At the Gulf Film Festival in Dubai earlier this year, a segment of the event was devoted to short films and documentaries by rising young filmmakers in the region. Outstanding among the competitors was a group of young Emiratis from Dubai's Women's College, who scripted, directed, shot and edited their projects on almost non-existent budgets. In their films, the young women tackled previously taboo subjects such as today's exorbitant dowries and how they are driving Emirati men to marry foreigners; the surge in plastic surgeries among Arab and expatriate women and, more surprisingly, men; and young men's obsession with their cars.
What emerged was a picture of a generation of creative young women unafraid of challenging men's dominance in Emirati society. Whether this creativity will translate into success in the workplace and society in general remains to be seen, but the signs are encouraging. As reported by The National today, women in the UAE enjoy the highest level of equality with men in the Arab world today, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.
Dr Fatima al Sayegh, a professor of history and society at UAE University, said women have "worked hard and got what they deserved" in Emirati society, and praised the country's leaders who have continuously supported women's empowerment. "The leadership has been so keen for women to take their rights, not only because of a social necessity, but because it is a national necessity because of the imbalance in the demographics."
She added that women now out-number their male counterparts in higher education - 75 per cent of all students enrolled - which perhaps partly explains those young filmmakers' prominence. Appropriately, she still sounded a note of caution regarding certain civil rights, such as enabling Emirati women to pass their nationality to their children. Despite the good news, the fact that UAE remains 103rd in the list of 134 countries indicates that a lot of hard work and progress lay ahead. While the news that the country leads all other Arab countries is cause for optimism, the aim must surely be to join the higher-ranked nations on the list.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets