Except for the egregious error of again calling Saudi Arabia an ‘absolute monarchy’, this Reuters piece, published in The New York Times, is very good.
Saudi youths, without much of an outlet for their personal expression, have taken to graffiti. In an effort to both prevent property damage and to understand the discontent, the government has established a ‘Graffiti Park’ in Jeddah, where the taggers can express themselves, with a few limitations.
Young Saudis really to have a tough time. They are expected to defer to their elders, their opinions are considered pretty worthless by those elders, and they have very little access to public fora. Blogs and the Internet have opened new opportunities, but for those who need a more kinetic form of expression, the paint can has come to their aid.
Definitely worth reading.
Jeddah Graffiti: The Writing’s on The Wall
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Using spray paint cans, they defaced public property, insulted the police and complained that youths didn’t have a voice in Saudi Arabia.
Dozens of young Saudis in the coastal city of Jeddah have challenged the authorities with street graffiti which has highlighted a growing generation gap in one of the world’s most socially conservative countries.
Powerful clerics still enforce a strict code of public morals in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy where more than 60 percent of the population is under 21.
But today, Saudi youths are growing up in an era shaped by the Internet, mobile phones and satellite television in a marked break from the sheltered upbringings of their parents.
Signed by gang members using names like G6, Boy.Z and XBoys and styled on the gaudy graffiti in big U.S. and European cities, images began appearing two years ago on traffic circles and walls, enraging local residents who valued civic pride.
“It wasn’t a rebellion, it was self-expression,” says Abadi Zbadi, 22, a founder of graffiti gang X5. “If you go to any mall they tell you ‘it’s just for families’ … You get depressed, so you might as well get into graffiti.”
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August:01:2007 - 10:11
i think this is wonderful. let the youth rise up. i’ve lived in saudi most of my childhood, and as a female expat, i hated it, and definitely could see that the govm’t is WAY out of touch with the newer generations– and the rest of the world. its just living on its own planets, and the sooner the youth realize that they CAN indeed change things instead of just accepting them and taking secondary routes to express their distress, the sooner they will some of their most basic freedoms.