Saudi play causes brawl as Islamists storm stage
RIYADH (Reuters) – A play criticising religious hardliners in conservative Saudi Arabia descended into a brawl when angry Islamists stormed onto the stage, Saudi newspapers and Web sites reported on Tuesday.
As the play ‘Wasati Bila Wasatiya’ (A Moderate without Moderation) began, a group of men surged forward to stop the performance at a cultural festival in the Yamama College in Riyadh on Monday, Al Hayat newspaper and Web site Elaph said.
Police fired shots into the air to break up violence which ensued, as the Islamists, students and actors threw chairs and attacked each other with sticks.
Al Hayat published some pictures of the clashes.
Elaph said 17 men were arrested. An Interior Ministry spokesman was not available for comment.
There are no public theatre houses or cinemas in Saudi Arabia.
Islamist hardliners fear that liberals are gaining the upper hand in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter which rules by strict Islamic law, after King Abdullah came to power last year supporting a reform agenda.
Khaleej Times carries this wire story. I cannot locate the stories published in Al Hayat or on Elaph, but will keep looking for them.
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November:28:2006 - 14:31
i thought it was particularly impressive the way the lead actor stood up to the men storming the stage. i was proud that someone had the strength to resist the intimidation. hopefully this really does suggest that there is a strong foundation for resisting the tactics of intimidation being used by the extremists within the kingdom that i love and once called home.
November:28:2006 - 15:36
From the reports I was given about 60 conservatives showed up to protest and then rioted, doors were locked until 4 am, shots were fired and about 40 ended up getting arrested.
I heard that part of the college was shut down the next day. We’ll see how long that remains the case, hopefully not long.
Some good attempts are being made at Al Yamamah, but talk is cheap. Unfortunately, too many Saudi’s still need to discover that a solid work ethic is also a vital component to development, modernization and moderacy. The ability to interact competitively on an international level will validate to the conservatives the worth of interacting with other cultures.
Voices need to address issues of free speech, human rights, women’s issues, etc. but they also must be paired by an uncompromising demand for a new work ethic.
November:28:2006 - 15:55
The thing that puzzles me about the ‘Saudi work ethic’ is that before the 1960s, Saudis were known for working hard. They had to, or else they’d starve to death.
It seems that it only took one generation for people to decide that the world owed them a living. That appears to be changing now, particularly among Saudi women. What kind of inducement is necessary for the men?
November:28:2006 - 16:48
I recommend ‘The Kingdom of Arabia and the House of Saud’ for some food for thought about the transformation of the culture here from hard scrabble in the desert to a government welfare state. By the 1960′s King Abdul Aziz, an admirable leader in many respects, had positioned the kingdom to begin to benefit from the oil exports. King Saud was a profligate hindrance to development, from what I’ve read, but Faisal attempted to move an unskilled people out of poverty by creating a welfare state. He succeeded in improving conditions for the average Saudi in many ways, but for too many they lost their sense of needing to achieve to be successful. Why should they with free health care, free education with a stipend from the govt, and a do nothing job govt job awaiting warm bodies?
However, this subsidized life is eroding fast with the Saudi population exploding and the GNP not increasing fast enough to maintain. Unemployment, poverty and muted discontent give evidence of this.
I think King Abdullah is pushing changes as fast society will allow. But people need to remember that King Abdullah does not rule the country. Although not elected, he rules by the consensu of a conservative society.
The dire question is, is it too late for this generation and they will have to bottom out or can they get their act together.
November:28:2006 - 23:02
Those are indeed the questions. I hope someone has good answers and the ability to implement them.
November:29:2006 - 12:38
Update on the drama scuffle…apparently the first night there were a number of conservative mutawwaas disrupting the play. The second night there were about 120 seated down near the stage. A similar contingent of Al Yamamah students were sitting in the audience. As soon as the lights dimmed the 120 conservatives rushed the stage and attacked the actors. It took a few seconds for the other students to realize what was happening in the darkness in front of them, then they too rushed the stage to join the melee. An outnumbered 18 year old policeman waved his pistol for awhile and apparently after being ignored fired a few shots into the ceiling. He continued to be ignored by the scrapping masses. Besides the broken hip of one student the injuries seem to be mostly of the barroom brawl variety.
This is from the first hand report of a western gentleman who witnessed this hooligan scuffle. His opinion was that the seriousness of the incidentit was overblown by the press, etc.
If this is spun right by Al Yamamah they could turn it into a public relations / marketing triumph…Everyone knows about UC Berkely after the riots there in the 60′s. Push the envelope, be at the forefront of progress, be at Al Yamamah…and fight for your future…
All I know is that with regional issues escalating there needs to be a generation here that can stand up and be counted.
November:29:2006 - 12:58
Clapton: Thanks very much for the update and backstory!
I hope you do realize, though, that UC Berkeley is not uniformly held in high esteem. Many see the students’ actions as having gone way too far, to the point of damaging both the institution and democracy itself.