Why every moral person must boycott Dubai

You wouldn’t holiday in Tel Aviv, so why Dubai?

Would you ever holiday in Tel Aviv, regardless of whether Gaza is burning or whether it were prospering? The answer would always be a categorical “No”.

Then why treat Dubai any differently? Do you know that it has been actively supporting the Zionist genocide in Gaza from day one?

The truth is your dirhams spent in Dubai directly fund the same Zionist regime bombing children in Gaza.

From arms deals to tech partnerships, data to drones, weapons to spyware, the UAE is knee-deep in fuelling Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

BACKGROUND

It has been one year and eight months since the Gaza genocide began, and the UAE has been supporting the Zionist state in multiple ways
Going beyond economic support through mutual trade, Emirati firms are supplying parts for lethal weaponry being used against Gazan civilians
Logistical support via air and land has been another key lifeline for the Zionist regime, with 233 cargo flights between November 2023 and November 2024
Our money can either support enablers of genocide or stifle their efforts, that is why boycotting Dubai and the UAE at large is strongly advised
The UAE has also been shown to share intelligence with Israel, tracking the movements of the Palestinian resistance

UAE’s shameful complicity in Gaza’s genocide

The UAE loves to parade itself as a “modern Muslim success story” — with its beaches, luxury hotels, sky-high malls, and carefully choreographed PR spectacles.

One of those spectacles? Wounded Palestinian children shown being treated in pristine Emirati hospitals — a well-staged theatre for global applause. [1]

But they don’t want you to remember Reem, or Hind Rajab, her terrified voice begging for help, before being shot 335 times in her car. [2] [3]

They don’t want you to think of the 50,000 murdered Palestinian children — killed by a Zionist regime that the UAE has armed, funded, and politically legitimised.

UAE a supply chain partner to the Zionist regime

The UAE has shamelessly acted as the logistical lifeline for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

From fruit, wheat, and fuel, to military hardware and digital infrastructure — it has made sure that chain never breaks, because business comes first! Not Islam. Not Palestinian lives.

Through DP World — Dubai’s global logistics giant — the UAE has partnered with Israeli firms to develop ports, expand trade corridors, and strengthen the very infrastructure that powers the Zionist war machine, economically and militarily. [4]

UAE the land lifeline for the Zionist genocide

When Houthi resistance disrupted Israel-bound ships in the Red Sea, the UAE sprang into action — not to stop a genocide, but to make sure it continued without delay.

In December 2023, the UAE helped establish and manage a land supply corridor — running through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan — designed to bypass Red Sea disruptions and swiftly deliver goods to Israel’s ports. [5]

This was logistics in service of genocide — cutting delivery times from 14 days by sea to just four days by land.

UAE is Israel’s air cargo lifeline

As global airlines pulled out of Tel Aviv amid the genocide — the UAE stepped in to fill the gap, not with concern for Palestinian lives, but with cargo planes and commercial deals to profit from genocide.

While Gaza was being flattened, it quietly became Israel’s unrivalled air logistics hub.

Investigations reveal a dedicated air cargo corridor:

233 cargo flights between November 2023 and November 2024 [6]
149 flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv alone. [6]

These were obviously n0t humanitarian missions.

UAE the commercial lifeline to Israel’s war economy

As airlines around the world cancelled flights to Israel, and El Al — the Zionist regime’s national airline — faced financial collapse, who came to the rescue?

The UAE’s Etihad, Emirates, flydubai, and its airports boosted operations, keeping Israel connected, profitable, and flying high. [6]

Flight data reveals:

2,456 flights departed from the UAE to Israel in 2023 [6]
there were 2,293 flights in 2024 alone. [6]

Thanks to UAE support, El Al posted a record $228m profit in the first half of 2024 — nearly 4x more than the same period the year before. Its stock surged 200 per cent in a single year. [7]

UAE boosts trade with Israel during genocide

In 2024, trade between the UAE and Israel hit $3.24bn — an 11 per cent increase, according to Israel’s own Consul-General in Dubai, Liron Zaslansky. [8]

Collaboration has spanned defence, cybersecurity, fintech, energy, agritech, AI, and other advanced technologies — these are core enablers of Israel’s war economy.

While Gaza was bombed into rubble, the UAE was busy doing business deals with Tel Aviv, building infrastructure, research centres, and supply lines that directly empower Israel’s war machinery.

UAE supplies weapons for Gaza genocide

The UAE is an active arms supplier, with defence firms including the state-owned EDGE Group, entering into direct contracts with Israeli arms manufacturers like Israel Aerospace Industries. [9]

The country has also made deals with the notorious Elbit Systems. [9]

These are the same companies building drones, missiles, and surveillance tech — all used to massacre civilians in Gaza.

