UAE

July 22, 2013

Go Ahead and Film Me—Nothing Changes

“So what are you here to film?” he asked from his battered bamboo chair, as he exhaled from the stub of the cigarette in his hand, the smoke blending in with the dust sweeping through the camp. He was about 40, and had been sitting in that dark alley his entire life. One of my Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arab Americans, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Film, Los Angeles, Middle East, Palestine, Syria

Dreams in Their Eyes, UAE
July 3, 2011

How To Behave in the UAE

Today I read on the regular old Internet that the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, is making his website available as an iPhone application. It’s pretty cool to be an iPhone application. At least it may be my only public appearance that impressed my Apple-a-day-keeps-the-meltdown-away nephews. On these International Herald Tribune apps, I share Apple Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Islam/Muslim, Middle East, Saudi Arabia

Behavior, Business, Culture, iPhone app, UAE
February 19, 2011

Bahrain Again

Since the uprising in Egypt, I’ve been getting e-mails from people asking me if I’m okay, if I’m safe with everything going on the Middle East. Safety in the Middle East is just a question of where you are standing at a given moment. Sadly, I have never known the Middle East not to have Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, bahrain, Dubai, Middle East

Bahrain, Michael Jackson, UAE
May 15, 2010

STILL COOL ENOUGH FOR SEVENTH GRADE

When my world of sophisticated urbanite and Mother Nature friends come to Dubai, there is an inevitable rolling of the ideas and what has become a cliché to my ears, “This place is all about the malls.” Like blatant consumerism and the globalization of American brands in an air conditioned utopia is a bad thing. Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arts and Culture, Dubai

Dubai, malls, UAE
February 6, 2010

Silence As Golden As Sand

“Silence” is a relative word, referring to how quiet a place is compared to other times. Silence in a home still involves the hum of the fridge, the heater, the creaking in the wood, the wind on the windows, and so many other things. Outside, it means the birds still chirping, bugs buzzing, the breeze, Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Author, Books, Middle East, Travel

Abu Dhabi, Liwa, SIlence, UAE
October 30, 2009

NOT ALL GULF COUNTRIES FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON

As I got into my first taxi in Bahrain last weekend, the taxi driver shocked me: He was Bahraini. He dressed and looked like someone from the UAE, but he was most definitely not Emirati. Emiratis may live just down the Gulf from Bahrain, but they do not drive cabs. Heck, they barely ride in Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, bahrain, Books, Dubai, Middle East

Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, UAE

About Alia

Alia Yunis is a writer, journalist and filmmaker. She is currently producing and directing “The Golden Harvest,” a feature length documentary about how olive oil has shaped the Mediterranean culture, cuisine and history for 6,000 years, through war and peace. Her debut novel, The Night Counter (Random House) has been critically acclaimed by the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and several other publications. It was also chosen as a top summer read by the Chicago Tribune and Boston Phoenix. The Boston Globe has called it “wonderfully imaginative…poignant, hilarious.” Alia was born in Chicago and grew up in the U.S., Greece, and the Middle East. She has worked as a filmmaker and journalist in several cities, especially Los Angeles. Her fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including The Robert Olen Butler Best Short Stories collection, and her non-fiction work includes articles for The Los Angeles Times, Saveur, SportsTravel Magazine, and Aramco World. She currently teaches film at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.