Category Saudi Arabia

  • All is not well in KAUST, apparently. I don’t want to talk about their last-minute cancellation on Saudi Barcamp last month because I don’t know all the details, but here is a view from the inside by a student there. Noah J.D. DesRosiers called it a “black hole,” where people are too afraid to say anything:

    I worry about being asked to leave KAUST. I worry that I will be booted in exchange for a student who will not speak their mind – or worse, a student who will not care either way for the vision of KAUST. Speaking your mind seems offensive and standoffish here; behaving, being grateful, and accepting what has been given appears to be all that was anticipated of us students. We can’t tell; the lack of transparency leaves our questions unanswered.

  • If you want to make something great then you need to be passionate about it. That’s true for almost everything in life. But there are things in life where passion is crucial, and one of these things is teaching. You must have some much passion just to be a decent teacher, let alone a great one. As we go through school, we are being taught by many different teachers, and usually very few of them truly stand out. Those who stand out will have a tremendous impact on our lives. Fatima is no exception, and that’s why she decided to become a teacher.
  • Fellow blogger Ahmed Ba-Aboud introduces Alternative Saudi Voices. His vision is to make the blog one of the best available windows to life aspects, issues and dreams in Saudi Arabia, and it will be will be open to any Saudi who would like to contribute. I think the new blog offers a good opportunity for people who feel they have something to say but don’t want to start a blog of their own. At least it’s much better than pouring your ideas in the comments section of blog like mine where they will eventually be buried or get lost in the noise.
  • A nice op-ed in the NYT by Tim Sebastian, host of Doha Debates. Talking about Egyptian bloggers, he quotes an influential editor in Cairo saying: “these young bloggers are the real bridge to a better, freer future in the Arab world. But, like the traffic, it may take a few years to arrive.” (via GB)
  • The Buraida girl has shockingly decided to accept her marriage to the 80-year-old man. The girl’s divorced mother also dropped a bombshell by withdrawing the lawsuit she had filed to annul the marriage. Abdulrahman al-Lahem says the government should intervene based on its power and commitment to international accords on child rights that it has signed. UPDATE: HRC said they have assigned a new lawyer to the case, and added that just because the mother withdrew the lawsuit doesn’t mean the case is over.
  • I have always said that the Kingdom of Segregation makes for some awkward moments, but this one is just hilarious: Al-Mass’ad lodged a complaint with the police calling on them to take Al-Rubai “under their wing” until he gives up his alleged “Satanic” views which reveal him as an “enemy of the religion.” Actually, this silly story offers a really good representation of the ideological crisis in our country.
  • Caryle Murphy takes a look at how Saudi women use the internet to interact, connect, learn, and express themselves in many different ways. The story includes a couple of quotes by yours truly.
  • Barack Obama has fundamentally altered the way a president deals with the news media, NYT says, as he has made a concerted effort to tap into alternative avenues, including blogs, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. In his first year in office he gave more than 160 interviews. Now compare this to how Saudi officials and leaders deal with the media. I mean, seriously, do officials here even care to speak to people every now and then? They don’t.

Down with the Tribe

After four years of suffering, the Supreme Court in Riyadh has finally put an end to the plight of Fatima al-Azzaz and Mansour al-Taimani, the couple who were forcibly divorced at the request of Fatima’s brothers for tribal reasons. According to the couple’s lawyer Ahmed al-Sudairi, the Supreme Court has reversed the ruling of Jouf Court that divorced Fatima and Mansour.

Abdulrahman al-Lahem, the couple’s former lawyer, wrote in his blog that he was pleased by the news. Al-Lahem hoped that the ruling would usher a serious beginning for an institutional reform of the judicial system in Saudi Arabia. He also praised the role of media and blogs in highlighting cases like this one.

Personally, I’m happy to see this issue come to a happy ending. Mansour, Fatima, and their children have literally gone through hell over the past four years, and it’s a relief to see the family finally come together again. This is a victory not just for them and their lawyers, but for all human rights activists in the country who supported their cause.

In the words of Fouzia al-Oyouni, it is “a victory for the nation over the tribe.”

PS. I’m not officially back, but I could not not blog about this.

On Alienating Opponents

I respect the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR). Compared to the other human rights organization in the country, I believe that they have been doing a decent job. For instance, I was pleasantly surprised by their latest report. But even NSHR occasionally manage to get on my nerves too.

