Ships of the Desert . . .

There was a joke when I was teenager which went something like this:

Q: Why are camels called the ships of the desert?

A: Because they are full of Arab semen . . .

Geddit?

Today’s Gulf News, one of the leading English language daily newspapers, carried the following story on its website about a court case from the northern Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah:

Driver jailed for bestiality

By Nasouh Nazzal, Staff Reporter

Ras Al Khaimah: A man has been sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of bestiality.

The camel involved in the case is to be put down in accordance with Islamic law.

A court official said the Bangladeshi, who worked as a driver, had been spotted going into his employer's barn on a regular basis.

His employer became suspicious as his duties did not involve him dealing with animals.

The official said the employer, a UAE national, followed his driver into the barn one day and saw him starting to have sex with a female camel.

The owner lost his temper and started beating him. He then took him to the police station to press charges.

The official said the driver confessed to police that he used to have sex with one particular camel.

The police arrested him and the case was referred to the Public Prosecution.

The official added the man told the prosecution that he had fallen in love with the camel and had sex with the animal.

The emirate's Criminal Court sentenced him on Wednesday to three months in jail, to be followed by deportation.

It also stated that the camel be put down as its meat would now be tainted.

The animal will be put down at the emirate's slaughterhouse, a representative from the Public Prosecution will be in attendance.

In case you think I am making this up, click on the following link to see the original story on the Gulf News website:
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=184720

So, going back to the joke of my childhood, it would appear that Bangladeshi is a more appropriate adjective than Arab!

Of course this story is rather unpleasant all round. Back in the UK we are used to hearing of tall tales about Welsh sheep farmers (although I cannot ever recall a newspaper story or a criminal prosecution confirming what was bandied about as part of a rather puerile national stereotype). And indeed, there were the legends of Greek mountain shepherds and their goats which were in a similar vein . . .

The story does raise some interesting questions – some of which I won’t go into here as they relate to biology and gymnastics – but one that has been bothering me since reading this article is the fate of the camel . . .

This poor animal, which one must assume was at the very least an unwitting (and I suspect unwilling) partner in this bestial act, is immediately sentenced to death, while the Bangladeshi offender is given a rather pathetic 3 month sentence in jail, followed by deportation.

Another question which has been giving me trouble is the confession of the offender that he “had fallen in love with the animal”. Without wanting to get into the deep philosophical discussion of “what is love” – it strikes me as somewhat farfetched to claim to have fallen in love with a camel (or any animal for that matter) and more to the point, how did this happen on the basis that communicating with camels is not a qualification that even the best linguist can claim, let alone a Bangladeshi driver . . .

I wonder what The Sun newspaper in the UK would make of this story in terms of a headline?

(I apologize in advance! )

Camel Hump-ing!

Or perhaps . . .

Dromedary Desire Derails Desperate Driver

Or perhaps . . .

Barnstorming Bangladeshi Banged Up For Bestiality

Or finally

The Camel Sutra