Saudi Gazette carries an announcement from the Saudi Press Agency that earthquakes continue to rattle the area around Al-Ais and the Harrat Al-Shaqqah. Area residents are still being kept away as monitoring of seismic activity continues.
Weak tremors recorded in Harrat Al-Shaqqah
RIYADH – The national network of seismic monitoring recorded weak tremors in Harrat Al-Shaqqah, the maximum of which is of 2.47 on the Richter scale, in 24 hours from Sunday noon. The Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) confirmed in a statement that all the variables in terms of thermal measurements and concentrations of radon gas, carbon dioxide, and the widening cracks in the ground are at safe rates. – SPA
Asharq Alawsat runs two interesting pieces from Reuters on the Saudi petroleum industry. The first notes that Saudi Arabia has now reached its promised potential production of 12.5 million barrels of oil per day. The second reports that the country has partially shifted its own oil use profile by burning Saudi light Arabian crude oil in its power plants instead of importing refined fuel oil from the Mediterranean. This, surprisingly, has led to fewer noxious emissions from the power plants, as well as general savings on the cost of imports. Both articles are both reading if you’re interested in petroleum as an issue.
Aramco CEO says Oil Capacity at 12 Mln Bpd-Paper
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco’s oil output capacity reached 12 million barrels per day in June when three new oilfield projects started, the al-Hayat newspaper reported Aramco’s chief executive as saying on Tuesday.
One of those projects was the 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) Shaybah oilfield expansion, Khalid al-Falih told the newspaper.
The company had not previously announced the start of output from the project, the last of an expansion plan to boost the country’s total capacity to 12.5 million bpd.
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Saudi Burns More Crude for Power, Halts Fuel Oil Import
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, is burning more crude in domestic power plants to keep new wells pumping and produce cleaner electricity, likely eliminating demand for imported fuel this summer.
The use of even more crude oil to generate electricity allows the kingdom to put to use fresh output from a major new oilfield while holding firm to its OPEC commitment to curb exports. It also helps the kingdom meet stricter environmental rules.
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It’s sort of odd, actually… sex is not a bad thing in Islam. As a pleasurable part of life, it gets good reviews and even encouragement. That’s the case even among conservative Saudi Muslims. There seems to be a disconnect, however. One’s own sex is assumed to be fine, but it appears that other people’s sex is questionable, morally suspect, probably even dangerous. There’s certainly an attitude that sex is such a powerful force that men and women will immediately start copulating if left alone for very long; they refrain only because women are kept under the eye of chaperons or muharams. Talking about sex is something that happens all the time—in single-sex groupings. Saudis are, after all, human beings and, well, humans are rather fond of sex as a topic of discussion. They are far more frank in their discussions than I’m used to, but perhaps that’s because of my own, buttoned-down New England background.
But talking about illicit sex is another matter. Not only is it considered bad form, it’s legally actionable. As we’ve discovered in the case of Mazen Abdul Jawad, talking about it on TV will really rile a certain percentage of the population which will then go about looking for one’s head, literally. Jawad is being charged with corrupting public morality by detailing his own sexual history (self-sourced histories have a tendency to be exaggerated, but we’ll let that pass for the moment). In describing how he seduced numerous Saudi women, he set an example of exactly what Saudi society fears: unbridled lust and Saudi women acting not as paragons of virtue, but as debauchées. Jawad may be bad, but his great sin is in ‘proving’ that Saudi women are morally suspect.
The Saudi media are reporting widely on Jawad and the mess he’s found himself in.
Saudi Gazette/Okaz runs a story in which Jawad claims that he was set up by the LBC network, complete with a tearful picture of miscreant. LBC, he claims, severely edited his two-hour interview down to a few minutes. They provided him with sex-toy props and had him hold them up for the camera. He says the network had agreed to give him the change to approve the program before it aired, though I find that unlikely. Journalists in any medium hold that right for themselves or their editors.
It was a set up – ‘Saudi Casanova’
Mohammed HadhadhJEDDAH – Mazen Abdul Jawad, the divorced Saudi father of four who was arrested for appearing on Lebanese television describing his sexual exploits, has told Okaz newspaper his version of the controversial events, describing himself as “set up” and the victim of selective editing.
According to Abdul Jawad, his involvement in LBC’s “Red Lines” program, which has led to complaints against him by around 200 persons, first began a year ago when the presenter contacted him asking him to discuss sexual relations in a marital context on air.
“I agreed, as I’d gone through a 16-year marriage,” Abdul Jawad said. “I thought it would be of help to people getting married in the future.”
The resulting program, however, was not what Abdul Jawad expected to see. “The channel took only about five percent of the interview we did and got rid of the other 95.”