Reports confirm UAE-based firms are investing in and supplying components for Israeli military drones and cyber weapons used in real-time targeting and attacks. [10]

UAE-Israel intelligence and surveillance

The UAE is also helping it spy on Palestinians and criminalise resistance.

It has deepened intelligence-sharing with Israel, particularly in tracking Palestinian resistance movements. And according to multiple reports, Emirati intelligence has shared data and surveillance tools with the Mossad and Shin Bet — Israel’s spy agencies. [11]

Worse still, the UAE has helped spy on pro-Palestine voices globally, using apps like ToTok — a chat app that was actually a surveillance weapon. Disguised as a messaging tool, it secretly collected users’ calls, locations, and contacts. [11]

And yes, it was used to spy on Muslims and pro-Palestine activists worldwide. This was about shutting down resistance and protecting the Zionist regime from accountability.

UAE funds and enables illegal Israeli settlements

UAE complicity in apartheid, land theft, and war crimes is deliberate, strategic, and profit-driven.

It bankrolls settler expansion, legitimises Zionist occupation, and strengthens the economic backbone of Israel’s genocide machine.

In 2008, Lev Leviev, an Israeli billionaire — infamous for bankrolling illegal West Bank settlements — was welcomed with open arms in Dubai, opening luxury jewellery stores in Dubai Mall and Atlantis Hotel, with full Emirati backing. [12]

In November 2020, Israeli settlers themselves were hosted in Dubai, meeting with Emirati business elites to discuss joint projects in agriculture, plastics, pesticides, and water. [13]

In December 2020, Dubai’s FAM Holding struck deals to import products — wine, tahini, honey, and olive oil — made in illegal Israeli settlements, legitimising their theft of Palestinian land. [14]

In 2023, the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala invested $1bn in Israeli gas fields — co-owned by companies building settlements on stolen Palestinian land. [15]

UAE’s war on political Islam and silencing Palestine voices

Its campaign against political Islam and pro-Palestine activism is ruthless and relentless:

Bribing lawmakers — it allegedly paid $15m to EU officials to block Palestine-supporting resolutions
Deploying spyware — it allegedly bought Pegasus spyware from NSO Group to monitor pro-Palestine activists across Europe
Funding far-right extremists — it gave an €8m loan to Marine Le Pen’s FN party; allegedly gave €900,000 to Germany’s AfD; and allegedly donated to Italy’s far right. [16]

All this is carefully hidden behind layers of shell companies and proxies — so UAE officials can deny direct involvement.

This is state-sponsored repression, designed to crush dissent and shield Zionist war crimes in Gaza.

Still not had enough of Dubai chocolate?

Sorry to interrupt your Dubai chocolate/kunafa indulgence — but I won’t apologise for this wake-up call.

Because the daily scenes of slaughter — Palestinians hunting for bread, children buried under rubble, families wrapped in shrouds — should haunt every conscience.

What’s the least we can do? Not empty charity. Not hollow slogans but a tangible refusal to fund, support, or enable the countries, corporations, and collaborators of genocide.

As one can see, the UAE is one of the most devoted enablers of the Zionist genocide, providing weapons, money, logistics, and political cover.

It is making sure Israel has everything it needs to carry out this genocide as “professionally” and “efficiently” as possible. So how much more Dubai chocolate will it take before we say enough is enough?

This is why your money matters

The Prophet ﷺ taught us:

“A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor.

Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfil his needs; whoever brought his [Muslim] brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of Resurrection.” [17]

Every flight you book to Dubai, every purchase you make in its malls, every meal you enjoy in its restaurants — you fuel a system that funds war, surveillance, and genocide, normalises apartheid, arms war criminals, betrays Muslim causes, and betrays Gaza and Palestine.

Tourism makes up 30 per cent of the UAE’s GDP, so, as conscious Muslims and human beings, we must:

Support the Palestinian people — be their voice, spread awareness, and demand liberation
Educate and raise awareness in our circles — family, friends, colleagues, and on social media
Expose UAE complicity in the Zionist genocide by using the facts stated in this article and beyond
Boycott tourism to Dubai and the UAE — choose ethical destinations that don’t support oppression
Join and initiate pressure campaigns — examples include #BoycottDubai, #UAEBloodMoney, and #UAEFundsGenocide
Shame the tyrannical UAE leadership who claim to be Muslim, yet exploit Palestinian children for PR while enabling genocide; sincere leaders are required
Work to establish Muslim political unity under Khilafah — it’s time we unite as one Ummah and one voice; to stand up against the imperial colonialism of the West, or be conquered, one by one.