Category Archives: Uncategorized

May 9, 2008 · 8:03 pm

Tourism in Saudi Arabia

In the past, Saudi Arabia did not advertise itself for tourism. On the contrary, it’s known for its extreme conservatism and seclusion. Up until a short time ago, it was virtually impossible for outsiders to visit Saudi Arabia for other than business reasons. There is no such thing as a tourist visa for Saudi Arabia. The closest thing you can get is a business visa and you have to have a letter from a company here in Saudi Arabia vouching that you are coming for a legitimate business reason. However, lack of advertisement has not influenced the prosperity of the Saudi tourism industry. Over Two and a half million people visit Makkah annually to perform Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage. Hajj is the largest pilgrimage world-wide of its kind.

Recently the Saudi government has decided to enhance its tourism industry by opening its doors year-round to non-Muslim tourists. For that reason, the General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities was established. There is no shortage of attractions to entice would-be travelers into setting their sights here.

Snorkeling in the most beautiful sea in the world, the Red Sea is just one of the possible things they can do. And maybe take a piece of coral as a souvenir. Or they can visit one of our ancient cities, such as Madin Saleh, which was founded before Christianity. These cities are huge pieces of art carved into the mountains. These sites are hard to get to for outsiders and regular Saudis. It is easy for expatriates and upper class Saudis to go see Madin Saleh. Due to a fatwa stating that visiting this archaeological site is discouraged in Islam, regular Saudis aren’t allowed in as easily or openly.

Prospective tourists can also join in our most popular past-time, shopping. We have all kinds of stores and shops no matter what your preference is. They can shop at one of our many modern malls or at Riyadh’s old downtown souk, Batha, where they can bargain down the prices to their heart’s content. They can take their time shopping, as hardly any shop closes before eleven at night.

Just having the experience of living in Saudi Arabia and observing the local customs in itself is fascinating. Nowhere else in the world are women, by law, not allowed to drive.  And by law have to cover themselves with a light black cloak. Five prayers are practiced publicly every day. Almost every two streets you’ll come across a mosque with a live-in sheikh who announces the prayer times on a microphone. So that all businesses close temporarily while Muslims prepare for prayer.

There have been organized and restricted tours to Saudi Arabia but nothing flexible and definitely no solo cheap adventurer kind of stuff that young college kids go for. You can join a tour for about 7500 dollars. For details click here

Saudi Arabia has always had a cloud of mystery and secrecy about it. However, as soon as the government opens its doors to year round tourism that cloud of mystery will rapidly disperse.   

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

May 7, 2008 · 4:15 pm

The Real Terrorists

This is on exhibit at one of the high schools here in Riyadh. I saw it and I just couldn’t resist taking a picture when no one was looking. It’s the Israeli and the American flag with a ban sign on them and surrounded with photos of Palestinian casualties. I thought it would really bring everything a lot closer to outsiders. The Palestinian cause is a cause that most Saudis hold very close to their hearts. And their side of the story is different from what most Westerners presume to be the truth.

In Western media, Israel is the most civilized and stable country in the Middle East. Its democratic and progressive nature is considered a model for the rest of the region. Everything would be perfect if only it weren’t for those pestering so called Palestinian terrorists, those barbarians who breed incessantly and brainwash their youth into carrying suicidal missions for a lost cause. While it is silently assented by all that Israel is the Jew’s compensation for having to go through the Holocaust, the “Promised Land” described in the Old Testament.  And helping the Jews is a way of continuing the Crusades and spreading the word of God to those Honor-killing Muslim savages.

The Saudi side is completely different. What most Saudis believe is that Israel is just an extension of the crucifixion. They tried to crucify Christ and now they have extended their torment to the people of his land. Everyone in Saudi Arabia knows at least one Palestinian refugee family whose father or grandfather had their houses taken by the Israeli government or were tricked into selling it. These people live and work with us and tell their story to anyone who’ll listen. Obviously, that makes it a lot more concrete than some sense of entitlement based on scripture. My own grandfather left his village here in Qaseem and fought and was injured in the first battles, some time between 1948 and 1952. Ever since then he had walked with a limp.

