When the United Arab Emirates (UAE) refused to allow Tunisian women under the age of 30 — or women carrying Tunisian passports — to board Emirates airline flights on Dec. 22, chaos broke out in airports around the world, as women were stranded everywhere from Dubai to Hong Kong and men refused to leave their female traveling companions behind.
Because of pre-existing tensions between the two countries, the UAE bypassed typical protocol and did not inform Tunisian authorities ahead of time. Reactions from the Tunisian public were swift and furious, with the #NoWomenNoFly and #TunisiaDisciplinestheUAE hashtags trending on Twitter, as well as calls to boycott Emirates airline.
