I must say I was very surprised reading what the reason for the arrest was. Having spent almost all of my life in Europe, I have a few times of my life seen people kiss and touch in inappropriate ways.
I could NEVER imagine a couple doing THIS in public, nowhere on the beaches of Greece, France, Spain, Italy I have seen this (although it might happen, but probably very late.. and apparently very hidden, as no one I know ever experienced something like that).
My theory is people who want to engage in such conduct when on a European holiday do take a room..
so if I never came across such a story in my over 20 yrs in Europe.. how could ppl behave like that in the Emirates?
It can only be they feel like “God in France”, as a popular German saying goes (referring to the fat, delicious food and overall “savoir vivre” of the French compared with the more restricted held back Germans).
They pretty much must feel like they re above the law, as this article also points out, by the same newspaper:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1033908/Why-arrogant-Brits-abroad-wont-play-Dubais-rules—end-rotting-prison.html

I must say my pity is pretty limited.. I do feel horrible when hearing people with prescribed drug treatment are arrested over drug smuggling – this could happen to any foreigner, and it is horrible.No one chooses to be sick, and no one takes medication with them for fun.

I am very angry at this woman for all European women actually – as I said I NEVER heard of anything similar in Europe. Now I fear Gulf Arabs will think this is what Europeans tend to do.
There sadly is enough wrong-doing on the basis of such prejudice.
An Italian artist dressed in a bridal gown as part of an art performance wanted to travel from Italy over the Balkanys through Turkey to the Mideast and Palestine to be a “bride of peace” and bring awareness and hopefully luck to peace.
Beautiful idea. She was abducted, raped, and murdered by a local in Turkey. Foreign women have a very bad name in Turkey (my husband is from there, so I know the language). Most of this must be based on prejudice and myths, because all tourist girls I know were desperate about the avances guys made and found this threatening, inappropriate and disgusting.
I recently read a worrying number of tourist girls disappears in Egypt s tourist regions, many are found raped and murdered, buried at the beaches.

So I see stupid women like this, along hateful people spreading rumours on European women’s behaviour actually make their life more dangerous.
This is what I find most worrying about this story.

I ve been long envisaging with my husband to go to Dubai for work. my Arabic is very bad, sadly, and he would like to learn it.
These drinking events put me off completely :(
Does anyone know is there a nice Arab community as well?
Our wish would be living in an Arab country, my long time wish due to my Lebanese and Jordanian heritage.. without the extreme restrictions of Saudi, but for getting the atmosphere still…
Well these articles make me not wish to go there *sourlook*.
And yes I agree – it has always bothered me to know that Dubai is basically built on near-slaves blood sweat and tears…

I don’t care about the proximity of Dubai to Saudi. I’m in Dubai because it is the best place Arabs have managed to build. But, for me, it is still a very bad place compared to south west United States where I lived for 5 years.

Northern Viriginia is the second largest Saudi community in the USA, but I havent heard any numbers on that one.

Many of them would work at the Saudi Embassy, military offfice and the cultural mission here.