Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Taking Sides with Sharia?

I know, it sounds crazy. Especially when the story headline is "Brit facing jail for public sex in Dubai." Sounds like another one of those outrageous sharia stories.

Yet when you read further down in the piece, I'm not unsympathetic to the Dubai authorities. It seems that Brit ex-pat Michelle Palmer got drunk at a brunch, met some dude, went for a walk on the beach with him, and then went for it. So far so good.

But when a Dubai cop caught the beast with two backs, he gave them a warning and told them to cut it out. Pretty reasonable, actually. The cop kept walking his beat, and came back to find the pair having another go, right where he'd left them. Here's the Sun's description of what happened next:

Sources said Michelle, who works in Dubai for magazines firm ITP Publishing, launched an angry four-letter tirade after her second romp was halted.

She is alleged to have called the cop a f****** Muslim **** and tried to hit him with her high-heeled shoe before being restrained.


Two thoughts:

(1) Michelle kind of deserves whatever she gets out this, no? The Dubai police are talking about 3 to 6 months in jail and deportation. Does that really sound all that unfair for such behavior?

(2) Can you imagine the headlines if this had been an American girl? "One More Ugly American!" "More Wages of Bushism!" "Islamophobic Yanks Terrorize Another Middle Eastern Nation!"

4 comments:

Buget MMA Fan said...

The article says she's facing between 3 months and 6 years, plus deportation. Which while harsher than 3 - 6 months doesn't seem absurd given that she a) got a warning to stop and b) is charged with multiple offenses including assaulting a police officer.

Anonymous said...

What she did would be considered Disorderly Conduct in KY, which is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. Most of the time the defendant gets a fine or only a few days in jail, but the penalty is there if a judge wanted to use it.

As for deportation, it's their country, so it's their rules.

Dan said...

Good lord! Americans and Brits...what the hell is wrong with them? In my limited experience of foreign travel, Brits and Americans are the most obnoxious travelers. Besides...What a mutt!

Anonymous said...

You guys need to run more stories like this. FX