It appears that some Saudis, in a country noted for its merchant acumen, have made an error while waiting for the price of new cars to collapse. This Arab News piece reports that contrary to rumors, the price of new cars will likely rise instead of fall and that has left some Saudis out on a limb.
Car dealers throw cold water on customer expectations
JEDDAH: Rumors have circulated in Saudi Arabia for a long time about an imminent drop in car prices but nothing has happened so far.
On the contrary, many people have been financially hurt because of these rumors.
“We have not seen a drop in car prices except people chatting about this on the Internet forums,” said Khaled Dhaifullah, a Saudi university student, who waited four months for prices to come down.
“I am now looking to buy a car through installments,” said Dhaifullah, speaking at south Jeddah’s car market.
Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Omari, a car rental company owner, said he has suffered losses due to the rumors.
“Instead of buying a number of cars at the beginning of the year, as it is my habit to benefit from special offers announced by car dealers, I decided to wait for the drop in prices … I have waited for a long time and ended up having to buy at a 10 percent increase,” he said.
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“Harper’s Magazine,” a very liberal monthly, has this piece offering another perspective—similar to mine—about the way many used Chas Freeman’s relationship with the Middle East Policy Council, which receives some of its funding from Saudi Arabia—to derail his appointment as Director of the National Intelligence Council…
Chas Freeman and Saudi Money
Ken SilversteinOne of the most common charges hurled by the opponents of Charles Freeman Jr., who yesterday withdrew as chair of the Obama administration’s National Intelligence Council, was that he “headed a Saudi-funded Middle East advocacy group in Washington.” I’ve written about the influence of money on think tanks and think it’s a valid point of concern, but let’s put this assertion in perspective.
Freeman headed the Middle East Policy Council. I’m not sure how much Saudi money flows to the think tank, but it can’t be much. I checked the firm’s non-profit disclosure form for 2007 and its total receipts for the year were $731,000, and it had assets of $1.3 million. Freeman was paid $87,000 that year.
Compare that to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a conservative think tank that is overwhelmingly supportive of Israel and whose board includes Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig and Martin Peretz. Its receipts for 2007 came to $11.9 million, and it had $26.5 million in assets. Robert Satloff, the institute’s executive director, was paid $307,000. Dennis Ross, now the Obama administration’s special adviser on Iran, was paid $208,000 for duties as a “Distinguished Fellow.”
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UPDATE: Here’s a column from Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed in the March 17 issue of Asharq Alawsat. He takes a far harsher line on the subject of the ‘Israeli Lobby’ than I would, giving it far more power than it has. Freeman brought down lightning from every group and individual who has strong feelings about Israel—and China, for that matter. I simply do not see the organized effort that could realistically be laid at the feet of any ‘lobby’. Rather, Freeman had too many enemies on too many fronts and too few friends to support him.
The latest case of a forced divorce for reasons of ‘tribal incompatibility’ is still holding the attention of the Saudi media. Arab News picks up the story noting that the husband in the case was to present documentary evidence to the court that his wife’s family had already accepted an earlier marriage with equally ‘incompatible’ factors.
Save our marriage, couple plead with Jeddah high court
Fatima Sidiya I Arab News
JEDDAH: The high court in Jeddah yesterday heard the case of a Saudi couple whose marriage was brought into question after the woman’s brothers filed a divorce petition on the basis of tribal incompatibility.
The husband, who asked his name not be published, said the judge attempted to convince him to agree to a divorce, but he refused. Arguing his case, the man told the judge that his wife’s sister had also married someone of a different Bedouin background. In response, the judge asked him to provide evidence of this.
A hearing has now been scheduled for next Monday.
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According to Saudi Gazette, however, the court has already dismissed the documents in question:
Evidence in tribal ‘incompatibility’ case dismissed
Saud Al-BarakatiJEDDAH – The General Court judge presiding over the case brought by a family seeking to divorce their daughter from her husband citing “incompatible origins”, has dismissed a Civil Affairs Department print-out as evidence. The husband presented to the judge paperwork purportedly proving that the family making the charges had previously married another of their daughters to a man without tribal origins – the alleged motivation for the family now seeking their daughter’s divorce through the courts. The judge ruled that the paperwork was insufficient and asked that the brother-in-law be brought to the court in person on Monday. – Okaz/SG
As the husband’s attorney points out in the Arab News piece, the time to consider things like tribal affiliation, education, and the like is before the marriage, not afterward. Unless there is a clear and legitimate reason—such as if a spouse were trying to criminally scam the other or were abusive—outsiders, including family, should have no say in whether a marriage continues.
Two pieces with very different points of view on the Shi’a of Saudi Arabia and the clash reported in Madinah last month.
First up, Minister of the Interior Prince Nayef says there’s no problem, as long as the Shi’a respect (and follow?) Sunni practices. He blames the Madinah conflict on a small group who were blaspheming by trying to take soil from the graves of Companions of the Prophet, i.e., turning them into idols. The Saudi interpretation of Sunni Islam does not permit idols or talismans, considering them polytheism (shirk), a major sin—and crime in Saudi Arabia. The Minister says that Sunnis and Shi’a were arrested in equal numbers in the affray.
Shiites are not targeted: Naif
P.K. Abdul Ghafour I Arab NewsJEDDAH: Interior Minister Prince Naif stated yesterday that the arrest of people involved in violence near the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah last month was not aimed at any particular sect.
“It is not a matter of targeting Shiites or others as much as it is a matter of dealing with anyone who breaks the law or tries to cause offense in the country, especially in the Two Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah,” he said.
The minister said the authorities would not allow anybody to violate the country’s law. “What took place at Baqie Graveyard in Madinah has been exaggerated by certain quarters that want to cause harm to the Kingdom,” Prince Naif was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.
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The UK’s Guardian newspaper carries a piece by Saudi dissident Mai Yamani. In it, she differs with the Minister over the cause of the conflict saying that it was because some Shi’a were attempting to celebrate the anniversary of the death of the prophet, itself considered shirk under Wahhabi dogma. She suggests that the Saudi state needs to take quick action to bring its Shi’ite population into the political fold if it is to avoid their total alienation from Saudi society. The government must also take stronger measures to stop the demonization of the Shi’a that consistently comes from clerics with links to the government.
Saudi Shia are standing up
Mai YamaniLast month, violent confrontations between Shia pilgrims and the Saudi religious police and security forces occurred at the entrance to the Prophet Muhammad’s mosque in Medina. The timing and location of the clashes may have serious repercussions for domestic security, if not for the regime itself.
Some 2,000 Shia pilgrims gathered near the mosque that houses the prophet’s tomb for the commemoration of Muhammad’s death, an act of worship that the ruling Saudi Wahhabi sect considers heretical and idolatrous. Thus, the mutaween, the religious police of the Committee for the Preservation of Virtue and the Prohibition of Vice, armed with sticks and backed by police firing into the air, tried to disperse the pilgrims. The pilgrims resisted. Three pilgrims died and hundreds were injured in the ensuing stampede. A large number of pilgrims remain in detention, among them 15 teenage boys.
Soon after, representatives of Saudi Arabia’s Shia community sought a meeting with King Abdullah in an effort to free the detainees. Dialogue seemed like a promising strategy: just 10 days earlier, Abdullah had announced a promising reform agenda for the country. But the king refused to meet the Shia delegation.
The violence outside the Medina mosque has led to unprecedented demonstrations in front of Saudi embassies in London, Berlin, and The Hague, with protesters demanding independence from the Saudi state.
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There are three—count ‘em, three—stories in today’s Saudi Gazette that touch on the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and their mission. Sorcery, it appears, is a major problem in Saudi Arabia as it’s the focus of two. Perhaps if the Commission (alternatively, the Haya or Hai’a) redefined sorcery in the way it is defined in the West, they might have a better chance of dealing with it. These are all ‘confidence games’, tricks to lure the unwary or the desperate into handing over their money, for better or, usually, worse. Deal with it as a purely criminal matter, though, and it undercuts the raison d’être of the Commission. While some would cheer that, others would not…
Hai’a in combat with sorcerers, magicians
AL-AHSA/DAMMAM – The Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai’a) in Al-Ahsa arrested a sorcerer who dealt in magic and provided his services to several men and women, who turned to him out of a lack of religious motivation and ignorance, that sorcery became the talk of the town.
Sheikh Adel Faqih, an expert in such matters and director of the Hai’a branch of sorcery in Riyadh, said, “We are in an Islamic country which is governed by Islamic law which prohibits polytheism. Sorcery and magic are considered polytheism in Islam. Unfortunately, sorcery is not a new phenomenon. It is a problem that has existed since the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).”
He explained that Saudi Arabia was an open country where people come for Haj and Umra from different societies and cultures from all parts of the world. Some of these people, he pointed out, think that sorcery scripts are a part of religion because sorcerers make use of certain Qur’anic terms to deceive simple people, Al-Youm Arabic daily said.
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Asir sorcerer arrested
Al-Hasan Aal Saiyed and Tawfeeq Al-AsmariABHA/BALLASMAR – The Hai’a in north Asir has arrested a 65-year-old Saudi sorcerer who worked as a guard at a public medical clinic where he had set up his own room for clients and the practice of magic. Talismans and amulets were found in his possession, and SR18,000 in cash were discovered buried under the floor of the room. The man, who was under surveillance for more than three months, has been referred to the relevant authorities. – Okaz/SG
The third piece concerns a Commission denial that it took part in a high speed car chase in Jizan. The allegation is that in coming across a case of khulwa, the religious police engaged in a chase. They say the car was stationary when they approached it and that the driver, in attempting to flee, ran into one of their vehicles.
Hai’a denies ‘khilwa’ car chase in Jizan
Eftikhar BahufainJIZAN – The Hai’a has denied the occurrence of any car chase in the recent arrest of a man and woman charged with khilwa. The agency reiterated its policy of not involving itself in hazardous car chases following complaints from the public concerning the issue.
The Hai’a stopped the 24-year-old man on Wednesday for khilwa (being alone with a non-related member of the opposite sex) while he was in a stationary car with a 19-year-old girl on the south Corniche in Jizan.
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Saudi Gazette has a couple of pieces today on blackmail in Saudi Arabia. One article gives examples of the various schemes that have been employed in the Kingdom. The other gives some ideas about how to avoid them. Saudi culture is hyper-protective about women, with many men—even those educated in the West—refusing to even mention their wives’ names in public. The possession of photos of women, even if just of their unveiled faces, can provide enormous leverage for would-be blackmailers. Anything less discreet has the potential for even more damage.
No deterrents to elaborate blackmails
Yasamin Al-HamadJEDDAH – The recent spate of young women being blackmailed by men for the return of private photographs and recordings has become the subject of conversation in every household.
Increasing openness, an electronic culture and other changes in society have contributed to its proliferation, while a lack of awareness and punishments provide no deterrent to those tempted to harass and blackmail.
Youths pursue females in public places and via technology, and deceive them into giving them personal photographs, and other times record telephone calls and use them as a source of money.
The practice is most prolific on the Internet where open forums allow for contact between the sexes, and hackers can access any computer and download its contents.
When incidents occur, it is essential to inform the relevant authorities, be it the police or the Hai’a who deal with such reports with the utmost discretion.
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Prevention the solution to blackmail
Naeem Tameem Al-Hakeem and Abdulkhaliq BarakatJEDDAH/BAHA – The last thing girls expect when saving their family photographs on laptop computers is for someone to hack in and blackmail them, but according to Mohammad Abdullah Al-Minshawi, a cyber crime researcher, some hackers do not just stop there.
“Electronic blackmail can be due to negligence or ignorance,” Al-Minshawi says, “by leaving the web camera on, for example. Hackers do not just make photos publicly available, but sometimes change them into pornographic pictures using computer software.”
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Hussein Shobokshi’s column in Arab News today is an interesting one. He comments on the value of art and literature to a society, giving examples that have created new realities for particular Middle Eastern countries. He also suggests that officially sanctioned cinemas and theaters are about to become a reality in themselves in Saudi Arabia.
There’s no question that arts, including literature, have great value. It would have been interesting, however, to have some discussion about the potentially negative effect arts can have, how they can also subvert culture and cultural values; they can be ‘transgressive’. Sometimes, of course, that’s a good thing, as when a culture has become stultified, in a rut that channels all discourse in one direction only. I think it leaves a false impression, though, to focus only on the positive.
The Importance of Art and Literature
Hussein ShobokshiThere are extremist views that still consider arts and literature useless, worthless “entertainment” despite the significant examples that contest such views.
Two important events were held recently in the Saudi capital, Riyadh: the Janadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival and the Riyadh International Book Fair. It is no longer considered odd to follow the development of the Janadriyah Festival with its distinguished guests and the splendid shows. The Janadriyah Festival has become a landmark event in the kingdom.
Every year, there is clear “daring creativity” in dealing with some subject matters. The operetta entitled ‘Suns of the Homeland’ that featured as part of this year’s activities was a clear indicator of the country’s new approach and vision.
The Riyadh International Book Fair is also a source of debate, reflecting the atmosphere of the country that is caught between wanting development, reform and change on the one hand, and the sense of caution and fear of all of this on the other. This is reflected in the diversity of the titles and participating publishing houses.
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The issue of the content of textbooks used at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Northern Virginia—particularly content that may be considered extremist or intolerant—is still in play. Below is an Associated Press article that reports on the latest revisions to the texts. It finds that there have been changes that delete materials that some have found objectionable. I find it peculiar, though, that the AP has used the Institute for Gulf Affairs (formerly, the Saudi Institute), a group that is hypercritical of Saudi Arabia, as its translator.
Saudi Academy revises Islamic history books
MATTHEW BARAKATALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Islamic school in northern Virginia with close ties to the Saudi government has revised its religious textbooks in an effort to end years of criticism that the school fosters hatred and intolerance.
While the Islamic Saudi Academy deleted some of the most contentious passages from the texts, copies provided to The Associated Press show that enough sensitive material remains to fuel critics who claim the books show intolerance toward those who do not follow strict interpretations of Islam.
The academy, which teaches nearly 900 students in grades K-12 at its campus just outside the Capital Beltway, developed new Islamic studies textbooks for all grades after a 2008 congressional report called portions of the previous editions troubling. The school provided the AP copies of the new textbooks, which revise language on hot-button issues such as requiring women to cover their heads and how Muslims should relate to people of other religions.
School officials say the books are part of the school’s effort to promote universal values of tolerance and kindness and modernize some of the lessons.
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This story from Asharq Alawsat isn’t about earth-shaking political events, but is instead a nice piece about a young Saudi girl—one of five sisters—who has achieved a notable success with the support of her family. The appreciation of daughters is not, unfortunately, universal in the Kingdom, but there are examples of fathers who cherish their daughters as much as they would their sons. That is an act worthy of becoming a model for all Saudis.
Saudi Girl Writes English Children’s Book for Charity
Manal HomeidanJeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat- Necessity may be the mother of invention, but in the case of the young Saudi girl Lulwa Bint Abdul Malik Bin Ahmed al Sheikh, it is only one factor among many which has allowed her to become the youngest Saudi to write a children’s book. Her book is currently on sale in the biggest bookshops in Saudi Arabia.
The lack of female writers in Saudi Arabia who specialize in children’s fiction, the stereotypical plot of children’s stories [being published], in addition to the open and cultured environment that Lulwa al Sheikh grew up in, which encouraged her to read, as well as her own exceptional talent; all of these contributed to the eight-year-old third grade student penning her first book entitled ‘The Sun and the Moon’ in English. Lulwa donated all of the book’s proceeds to charitable organizations that deal with the protection of children.
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This piece from Saudi Gazette/Okaz points out one of the problems that faces Saudi Arabia and its efforts toward modernization and reform: the bureaucracy. While the highest levels of government may propose and encourage new directions, lower level bureaucrats drag their feet and change remains unaccomplished. Here, the issue is of a woman’s obtaining a license to undertake contracting, permitted by the Ministry of Commerce, but run into the sand by the Municipality of Taif, which claims to ‘not have gotten the memo’. Whether this is truly a bureaucratic snafu or the result of a lower level bureaucrat simply not liking the new direction and therefore stalling it, is a fair question. Both are plausible, unfortunately, though patterns of behavior suggest one more likely than the other.
Businesswoman refused license
Abdul Aziz Al-Ruba’eTAIF – The municipality of Taif has refused to issue a contracting office license for a businesswoman despite her obtaining the Ministry of Commerce’s permission to start her business.
Sources explained that there was an old circular banning women from practicing some businesses such as real estate and contracting. The sources said that the municipality was waiting for the Ministry of Rural Affairs to decide whether to issue the license or not.
The businesswoman objected to the refusal to issue the license because she has already obtained other licenses from the Civil Defense and furnished her office. She said that she was issued a commercial register in contracting from the Ministry of Commerce but the municipality refused to issue the license for opening the office because of their claims that women are not allowed to get a contracting license.
She is insisting on the license or else is threatening to sue the municipality for compensation for closing the office. – Okaz/SG
The Riyadh Book Fair seems particularly boisterous this year. Here’s a piece from Arab News on how either members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice or their imitators have sought to impose a novel interpretation of Islamic practice on the Fair.
Frustrating experience
Walaa Hawari & Shiekha Al-Dosary | Arab NewsRIYADH: Charms, tokens, enigmatic drawings and other items seized by the vice cops were displayed prominently in one of the largest booths at this year’s Riyadh International Book Fair. Instead of books, a television displayed how the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice reverses magical spells.
“What was in the commission’s booth showed clearly what they thought of the book fair and what they think of books,” one Saudi writer and intellectual told Arab News yesterday.
The book fair, which ends on Friday, has been marked with controversy once again — with liberal and literary minded people complaining of harassment by the commission. For their part, religious authorities have complained, not just about the mingling of men and women at the fair or how women are dressed, but also about how they claim their voices are being quelled by the visitors. Like last year, it was also often difficult to differentiate between official members of the commission and men who simply dress like them.
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Ahmed, at Riyadh Book Fair ‘09“>Saudi Jeans, hints that the Commission’s presence at the Fair was the result of a political compromise. I recommend that next year, there be no compromise. The Commission clearly doesn’t understand what book fairs are about and thus have nothing useful to add. Perhaps if they publish a book or two, they might have reason to be there. They could certainly benefit by reading more about Islam, however…
Reactions ranging from dismay to anger seem to be the result of the conviction of a 75-year-old widow for the crime of khulwa that was reported earlier this week. The conviction stands as another example of why Saudi law must be codified.
I do not insist that Saudi law be like American or any other nation’s laws. I do think, though, that it should be rational and clear enough that anyone has a clear idea if he or she is breaking a law. Leaving judgments to the independent wisdom of individual judges does not assure that and results in messes like this.
Khulwa sentence against elderly widow causes uproar
Badea Abu Al-Naja | Arab NewsJEDDAH: The sentencing of a 75-year-old Arab widow to 40 lashes and four months in prison for mingling with two young men, who were reportedly bringing her bread, has sparked fresh criticism of the Kingdom’s judiciary and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Khamisa Sawadi, a Syrian who was married to a Saudi, was convicted and sentenced last week for meeting men who were not her immediate relatives. The two men, including one who was Sawadi’s late husband’s nephew, were also found guilty and sentenced to prison and lashes.
The woman’s lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, said he plans to appeal the verdict, which also demands Sawadi be deported after serving her prison term. He said his client has not served her sentence yet.
Arab News tried to contact police and the commission officials in Hail, but both refused to give further details about the case.
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