do with anything?
Don’t keep up much on current events, say for the last 60 years or so, do you? Unless this is a feeble attempt at a “whoosh”?
Nothing, but for a quick hijack, he has a valid point.
It was either the Bibles had to go or the piles of rocks to throw down periodically at the people praying or visiting below. Throwing rocks is quieter, relatively, and it surely is not “obnoxious.”
Sorry I don’t know how to do a quote reply (I’m a forum newbie), but the Dome of the Rock/Temple mount issue is not the result of Muslim action. The Israeli government gives control of all Islamic holy sites to the Waqf and it is illegal under Israeli law (thy also got the Chief Rabbi to issue a rabbinic prohibition against ascending the Temple Mount). The Israelis don’t allow Jews on the temple mount to outwardly pray because it could incite Muslims (see the 2nd Intifada).
This is quite wrong in detail and in general. I violate customary courtesies here, I admit, by not fighting ignorance actively. Since you are a newbie, which is cool, and this is GQ, I’ll respond with an old standby:
Cite?
If you want to quote a post: there is a button on the bottom right of any post, helpfully labeled “quote”. Click on that and your “reply” window will include the post. It is considered good form to edit it down so only relevant parts are quoted (that is, don’t quote the whole post unless it’s very short); very bad form to modify or rephrase what you’re quoting (sometimes people will format things for emphasis and say so in their own posts).
If you want to quote several posts: there is a button to the right of the “quote” button, with a + on it. Click on this button for the first post you want to quote, then for the second… and click on “quote” for the last one. The reply window this opens will contain all those posts.
If you want to provide a link to something else in the web:
- open what you want to link to in another tab,
- write the text that you want to turn into a link,
- copy the address of the thing you want to link to into your clipboard (ctrl+c works in most languages)
- there is a button above the “reply” window which looks like a Planet Earth and two chain links. Click on it, paste the address (ctrl+v works in most languages).
You don’t seem to be able to differentiate Jews from Israelis, because its with the latter that most middle eastern countries tend to have a problem with ya know because how they treat Palestine.
Given that a European woman visiting Dubai was recently briefly jailed for having sex outside of marriage after reporting that she was raped, I don’t think it’s odd that people are wondering what other ways the laws in the country are more like those of its neighbor Saudi Arabia than like Western laws.