I agree. I've worked in a Gulf country and you have to understand the mentality of the nationals, who in several such states / emirates are outnumbered by foreign workers. They are proud of their nation, they are proud of their leaders and will always publicly defend the decisions their leaders make although they may debate them among friends and family. Furthermore, if something is haram (not allowed in Islam) then that's it, no point in debating the subject.
There is an insecurity about the people there. Almost all the nationals are wealthy, but are less educated than the Western expats they work alongside. This insecurity goes right to the top and the way to get around a Sheikh or person in authority is to emphasise how much you respect their wisdom, to a degree that would seem obviously fake and ingratiating to a Westerner.
Social media is heavily monitored and everyone knows it. I was kicked off a local expat Facebook group for making some aside like "as everyone knows, we aren't allowed to criticise the government".
Despite knowing all that, I feel very sorry for Marcus because at the end of the day it was my free choice to work there and to abide by their rules and social conventions. His family were lured by the public image that Dubai promotes as a liberal Western environment.