Public display of affection laws?!
we just had some students come over from america and my school has been telling them that they are not allowed to hug the opposite gender in public. they are not allowed to kiss on the cheeks. and they are not allowed to wear shorts ?!?!?!
if they do these things they will get DEPORTED by the police!!!
is this true?!?! is this actual law or is it just somthing that is not accepted by the locals?
well, there is a big difference in the social norms in the Middle East. In Lebanon, it is weird not to express your welcome to people you know if you don't hug them or kiss them. you will be regarded as a "constipated" weird character...
it is a natural social manifestation of human interaction, regardless of age and gender, therefore...
I don't personally know any Qataris, but Arabs/Middle Easterners (is there a politically correct term?) here are always hugging and kissing each other on the cheek, regardless if they're male or female.
i will also give the suggestion that it not good here in qatar to hug and kiss .....just because it does accepted by the general people ..
True.. if it is distasteful in the eyes of the locals all those you mention then yes they will act and enforce what law they have.. So be safe and stay out of trouble by observing the above mentioned in your questions.. Better safe than sorry
The "law" is a little more fluid here than in the US. It may be more of what we would understand as "common law" rather than written statutes. But if your school tells you not to do something, I don't think I'd push it in a country I wasn't familiar with.
It is both The law and Not accepted by the locals. Moreover, for your record, if someone got caught doing these stuff, they will not only get deported, on the contrary, there will be severe punishment, so be careful! It happened to my freinds :(