Boycott the Emirates Literature Festival
On March 1-9 2019, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature returns to Dubai. Billing itself as the Middle East’s largest celebration of the written and spoken word, the festival promises to promote an environment of “education and debate” in the UAE.
Yet, in reality, there is no space for debate inside the country: political dissent is brutally silenced, and scores of human rights defenders, academics and journalists languish in jail.
In essence, a literature festival is a celebration of freedom of speech and expression.
But from the detention of Matthew Hedges to the continued imprisonment of Ahmed Mansoor, it is clear that free speech is not something that the festival’s sponsors permit, let alone celebrate.
Join us outside the Emirates Airline headquarters in London to call on UK authors attending the festival to speak out about human rights violations in the UAE.
Location: 95 Cromwell Road, South Kensington
London
Date: Monday March 4
Time: 2PM