Also, it’s widely believed that Judgment day will not come until the Zionists are all thrown into the Mediterranean. As a result of what Israel has done to Palestinians, it’s even considered an insult to be called a Jew. And 9/11 was bound to happen. What do Americans expect when their Foreign Policy aids and abets the ethnic cleansing going on the Holy Lands? All those boohoos and memorials for a mere 3000 souls while Saudis of all ages are bombarded with photos and videos of murdered Palestinian children at the hands of the Israeli army on a daily basis on TV, newspapers and even at school as you can see above.

A more journalistic approach to the issue can be read here Link

9 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

May 5, 2008 · 8:38 pm

Prominent Saudis: Mohammed Abdu

Mohammed Abdu is the Saudi version of Paul McCartney. He’s the most polished and veteran singer in the Arabian Gulf. He’s also well-known all across the Middle East. In fact, his first hit in 1968 was popular not only in Saudi Arabia but also Lebanon and Egypt. Currently, he is dubbed the Arab Artist. His concerts are always sold out well in advance and all the great poets want to bestow their poems to him to sing as lyrics. There’s even a special black edition of the IPod with all his albums, old and new, already downloaded on it. It has Mohammed Abdu’s name in calligraphy on it. 

What also made Abdu such a hit is his clean reputation for being a family man. Since his early years, he has invited people to call him abu Nora (father of Nora, his firstborn). His house and its adjacent mosque are a famous landmark in Jeddah. Anyone can see and meet him just by attending prayer at his mosque.  

Abdu was born in one of the greenest areas of Saudi Arabia in the South East, in Jizan. His family was very poor and their income was supplemented by the government. He obtained a scholarship to study seamanship in Italy, but sometime during his study he took a detour and stumbled on his musical talents.

For the exception of a few videos that surfaced in the late 70s and early 80s of Abdu drunk playing his Ouad (Eastern guitar) at private functions, there have been no scandals of womanizing or such. There have been rumors though of him becoming a devout Muslim and quitting music every time he takes a break in between albums. And a tape of allegedly him reading the Quran aloud and crying was making the rounds. However this rumor dies as soon as his latest album hits the music stores and it is resurrected again if he spends a year without production. My take on this is that to the muttawas, Abdu would be a prime recruit since so many people look up to him. That’s why these rumors keep surfacing in hopes that they would magically come true.

Unfortunately Abdu is currently experiencing problems on the home-front. He has divorced his first wife, Nora’s mother. It is speculated that this is because he wanted to wed a second wife and his first refused to go along with it. As you can see, just like all celebrities, there are a lot of speculations and gossip surrounding them. Mohammed Abdu is the sort who denies and does not allow comment about his personal life.

You can listen and download his music for free here at this link.

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

May 3, 2008 · 7:25 pm

Muttawa lecture

This is a video from utube. It has been on there for 4 months. It’s a typical Islamic lecture from a quite eloquent and articulate sheikh. Below I’ve translated the whole thing and I tried to stay as literal in my translation as possible. You can’t experience his eloquence in Arabic but you’ll have to take my word for it, he’s pretty good. Read on and make your own conclusions.
 
 
Look to the vice cops, God bless them, what they did with the illegitimate children (orphan bastards) that came into this world not knowing who their parents are. One social worker told me about a field trip they took these children on. They took them to Abha and they were enjoying the scenery. Then they saw a group of monkeys frolicking and playing. So the kids started to yell: look at the monkeys! There’s one with its mother. Another child replied yes he is a monkey but he’s better off than us because he at least has a mother. The social worker said I couldn’t even turn to the child. I was that speechless. So I waited until the child moved away and I said God bless the vice cops. How many cases have they prevented that would have produced more miserable bastards.
Now look at what crime the devil has pushed people into committing. When she was flirting with him she didn’t know and when he was flirting with her, he didn’t know. And when they were exchanging gifts, they didn’t know. They are like us but the devil pushed them step by step until they got into trouble. The important issue here is that she became pregnant through fornication. She’s in trouble. The devil got her and it’s making her walk its path. The devil told her to kill the baby and everything will end. And the case ends here in that the infant is killed and put into the toilet. (points to the photo)
But the case has not ended. I swear that this murdered infant will rise up judgment day and she’ll go looking through all of creation and she will speak as Allah mentioned in the holy Quran: (quote from the Quran: rough translation: And when the murdered infant girls will ask for what sin was I killed)

