Neil Patrick says, “All in all, substantive Saudi reform is largely illusive.” That’s debatable. What is not debatable is that many of the changes made since 2005 lack an institutional basis and have not captured our imagination, mine at least. I was interviewed by Swedish television a while I ago. I said things. Jameel al-Theyabi, [...]
Category Archives: Politics
CPA and their PR puff, MFA and their tracking system
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 – 5:15
The Saudi Consumer Protection Association (CPA) would like to inform you that they have joined Consumer International (CI), a global federation of consumer groups. The head of CPA said this membership will help them do a better job. I would really like to believe it, but this sounds to me more like a PR puff [...]
Robbery in skies, Routes of Arabia, Weddady’s response to Khouri
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 – 13:14
Have you heard of the Air France flight attendant who was arrested for robbing passengers? Muhammed al-Ahidib provides four reasons why this woman would not have been able to steal if she were working for Saudi Arabian Airline. Here is another good review for Routes d’Arabie, this time from Bloomberg. Nasser Weddady offers another fine [...]
Blocked in UAE?
Sunday, July 25, 2010 – 14:08
There have been some conflicting reports yesterday over the blocking of Saudi Jeans in the UAE. The blog Emirates in Style reported the block and provided this screenshot: When I asked people on Twitter to confirm this, some of them said the blog was indeed blocked, while others said they can still access it. I’m [...]
Routes d’Arabie, Rami Khouri, Reverse culture shock
Saturday, July 24, 2010 – 20:57
The Saudi Routes of Arabia exhibition in Paris has been receiving some pretty good reviews. Hundreds of artifacts never before seen outside Saudi Arabia are currently on view at the Louvre. I have seen most of these pieces at the National Museum, and I’m glad the whole world is getting a chance to see this [...]
Identity and social change, women’s rights movements, US diplomat in henna
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 – 14:34
Qusay ponders the questions of identity and social change: “I am a product of that change, along with many others, just take a look at the Saudi’s writing in English. English is almost our first language, we grew up watching American shows and we dressed like the cool people we saw on TV. When we [...]
Pop culture, funny lawyer, summer festivals
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 – 2:57
Saudi Dawn aka the Eternal Philosopher thinks Saudis are brainwashed with a certain pop culture that “is filled with half-truths and out of context religious information that is promoted to control the masses.” I agree. Lawyer Ahmad Al-Rashid said he will sue Riyadh’s summary court after it refused to consider his lawsuit against MBC for [...]
Abdullah al-Eyaf, Ahmed Bin Baz
Friday, July 16, 2010 – 0:06
If you enjoyed reading about Abdulmohsen al Mutairi and young Saudi filmmakers, you probably want to read this interview with director Abdullah Al-Eyaf. His latest film, “Ayesh,” has been well received and won the first award of the Gulf Film Festival that was recently held in Dubai. In the second part of a series on [...]
Female ref, Lou visits KAUST
Thursday, July 15, 2010 – 17:44
The Saudi football league champions Al Hilal are currently in Austria preparing for the new season. Playing a friendly match against a Romanian team there, the Saudi players experienced something they won’t see in the local stadiums anytime soon: a female referee. Al Hilal lost 0-3. You think we can blame her for this defeat? [...]
Filmmakers, open letter to MoDo, muttawa hunt
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 – 22:25
Whenever someone asks me what interesting things Saudis are doing, I tell them to look at our rising group of young filmmakers. They are determined, passionate, and hardworking. Abu Dhabi’s The National caught up with my friend Abdulmuhsen al Mutairi when he was shooting his latest short film. “If you believe in art, you can [...]