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Arab News reports on the legal aspects of the cause célèbre, repeating that at least one Sheikh believe capital punishment is deserved. Interestingly, there is talk of folding all the complaints made about Jawad into a class-action case, something I’ve not noticed before in a Saudi criminal context.
Reports about grilling of sex bragger denied
JEDDAH: The Prosecution and Investigation Commission (PIC) has not questioned Mazen Abdul Jawad, the Saudi man who recently bragged about his sex life on LBC’s “Red Line,” Arab News has learned. Sources at the PIC, on condition of anonymity, said all the press reports that spoke about the case being referred to the PIC by the Jeddah Summary Court were not accurate.
“According to rules, nobody will be investigated without an official complaint against him, which is carefully studied by the court and which has met all the requirements of litigation,” the source said. Once the case has fulfilled all the requirements, the defendant, his friends (which participated in the controversial segment) and LBC would be summoned.
Investigators are reportedly looking into the segment to ensure that the program’s producers didn’t dub Abdul Jawal’s speech.
Abdul Jawad had claimed that over two hours of footage was reduced to a minutes-long segment to portray him in the worst possible light. He is threatening to sue LBC.
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Writing in Asharq Alawsat, Muhammad Diyab takes a different tack, blaming the ‘Red Line’ program and the LBC network for not understanding their audience and for trivializing moral values. As much as I admire Diyab’s writings, I think he’s not quite on target here. Social issues need to be discussed and they need to be discussed in public. Homosexuality—to take one of his examples—is very much a social issue, embarrassing to many, but nevertheless a fact of life. To not discuss it is to relegate it to the closet, cloaked in shame. With a blanketing silence, those who must deal with the issue are left adrift, not knowing that they are not alone in dealing with their ‘problem’, not being able to understand that they are not unique in the world. Sweeping issues under the carpet does not lead to resolution, a fact Mr. Diyab has made very clear in other, more political contexts.
It’s quite clear that the broadcast offended many. It presented them with things they’d rather not know about, rather not have to think about. I do understand that; there are certainly things I’m aware of that do nothing to enhance my life, or my view of my fellow humans, when you get down to it. But that is life, at least a life lived tolerantly. If no one was actually hurt by Jawad’s behavior, then his actions and their broadcast are tasteless, crass, something we probably didn’t need to know, ‘TMI’. That, however, reduces it to a matter of taste. As we know, there’s no accounting for taste, in foods or any other aspect of life.
According to Diyab’s piece, the ‘Red Line’ program is now finished, if not actually off the air, soon to be. Perhaps that’s a good thing; perhaps it’s not. If nothing else, the program and this particular broadcast got people talking about issues that need to be talked about.
The Bold Red Line
Muhammad DiyabI feel that ‘The Bold Red Line’ television program carried on the Lebanese LBC channel encourages some young men and women to discuss highly-sensitive issues such as homosexuality and infidelity etc. These young men and women, by admitting their errors on the program, have caused themselves and their families’ serious harm. The program’s producers shoulder the most responsibility socially for all the confessions made on the program and the subsequent impact they might have.
The production team should have taken into consideration the Arab social milieu, within which the program operates, as well as the futures of those naive people to whom appearing on television and speaking out appealed before leaving them to deal with criticism from society and perhaps even a legal case. It is not enough to say that the program is discussing and dealing with real issues in Arab societies. No one is denying that there are some problems; however, there should be media and moral limitations in dealing with such problems, otherwise these programs will only serve as a tool to propagate and further reinforce these errors.
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Thalessemia is an inherited blood disease that confers some benefit against malaria. Studies of the disease have largely focused on peoples of the Mediterranean region—its name incorporates that Greek word for ‘sea’—but the disease is actually widespread, from SE Asia to France. International immigration, of course, has led to the disease’s potentially global reach.
In Saudi Arabia, a significant portion of the population carries the genes to pass the disease on to future generations. It is one of the genetic conditions for which Saudis are asked to be tested prior to marriage. As sickle cell anemia, those with the disease can suffer life-long disabilities, though thalessemia tends not to be fatal.
As a public health issue, it is one that the Saudi health authorities take seriously. Three million Saudis suffer from it. In the past, according to this Saudi Gazette report, those with the disease could receive discounted air tickets to allow them to go for treatment. This generosity seems to have dissipated however, and support organizations are asking the government to put them back in place. With the Saudi government seeking to privatize the national airline, Saudia, this might prove problematic, however. In the meantime, Saudi Gazette reports, the government is constructing a new center in Al-Ahsa, in the Eastern Province which has the highest incidence of thalessemia.
