I’m not sure why it’s happening now, but an awful lot of spammers are trying to get into Crossroads Arabia. Whether it’s comment spam, link-back spam, or spurious registrations, I’m now getting hundreds of attempts daily to place bogus materials here.
Just as a general rule: If you are coming to Crossroads Arabia from Russia, Ukraine, China, Belarus, or Korea, your comments and links will be deleted upon detection unless you have first contacted me, through the Contact link. The same applies to those coming from the Gawab, Innet, Freemail, and other ill-controlled ISPs. If your parents gave you the name of human body parts, sex enhancement drugs, international banks, or real estate firms in Kazakhstan, you have my sincerest sympathy, but you’re not getting any space on these pages.
I do appreciate commenters’ registering on the blog. That provides me with a way to contact you directly and in private if I come across something that might be of interest to you. It’s not required, of course, but it is helpful to me.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Last year, we saw the first cinema open (temporarily) in Jeddah for the showing of a Saudi film to Saudi audiences. Then came Taif. Now, reports Saudi Gazette, cinema comes to Jizan.
It’s unfortunate that cinemas are only open during holidays, but it’s at least a start.
‘Menahi’ in Jizan festival
Fouzia KhanJEDDAH – Rawad Media, the leading Saudi media producing and distribution company has again launched comedy movie “Menahi” in Jizan to coincide the spring vacation starting from Feb. 18 for nine days.
“Jizan welcomed us the first time and we are expecting the same response again,” said Mamdouh Salim, executive director and producer of Rawad Media. “Our intellectuals and creative artists have served the nation and we are expecting a large number of audience,” he said. “We have organized high-level technical preparations for the presentation of the film,” he said.
“Menahi,” which takes its title from the name of the film’s hero, is a comedy with a touch of Saudi culture and tradition. Apart from Fayez Al-Malki, the main hero, the film stars Syrian actress Mona Wassef, Kuwaiti actor Abdul Imam Abdullah and a number of young Saudi actors. The script is written by Mazen Taha and narrated by Ayman Akram.
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Hamad Al-Majid, writing in Asharq Alawsat takes a look at how the Obama Administration differs from the Bush Administration in regard to Islamicism.
I’m not sure quite how to asses this as there are so many different meanings applied to the terms ‘Islamism’ and ‘Islamicist’. The meaning I will apply is that ‘Islamism’ is a conservative political theory stating that Islam plays a necessary role in politics. The precise meaning of that will depend on how one defines ‘Islam’, of course. If one sees Islam as moderate and peace-loving, you end up at a different place than if your starting assumption is that Islam is predatory, expansionist, and intolerant.
I do think Al-Majid is correct in asserting that an Obama Administration will come to the table of political discussion with an assumption that political Islam, Islamism, is a fact and that it will have to be dealt with as a fact. The trick will be in finding just who are the right interlocutors and in deciding which flavor(s) of Islamism are those who can be dealt with diplomatically and which cannot.
Obama and the Islamist Disease
Hamad Al-MajidThe new Obama administration is pushing forward at the helm of American politics, especially with regards to Islamists of various orientations.
The features of Obama’s presidency have started to become clear before the end of his first 100 days in office, upon which traditionally the performance of the new US President is assessed. The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, and with Obama’s blessing, is courting the Taliban leadership, promising them that those that chose peace with his government will be involved in power. While in Somalia, Sheik Sharif Ahmed of the Union of Islamic Courts [UIC] has become the new President of Somalia, the UIC was viewed as a terrorist organization by the Bush administration, but is viewed as moderate by the new US Obama administration. And so as I noted in my previous article [The Somalization of Hamas] Obama gave his blessing to Sheik Sharif Ahmed’s appointment as President, while the following article expands upon a number of issues raised in that one.
The most obvious indication to the moderate Islamic trends in the Arab world of the new policies of the Obama administration can be seen with regards to comments made by J. Scott Carpenter, a US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and the Director of Project Fikra which focuses on empowering Arab democrats in their struggle against extremist. In response to a question about the US administrations willingness to accept the political consequences that may result from democratic reform [in the Arab and Islamic world] including the possibility of Islamic political movements coming to power, Carpenter answered that his government was ready to recognize this no matter what the consequences.
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Last week, I noted the determination of the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Archeology to preserve historic sites. Today, Saudi Gazette reports that religious authorities share that determination. Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan makes the valid point that if something of value is misused by the ignorant, that is no reason to destroy it. He point out that paganism and improprer religious practices took place at the Kaaba. He asks if it, too, should be torn down as a way to keep others from making the same mistake.
Sheikh Al-Obaikan is exactly right. His thinking needs to be understood by many Saudis and expanded into other realms of life. Almost anything can be misused, can present temptation to do wrong. The solution is not to ban those things or destroy them, but to educate people in their proper use. This is something I wish many Americans would realize as well, on a wide range of issues. A ban is simple, but it’s usually too far ranging to make sense or even to be effective. The trouble is, it’s so very easy for governments to ban something or to make it illegal that they rarely take the effort to be smart about it.
