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Emirati writer and poet Dhabia Khamis said that her country’s authorities prevented her from traveling abroad, apparently because of her position on normalizing relations with Israel.
Social media leaders, as well as a number of Arab media outlets, circulated a Facebook post attributed to the author, in which she says that the UAE authorities prevented her from traveling from Dubai International Airport to Cairo on Saturday 26 September.
Khamis, 62, said that officials at Dubai International Airport did not explain why she was banned from traveling.
The post attributed to Khamis said: “I am the Emirati writer, Dhabiya Khamis, and I was banned from traveling today by order issued from Abu Dhabi without giving reasons, and mostly for my declared positions against Zionism and normalization.”
Khamis called on human rights organizations to hold the UAE accountable for “any oppression, arrest, assassination or liquidation” it is facing.
“I fear for my freedom and my life from threats and arrest,” added Khamis, a former diplomat.
The UAE and Bahrain signed an agreement sponsored by the United States to normalize relations with Israel on September 15, in a historic shift in the Gulf region.
A number of activists launched a campaign with the slogan “Emiratis against normalization,” declaring their position rejecting the government’s decision to normalize relations with Israel.
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https://www.bbc.com/arabic/middleeast-54320320
