As more countries in Europe are imposing the ‘Burqa Ban,’ activists in the Middle East in countries such as Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are interested in educating expatriates in their countries to follow a particular ‘dress code.’

The campaign  “UAE Dress Code” was initiated by two local residents of UAE, Hanan Al Rayes and Asma Al Muhairi. These women did not approve of what foreigners, especially other women, wore in the country and were outraged at the sight of their clothing. One of their recent tweets stated, “Whether you like it or not, this country has its own culture that should be respected & protected by its own people.”

Simultaneously, in Qatar, Najla Al Mahmoud is the founder of “One of Us”, another public awareness campaign on the similar issue. She hopes to educate expatriates on this issue, and make both men and women aware of the Qatari culture. She wants to get people of both genders to cover up between the shoulders and knees.  ”We are offended by this… but we are sure that people don’t know and we are sure that people will respect this. Why wouldn’t they? We want to educate them,” stated Al Mahmoud.

In the Gulf, most countries have the same dress code. Women are dressed in an ‘Abaya,’ a cloak like garment clad in black covering from head to toe, while men wear a white, ankle-length garment called a ‘Thobe/kandura’. Though this is traditional, Saudi Arabia is the only country with strict dressing rules. This applies especially to women; breaking the ‘dress code’ will have serious consequences. However, it is not mandatory in the other Gulf countries to stick to the traditional dress code.

In fact, since the campaigns started it has been discovered that there are loopholes in the constitutional article. For instance, Article 30 of the UAE Constitution states “Freedom of opinion and expressing it verbally, in writing or by other means of expression shall be guaranteed within the limits of the law.”   But doesn’t state what ‘other means’ indicate, like whether minimal clothing can be assumed to be freedom of opinion. There is absolutely no mention of ‘dress code’ anywhere in the articles for the UAE or Qatar, be it for local residents or for expatriates. Article 57 of Qatar Constitution states: “The respect of the Constitution, compliance with the laws issued by Public Authority, abiding by public order and morality, observing national traditions and established customs is a duty of all who reside in the State of Qatar or enter its territory.” But again no direct mention on clothing is mentioned, or what outfits are considered indecent.

While some argue that the laws on this matter are just petty, and also say that expatriates should abide by the customs of the country and respect the culture, a member of UAE Federal National Council (FNC), Hamad Al Rahoumi, thinks that public awareness merely is not enough because people can chose to ignore them. However, enforcing a law would mean people are less likely to breach it.

Khalid Al Ameri, an Emirati columnist and blogger, agrees. “Enforcing laws pertaining to clothes could prove difficult and arbitrary. For example, a woman may choose to wear shorts and a baggy T-shirt and find herself in violation of a hypothetical law, whereas another girl might come wearing tight stuff that reveals more than it covers, but complies with the dress code”, she stated.

“We want Qatar to be a place for everyone. Something in the middle, not too extreme and not too loose,” Al Mahmoud said. Rahoumi agreed. “We don’t want them to cover their face. (but), I don’t want to see the underwear… It is not suitable.” These were comments from some officials in both countries in support of the campaign.

The campaign has received a divided response from the foreigners residing in Qatar. While many think it is important to make the public aware of what the locals really feel, some think a public awareness campaign on something more productive and deadly such as smoking should be carried out, instead of how people dress.

People residing in the gulf have also stated that high end designer stores should start selling skirts and tops more ‘local area friendly,’ with longer length, sleeves and a not-too-deep neck. Now the question arises, are expatriates merely the ones deemed to dress inappropriately?

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The women of Saudi Arabia may have a chance of partaking in the London 2012 Olympics. Saudi Arabia is the last country to confirm the participation of  women in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board has met with the Saudi Olympic officials and said in a statement that it was “confident that Saudi Arabia is working to include women athletes and officials at the Olympic Games in London.”

Qatar, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia’s Olympic team only consisted of all-male teams in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Progress has been made, and the women of Qatar and Brunei are planning to compete this year. “Saudi Arabia is the last to hold out, denying women and girls the ability to take part in sports,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

“The clock is running out for Saudi women to join the games and for the international community to insist that the Saudi government allow women to participate.”

The Olympic Charter’s 6^th Fundamental Principle of Olympism has been considered violated by a statement made by Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal, the Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee. He stated, “Female sports activity has not existed in the kingdom, and there is no move thereto in this regard. At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics.” The Human Rights Watch has made it clear that discrimination under the means of gender is not in consensus with the Olympic movement.