Archeological sites should be preserved: Al-Obaikan
Na’eem Tameem Al-HakeemJEDDAH – Sheikh Dr. Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan, an adviser at the Royal Court, has addressed the controversial issue of archeological sites and their preservation.
Al-Obaikan, commenting on demands to remove or fence off Islamic archeological sites, said there was a difference between preserving archeological sites for educational purposes and the “polytheism practiced at the sites by ignorant people”.
“We can’t ask for these places to be destructed just because of the ignorance of some,” Al-Obaikan continued. “There were people who practiced such things inside the Ka’ba and next to the Prophet’s grave. Should these two places also have been removed?”
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Al-Tayib Saleh, Sudanese novelist, journalist, and government functionary has died. His novel, Season of Migration to the North, and novella, The Wedding of Zein, are both masterpieces of Arabic literature. Saudi Gazette‘s cartoon says it right:
This article from the Arabic daily Okaz (here translated by Arab News) is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it shows that not all Saudi society is against the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. In fact, a large proportion of the society respects it and wants it to flourish. Second, even its supporters think the Commission is heading down a path that discredits the organization.
The writer is annoyed that the Commission seems to believe that it is above criticism. When criticism appears, the Haya finds ways to blame the accuser or otherwise deflect it. This is simply unreasonable. The Commission, like other governmental organizations, is comprised of human beings. Human beings are imperfect and will make mistakes, no matter how hard they try to avoid them. To declare oneself blameless only shows that there’s a serious problem that needs addressing.
Virtue Commission and self-criticism
Khaled Al-Sulaiman I OkazOFTEN the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice does not even leave room for its friends to defend its actions. The behavior of some of the commission’s employees not only exceeds the authority allowed the commission under the system but also lacks in both intelligence and tact. The commission should be trying to gain the support of society to face the concentrated criticism campaign directed against it. We find, however, that some of its employees are emphasizing a negative image and thus increasing the strength of public anger against it.
The commission cannot counter the wave of criticism by dismissing whatever is printed in the press as baseless or fabricated. Even if there really are some journalists who blow up even the smallest of violations committed by the commission members, it is not reasonable or believable that all that is printed in the press about the commission’s violations is fabricated. The journalists usually obtain their information about the violations and misuse of power committed by the commission from the members of the commission itself.
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“Mother Jones” magazine, one of the louder voices in the American progressive political movement, reports on Saudi Arabia’s Sakinah program designed to go one-on-one with the thousands of extremist chat rooms on the Internet. That they run this story, positive in its viewpoint, is likely to cause a bit of cognitive dissonance among those on the left who seemingly run a mental paradigm of (Bush + Saudis = Evil = OMG We’re all gonna die!). It’s nice, though, to see the ‘reality based community’ get in touch with reality once in a while.
Al Qaeda, Online
Taking out the terrorists one chat room at a time
Bruce FalconerThere’s a holy war online. On one side is a network of Al Qaeda propagandists eager to use the Web to spread their message and broaden their influence in the Muslim world. On the other is a group of Saudi religious scholars who are prowling the Internet for Islamic extremists who they can convert to moderation. Based in Riyadh, members of the so-called Sakinah (“Tranquility”) Campaign have been infiltrating extremist websites and chat rooms since 2004, seeking to engage Islamist sympathizers in religious dialogue. Their aim is to steer potential terrorists away from Al Qaeda, which has used the Web as its primary recruiting ground.
The Internet is a relatively recent phenomenon in Saudi Arabia, introduced only in 1999 after the Saudi government devised ways to filter out unwanted content, primarily pornography and online gambling. By 2000, some 500,000 Saudis were already surfing the Web; seven years later, that number had ballooned to an estimated 4.7 million, or approximately 17 percent of the population. As the Internet has caught on in the kingdom, so too has concern over its usefulness to terrorists. The number of Islamic extremist websites has exploded from a handful to as many as 17,000 sites that “fuel Al Qaeda ideology,” according to a December 2007 estimate from Saudi security officials speaking at a technology and national security conference in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. These range from official Al Qaeda propaganda sites operated by the group’s “Media Committee,” As-Sahab, to less slick but ever-increasing numbers of amateur sites maintained by sympathizers around the globe.
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Arab News reports that the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the world’s oldest cancer research body, has accepted 17 papers from Saudi researchers at the King Faisal Specialists Hospital in Riyadh. This is, in fact, a large number of papers to come from any one institution and suggests that Saudi science is rapidly developing. That science is flourishing in a country where some still believe, on religious authority, that the Earth is flat indicates how deeply the paradoxes run in Saudi society. It’s to be applauded that some, at least, manage to navigate the shoals.
