Are we racist? What would you do? Any Indian people here?

[Anonymous]

I'm not Indian. I too am Jewish and most of my friends are from India.
They know what a swastika is and how horrible and offensive it is.

I would move. But I wouldn't have set foot in Dubai in the first place.

[Anonymous]

To all the people wondering how people know that OP is Jewish, anti-semites can always tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm a former long term Dubai expat. It's not common to see the swatsika in Dubai and Indian cleaners definitely wouldn't place it over the door of a non-Indian resident's apartment. But I'm intrigued by other aspects of your story.

Based on what you tell us, you can't be resident expats as you normally live in another country and are only in Dubai for a few months. This means you do not have a resident visa, which means you can't have a normal rental contract. Which, in turn, means you are in a short term hotel-apartment style building. I'm not even sure if it's possible to have more than a month to month type arrangement because you can't have a proper resident visa that allows you to sign local rental contracts.

Some of the details of what you told us don't quite click and others are too convenient, you do have two options.

Option 1 is to speak to the hotel-apartment management and ask to be moved to a different floor or building. Most of these hotel apartments are owned by hotel/real estate companies that own multiple properties and moving you to another unit shouldn't be a problem, especially during the slow summer months when vacancies must be high.

Option 2 is to speak to your husband's employer, who must be behind putting you up in Dubai (in the summer? intriguing) and have them sort it out. If your husband is connected to a UAE-based company or office, which is the only reason I can see you being temporarily housed in Dubai while husband is elsewhere, they will have a PRO (public relations official), an Arab speaker, typically Lebanese or Syrian or Egyptian, whose job is effectively to sort out these kinds of situations.

Like others, I'm also unclear on how the smoker knew you were Jewish. You weren't putting up the mezuzah or traveling with something like a menorah at this time of year? Dubai is pretty cosmopolitan and there's growing relationships between the UAE and Israel in the last few years, including travel between the two countries. But even so. I lived in Dubai for years, knew Jewish American expats who had no problems living there for a few years or traveling there. But no one advertised it either.

+1
Something doesn’t add up in the story

What, that’s she on a short-term lease in the summer? That’s some pretty thin internet sleuthing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is an expat living in Dubai
For Dubai the rules are:
Always remember that it is not your country
Never get into a fight or argument with a local

An Australian was deported because she took a photo of a car that had taken 2 parking spaces in her condo unit. She had posted it in her local facebook group that was closed to only members of the condo association

The car had belonged to a local and he was able to get her deported

Always be very careful with what you say or complain about, it is the Middle East
I am surprised that the management company accommodated you as much as they did

Spoken by someone who doesn't know Dubai. In the first place, this Arab is most definitely not an Emirati local. Only Emiratis have "influence."

I'm pretty convinced this is a made up story so I'm not going to keep posting on here. But people who have no experience with Dubai should be careful before offering advice on a place they know nothing aboht.

You’re convinced she’s trolling because she’s in Dubai in the summer? Huh? Your 2 years in Dubai as a jr banker or whatever don’t give you a monopoly on all possible Dubai expat scenarios.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To clarify -- I think you are trapped bc you aren't in a country where a swastika is necessarily a hateful symbol, and because there is no way to prove your neighbor did it. He has deniability bc of all the Indians around. Fwiw I totally think he did it. But you have no proof, and you are not in a country where this is an actionable offense.

+1. Do you have a good understanding of what the swastika means in UAE? (I don't, that's why I'm asking). You understand the meaning in India, Europe and the US. But you're in Dubai. So while your neighbor may have meant it as an antisemitic symbol, you can't expect the management team to interpret it the same way.

I think you should move. Or accept that nothing will be done about it.

[Anonymous]

OP-- Drop it. Although I agree with you, it's better to be safe than right. You are in Dubai, an Arab nation. You are Jewish. That says it all.

[Anonymous]

Were you evacuated to Dubai for some type of medical treatment?

[Anonymous]

Just a little thing to take note of, OP: The man is Arab. He may speak Arabic, but he’s not Arabic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That seems odd. Why would they put the sign on just your door? And why would cleaners do it at all?

OP here. Yes, that I think. And why did it just happen to appear after reporting the (non-Indian) neighbor. Ours is the only door on the floor with a swastika above it.

I would move out. Immediately.

Yeah, I'm trying to arrange that. We are here only on a three month lease, then going back to other country. Dh has remained in other country to work. I asked the management company a week ago if they would just refund us for the remaining time so we could move somewhere smoke free, since the Arabic guy had not responded to any of my requests to stop chain-smoking (in this "non-smoking!" building) with his door wide open. They said no, no refund. It is about $18k for the three months, so I hate to just walk out and sign another lease.

