Reem Al-Saleh wrote a great column at today’s Asharq Al-Awsat about the effect of freedom in our culture. She says “when I heard about the first conference of the Saudi intelligentsia, I wanted to publish a column composed of only one word: ‘Freedom’.” “When Yousef Al-Muhaimeed told me about his new novel Al-Qaroura, I involuntarily sent him an email asking him if it would be available in Riyadh, because if it would be available in Riyadh it will not be worth reading it!” She added.

She also cannot believe that we can trust Ghazi Al-Gosaibi to be responsible for our energy (he was the minister of water and electricity) and the future of our kids (the ministry of labour) but when it comes to his creative, we kick all that out of the country!

She is right. Why do we import everything from every part in the world, but in the same time we have to go to Beirut and London to read a book by one of our compatriots?

The U.S. Department of State released its “International Religious Freedom Report” on 15/9/2004. The report considered Saudi Arabia as “country of particular concern” for violations of religious freedom.

Immediately after the report published, many Saudi columnists were ready to deny almost everything, and then tell us that there’s no such country that provide complete freedom and “nobody’s perfect.” People like Tareq Al-Humaid wrote that everything is OK, and if there is anything wrong, Saudis will work it out, and they don’t need any American report to do so!

I know it has been more than three weeks since the publishing of the report, but I wanted to read the report myself form the Department of State website before commenting. Here’s the part about Saudi Arabia.

Freedom of religion does not exist. Freedom of religion is not recognized or protected under the country’s laws, and basic religious freedoms are denied to all but those who adhere to the state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam (…) Muslims who do not adhere to the officially sanctioned Salafi (commonly called “Wahhabi”) tradition can face severe repercussions at the hands of Mutawwa’in (religious police). Members of the Shi’a minority continue to face political and economic discrimination, including limited employment opportunities, little representation in official institutions, and restrictions on the practice of their faith and on the building of mosques and community centers.

This is all completely true, and I don’t know how some writers dared to deny anything from it. I am Saudi and I live in Saudi Arabia. I see this everyday and this exactly how it is going on here. Why some people can’t just admit it and try to suggest solution the problem instead of this bullshit?