Dubai: A Cosmopolitan City, Unless You’re Jewish

Aaron Keyak — February 18, 2009 – 5:40 pm | Foreign Policy | Israel Comments (2) Add a comment

Today, the Wall Street Journal has a great piece titled, “Dubai Double Fault.” The article makes an obvious but important observation, “A city-state that fancies itself a global mecca for commerce, sport and recreation ought to be able to handle a few Jews in its cosmopolitan midst.”

Sometimes we forget that there are still internationally recognized and respected metropolitan centers of commerce who feel this way about Jews. It’s unbelievable, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Praise Dubai. The Arab city-state, once fabled for its real-estate extravaganzas (and now for its extravagant debts), claims to be so concerned for the personal security of an Israeli tennis player that it is refusing her a visa to play in a championship tournament. Maybe next time the emirate will generously extend this security guarantee to all Israeli citizens.

Oh, wait: Dubai already forbids Israeli passport holders from setting foot on its soil. Which gives the lie to the emirate’s excuse for excluding Israel’s Shahar Pe’er, currently ranked 45 in the world, from competing in next week’s Barclay’s Dubai Tennis Championships. In another twist, the tournament’s director added that Ms. Pe’er’s presence on the court might have “antagonized our fans.” We used to feel that way about John McEnroe, but that didn’t stop us from watching.

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