From Becky Bonarek: Two Britons were arrested this July in Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for having sex on the beach. Literally. Charged with sex outside marriage, public indecency, and drunkenness, the two were sentenced to three months in jail and a $270 fine for their indiscretions after an all-you-can-drink champagne brunch. They deny ever having sex, and their lawyer is appealing, but just how far their claim will get is anyone's guess. In a country caught between the desire to Westernize, keep up with the Jones, and the pressure from its conservative Arab neighbors, such an event can only serve to exacerbate the tensions. The U.A.E. will definitely feel the U.K. breathing down its neck in the future, trying to get its citizens merely deported from the country; it will also hear outcry from more conservative countries, saying that they should have received the maximum sentence of two years in jail. Not only is this issue interesting from a state-to-state standpoint but also a culture-to-culture standpoint. One must realize that when one travels in a foreign country with values as different as going from the fairly liberal U.K. to the comparatively conservative U.A.E., one is under the foreign country's rule of law. That means, if Country X believes holding hands with someone of the opposite sex is utterly wrong, then don't hold hands with someone of the opposite sex! If one visits another country, then one should remember to abide by its rules, just like a guest would in someone else's house. Respect should come above all else.
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