Women taking part in a sport outside of the Olympics is an issue in the country itself. The government bans Saudi girls from physical education classes in state schools. Women are unable to have access to sports facilities, and private gyms created by women have been shutdown because of allegations that they were unlicensed.

Discrimination among the women of Saudi Arabia is not unfamiliar in their own cultural day-to-day lives. Saudi Arabia is considered one of the most oppressed Arab countries. Saudi Arabia is ruled by King Fahd Bin Abd Al-Aziz Al Saud and is a dynastic monarchy. Patrolling the country are secular security forces and the Mutawwa’in, the religious police.

The government allows the forces to treat citizens as they choose, resulting in torturous treatment. Democracy does not exist in the country, and the people have no voice in government. Freedom of religion is exempt, and citizens have to be Muslim. Citizens of America viewing what other countries endure on a daily basis would appreciate the luxury of freedom.

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been ranked as hosting the cleanest environment among the Gulf cooperative council countries (GCC) and the second best in the Middle East region according to World Environmental Performance Index (EPI) in a recent press release.

The surprise of this ranking is that the UAE has jumped from a 152^nd place in 2008, which was considered among the poorest scoring eco-friendly country in the world, to number 77 in 2012.

The other GCC rankings include Saudi Arabia (82^nd), Qatar (100^th), Oman (110^th) and Kuwait (126^th), while Bahrain is not including in the ranking. The EPI’s indicators and policies are evaluated in many categories such as Environmental Diseases, Water, Air Pollution, Biodiversity and Habitat, Forestry, Fisheries, Agriculture, Climate Changes.

Meanwhile, the UAE is ranked 27^th in The Pilot Trend Environmental Performance Index, a new tool launched this year to measure the eco-friendly inclinations in different countries.

The world’s top ranker in the index is Switzerland, while Iraq has the lowest ranking among the 132 included countries this year. The UAE is ranked one step after Egypt, which is the highest ranked among the Middle Eastern and Arab countries. This index is issued every year by Yale and Colombia University based on 22 environmental indicators and policies.

The local governments of each Emirate have started green polices in their governmental sectors and urge the private sector to take steps into eco-friendly policies as well to protect and develop the limited natural resource of the warm and humid weathered countries. These efforts focus mainly on reducing the energy and water consumption, as well as initiating sustainable waste management.

At the end of 2011, Abu Dhabi’s municipality introduced fines against spitting, disposing gums and throwing cigarettes in the streets as in an effort to save the clean environment in the city. These fines would also reduce the unaccepted behavior of certain communities in the city. These fines vary from 100 dirhams to 500 dirhams (27.22 to 136 USD).

In addition, the Urban Planning Council of Abu Dhabi urges all future villa owners to use an online tool to ensure that they plan their villas according to the green building code. This code aims to reduce the energy and water bills by 40% by urging villa owners to use alternative energy types and to increase green landscaping around their villas.

According to officials in The UAE’s Ministry of Environment and Water, the UAE plans to be a plastic bag free country by the end of 2013, to help reduce plastic consumption in the country. In collaboration with the ministry of Economy, both ministries urge all supermarkets and shops to give their customers biodegradable bags rather than plastic bags in order to reach this goal on the specified deadline.

The alternatives to plastic bags are made from recycled paper, jute or polycaprolactone which is easily biodegradable. Plastic bags on the other hand are known to be highly non-easily biodegradable, and can last for more than 100 years.

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The 2022 world cup will be held in Qatar as we all know.  I wonder if it would really surprise anyone who follows the FIFA governing body as of late that there are accusations alleging that the bid was awarded through corruption and bribes.

But that is not the only issue to consider here.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter was re-elected Wednesday amidst allegations of corruptions and will in fact serve out another 4 year term as president.

In his mind there is no crisis as he has been quoted saying, the problem is that many officials around the world are losing faith in the system…but then again he was re elected somewhat unopposed.  Blatter was cleared of all official allegations and continues his dictatorship so to speak.   Other still have to answer for their part in the corruption charges and a lot remains unanswered.

Jack Warner a FIFA executive committee member since 1983 was suspended due to these same allegations along with Mohamed bin Hamman.  After being suspended, Warner unleashed several allegations attacking the legitimacy of the world cup bidding and bidding for future events; money changing hands from President Blatter to Concacaf.  There are also allegations that gifts were handed out to 13 Caribbean football associations.

Warner sees his suspension as an attempt to secure Blatter’s re election and he promise to unveil many more secrets about this organization and this man whom he has known and worked with for a number of years.

FIFA’s image is forever tarnished by this internal squabble and many people have lost their jobs and hopefully many more will come to restore a level of confidence in the overall system.

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