Why are you in Dubai and who are you living with? Can you transfer?

[Anonymous]

Tell your company you want to move. It shouldn’t be so bad. I’d move for the smoke, the swastika would just be the cherry on top

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is an expat living in Dubai
For Dubai the rules are:
Always remember that it is not your country
Never get into a fight or argument with a local

An Australian was deported because she took a photo of a car that had taken 2 parking spaces in her condo unit. She had posted it in her local facebook group that was closed to only members of the condo association

The car had belonged to a local and he was able to get her deported

Always be very careful with what you say or complain about, it is the Middle East
I am surprised that the management company accommodated you as much as they did

Spoken by someone who doesn't know Dubai. In the first place, this Arab is most definitely not an Emirati local. Only Emiratis have "influence."

I'm pretty convinced this is a made up story so I'm not going to keep posting on here. But people who have no experience with Dubai should be careful before offering advice on a place they know nothing aboht.

You’re convinced she’s trolling because she’s in Dubai in the summer? Huh? Your 2 years in Dubai as a jr banker or whatever don’t give you a monopoly on all possible Dubai expat scenarios.

1. OP is not a Dubai resident. She is there for the summer. Because she is not a resident, she does not have a residency visa. Which means the only type of property she could be renting is a hotel, and by extension, hotel apartments. UAE visa laws are very strict about requiring a residency visa for a rental contract. Some of us are a bit surprised she would chose Dubai for her summer duration because of the weather and also because it's a very expensive city, meanwhile there are scads of cheaper and cooler destinations she could have gone to. But we can leave that aside for now.

And I should point out that the way residency visa works is that you don't hold on to them after leaving the country. Visa laws are strictly regulated and employers follow them closely because they cost money and employers are also liable for their employees through the visas. As soon as an employee leaves a company, the visa is cancelled as soon as possible. So OP and her husband can't be former residents holding on to existing visas to rent a property.

2. Hotel apartments are month to month leases. They only roll over to the next month with agreement and payment, not by default. Which means she should be able to leave at the end of the month if she wanted to and not stay the full three months. Besides, I'm very confident that as she's a tourist on a tourist visa, it means she can't commit to a three month lease. While visa law are forever evolving, last I heard American expats get 60 day visa on arrival and in theory have to leave, although they can just reenter the country via a visa run to Oman or elsewhere. But this should indicate why it's unlikely it would be feasible for her to be locked into a three month hotel apartment lease.

3. I can see smoking happening in a non-smoking building or floor. But that building management hasn't offered to move OP to a different unit is very odd. Building managements of hotel apartments are used to moving guests to different units all the time due to noise etc. I lived in short term hotel apartments on various occasions and this is really not an issue in a place like Dubai. OP claims she's paying 18k for a three month stay, and that puts her in the better quality range of hotel apartments, especially with the cheaper summer rates. Not the very best or fanciest, but not the ordinary ones in Bur Dubai or Karama or Oud Metha, nor the cheaper buildings in Barsha Heights or JLT or the dusty boonies. At that budget, such places would definitely take smoking violations seriously and at a minimum, move her to a different floor.

4. A German manager is a feasible concept at the better quality hotel apartments, which fits with OP's budget, but such a person wouldn't act in the way we are told. At that level we're dealing with corporate standards with corporate management typical of hotel chains, not dodgy buildings on back streets in Karama or Deira. UAE is hugely diverse with visitors and residents from all over the world, including Israel these days. There are flights between the UAE and Israel.

5. Arabs are not by default a protected race in Dubai. Only Emiratis and to an extent other Gulf Arabs are "protected," but even that varies greatly due to family status and connections. Most Arabs in Dubai are not Emiratis or Gulf Arabs. And Lebanese or Jordanian Arab does not "pull rank" above a Western expat or visitor. Dubai authorities especially hate it when Arab expats try to be too big for their britches and pull rank. Further, an affluent Arab who can afford this kind of hotel apartment is unlikely to behave in this manner with excessive smoking on a non-smoking floor, leaving his door open, nor would building management be afraid of speaking to him.

Which is why those of us who have lived in Dubai find aspects of this story a little puzzling and that's not even getting into how the Arab knows OP is Jewish. And before someone says something about "looking like a Jewish person," when you live in the Middle East you realize there are many Middle Easterners and North Africans who look very much what you might think of as a stereotypical Jewish person. Either that or they look like any European or American nationality.

And that's it. If OP is really sincere, she does have avenues, namely getting the hotel management to move her to a different floor.

[Anonymous]

You should have avoided Dubai in the first place. Westerners should not patronize xenophobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic dictatorships like the UAE as a rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is an expat living in Dubai
For Dubai the rules are:
Always remember that it is not your country
Never get into a fight or argument with a local

An Australian was deported because she took a photo of a car that had taken 2 parking spaces in her condo unit. She had posted it in her local facebook group that was closed to only members of the condo association

The car had belonged to a local and he was able to get her deported

Always be very careful with what you say or complain about, it is the Middle East
I am surprised that the management company accommodated you as much as they did

Spoken by someone who doesn't know Dubai. In the first place, this Arab is most definitely not an Emirati local. Only Emiratis have "influence."

I'm pretty convinced this is a made up story so I'm not going to keep posting on here. But people who have no experience with Dubai should be careful before offering advice on a place they know nothing aboht.

You’re convinced she’s trolling because she’s in Dubai in the summer? Huh? Your 2 years in Dubai as a jr banker or whatever don’t give you a monopoly on all possible Dubai expat scenarios.

1. OP is not a Dubai resident. She is there for the summer. Because she is not a resident, she does not have a residency visa. Which means the only type of property she could be renting is a hotel, and by extension, hotel apartments. UAE visa laws are very strict about requiring a residency visa for a rental contract. Some of us are a bit surprised she would chose Dubai for her summer duration because of the weather and also because it's a very expensive city, meanwhile there are scads of cheaper and cooler destinations she could have gone to. But we can leave that aside for now.

And I should point out that the way residency visa works is that you don't hold on to them after leaving the country. Visa laws are strictly regulated and employers follow them closely because they cost money and employers are also liable for their employees through the visas. As soon as an employee leaves a company, the visa is cancelled as soon as possible. So OP and her husband can't be former residents holding on to existing visas to rent a property.

2. Hotel apartments are month to month leases. They only roll over to the next month with agreement and payment, not by default. Which means she should be able to leave at the end of the month if she wanted to and not stay the full three months. Besides, I'm very confident that as she's a tourist on a tourist visa, it means she can't commit to a three month lease. While visa law are forever evolving, last I heard American expats get 60 day visa on arrival and in theory have to leave, although they can just reenter the country via a visa run to Oman or elsewhere. But this should indicate why it's unlikely it would be feasible for her to be locked into a three month hotel apartment lease.

3. I can see smoking happening in a non-smoking building or floor. But that building management hasn't offered to move OP to a different unit is very odd. Building managements of hotel apartments are used to moving guests to different units all the time due to noise etc. I lived in short term hotel apartments on various occasions and this is really not an issue in a place like Dubai. OP claims she's paying 18k for a three month stay, and that puts her in the better quality range of hotel apartments, especially with the cheaper summer rates. Not the very best or fanciest, but not the ordinary ones in Bur Dubai or Karama or Oud Metha, nor the cheaper buildings in Barsha Heights or JLT or the dusty boonies. At that budget, such places would definitely take smoking violations seriously and at a minimum, move her to a different floor.

4. A German manager is a feasible concept at the better quality hotel apartments, which fits with OP's budget, but such a person wouldn't act in the way we are told. At that level we're dealing with corporate standards with corporate management typical of hotel chains, not dodgy buildings on back streets in Karama or Deira. UAE is hugely diverse with visitors and residents from all over the world, including Israel these days. There are flights between the UAE and Israel.

5. Arabs are not by default a protected race in Dubai. Only Emiratis and to an extent other Gulf Arabs are "protected," but even that varies greatly due to family status and connections. Most Arabs in Dubai are not Emiratis or Gulf Arabs. And Lebanese or Jordanian Arab does not "pull rank" above a Western expat or visitor. Dubai authorities especially hate it when Arab expats try to be too big for their britches and pull rank. Further, an affluent Arab who can afford this kind of hotel apartment is unlikely to behave in this manner with excessive smoking on a non-smoking floor, leaving his door open, nor would building management be afraid of speaking to him.

Which is why those of us who have lived in Dubai find aspects of this story a little puzzling and that's not even getting into how the Arab knows OP is Jewish. And before someone says something about "looking like a Jewish person," when you live in the Middle East you realize there are many Middle Easterners and North Africans who look very much what you might think of as a stereotypical Jewish person. Either that or they look like any European or American nationality.

And that's it. If OP is really sincere, she does have avenues, namely getting the hotel management to move her to a different floor.

omg get a hobby

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is an expat living in Dubai
For Dubai the rules are:
Always remember that it is not your country
Never get into a fight or argument with a local

An Australian was deported because she took a photo of a car that had taken 2 parking spaces in her condo unit. She had posted it in her local facebook group that was closed to only members of the condo association

The car had belonged to a local and he was able to get her deported

Always be very careful with what you say or complain about, it is the Middle East
I am surprised that the management company accommodated you as much as they did

Spoken by someone who doesn't know Dubai. In the first place, this Arab is most definitely not an Emirati local. Only Emiratis have "influence."

I'm pretty convinced this is a made up story so I'm not going to keep posting on here. But people who have no experience with Dubai should be careful before offering advice on a place they know nothing aboht.

You’re convinced she’s trolling because she’s in Dubai in the summer? Huh? Your 2 years in Dubai as a jr banker or whatever don’t give you a monopoly on all possible Dubai expat scenarios.

1. OP is not a Dubai resident. She is there for the summer. Because she is not a resident, she does not have a residency visa. Which means the only type of property she could be renting is a hotel, and by extension, hotel apartments. UAE visa laws are very strict about requiring a residency visa for a rental contract. Some of us are a bit surprised she would chose Dubai for her summer duration because of the weather and also because it's a very expensive city, meanwhile there are scads of cheaper and cooler destinations she could have gone to. But we can leave that aside for now.

And I should point out that the way residency visa works is that you don't hold on to them after leaving the country. Visa laws are strictly regulated and employers follow them closely because they cost money and employers are also liable for their employees through the visas. As soon as an employee leaves a company, the visa is cancelled as soon as possible. So OP and her husband can't be former residents holding on to existing visas to rent a property.

2. Hotel apartments are month to month leases. They only roll over to the next month with agreement and payment, not by default. Which means she should be able to leave at the end of the month if she wanted to and not stay the full three months. Besides, I'm very confident that as she's a tourist on a tourist visa, it means she can't commit to a three month lease. While visa law are forever evolving, last I heard American expats get 60 day visa on arrival and in theory have to leave, although they can just reenter the country via a visa run to Oman or elsewhere. But this should indicate why it's unlikely it would be feasible for her to be locked into a three month hotel apartment lease.

3. I can see smoking happening in a non-smoking building or floor. But that building management hasn't offered to move OP to a different unit is very odd. Building managements of hotel apartments are used to moving guests to different units all the time due to noise etc. I lived in short term hotel apartments on various occasions and this is really not an issue in a place like Dubai. OP claims she's paying 18k for a three month stay, and that puts her in the better quality range of hotel apartments, especially with the cheaper summer rates. Not the very best or fanciest, but not the ordinary ones in Bur Dubai or Karama or Oud Metha, nor the cheaper buildings in Barsha Heights or JLT or the dusty boonies. At that budget, such places would definitely take smoking violations seriously and at a minimum, move her to a different floor.

4. A German manager is a feasible concept at the better quality hotel apartments, which fits with OP's budget, but such a person wouldn't act in the way we are told. At that level we're dealing with corporate standards with corporate management typical of hotel chains, not dodgy buildings on back streets in Karama or Deira. UAE is hugely diverse with visitors and residents from all over the world, including Israel these days. There are flights between the UAE and Israel.

5. Arabs are not by default a protected race in Dubai. Only Emiratis and to an extent other Gulf Arabs are "protected," but even that varies greatly due to family status and connections. Most Arabs in Dubai are not Emiratis or Gulf Arabs. And Lebanese or Jordanian Arab does not "pull rank" above a Western expat or visitor. Dubai authorities especially hate it when Arab expats try to be too big for their britches and pull rank. Further, an affluent Arab who can afford this kind of hotel apartment is unlikely to behave in this manner with excessive smoking on a non-smoking floor, leaving his door open, nor would building management be afraid of speaking to him.

Which is why those of us who have lived in Dubai find aspects of this story a little puzzling and that's not even getting into how the Arab knows OP is Jewish. And before someone says something about "looking like a Jewish person," when you live in the Middle East you realize there are many Middle Easterners and North Africans who look very much what you might think of as a stereotypical Jewish person. Either that or they look like any European or American nationality.

And that's it. If OP is really sincere, she does have avenues, namely getting the hotel management to move her to a different floor.

omg get a hobby

The op’s post was very informative and highlights the holes in the OP’s little story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is an expat living in Dubai
For Dubai the rules are:
Always remember that it is not your country
Never get into a fight or argument with a local

An Australian was deported because she took a photo of a car that had taken 2 parking spaces in her condo unit. She had posted it in her local facebook group that was closed to only members of the condo association

The car had belonged to a local and he was able to get her deported

Always be very careful with what you say or complain about, it is the Middle East
I am surprised that the management company accommodated you as much as they did

Spoken by someone who doesn't know Dubai. In the first place, this Arab is most definitely not an Emirati local. Only Emiratis have "influence."

I'm pretty convinced this is a made up story so I'm not going to keep posting on here. But people who have no experience with Dubai should be careful before offering advice on a place they know nothing aboht.

You’re convinced she’s trolling because she’s in Dubai in the summer? Huh? Your 2 years in Dubai as a jr banker or whatever don’t give you a monopoly on all possible Dubai expat scenarios.

1. OP is not a Dubai resident. She is there for the summer. Because she is not a resident, she does not have a residency visa. Which means the only type of property she could be renting is a hotel, and by extension, hotel apartments. UAE visa laws are very strict about requiring a residency visa for a rental contract. Some of us are a bit surprised she would chose Dubai for her summer duration because of the weather and also because it's a very expensive city, meanwhile there are scads of cheaper and cooler destinations she could have gone to. But we can leave that aside for now.

And I should point out that the way residency visa works is that you don't hold on to them after leaving the country. Visa laws are strictly regulated and employers follow them closely because they cost money and employers are also liable for their employees through the visas. As soon as an employee leaves a company, the visa is cancelled as soon as possible. So OP and her husband can't be former residents holding on to existing visas to rent a property.

2. Hotel apartments are month to month leases. They only roll over to the next month with agreement and payment, not by default. Which means she should be able to leave at the end of the month if she wanted to and not stay the full three months. Besides, I'm very confident that as she's a tourist on a tourist visa, it means she can't commit to a three month lease. While visa law are forever evolving, last I heard American expats get 60 day visa on arrival and in theory have to leave, although they can just reenter the country via a visa run to Oman or elsewhere. But this should indicate why it's unlikely it would be feasible for her to be locked into a three month hotel apartment lease.

3. I can see smoking happening in a non-smoking building or floor. But that building management hasn't offered to move OP to a different unit is very odd. Building managements of hotel apartments are used to moving guests to different units all the time due to noise etc. I lived in short term hotel apartments on various occasions and this is really not an issue in a place like Dubai. OP claims she's paying 18k for a three month stay, and that puts her in the better quality range of hotel apartments, especially with the cheaper summer rates. Not the very best or fanciest, but not the ordinary ones in Bur Dubai or Karama or Oud Metha, nor the cheaper buildings in Barsha Heights or JLT or the dusty boonies. At that budget, such places would definitely take smoking violations seriously and at a minimum, move her to a different floor.

4. A German manager is a feasible concept at the better quality hotel apartments, which fits with OP's budget, but such a person wouldn't act in the way we are told. At that level we're dealing with corporate standards with corporate management typical of hotel chains, not dodgy buildings on back streets in Karama or Deira. UAE is hugely diverse with visitors and residents from all over the world, including Israel these days. There are flights between the UAE and Israel.

5. Arabs are not by default a protected race in Dubai. Only Emiratis and to an extent other Gulf Arabs are "protected," but even that varies greatly due to family status and connections. Most Arabs in Dubai are not Emiratis or Gulf Arabs. And Lebanese or Jordanian Arab does not "pull rank" above a Western expat or visitor. Dubai authorities especially hate it when Arab expats try to be too big for their britches and pull rank. Further, an affluent Arab who can afford this kind of hotel apartment is unlikely to behave in this manner with excessive smoking on a non-smoking floor, leaving his door open, nor would building management be afraid of speaking to him.

Which is why those of us who have lived in Dubai find aspects of this story a little puzzling and that's not even getting into how the Arab knows OP is Jewish. And before someone says something about "looking like a Jewish person," when you live in the Middle East you realize there are many Middle Easterners and North Africans who look very much what you might think of as a stereotypical Jewish person. Either that or they look like any European or American nationality.

And that's it. If OP is really sincere, she does have avenues, namely getting the hotel management to move her to a different floor.

omg get a hobby

The op’s post was very informative and highlights the holes in the OP’s little story.

The PP’s post was very informative ^^ not op