Day after day, new evidence emerges of the systematic repression exercised by the UAE authorities against any expression — even symbolic — of solidarity with Gaza, amid the ongoing Israeli genocide that has raged for more than two years.
Sources to Sunna Files Website revealed disturbing incidents showing that Abu Dhabi’s crackdown extends beyond banning protests or political activities — reaching the point of deporting Arab and Palestinian residents over personal or symbolic gestures, or even simple social media posts.
Deported for Refusing a Pepsi
The report recounts the story of a Palestinian telecom engineer, identified as S.M., who had worked in the UAE for more than two decades before being forcibly deported with his family — all because he refused to drink a bottle of Pepsi during a small celebration at a government office in Abu Dhabi.
During the gathering, he declined the beverage, saying:
“Pepsi is boycotted,”
referring to the popular boycott campaign against companies supporting Israel.
Within two days, he was summoned by a security agency, where he was told that he and his family must leave the country immediately.
According to our sources, the man had to liquidate his business, withdraw his children from school, and leave for Jordan — where he holds a temporary passport — abandoning decades of work and stability.
Rising Persecution and Threats of Deportation
The paper cites informed sources confirming that the engineer’s story is just one of many examples of intensifying repression targeting Palestinians and Arabs in the UAE since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023.
In another case, a Palestinian woman in Dubai was given just 48 hours to leave the country after posting a simple obituary on Instagram mourning her relative — a journalist martyred in Gaza.
Sources said Emirati security agencies have tightened surveillance of Arab and Palestinian communities, banning even the smallest symbols of solidarity — from wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh to displaying the Palestinian flag in homes or cars.
Some residents have even been warned not to keep images of Palestine’s map on their phones or walls, fearing accusations of “sympathising with hostile entities.”
Interrogated After Returning From Gaza
In one striking case, a Palestinian woman from Gaza, holding UAE residency, was interrogated at Dubai airport upon returning during the war after surviving Israeli bombings.
Sources said the interrogation lasted for hours, during which officials searched her phone and reviewed her WhatsApp, Telegram, and social media chats.
The investigating officer reportedly warned her against “any solidarity activity with Gaza,” including posting or sharing images even in private group chats.
In another case, an Arab woman working at a private school in Abu Dhabi was summoned for questioning and asked to serve as an informant, monitoring her colleagues’ political views in exchange for being allowed to stay. When she refused, she was told she would be deported immediately.
These reports, according to the newspaper, indicate that the UAE authorities are not merely monitoring, but are attempting to recruit residents into domestic surveillance networks across the education and private sectors.
An Iron Grip After Normalisation
Observers note that these repressive policies are an extension of the UAE’s expanding security control since the 2020 normalisation agreement with Israel — reaching unprecedented severity following the October 2023 genocide in Gaza.
Since then, the UAE has imposed unparalleled restrictions on free expression, even on purely humanitarian matters.
Residents — especially Palestinians — now live under constant surveillance, with their social media and communications monitored, amid fears of arbitrary reports and instant deportation without due process.
A businessman in Dubai told :
“Anxiety and fear follow us at every step in the UAE. You never know who might report you or for what reason.”
He added:
“We feel suffocated. Surveillance is everywhere. You can lose everything you’ve built over years because of a simple comment — or a colleague’s whisper.”
He also revealed that he was recently forced to install security cameras in his factory in Abu Dhabi’s Mussafah industrial zone, directly linked to a government surveillance network.
Fearing for his safety and investments worth millions of dollars, he said:
“The environment is no longer safe — neither for residents nor for investors.”
A Repressive Climate and an Expelled Conscience
Testimonies gathered by Sunna Files show that restrictions in the UAE have reached an unprecedented level, where any empathy with Gaza or criticism of Israeli crimes is treated as a security threat deserving instant punishment.
Human rights observers describe the situation as a blatant violation of international standards for freedom of expression, revealing a political atmosphere so suffocating that even human compassion toward Gaza’s suffering is criminalised.
In such a climate, the UAE — long marketed as a “oasis of tolerance” — now stands exposed as a land of silenced voices and coerced conformity, where even a whisper of human solidarity with the victims of genocide in Gaza has become a punishable act.