NSHR still lacks a stance on issues like women’s driving. One of the founding members of the Society was recently asked why they don’t have a stance on the issue and he gave an interesting answer. He said some members of NSHR supports women’s driving, while some other members don’t. We don’t want to alienate those.

Say what?!

I understand that women’s driving is a controversial issue. But I believe it shouldn’t be. To me, the issue boils down to this: freedom of movement is a basic human right. Therefore, you would think it’s obvious what kind of stance NSHR should be taking. Any member who has a different opinion can then express their reservation on this stance, or they can quit. It’s that simple, really.

But that’s just me. And I would gladly admit that I know very little about the inside politics of the few NGOs operating in Saudi Arabia. So people of NSHR, if any of you is reading this, please enlighten me.

Beautiful Mess

I hear that officials at the Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) are forging ahead with their dumb idea to regulate so-called electronic media. Asbar, a research center based in Riyadh that includes several members of Shourac Council on its board (conflict of interests, anyone?), has been working on a draft for the new law.

This Saturday, they hosted a discussion panel about the proposed law where they met with representatives from MOCI, CITC, KACST, and the Ministry of Interior as well as some government and media consultants.

Ironically, some owners of news websites are actually pushing for this law. They argue that it would make it easier for them to get funding and make money from advertising. What about their independence and freedom that could be threatened by the new law? Well, apparently these things are not high on their agenda.

I previously said regulation by the government is not the answer, and I stand by that opinion. News websites should operate under the same laws that regulate traditional media. If these laws are old and outdated, then they should be amended, updated, or even overhauled and rewritten altogether if necessary.

Although I find the government’s obsession with control hard to understand, I have to say it is not unusual. Someone should tell them that their constant attempts to police the internet are useless, really. Why get yourselves into this mess? Yes, it is a mess, but it’s a beautiful mess. Just leave it that way.

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This is for Talal

Talal and me

Saudi Jeans leaves much to be desired, I reckon. But I’m moody and lazy, and time is on short supply around here. I have been blogging for over five and a half years now, and lately I feel — you probably do, too — like I’m running out of steam. I can quit blogging for good; that would be an easy thing to do. But those who know me know that I don’t do easy. I hate easy. I just don’t think it’s time for me to stop. Not yet, anyway. On the contrary, I have been tinkering with some exciting ideas related to blogging lately, and my initial impression is really positive. Now keep in mind that I’m usually very pessimistic and I don’t use the word “positive” lightly.

All of this came to my mind earlier this week, when I revived Riyadh bloggers meetup after long months of hiatus and several requests by friends to bring it back. It was great to see the guys, as always, and the discussions were interesting and thought-stimulating. In the middle of the meetup, someone I don’t know called me up and asked me if I could speak with him for a minute. He then introduced himself: Z Theory, a longtime commenter on my blog. I invited him to join us but he politely declined. Holding his coffee-to-go in his hand, he said some nice things and then quickly excused himself and left. It was great to finally meet you, man!

After the meetup came to an end around 10:30 PM, I went to the nearby mall to buy dinner. I was standing at the counter, waiting for my food to be prepared, and at the other end of the counter there was a woman carrying her one-year-old baby. I noticed she was looking at me, but I’m used to being stared at, so I didn’t mind. Then she suddenly asked: “are you Saudi Jeans?” Um, yes, I said. She asked if she could take a picture of the little boy with me. “Sure,” I said. Except for these two words, I was speechless. I was embarrassed and I just didn’t know what to say.

Moments like these are strange and nice. Of course you can easily dismiss me as D-list celebrity wannabe, you can insult me and call me names, you can make fun of me and my obvious lack of social skills. If that’s going to make you feel better about yourself, by all means go ahead and do it. But for me, it’s much more simple. It is about doing what I like to do, and then being recognized for it. Fame? It has never been about fame, although, like my friend Abdulrahman al-Lahem, I don’t mind becoming famous for doing something I believe in. In this age, when some people are famous for being famous, being famous because of a blog is not such a horrible thing, I guess.

However, I certainly don’t blog for fame. I blog for myself, first and foremost. I’m selfish like that. But when I get frustrated and feel like this blog is a worthless piece of crap because nothing will ever change, I’d like to think that I’m also blogging for Talal, Joori, Mohammed, and Khattab. I believe that they deserve a better country, and we must not let them down. We cannot afford to let them down.