KFSH researchers to present papers at US forum
Mohammed Rasooldeen | Arab NewRIYADH: The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has accepted 17 abstracts from the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC) in Riyadh for presentation at its 100th annual meeting to be held in Denver, Colorado, for five days from April 18.
“Acceptance of such a large number of abstracts from a single institution reflects the high level of scientific output in our research center,” Dr. Qasim Al-Qasabi, chief executive officer of KFSH&RC, said yesterday.
Besides integration and cooperation between research and clinical aspects for the success of any medical research, the center is enriched with highly qualified scientists, he added.
“The 17 abstracts that were selected for presentation were accomplished because of the dedication of the research team of Human Cancer Gene Research, headed by Dr. Khawla Al-Kuraya, the principal scientist at the research center,” Al-Qasabi said, adding that the papers were written to improve the overall survival rate of cancer patients in Saudi Arabia.
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Saudi Gazette reports on a student filmmaker competition to be held by UAE-based Al-Aan TV that will solicit films on issues that concern Saudi women. I hope to see a lot of Saudi women entering the contest.
Competition of films on Saudi women’s issues
Mohannad SharawiJEDDAH – Al-Aan TV is organizing a competition for producing films based on the individual efforts of college students on issues of concern to Saudi women.
This was announced by Zoya Sakr, head of Sales and Marketing at Al-Aan TV, during a visit to Dar Al-Hekma College here recently.
The competing films should express issues faced by Saudi women, their concerns and dreams, she said.
The idea of the competition, Sakr said, is to open the doors to Saudi women to express issues concerning Saudi society in general and Saudi women in particular. Students have produced several films of high cultural standing and great personal effort. Twelve films were selected in the first phase of the competition to be announced on the Al-Aan TV website, and to be broadcast in various programs such as the two news programs Al-Laila and Al-Youm.
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One of the 85 men on Saudi Arabia’s ‘Most Wanted’ list has surrendered to Saudi authorities, reports Arab News. Mohammed Ateek Al-Aufi Al-Harbi—who bears more than a passing resemblence to Juhaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Saif al Utaibi, the self-acclaimed Mahdi in the 1979 takeover of the Grand Mosque in Mecca—had become a commander of Al-Qaeda in Yemen after leaving Saudi Arabia and the rehabilitation program he was forced to enter following his release from Guantanamo. This man, incidentally, is the one attached to the name ‘Al-Aufi’ or ‘Al-Oufi’ that had appeared on the list, another bit of transliteration confusion that affects even native speakers of Arabic.
JEDDAH: A wanted Saudi terrorist, who had become an Al-Qaeda commander in Yemen after returning from Guantanamo prison, has turned himself in to Saudi authorities, an Interior Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
The spokesman said the man, Mohammed Ateek Al-Aufi Al-Harbi, surrendered as a result of the combined efforts of Saudi and Yemeni security agencies. He expressed his desire to surrender through his family.
Al-Harbi, who had been released from a Saudi counseling center for those returning from the US military prison camp in Cuba, appeared on an Al-Qaeda video last month to say he had joined the terror network’s regional wing in Yemen as a commander.
Al Arabiya TV channel earlier said Al-Harbi, on a wanted list of 85 militants issued by the Interior Ministry this month, contacted the Saudi authorities three days ago before surrendering in Yemen. The government announcement came after Yemeni authorities said they had arrested dozens of suspects in a manhunt for Al-Qaeda militants in recent weeks.
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Saudi Gazette/Okaz gives more details: Al-Oufi gives up, sent back to KSA
I’m running this photo from Saudi Gazette/Okaz simply because I think it’s a terrific picture.
Credit: Ahmad Muaidi – Okaz/SG
An Arabian oryx walks in the 12,000 sq. km. Bani Orouq Wildlife Reservation in the Najran region towards the Empty Quarter. The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities is launching the first two spring desert tourist festivals in Najran and Sharourah on Thursday.
Saudi media report that a Saudi Navy frigate Al-Riyadh chased off Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates were attacking Turkish freighter Yasa Seyhan.
Saudi frigate thwarts pirate attack on ship
M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan I Arab NewsRIYADH: A Royal Saudi Navy frigate prevented pirates from attacking a Turkish cargo ship near the Gulf of Aden, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. It was the first such operation announced by the Saudi navy.
The frigate, Al-Riyadh, responded to a distress call from the Yasa Seyhan after the ship was attacked by three small boats in international waters near the Gulf of Aden early yesterday, SPA said. “The warship Al-Riyadh, which is in the Gulf of Aden and is part of a multinational force to fight piracy, provided protection to the Turkish merchant ship,” SPA said. “The pirates fled after the arrival of the frigate,” the agency said, adding that the Saudi frigate accompanied the Turkish ship until the danger was over.
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Saudi Gazette‘s report is here: Saudi frigate thwarts attack on Turkish ship