Kuwaiti inventor Jenan Al-Shehab withdraws from Dubai Expo over 'Israel Day' event

Kuwaiti inventor Jenan Al-Shehab has cancelled her upcoming appearance at the Dubai Expo 2020 in response to the exhibition holding an “Israel Day” pavilion.

The pavilion is meant to showcase UAE-Israel ties following the two countries' normalisation of relations in September 2020 and was billed as reflecting "the openness in which Israel embraces innovation, culture, diversity and collaboration with our partners" in the UAE.

Palestinians have condemned the UAE-Israel normalisation agreement, saying that it rewards Israel while it continues to occupy the West Bank and besiege the Gaza Strip and opinion polls have shown overwhelming opposition among the Arab public.

Twitter users lauded Al-Shehab's withdrawal, which she announced in an Instagram post, as "an honorable model for Kuwait", and a "source of pride".

Palestinian academic and human rights advocate Ramy Abdu praised Al-Shehab’s stance in the face of “some influencers whitewashing the [Dubai expo]”.

في لحظة يتقاطر على زيارتها وتبييض سجلها بعض "المؤثرين"، هذا هو موقف الكويتية الريادية جنان الشهاب.@JenanAlShehab #التطبيع_خيانة #تبييض_الانتهاكات_عار pic.twitter.com/A4daHvmrnm

— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) January 31, 2022

Al-Shehab, who has won several international awards, announced her boycott days after the withdrawal of another Kuwaiti, tennis player Muhammad Al-Awadi, whose decision won similar praise in his home country.

بعد انسحاب أبطال من #الكويت من مسابقات مختلفة وآخرهم البطل الصغير #محمد_العوضي :
المهندسة الكويتية جنان الشهاب تعلن انسحابها من #اكسبو_دبي بعد دعوة رسمية للاحتفال مع #إسرائيل التي تلتزم الكويت بتسميته بدولة الاحتلال الصهيوني ..
أنتم فخر للإسلام كله .. pic.twitter.com/tJzYgSVLd2

— ﮼ابتسام ﮼آل ﮼سعد ﮼﮼🇶🇦 (@Ebtesam777) January 31, 2022

On the other hand, Emirati government loyalists criticised Al-Shehab, saying that her stance "had no value".

Al-Shehab’s boycott came after Palestinian singer Dalal Abu Amna snubbed an invite to the event earlier this week, saying that the UAE had "ignored the feelings and rights of the Palestinian people".

Kuwait does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and maintains a strong stance against normalisation. The Gulf country prohibits Israeli passport holders from entering the country, and its citizens from visiting Israel.

There are several laws in place to punish expressions of sympathy for Israel.