Category Libs and Cons

Commission is Hiring

Some people think they are doing good things. Some people think they are spreading horror around the city. What do they think? They think they are understaffed. According to Saudi Gazette, the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice aka Hai’a aka the religious police aka Mutaween (these guys have many names) in Riyadh has been given the go-ahead to increase the number of its staff. The plan to increase the staff include employing “temps” and “freelancers” after they receive what the Commission spokesman Abdul Mohsen Al-Ghafari described as intensive training. But wait, I thought they don’t hire freelancers anymore. Am I missing something here? Well, I don’t know. I shall ask you, however, to welcome the new recruits and wish them uneventful careers, free of harassing people and invading their privacy.

Roots

Something is bothering me about Norah al-Faiz, the deputy minister of education. Sure, as the first Saudi woman to be appointed in such a senior position, she has come under a lot of attention, and maybe a lot of scrutiny. But I’m not talking about her performance as an official; I believe it is still early to evaluate her work, probably in the same way she thinks it is too early to talk about introducing sports to girls schools (it’s not, btw).

What is bothering me is this: Why does she keep referring to her Najdi roots every time someone asks about her allegedly “leaked” picture and the niqab? I believe she has every right to be proud of her roots, but I don’t think this is the right context to highlight them and associate the niqab with them. She serves in the ministry of education, she should be a role model. What kind of message does her statements send to teachers and students? Why can’t she just say that it’s a personal choice and that she expects others to respect it?

Now I could easily find her picture and put it in this post, but I’m respecting her wish in that she does not want her picture to be published. Is it too much to ask her to respect the rest of us who put their nation’s interests above their regional affiliation?

Girls Beware!

In a lecture he gave earlier this week at KSU, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti and Chairman of the Board of Senior Ulema, warned Saudi girls of those who want to deviate women from the right Islamic path:

They want her to go unveiled, moving about and traveling on her own, getting involved in relationships with whoever she wants, and calling whoever she wants to start up friendships with whoever she wants.

Who are they? They are the liberal forces. Damn them.

Wild Dreams

When you live here long enough, you become so accustomed to the absurdities of life in the magic kingdom that nothing can surprise you anymore, and you can come across the oddest of news stories without a flinch. Some recent examples…

Saudi Gazette says that the Ministry of Islamic Affairs (MIA) has held a closed door meeting in Riyadh for “interpreters of dreams and visions.” As if it is not enough that our government has been trying to tell you who you can (or can’t) marry, now they are trying to tell you how you should interpret your dreams.

We have no constitution or written laws; our human rights record is dismal and corruption is becoming a common practice in the public sector, yet here is our government holding a closed door meeting to help us interpret our dreams. How about helping people to actually make their dreams come true? Oh, sorry, I guess that’s not on your busy agenda.

Speaking of dreams, a paper presented at the Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Market held in Riyadh said the country’s expanding tourism sector will provide 900,000 new jobs for young Saudi men and women by 2020. No disrespect to the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), but this seriously wild dream calls for some extensive interpretation by the MIA people mentioned above.

What tourism are they talking about?

I have a suggestion for SCTA. Before embarking on your unrealistically huge ambition of making Saudi Arabia a tourist destination and invite millions to come, you, as well as many other government departments, may want to try make life more tolerable for those of us living here. I’m not talking about the enormous megaprojects you like to brag about so often (economic cities, techno valley, blah blah blah).

What I’m talking about is much more simple. Basics, really. People should able to meet freely in public without fear of being prosecuted. Organizing cultural and artistic events should not be a state security matter. Also, have you ever heard of public transportation? Yeah, we don’t have this.

Another Day, Another Statement

A group of reform activists has published an open letter to King Abdullah, asking him to ensure public and fair trials for alleged terrorists and demanding other judicial and political reforms. The group, called “Advocates of Constitutional Reforms, Civic Society and Human Rights” (ACRCSHR), is currently trying to collect signatures from the public. So far, 37 persons have signed the letter.

Supporting the alleged terrorists’ right to a public, fair trial is a noble call, but I wonder if associating other reform demands with this call is a good strategy. I heard many reformists accuse the government of practicing political opportunism when they deal with different groups in the country, but isn’t this kind of association similar to these practices?

One activist said the letter signals the end of a stage that witnessed a cautious flirtation between the king and the reformists. The letter boasts a strong language, but is it going to make any difference? Some people think that the era of statements and open letters is over.

If I sound skeptical, it is because I am. The glacial pace of progress the country has made over the past few years is not exactly a good reason to get all excited over anything. What many leaders in the government and outside it don’t seem to realize is that more and more young people are being left frustrated and now are considering leaving the country to pursue their dreams away from here.

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Unacceptable

Sheikh Namer al-Namer is back at it again. After his idiotic statements last summer he was detained for a while and later released, but he was banned from leading prayers and speaking in public. The recent tension in Madinah made him break the restrictions and he came out with even more idiotic statements.

In a speech he gave last Friday in a mosque in Awwamiyah, Sheikh al-Namer said that Shia should seek independence if the government continues its discrimination against them. “Our dignity is above the unity of this country,” he added.

What a moron!

Instead of trying to sooth the tension and calm the public down, he is openly calling for a civil war. During difficult times you expect some people to step up and rise to the occasion, show wisdom and leadership. Unfortunately, we have seen none of that during this crisis. Both the government and Shia leaders have failed to show the needed sense of responsibility to deal with the incidents and their aftermath.

However, I’m glad that I’m not alone in rejecting al-Namer’s divisive statements. People like Tawfeeq al-Saif has come out to denounce these statements. “They are totally rejected,” al-Saif said. There are conflicted reports on the web regarding the fate of al-Namer after his fiery speech. Some websites say he was arrested, others say he managed to escape the security forces that came to arrest him.

He will be arrested and then he will be released. But the truth is that his words will harm the Shia community and the national unity in Saudi Arabia much more than they will cause him harm.