A UAE newspaper called the National ran a story written by Saleh al Shaibany about media censorship in Oman (link), which to my surprise quotes me a couple of times in a manner that suggests that I was interviewed for this article. I did not know about my mention in this article, I clicked the link on Twitter and was surprised to see my name there.

I was not interviewed for this article and my quotes were taken out of context from a number of posts I have written in the past. Saleh al Shaibany never got in touch with me prior to the publication of this article. I do not agree with or support the opinions mentioned in this article.

In the post from which my second quote was taken I argued that that the government in Oman, unlike neighboring countries, does not in fact censor the internet on political grounds, as it relies instead of legal methods, such as the criminal law or breach of confidence, to prosecute the authors. Controversial websites that criticize government officials and those that leak confidential documents are still open the public. My post made it clear that the problem of censorship in Oman is due to random acts of Omantel and the inefficiency of the company. My other blog was blocked by mistake and not because of its content.

I am very upset about this whole experience. Any reasonable reader would think that I was interviewed for this article and that I am in support of the message behind it. I am very disappointed to see my quotes used out of context without any reference to where they were taken from.

I emailed the editor of The National and the head of the Foreign Desk at the paper. I’m still waiting for the response.

I am not really sure of what I think of it now, this was the very first event I attend of this sort, the first Arabic symposium/workshop that I go to… and I did not like it, I can’t deny the fact that I did learn something about electronic agreements and arbitration, but all the time that was spent talking about random stuff, going out of topic, kissing ass, planning projects that will never see the day of light, and just all the waste of time that took place, it made me very irritated. I hated it.

I studied contract law, but I was shocked by how the majority of the group had a different perspective to the matter in question, there were a lot of Saudi judges, some Egyptian legal people, some Iraqis, etc, and I couldn’t understand why they all cared so much about definitions, labels, and language, when what we need to discuss it is the MATTER of the law. It was so sickening to hear all the random ‘Arkan’ and ‘Aqsam’ of the contract, if I had a reason to look down the Arabic methods of education, then I surely found it last week.

On the brighter side, Dubai was awesome. I loved it. There is something magical about being about to walk down the street, to be able to plug-in your earphones, play a song, and walk in the early morning when the sun is bright and the air is a little bit chilly, to just be able to stand still and take a very deep breath in… it was perfect.

The event was held in Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry which was on the creek of Dubai in Deira, I stayed in a little hotel close by and I was able to walk to to the place, go across the busy street and then walk by all the yachts on the bay of the creek. Here are some photos I took…