For what sin was I killed, oh Lord? And Allah will not leave us to fend for ourselves. I swear by Allah who is the only god and who has obligated us to follow the Quran. He wanted so for a certain end (or reason). When we see the vice cops… The vice cops, I ask Allah to bless them because I swear they are the safety clip (or cap) for this ummah (people). I swear how many incident were prevented that were going to bear the likes of those (fornication, illegitimate pregnancies and children).

But now let me give  you the last part of this lecture. One illegitimate young man told me that he saved and saved to go to Hajj. And he swore that when he got there people were praying and asking Allah but he waited until Arafah, the day that prayers are most likely to be answered. The day Allah comes down in a way that’s appropriate and suiting to his holiness to display to his angels his human servants. The young man went on to say that other people were praying to be saved from hell and some were praying to go to heaven. But that he was only praying for one thing all day: Oh Lord whoever was the reason behind me being in this world, Oh Lord just as they have deprived me my rights, rights that animals have and I don’t. A mother and a father. Oh Lord do not grant them heaven. Oh Lord of all worlds.

I wonder does his mother know? At the time he was praying was she above the ground or below it? And that father? Where is he? We don’t know but Allah in all his holiness does know.

 

 

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as ,

May 2, 2008 · 8:00 am

Sandstorms and My Ancestors

These past two weeks Riyadh has seen on and off sandstorms. When it’s really bad it kind of looks like a yellowish brown blizzard. People with asthma and allergies are confined to their houses and it’s not strange to see some people walking around with surgical masks on. No matter what you do, the sand gets in and settles on everything. My husband even got those adhesive strips that you can stick to the bottom and sides of doors, and still I can smell a grainy sandy smell inside the house. What really helped was getting a humidifier.

I don’t mind the sandstorms as much as other people do. It makes me wonder about my ancestors. And why people dress the way they do. The red and white cloths Saudi men wear now only to preserve tradition, served a true practical purpose in the past. In sandstorms they would wrap the cloth around their mouth and nose and the black band on the forehead prevented the headdress from flying away into the wind. And women did not wear abayas back then. They wore long dresses that did not define their waists and some of these dresses had sleeves that hang down so very low so that they can use the extra cloth for modesty if an unrelated man comes in. They also would have big square light cloths of different colors on hand for when they need to walk outside. These are what they now only use for prayer.

Later on in the late sixties and early seventies, abayas started to catch on. Women would still wear long dresses and put the abaya tent-style over their head but they would also grab the whole abaya in the two nooks of their elbows so that from the waist down you can see what she is wearing underneath. Kuwaiti, Emirati and even up in Iraq women dressed similarly. And then the mutawas were no longer responsible for unifying the different regions of Saudi Arabia so they turned their focus on to us poor women.  Just shows you how much politics influences even the smallest details of our lives.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , ,

May 1, 2008 · 12:37 pm

Prominent Saudis: Dr. Ghazi Al Qosaibi

 

The most prominent of prominent not royal Saudis is Ghazi Al Qosaibi. This is a name that every Saudi knows, young and old. He initially became popular for the reforms he implemented as minister of health, that and his Arabic novels compounded to make him one of the shiniest stars in the Saudi sky.
The first phases of his education were in neighboring Arab countries, Bahrain and Egypt. He then went on to a masters in the US and a PhD from the University of London. He then came back to Riyadh in 1971 to work as an academic at King Saud University. However, that did not last that long because he later sat at many important desks in Saudi; Director General of Saudi Railways Organization, Minister of Industry and Electricity, Minister of Health, Saudi ambassador in Bahrain then UK, Minister of Water, and now Minister of Labour.
Before he was assigned that last position, he was immensely popular all across Saudi but since becoming Minister of Labour, he has had to delve into areas that he had not touched before. As minister he is trying to tackle issues such as women unemployment rates, creating new sectors for Saudi women, reducing the number of low-skilled expatriate workers and training Saudis to take over their jobs. All of the above are held dearly to the hearts of our conservative majority.
It seems like they think anyone holding a Saudi passport is too good for blue-collar jobs. And they all live in a fairyland where every Saudi woman has a chivalrous man supporting her. And that’s why now his popularity has seen a dive.
To give you a sense of what he’s up against read these two articles:

