But she went further. She launched a barrage of attacks against me on Twitter. She is a nasty piece of work. Here’s what she said:
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I’ve written about her nonsense here: http://newsfromsyria.com/2009/09/08/the-damascus-tourist-takeover-part-2/

You may also not have had the chance to review another her recent blog posts entitled ” The Dark Side of Dubai: a hilarious must-read parody of the Dubai-bashing genre”

As Ms. Dunston notes in her blog entry, this is her take on an article by Johann Hari which appeared in the UK Independent on April 9 of this year. I think the article will interest you, here’s the URL http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html.

Ms. Dunston’s blog entry treats the article as one big preposterous joke. She calls it a “a brilliant parody on the Dubai-bashing genre of article of which we’ve seen a spate recently in the US, UK and Australian media.”

She goes on to opine that “A lot of people are getting very upset about this story. Not only Emiratis but expats who have lived in the UAE for a long time who know the place intimately, understand its complexities, and love it for all its flaws. Nobody’s dismissing the treatment and hardships experienced by foreign construction workers nor the challenges faced by those losing their jobs that are covered in the stories. They’re upset at the ongoing media attacks on Dubai (it’s truly baffling) and the lack of objectivity and balance in that media coverage, the publication of factual errors, exaggerations and even lies, and the racist tones running throughout much of the coverage. Dubai is not alone as a developing state and economy, nor is it the only state to experience recession.

Now don’t get me wrong, as someone who moved to the UAE in 1998, I also share their frustration but I don’t understand why people can’t see that ‘The Dark Side of Dubai’ is a parody. It’s so obvious. ”

I invite you to read the article for yourself and decide whether you agree with her dismissing it as a “parody.”

I did not get that impression. My impression was that Dubai is a very dangerous place, built on the backs of slave labor, a gaudy and wasteful ecological nightmare that only someone as arrogantly fatuous and careless of the criminal exploitation of Dubai’s temporary workers as Ms. Dunston appears to be could enjoy as a ‘luxury.’

But she appears not to be alone. She’s attracted four or five comments from others who also find the article just over the top with what they agree are obvious exaggerations and winking misrepresentations – it’s all about getting a laugh you see!

I’ve never been to Dubai, but this isn’t the first I’ve heard of these sorts of claims of worker abuse and near imprisonment in Dubai. This is the first time anyone’s bothered to make and effort to look beneath glittering surface, and what she’s found there is beyond disturbing, it’s quite literally criminal and horrifying.

But as the auth0r notes, there appears to be a certain class of people so taken with the opp0rtunity to indulge their sense of luxury that they while they know in a vague way that something is very, very wrong with Dubai, they can’t be bothered with it. After all, even if it were true it would only spoil their vacations.

Ms. Dunston is a proud representative of that class. Not really someone I’d want any travel advice, or any other advice from. I wouldn’t be especially bothered by her dismissive tactics with you. She’s no more concerned with understanding your point than she is with bothering herself about the Indian workers being held in bonded servitude there. It’s simply irrelevant to her, and perfectly in character for her to disregard you and then misrepresent your comments to entertain her audience.

I wonder how many of her books she’d sell if people understood what she’s really about

However, she went the added yard of painting me and what I said as if I was some sort of cocktail party creep without letting anyone see for themselves what I had to say. I’m not going to sit for that, and if I can’t defend myself on her blog, I’ll do it on mine.

If you are going to make entire blog posts about the comments of one person (which she has now done twice in two weeks), then have the decency to let the person respond.

The reality is she just doesn’t like to have anyone disagree with her. All her comments about Dubai are cheerleading comments, and there is a lot critical to say about a country which censors speech and dissent.

If you don’t want to have a conversation on the internet, don’t start one. If my comments come across like a cocktail party creep, then let the world make that judgment.

To Lara: If I do censor a comment, I keep it to myself as it’s a private decision.

To you: If one of my comments were to never be approved on someone else’s blog, I wouldn’t push it with the blog owner. You’re in their house.