http://xrdarabia.org/2007/02/28/riyadh-book-fair-off-to-quiet-start/ Informed comment and commentary about Saudi Arabia, reform, and its relations with the US Tue, 22 May 2012 20:17:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://xrdarabia.org/2007/02/28/riyadh-book-fair-off-to-quiet-start/comment-page-1/#comment-2380 Global Voices Online Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:19:02 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/?p=2773#comment-2380 [...] NeeArt posted (in Arabic) her take on the situation of the recently-abandoned Saudi blogs, mentioned in last week’s roundup. She thinks that the bloggers’ decisions have more to do with increasing tensions, divisions among Saudi bloggers, and hearsay than governmental or political reasons; it’s a very interesting perspective. Raed Al-Saeed has posted a humble letter to Dr. Ghazi Abdul Rahman Algosaibi, the Saudi Minister of Labor. His letter mainly addresses the issue of Saudization in the job market. His solution is to place Saudis and non-Saudis seeking employment in similiar conditions, instead of forcing policy. Numerous bloggers have reported on the 2007 Riyadh International Book Fair. Before the actual date of the fair, Saudi Jeans (a.k.a. Ahmed Al-Omran) hoped “it would be a good assortment of brain food” and an opportunity to meet some bloggers. He also posted a list of the events he was planning on attending. As soon as the fair was inaugurated on March 1, Crossroads Arabia posted an article saying that the fair got off to a quiet start: The opening of the Riyadh Book Fair has gone off quietly. Last year’s fair—though not the opening—was disrupted by religious and social conservatives who shouted down a member of the Shoura Council who had tried to raise the issue of women’s driving during a Council session. Let’s see what happens during the rest of the fair. [...] [...] NeeArt posted (in Arabic) her take on the situation of the recently-abandoned Saudi blogs, mentioned in last week’s roundup. She thinks that the bloggers’ decisions have more to do with increasing tensions, divisions among Saudi bloggers, and hearsay than governmental or political reasons; it’s a very interesting perspective. Raed Al-Saeed has posted a humble letter to Dr. Ghazi Abdul Rahman Algosaibi, the Saudi Minister of Labor. His letter mainly addresses the issue of Saudization in the job market. His solution is to place Saudis and non-Saudis seeking employment in similiar conditions, instead of forcing policy. Numerous bloggers have reported on the 2007 Riyadh International Book Fair. Before the actual date of the fair, Saudi Jeans (a.k.a. Ahmed Al-Omran) hoped “it would be a good assortment of brain food” and an opportunity to meet some bloggers. He also posted a list of the events he was planning on attending. As soon as the fair was inaugurated on March 1, Crossroads Arabia posted an article saying that the fair got off to a quiet start: The opening of the Riyadh Book Fair has gone off quietly. Last year’s fair—though not the opening—was disrupted by religious and social conservatives who shouted down a member of the Shoura Council who had tried to raise the issue of women’s driving during a Council session. Let’s see what happens during the rest of the fair. [...]

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