Too Many Guardians Hindering Society’s Progress: Al-Gosaibi
Raid Qusti, Arab News

RIYADH, 28 April 2008 – Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi yesterday criticized people who reject the idea of Arab and Saudi women working as maids in Saudi households.
“We are a society which is full of guardians,” Al-Gosaibi told reporters while answering a question about a proposal to have Egyptian housemaids in Saudi homes, as suggested by the Egyptian minister of labor.
“The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that all of you are guardians and that every guardian is responsible for his family. He did not say all of you are guardians for entire society,” said Al-Gosaibi.

Al-Gosaibi Seeks People’s Support for Job Policies
Arab News

BURAIDAH, 24 April 2008 – Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi yesterday called for sustained support from society to help his ministry successfully implement new employment policies.
Addressing the participants in the second day of the seventh national dialogue forum that began in Buraidah on Tuesday, Al-Gosaibi said no Islamic religious strictures prevent women from working.
“After detailed studies and discussions, the religious scholars, intellectuals and the Supreme Economic Council have agreed on the religious regulations on the employment of women,” the minister said.

 Another thing that has to be mentioned when it come to Dr. Ghazi Al Qosaibi, is his great contributions to Arabic literature. His most noteworthy is The Apartment of Freedom which is about a group of Saudi college students in Egypt. It is so popular that it was made into a TV series. And his latest novel, The Genie, which was published in 2006 is also a good read.

One more thing is he was one of the first people to back Raja Al Sanea, author of Girls of Riyadh.

18 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

April 29, 2008 · 8:21 pm

Quoted

Today I was quoted in this article in the Saudi Gazette. I completely agree with the whole article As you can see at the beginning, there are many women in Saudi Arabia who sanction the status quo, just like the anonymous IT undergrad. Outsiders would be amazed at how many women here do not welcome change. Although I have yet to come across any studies on the matter, I think there a lot more women than men objecting to equality and freedom. I have my own theory on why but I’ll leave that for another post. I even remember a few years back reading an article in Arab News Newspaper written by Raid Qusti in which he wrote that he’s contemplating quitting writing for women’s rights since women themselves are against his ideas.
Well anyway the article was a great piece and a step in the right direction in moving the dialogue along. My only objection is the writer put quotation marks on what she attributes to me when actually it’s more of a paraphrase. The interview was conducted on the phone and I assumed that she was taping it but apparently she wasn’t. I don’t disagree with what’s written. It has the gist of what I was saying but it’s definitely not my words, especially the hullaballoo part. I can’t get my tongue around that last one. This is the quote:
 “Yes, the segregation of men and women is holding us back, wherein we do not have courses like engineering and journalism, simply because of unavailability of women’s faculty,” she said.
“Otherwise, this is no real reason for women not to go out, get an education and make careers. It is all in the head, and of course, the notion of people opposing this plays an important part in the hullaballoo created.”

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

April 28, 2008 · 4:57 pm

Abayas

I’m pretty sure that to outsiders all covered women look the same. But actually how a woman wears an abaya tells a lot about her. Of course this is a cultural issue and as such can be given to many interpretations. Another point before you read on, is that in order to explain culture, I have to generalize but this does not apply to individuals. To make this even clearer, some in the western world would say that mini-skirts are slutty but hopefully you would not assume that every woman you meet with one on is a slut.
After most descriptions, there is a link to a photo that illustrates what I’m trying to explain. This by no means means that I’m passing judgement on the women in the photos or their intentions. It just happens that their photo explains my description.
 If a Saudi woman wears it tent-style over her head with her face uncovered it means that she is Shiaa.

If she wears it tent-style over her head with only her eyes uncovered in  a niqab, it means that she belongs to a conservative Sunni family and most probably she is wearing it this way because of family or work pressuring her to or to raise her chances of being proposed to. Link
Women who wear it on the shoulders with a niqab but have the headscarf on top of the niqab in what reminds me of how nuns wear their headdress, usually come from middle-class families and are both patriotic and religious. Link
Undecorated abayas worn on the shoulder with a niqab mean that the wearer is forced by her spouse to cover and she doesn’t care about outsiders opinions. Link

 An undecorated abaya with the head scarf wrapped or held to cover the nose and mouth mean that the wearer comes from an upper middle-class westernized family and has been asked by her father, brother or spouse to cover for fear of being gossiped about. In the latter case, the more the abaya is decorated, the more likely the wearer is pretending to come from an upper middle-class family. In this case, she’ll get into a lot of trouble if caught by a relative.
Last but not least, a style that has given many children nightmares; tent-like over the head with a thick cover on the face area and one hole for one iris to peek out of. The hands and feet are covered with black gloves and socks. In this case, the wearer is either an ultra wahabi fanatic or a man under disguise, especially if he/she is begging.

If you have photos or have seen photos of any of the above, please send them or the link.

21 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

April 26, 2008 · 6:49 pm

T.G.I. Friday’s

Last Thursday, my husband treated us to dinner at TGI Friday’s. It was an early dinner so we got there around 6:30 pm. The place was full and we had to wait 15 minutes for a table. I was really hungry and practically drooling over the menu. I ordered a Philly Steak sandwich and lemonade and everyone else ordered what they wanted. When the appetizers arrived I had a bad vibe but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I just felt that the dishware wasn’t sparkling. My hunger though pushed the thought to the back of my mind until I got my sandwich. It’s a habit of mine (thank God) to open sandwiches and eat the filling with a fork. As I was picking the juicy bits of the steak cuts, a very black, straight longish crew cut hair got entangled in my fork. I thought how disgusting, I’ll just leave the sandwich and munch on the small cup of side-serving coleslaw with the minimal appetite I have left. With a fresh fork I plunged into the coleslaw only to find half of a very soiled French fry in the middle. Obviously this cup of coleslaw was served to me secondhand. My husband called to the waiter and complained. The waiter turned to me and I quote; he said: “Let me get you another sandwich and I assure you this time without hair.” That just made me even more nauseas.   The manager was called and they removed the sandwich from our table’s bill.

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

April 26, 2008 · 6:26 pm

Comments on Al Watan article (First read the previous post)

The article I wrote about in my last post is not that unique. Everyday we see new articles that test the social and political boundaries of our culture. What interested me in this article is that I view it as a prime example of these boundary testing articles and what is more important than the article is how the public receives it. The first impact can be measured in the comments written on an article’s webpage. This particular article had the most comments for the day it was published. The Al Watan newspaper has a time limit on when you can post a comment so all the comments were written on the same day the article was published. There were 199 according to the site’s count but my count was 195. That could be due to comments being deleted before my count.

The article chiefly deals with women issues, funnily though the majority of the comments were posted by men. 69% of the comments were under male usernames, while only 19% were posted by women. 12% of the posts were under unisex usernames.

Over half of the posts were written by men objecting to and belittling the author. Some of these include remarks that go as low as to say that educated women are usually ugly and that’s why they don’t care for the abaya. One guy wrote that women cannot be raped unless they want to be.  Another hinted that the rise of sexual harassment might be because of the restrictions on the muttawa (vice cops). Many of the men wrote that the numbers the Ministry of Interior Affairs released concerning harassment and rape cases is marginal compared to the numbers of the same cases in the west (especially USA).

 Of the 19% of women posts, 12% agreed with the author. Um Hala wrote this is what we should expect since we raise our sons to discipline their sisters and require mothers to sit in the backseat of a car if she is riding with more than one son. Um Abdullah expressed astonishment on how this culture treats perpetrators like victims and criminalizes true victims. She also wrote that the pre Islamic tradition of killing newborn daughters is more merciful than what we are doing to our daughters.

These comments reveal our society in a way that’s mostly inaccessible to outsiders. If the abaya topic was raised in a social gathering here in Riyadh, the arguments above would be the most likely to occur.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized