Saudi Gazette/Okaz report that the Saudi Shoura Council is preparing to issue new laws pertaining to the rights of women and children in the Kingdom. The story doesn’t provide a lot of detail, unfortunately.
I do hope that the Shoura Council bothers to read its own legislation. That’s not something that always happens in government. Aside from the various US acts of Congress authorizing ‘bailouts’—which no one, apparently, had time to read in total—we also end up with things like the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) which, in the name of ‘protecting children’ from minimal dangers, ends up putting businesses out of business. The law effectively bans, for instance, the sale of any children’s book printed before 1985, decoration on children’s clothing, all manners of handicrafts, and even certain bicycles and motor sports vehicles. Writing laws isn’t enough. It’s necessary to write good laws!
New laws on women’s rights soon – Al-Hajjar
Ahmad Al-AttawiTABUK – New laws relating to many legal issues of women’s and children’s rights will be prepared and developed soon in the Kingdom, said Bandr Al-Hajjar, Deputy Chairman of the Shoura Council.
The new package of laws aims to boost women’s rights and curb domestic violence amid an ever-increasing number of domestic violations against women.
The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has resolved over 60 percent of the cases it has received. Some cases, however, are far from being resolved, such as, those dealing with Saudis living abroad.
…
Ray Mabus, US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994-96, has been nominated to head the Department of the US Navy. Mabus—of whom I have no personal information—was ambassador at the times of the bombings of OPM-SANG in Riyadh and the Khobar Towers in the Eastern Province.
Ex-Saudi envoy is Obama’s choice to run Navy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama plans to nominate Ray Mabus, a former Mississippi governor who went on to be U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, as secretary of the Navy, the White House said on Friday.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mabus, 60, would succeed Donald Winter, who left office on March 13. The secretary oversees all activities of the Navy, including its multibillion-dollar shipbuilding budget.
Mabus served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996. He served as Mississippi governor from 1988 to 1992.
…
Oddly, among conspiracy theorists, believers in Christian End Time theology, and followers of Nostradamus, Mabus may be the ‘third anti-Christ’! According to the theories, ‘Mabus’ will die and all hell will break loose on Earth. Some suggest that an unknown comet will strike the planet. This is something Pr. Nayef could sink his teeth into!
In a sudden move, Saudi King Abdullah has named Prince Nayef, Minister of Interior, as Second Deputy Premier, next in line to the throne after Deputy Premier Prince Sultan who is also Minister of Defense. The position had been left unfilled when Abdullah ascended to the throne following the death of King Fahd.
This move has much novel about it. It is the first such nomination made since the creation of the ‘Allegiance Association’, developed in order to regularize issue of succession. The reasoning behind the nomination—why now? why Nayef?—is not entirely clear. AFP, in its reporting, notes that Sultan has been out of the country since November due to health issues. It might be that the King feels uncomfortable with no one ready to step up if something should happen to him. It might be that Sultan’s health is, as some have reported, in a rapidly deteriorating state and that he will not live much longer.
Saudi Prince Nayef named deputy premier
RIYADH (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s Interior Minister Prince Nayef has been named second deputy premier, placing him just behind ailing Crown Prince Sultan in the political hierarchy, the state SPA news agency reported on Friday.
“His Royal Highness Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz has been appointed second deputy prime minister,” it said in a one-sentence statement.
Prince Nayef, about 75, was elevated to the job that has been vacant since his half-brother King Abdullah ascended the throne in 2005 and his full brother Sultan became first deputy premier.
The king, about 85 years old, is also the prime minister in the Saudi absolute monarchy.
The announcement came as Sultan, who is also minister of defence, was in New York convalescing from his second operation in five months for an unnamed illness.
…
The Associated Press, in its reporting, highlights the fact that some Saudis—including Prince Talal bin Abdelaziz—are concerned that the nomination not be treated as a ‘done deal’, asserting that it must go through the Allegiance Association before it becomes fact.
Saudi king names 2nd deputy PM in succession move
Donna Abu-NasrRIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has appointed the kingdom’s powerful interior minister and his half brother as the nation’s second deputy prime minister, according to an announcement late Friday.
The appointment indicates a succession order in the royal family, after four years of speculation over who will be the next-in-line once current heir, Prince Sultan, becomes king.
A royal statement carried by the official SPA news agency says Prince Nayef will take over the post, which is seen as a crown-prince-in-waiting.
The Saudi constitution does not require the king to appoint a second deputy prime minister but Friday’s move is also important because it will allow Abdullah to travel abroad.
With Sultan away in the United States on medical treatment, Nayef’s appointment will ensure that when Abdullah goes to the Arab Summit in Qatar next week and later to the G-20 meetings, somebody will be in charge at home.
However, Nayef’s appointment as second to the throne will still have to go through the Allegiance Association, set up by Abdullah in 2006 and composed of his brothers and some of his nephews who all vote by a secret ballot to choose future kings and crown princes. The Allegiance is expected to have the final say on who becomes crown prince after Sultan, who is in his 80s.
…
I cannot say I’m thrilled with this nomination: I have little faith in Pr. Nayef’s ability to rule effectively, particularly during a period of rapid social change. He is an unrepentant conservative and unfortunately one prone to accepting conspiracy theories about how the world and world politics work. He remains convinced, for example, that Israel was somehow behind the tragedy of 9/11. He is also known to support the extreme end of the religious spectrum, not something that bodes well for continued reform in the Kingdom.
Saudi Gazette has an article putting forward the hopeful belief that Saudi cinema is about to be launched with great success. The piece notes the development of the film industry in the Gulf and that Saudi submissions represented the highest number submitted to the latest Gulf Film Festival.
The piece goes awry, I think, when it adopts a defensive attitude over films like “The President’s Man: A Line in the Sand,” which carries a negative stereotype of Arabs. This was a TV movie! No one watches TV movies and even fewer take them seriously. This particular one—released in 2002, which means it likely started production in 2000—was a Chuck Norris, martial arts vehicle, something that only teenage boys and girls find enthralling.
Promising future for Saudi film industry
Abdullah Al-BargiJEDDAH – The Gulf cinema industry has made great strides in the last few years, especially with the inauguration of the Gulf Film Festival (GFF) in 2008 which provided an opportunity for Gulf cinema stars and filmmakers to showcase their films and discuss the future and the challenges of their profession.
In its call for the submission of films to this year’s festival, GFF 2009 received an overwhelming response from Gulf countries and from around the world. Saudi Arabia topped the list with 63 film titles out of 212 from across the Gulf region, Masoud Amralla Al-Ali, director of the GFF, told the Saudi Gazette in an exclusive interview. Films from outside the Gulf region will be considered for the Out of Competition segments of the festival.
With an industry platform in place, there are more than glimmers of hope for the future of the cinema industry in Saudi Arabia with the emergence of many promising film producers and talented actors and actresses. Cinema, ironically, is still banned in the country despite a few recent showings of the feature movie Menahi in major cities in the Kingdom.
…
I guess it’s fairly typical of Saudis to defer making hard decision, to push them off on others to avoid taking responsibility. That seems to be the case with the Ministry of Labor’s decision to allow private companies to set their own workweek schedules. It seems that in order to avoid taking flack from religious/cultural conservatives who deem the Thursday-Friday weekend now current to be sacred, the Ministry will let companies take the abuse.
The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry has bitten the bullet. It is changing its workweek to run Sunday-Thursday, leaving Friday and Saturday as the weekend. And yes, although the board was unanimous in its decision, it is getting grief from some members. Change in Saudi Arabia comes slowly and incrementally, but it comes…
Friday-Saturday weekend in JCCI from next month
Galal Fakkar I Arab NewsJEDDAH: Starting April 1, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) will be switching its weekend from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday. The JCCI board of directors has unanimously approved the move.
“The change in holidays will not affect the attestation of documents on Saturdays as the department will remain open all week except Fridays,” JCCI Vice Chairman Abdullah Marei Bin Mahfouz said, adding that all the 11 board members endorsed the change.
Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi issued a decision earlier this month allowing companies in the private sector to change the weekend holidays to Fridays and Saturdays instead of Thursdays and Fridays.
…
Interesting discussions of the future of oil and oil prices in today’s media. Some pieces, as the The New York Times piece below, suggest that without sustained investment in new oil production—something that is flagging due to the state of the global economy—the world is threatened with soaring oil prices in the not too distant future…
Rising Fear of a Future Oil Shock
Jad MouwadSharp reductions in investments and low oil prices could curb future supplies by almost eight million barrels a day within the next five years, according to a study scheduled for release Friday, the latest warning that the world could face a new energy shock when the economy picks up.
The report by Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an oil consulting firm, said that the potential drop in production capacity is a “powerful and long-lasting aftershock following the oil price collapse.”
The global slowdown has forced oil companies to slash their investments, postpone or cancel expansion plans, or delay drilling in many corners of the world. While some of the biggest companies, like Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, say they will keep their investments unchanged this year, many other producers are curbing investments because of the crisis.
…
Others, as this Arab News piece, note that at least Saudi Arabia is continuing its efforts to expand production and that the world’s supply of oil is not under grave threat at present. While the world’s supply is certainly finite and will eventually run out, the deadline is not anything like that predicted by ‘Peak Oil’ theory…
Peak oil theory appears irrelevant
Syed Rashid Husain I Arab NewsAMIDST global economic gloom, interesting news is pouring in — from all around — tarnishing still further the Peak Oil theory. The world not only appears awash with oil, the future is also not that dismal as painted by Mat Simmons and the likes.
Erosion of demand is being expressed, and rightly so. Questions are being raised about the future of the oil industry and the state of investments in the sector. Question marks about the ability of the industry to pace with the future crude consumption patterns are definitely in circulation. Yet interesting news in recent weeks is enough to keep adrenaline going. And the very credibility of the theory that oil era is finally coming to an end seems destined to the dustbin of history — at least for the time being. The oil era is here to stay for some time now.
…
In this addition to his weekly Asharq Alawsat column, Mshari Al-Zaydi calls for tolerance and even unity among Muslims and an end to Sunni-Shi’a strife. He does not think, however, that calls for the recreation of the (Shi’a) Fatimid State—as put forward by Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi—are the way to go, nor the recreation of the Ottoman Empire, the last Caliphate.
Change of this nature does not happen as an act of political will alone, he argues. Instead, tolerance must taught in schools and reinforced through media. It’s a matter of mindset, not of political wand-waving. Definitely worth reading.
The Return of the Fatimids
Mshari Al-ZaydiAccording to Colonel Gaddafi, who believes in establishing a United States of Africa, the only way to solve the problems of the Islamic nation is by bringing back the Fatimid Caliphate – a state of culture, art and development.
Gaddafi, who brought together a group of African heads of state and some Arab and non-Arab journalists in Mauritania last week on the occasion of Milad an Nabi, the Prophet’s Birthday, said, “Division plagued Islamic political history. The solution lies in reviving the Fatimid state that served as a foundation for the Islamic renaissance.”
The Libyan and African Union leader also spoke of other theories and said that coups and elections are not suitable for Islamic and Arab societies. But let us look at his theory regarding the Fatimid Caliphate.
Despite the Colonel’s acknowledgment that sectarianism and religious differences have destroyed the Islamic social fabric and Arab and Islamic unity, the question is: wouldn’t a new Fatimid state merely end up being another division in addition to those that already exist? That is if it is received well and transformed from being one of the Colonel’s ideas into a tangible cultural, intellectual, social and political reality.
…
The Saudi Ministry of Interior is not providing much information about the arrest of one of its ‘Most Wanted’ terrorists. I’m afraid I have no information about Al-Ruwaily to add.
Senior al-Qaida leader surrenders
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia says a senior al-Qaida leader has returned to the country voluntarily and turned himself in.
The Interior Ministry says Fahad al-Ruwaily was on a list of the kingdom’s 85 most wanted militants living abroad. Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki said he returned to Saudi Arabia Wednesday, but he refused to give more information.
A news Web site close to the ministry said Thursday that al-Ruwaily was a key figure in al-Qaida training camps along Syria’s border with Iraq. The Doaa Web site said he provided fighters with weapons and forged travel documents to help them enter Iraq from Syria.
The Saudis appealed in February for 85 suspects to surrender, offering to reunite them with their families after rehabilitation.
I’m back in Florida now. My brother’s funeral was, in all respects, what he would have wanted—not that he would have wanted it at all, of course… While the ceremony was sad, it was also a celebration of his life, well-lived and affecting many around the world.
I thank you all for your support and condolences.
It will take me a few days to catch up on stories on Saudi Arabia I’ve missed. I thank those who have sent me, through e-mails and the contact form, information about Saudi affairs. I’ll be attending to them as quickly as I can.
Again, thanks to all.
Associated Press correspondent Donna Abu-Nasr reports that Saudi women are now boycotting shops selling lingerie until they start putting women behind the sales counter. The hope is that the shop owners will feeling the bite of lost business and pressure the government to following its own laws and permit women to work. Not only would this address the issue of women’s employment, but also alleviate the gross embarrassment women—and men!—face under current practices.
I think that Ms. Abu-Nasr goes a bit too far in stating that hiring women would deprive Saudi men of jobs. Very few Saudi men are interested in selling lingerie. Nearly all such salesmen are third-country nationals who are themselves gravely embarrassed by the nature of their work.
Saudi women to spurn lingerie shops over salesmen
DONNA ABU-NASRRIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Before her wedding last year, Huda Batterjee went abroad to buy her bridal lingerie — she just couldn’t bear the humiliation of discussing her most intimate apparel with a man. She had little choice: there are almost no saleswomen in Saudi Arabia. Now a group of Saudi women — sick of having to deal with male sales staff when buying bras or panties, not to mention frilly negligees or thongs — have launched a campaign this week to boycott lingerie stores until they employ women.
It’s an irony of the kingdom’s strict segregation of the sexes. Only men are employed as sales staff to keep women from having to deal with male customers or work around men.
But in lingerie stores, that means men are talking to women about bras or thongs, looking them up and down to determine their cup sizes, even rubbing the underwear to show how stains can be washed out.
The result is mortifying for everyone involved — shoppers, salesmen, even the male relatives who accompany the women.
…
Financial Times has this piece about Saudi Arabia and its difficult relations with the Shi’a, both within the country and in neighboring states.
I believe that the Saudi government, due to the overbearing influence of Sunni clerics, has over-reacted to the fact of Shi’ism. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, there were attempts by the new, religious leadership of Iran to meddle in Saudi affairs. There might still be some efforts in that direction, but I do not think them serious or likely to lead anywhere. Iran’s seemingly expansionist policies don’t help the matter, providing excuses to which one can point to show the ‘danger’ of allowing Saudi Shi’a more freedom.
It is not regional politics, however, that are at the root of this problem. Rather, it is a well-developed and centuries old religious fear and loathing of Shi’ism that is proving the most troublesome barrier to resolving the frictions that run through the country and society. The Ismailis in Najran, for instance, have nothing to do with Iran or Iranian Shi’ism, but they still find themselves targets of opprobrium with some measure of government involvement. Here, the typical Saudi fear of ‘the other’ rears its head to the detriment of Saudi Arabia as a whole.
While King Abdullah has taken measured steps to open the door to other manifestations of Sunni Islam within Saudi Arabia, he needs to push that door further in welcoming Saudi Shi’a to the fold. Saudi society and Saudi government need to become more inclusive, but that is not going to be an easy task. It calls for a higher level of bravery, more expansive education, and perhaps a stronger hand on the stick of government.
Riyadh confronts growing Shia anger
Abeer Allam in RiyadhThe hopes of Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority for greater representation were dashed last month when Riyadh shook up its government and religious establishment.
King Abdullah appointed reformers to strategic posts in government and the first female deputy minister, and opened the door for diversity within the senior ulema council – the body that shapes religious and legal discourse in the kingdom. But although Sunni Muslims were invited to advise the council for the first time, Shia clerics were not invited.
Analysts warn that marginalisation of the estimated 1.5m to 2m Shia living in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province fuels tensions in the region – with majority-Shia Iran across the Gulf and majority-Shia Bahrain across a causeway, and a newly installed Shia government in Iraq. They believe that the kingdom can no longer afford to ignore the issue.
Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom’s interior minister, told Okaz, a local newspaper, at the weekend he believed all citizens had “equal rights and duties”.
“Foreign parties seek to cause an escalation [in tensions], but we are capable of preventing any interference in the internal affairs of the country.”
…
While the very existence of a ‘religious police force’ is questionable to most Westerners—and most Muslims, for that matter—they are a fact in Saudi Arabia. They receive both moral support from a large segment of Saudi society and financial support from the government. According to this piece from Asharq Alawsat, they also receive a quantum of physical abuse.
The article reports on training to deal with the pressures of the job. I’m sure there’s a lot of stress to begin with, what with seeing sin and evil at every turn, but teaching members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice how to deal with people who act and believe differently from the religious police is a great place to start.
Saudi Religious Police Complain of Physical Abuse
Amal BaqaziJeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat- The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice [CPVPV] has subjected its 175 field agents in Jeddah for orientation and intensive training courses in how to deal with work pressures, which include physical attacks made against them.
A CPVPV official in Jeddah, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that members of the CPVPV had been subject to physical assault and abuse, and therefore the CPVPV have started training its members in methods of dealing with these pressures. The official indicated that “the nature of the CPVPV’s work has resulted in physical assault and abuse being directed against its field agents, which in some cases become criminal cases and are transferred to the concerned authorities, although this occurs only rarely.”
The official informed Asharq Al-Awsat that it is very difficult to scrutinize the cases of abuse made against members of the CPVPV by members of society, especially since the nature of the CPVPV’s work makes its members vulnerable to this [abuse]. Criminal cases are brought fourth in the case of physical attack, but these were hard to monitor as they are not included in statistical reports as they occur rarely. He added that the CPVPV has the power to arrest any suspects, but that their role ends once they hand the suspect over to the authorities.
According to the official, the CPVPV members suffer from “work pressures” as a result of the increase in work hours, especially during special seasons such as the summer holiday season, examination season, and during the holy month of Ramadan and other religious holidays such as Eid. All of which necessitate training on how to deal with these pressures in an appropriate manner.
In view of this, 21 members of the CPVPV in Jeddah will undertake a training course next week on how to deal with the pressures of work. This course is the second of its kind, the first was held two weeks ago for all members of the CPVPV.
The course dealt with several issues including; the feelings caused by pressure at work, the forms that this pressure takes, the negative and positive impacts [of this pressure], and the employee’s response to them.
The course also outlines pressure management techniques, as well as presentations of models and workshops on how to deal with pressure, in addition to practical [stress] trials which emphasize scientific concepts and processes of how to deal with work-related pressure that CPVPV members may face in the field. Such pressure, in addition to the nature of the cases that the CPVPV tackles, includes dealing with members of different social classes.
…
See also this Asharq Alawsat piece on efforts by other Arab countries to develop their own version of the Commission, and a caution that it might not be the best way to go:
Arab Union for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice