It is a wonder the billboards went up at all, so the tearing down comes as no surprise. An obvious mistake promoting Christianity and in an Islamic country we can't have that, can we?
Ms Mona Khamis Ebrahim, who oversees advertising campaigns in Dubai, told the English-language daily said "This was an unintentional mistake... the section receives and licenses thousands of advertisements daily. Anything in contradiction with the Islamic religion is not permitted to be advertised. Proselytising for religions other than Islam is prohibited in the UAE".
And you thought Dubai was modern, moderate and secular.
From The Straits Times April 12
'A billboard advertisement claiming that May 21, 2011 will be the 'judgment day' according to the Bible, and which shocked many and dismayed others, will be removed,' the Gulf News daily said, quoting a senior official.
'The great and terrible day, who shall be able to stand?' read the billboards set up by a group which runs a religious radio network named 'Family Radio'. 'The municipality will remove these advertisements as soon as possible,' Ms Mona Khamis Ebrahim, who oversees advertising campaigns in Dubai, told the English-language daily.
'This was an unintentional mistake... the section receives and licenses thousands of advertisements daily. Anything in contradiction with the Islamic religion is not permitted to be advertised,' Ms Ebrahim said.
Proselytising for religions other than Islam is prohibited in the UAE. Ms Marie Sheahan, media representative of Family Radio, told Gulf News that she and her husband aim to 'warn people about it (judgment day), regardless of nationality, religion or anything else because this will affect everybody.'
Family Radio is a Christian religious broadcasting network in the United States that has also denounced homosexuality and gay marriage, accusing such practices of having hastened the end of the world.
Ms Mona Khamis Ebrahim, who oversees advertising campaigns in Dubai, told the English-language daily said "This was an unintentional mistake... the section receives and licenses thousands of advertisements daily. Anything in contradiction with the Islamic religion is not permitted to be advertised. Proselytising for religions other than Islam is prohibited in the UAE".
And you thought Dubai was modern, moderate and secular.
From The Straits Times April 12
Dubai to remove end of world billboards: Report
DUBAI - HUGE billboards posted by fundamentalist American Christians across Dubai proclaiming that the world will end next month are to be taken down, a local newspaper reported on Monday.'A billboard advertisement claiming that May 21, 2011 will be the 'judgment day' according to the Bible, and which shocked many and dismayed others, will be removed,' the Gulf News daily said, quoting a senior official.
'The great and terrible day, who shall be able to stand?' read the billboards set up by a group which runs a religious radio network named 'Family Radio'. 'The municipality will remove these advertisements as soon as possible,' Ms Mona Khamis Ebrahim, who oversees advertising campaigns in Dubai, told the English-language daily.
'This was an unintentional mistake... the section receives and licenses thousands of advertisements daily. Anything in contradiction with the Islamic religion is not permitted to be advertised,' Ms Ebrahim said.
Proselytising for religions other than Islam is prohibited in the UAE. Ms Marie Sheahan, media representative of Family Radio, told Gulf News that she and her husband aim to 'warn people about it (judgment day), regardless of nationality, religion or anything else because this will affect everybody.'
Family Radio is a Christian religious broadcasting network in the United States that has also denounced homosexuality and gay marriage, accusing such practices of having hastened the end of the world.
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