SNIP

>For example, could you walk down the street withoug a facial covering? Would I be permitted to attend church or read my Bible in public? I honestly don't know as I'm unfamiliar with the U.A.E..

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Its major religion is Islam, but unlike other Arab countries, the UAE allows the practice of other religions and there are churches in the country.

Arabic is of course the official language but English is widely spoken as are Urdu, Malayalam and from the Philippines, Tagalog. All these groups add to the diversity of the UAE's cosmopolitan society.

All citizens receive free medical care and schooling.
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As to your other questions, I do not know how the rest of the Arab world views the U.A.E. You may research that on your own if you are interested. I just feel that it is unfair to group all Arabs together into generic statements on women's rights, religion, culture, or even terrorist acts when each Arab nation actually is very different from the other in many ways. Even the state department considers the U.A.E. a modern country.

You may find this link useful:

http://www.arab.net/uae/culture/uae_culture.html

There are many other links on the U.A.E. available on the internet as well.


Tracy