DUBAI: Deep in Dubai’s desert dunes on the outskirts of the vast sprawling city, inside an unassuming, warehouse-like building, the world’s largest video-sharing website has created a high-tech, state-of-the-art space that it says will cater to the Arab world’s biggest and brightest vloggers.
After walking along a red carpet lined by bright, green plastic grass — and a surprisingly small reception area – you finally enter YouTube’s first-ever Middle East and North African “Space.”
Completely free of charge, this whole space – with everything in it — is allocated to YouTube creators with a following of 10,000 or more, while those with more than 1,000 subscribers are offered access to workshops and events.
You are greeted by a floor to ceiling abstract mural of Arabian stallions, camels and shisha-smoking patrons in a community area scattered with black and red barrel tables and an assortment of seating paraphernalia facing a permanently-installed video wall – the furnishings, we are told, are there just for the launch.
A window offers a glimpse from the community room into a 60 square meter studio, that caters for small productions — but offers a high-end, multi-camera set-up. Separated by a common wall, is a bigger 120 square meter studio for the bigger and more complicated productions, fully equipped with green-screen curtains and direct connection to a control room that sits above the whole space.
While creators can bring their own equipment, they need not worry as the most state-of-the-art and high-tech cameras, microphones and lights are available in the “Tech Cage” which nestles in the corner of the community area.
“In order to take it to the next level, as a YouTuber, you need a space to be able to work from, you’d need studios, cameras, equipment which is what this space is offering,” Bahraini YouTube sensation Omar Farooq told Arab News.
“The space allows you to go from an amateur YouTuber to one that’s professional and fully dependent on it for earnings,” Farooq, who has over 1.3 million subscribers, added.
YouTube creators have increased in the Arab world by 160 percent over the past three years, according to the company’s own statistics. Today, more than 200 channels with more than 1 million subscribers are spread across the MENA region, and in excess of 30,000 channels have more than 10,000 subscribers.
Speaking at the press launch of the facility, Head of YouTube Spaces in EMEA David Ripert said the Dubai Space is: “to be a hub where creators don’t just continue to make the videos millions of people have grown to love, but to also experiment with new formats and ideas made possible by the Space’s production facilities.”
The Dubai space is the company’s tenth worldwide, with other locations including Berlin, Toronto, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, Tokyo, Sau Paolo, Paris, and London.
YouTube launches Arab world’s first creative content creation space
YouTube launches Arab world’s first creative content creation space
Tucker Carlson claims he was detained at Israeli airport
DUBAI: Earlier this week, Tucker Carlson flew to Israel to interview US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, according to media reports.
Carlson, who reportedly refused to leave Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport complex, conducted the interview at the airport, after which he said he and his staff were detained and their passports were seized.
“Men who identified themselves as airport security took our passports, hauled our executive producer into a side room and then demanded to know what we spoke to Ambassador Huckabee about,” Carlson said in a statement to The New York Post.
However, Carlson’s claims have been contradicted by Huckabee and Israeli authorities.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Fox News host, said on social media platform X that “EVERYONE who comes in/out of Israel (every country for that matter) has passports checked & routinely asked security questions,” including himself, despite holding a diplomatic passport and visa.
Thanks @EFischberger for a more accurate report. EVERYONE who comes in/out of Israel (every country for that matter) has passports checked & routinely asked security questions. Even ME going in/out with Diplomatic Passport & Diplomatic Visa. https://t.co/UbblLiznMO
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) February 18, 2026
The US Embassy in Israel also described the interaction as routine passport control procedures.
The Israel Airports Authority said in a statement that Carlson and his staff “were not detained, delayed, or interrogated.”
They were asked “a few routine questions, in accordance with standard procedures applied to many travelers,” and this conversation took place in a separate room within the VIP lounge to protect their privacy, the statement added.
“No unusual incident occurred, and the Israel Airports Authority firmly rejects any other claims.”
Israeli Airports Authority:
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) February 18, 2026
Contrary to the reports, Tucker Carlson and his entourage were not detained, delayed, or interrogated.
Mr. Carlson and his party were politely asked a few routine questions, in accordance with standard procedures applied to many travelers.
The…
Carlson has faced criticism in recent years over his commentary on Israel, with critics accusing him of amplifying narratives that are hostile to Israel and, at times, antisemitic. He has also questioned Israel’s treatment of Christian communities in the region.
After Fox News canceled his show in April 2023, he launched his own program, “The Tucker Carlson Show” in 2024.
The show has featured controversial figures, including Darryl Cooper, who has made statements widely condemned as Holocaust denial, and white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes.
In his interview with Fuentes, Carlson labeled Huckabee a “Christian Zionist.”
Carlson has also criticized Huckabee for not doing enough to protect Christian interests in the region. In one video, he said: “Why not go ahead and talk to Christians and find out their side of the story? Why aren’t American Christian leaders like Mike Huckabee or Ted Cruz, people who invoke the Christian Bible to justify what they’re doing, why haven’t they done this?”
Huckabee responded to the video on X, writing: “Instead of talking ABOUT me, why don’t you come talk TO me? You seem to be generating a lot of heat about the Middle East. Why be afraid of the light?”
Carlson accepted the invitation, and their teams coordinated the interview, leading to his brief visit to Israel.
