Sunday, February 19, 2012 – 23:17
High on what they seem to think is a victory in the Hamza Kashgari affair, religious conservatives opened another front by sending some of their young followers to protest against music, dancing and the mixing of men and women in the National Heritage and Culture Festival aka Janadriyah. It all began when Sheikh Saleh al-Lihedan, [...]
Sunday, February 19, 2012 – 2:25
Just a quick update on the Hamza Kashgari case since many people have been asking: The young man is now in detention, his family visited him and he is reportedly in high spirits and being treated respectfully. Several sites and petitions have been set up to support him and call for his release. Prominent human [...]
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 – 1:45
UPDATE 2/12/12 03:09ET: Hamza Kashgari has been deported to Saudi Arabia by Malaysian authorities, several news agencies reported. Malaysian human rights lawyers say they had a judge order to stop the deportation, but by the time they reached the airport the plane already took off. Hamza Kashgari, a young Saudi writer, caused a firestorm when [...]
Sunday, February 5, 2012 – 19:26
The campaign for women driving has slowed down almost to a halt since the big push last June, but the issue is now making a comeback as activists seek a different route. On Saturday, two women filed lawsuits against the government for refusing to issue them driver’s licenses and banning them from driving a car. [...]
Friday, January 6, 2012 – 1:11
For some reason, the government here finds itself compelled to get involved in organizing cultural events even when they suck at it. Why? Maybe because they don’t allow non-governmental organizations that usually play such roles in other countries. Or maybe because they want to keep the matters of arts and culture under control. Anyway, they [...]
By Ahmed
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Also posted in Arts, Blogging, Human Rights, Media, News, Politics, Saudi Arabia, Women's Rights
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Tagged abdo khal, abdul aziz khoja, al-watan, hair, intellectual forum, marriott lobby, saleh al-shehi, saudi intellectual forum
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Sunday, December 25, 2011 – 20:10
Two stories were the focus of much debate and discussion in Saudi Arabia recently: a) the trial of what the local media likes to call the “Jeddah cell,” a group of reform activists accused of terrorism and plotting to overthrow the monarchy; and b) the tragic events in Qatif that resulted in the death of [...]
By Ahmed
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Also posted in Media, News, Politics, Saudi Arabia
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Tagged adhwan alahmari, grand mufti, jeddah, mohammad said tayeb, qartif, salman aldosary, samar almogren, saud alrayes
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011 – 12:13
Two Saudi men were detained Sunday in relation to a YouTube video they produced about poverty in Riyadh, colleagues said. Feras Bughnah and Hosam al-Deraiwish were called by the police for questioning Sunday afternoon, and they are still in authorities custody in the police station in Sahafa district in northern Riyadh. “We asked the guard [...]
Thursday, September 1, 2011 – 22:13
The Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) is at it again. There is a new directive signed by Ahmad al-Hout, (get this) the acting assistant undersecretary for domestic media affairs, that bans journalists from pretty much doing anything without getting permission from the ministry first. Al-Hayat daily reports that, based on the new directive, Saudi [...]
Sunday, August 28, 2011 – 6:00
As many people pointed out before, most of the US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks are boring. In the this huge pile of documents, shocking discoveries are rare. Today, I will continue what I began yesterday by looking into the some of the interesting cables from the US mission to Saudi Arabia. Some of the [...]
By Ahmed
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Also posted in Human Rights, Humor, Media, News, Saudi Arabia, Women's Rights
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Tagged animals, book fair, dogs, julian assange, pets, us embassy, wikileaks
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Saturday, August 27, 2011 – 19:06
Thanks to hurricane Irene, I’m stuck at home for most of the weekend. So I thought I could use the time to go through the latest dump of US diplomatic cables about Saudi Arabia that was released yesterday. One cable from January 2006 focuses on the cultural and sports programming by the US mission to [...]