Hereditary blood disease sufferers seek benefits
Muhammad Al-AneziDAMMAM – A group working for persons with hereditary blood diseases is seeking discounts on air tickets for sufferers.
Sa’doun Al-Sa’doun of the Project for Combating Hereditary Blood Diseases (Thalasemia) in the Kingdom said the group had contacted several offices seeking the benefits which patients had enjoyed in the recent past.
Al-Sa’doun said that hereditary blood disease patients were given financial support by the Ministry of Social Affairs, and further noted official approval to set up a specialist hereditary blood disease center in Al-Ahsa located near the Maternity and Children’s Hospital.
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Saudi Gazette writes on a new discovery that might lead to increases in oil production in existing Saudi oil fields. According to the report, a project undertaken by a Saudi researcher has discovered that by injecting nitrates into wells, the bacterial growth that can sour oil and gum up production. His study suggests that in addition to improving the quality of the oil by reducing its sulfur content, thus ‘sweetening’ it, it could increase production by 12%-15%.
Saudi researcher focuses on biological side of oil
DHAHRAN – On his way to earn a Ph.D. in petroleum microbiology, Abdulmohsen A. Al-Humam of the Research and Development (R&D) Center completed some research that could have far-reaching effects on Saudi Aramco oil production.
His thesis, “Effects of Nitrate on Mixed Bacterial Communities in an Oilfield Water Distribution System,” sheds light on the processes that control microorganisms at oil facilities.
“Unfortunately, for years, industries disregarded the concept of biological souring of oil field reservoirs,” said Al-Humam. “This resulted in production facilities being designed and built without consideration of the long-term effects that microorganisms might have on the operation and maintenance of these facilities.”
The study was conducted in two parts: laboratory experiments and a field trial at Saudi Aramco’s Hawtah oil field.
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The project to link the national power grids of the GCC states into one regional grid is underway, Arab News reports. The first phase of the project tied the grids of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar together over the weekend. The national grids for the UAE and Oman will be linked in 2011. The grid is intended to permit load sharing among the countries. With all of the states seeing increased demand, mere sharing of power will not solve all problems, however. New power generation facilities will be needed and at least some of these are likely to be nuclear.
First phase of GCC power grid complete
Muhammad Humaidan | Arab NewsJEDDAH: The first phase of a joint power grid for Gulf Cooperation Council countries was completed Sunday with the linking of the grids of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. The United Arab Emirates and Oman will link to the grid in 2011, Yusuf Janahi, chairman of the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA), which is supervising the project, told Arab News.
The six GCC countries, which gave the go-ahead for the power grid in 2004 after the project was declared technically feasible, hope that the $1.4 billion venture will help them meet rapidly rising power demand and avoid power outages.
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The young Saudi who went on LBC TV to brag about his sexual conquests has not been jailed—yet—according to Arab News. Since the outburst following his appearance, he has made media appearances expressing his contrition and blaming the Lebanese TV network for unfairly and inaccurately editing the two-hour interview to put him in the worst light. LBC is still formulating a response.
The article notes that Mazen Abdul Jawad really struck a sensitive nerve in Saudi society, resulting a a ‘torrent’ of complaints to authorities. While his statements alone cannot be used against him to charge him with, for instance, rape, the article says that he has violated another Saudi law: publicizing vice. That ‘crime’ does not exist in most Western countries. In fact, it runs counter to most country’s protections of freedom of expression. The article says that his punishment would be at the discretion of the judge as it is not considered a hadd crime with a fixed, severe penalty, however.
Sex bragger not jailed yet
Laura Bashraheel | Arab NewsJEDDAH: Mazen Abdul Jawad may not be out of hot water yet for his lewd remarks made on LBC’s “Red Line” last week, but for the time being he is not sitting in a jail cell.
Abdul Jawad raised a storm of anger after appearing on the program talking about the topic of sex in a manner that would be considered racy even by more liberal cultural standards, especially for a program airing on a major network in the 9:30 p.m. slot.
But contrary to media reports in the local Arab press, Abdul Jawad is not in jail.
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The story has gone international—naturally, as it involves sex. CNN reprises the Arab News report.
UPDATE: Gulf News from Dubai reports on pressures being put on LBC for broadcasting this episode, including calls for a boycott:
Broadcaster faces boycott after Saudi man boasts of sex life
Asharq Alawsat reports that the first Saudi citizen has died of swine flu. According to the report, he was not in tip-top shape before acquiring the virus as obesity is not one of its symptoms.
First Swine Flu Death in Saudi Arabia
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry says a Saudi citizen has died of swine flu, the first death in the kingdom and only the second in the Middle East.
A statement Monday said the 30-year-old man was admitted to a hospital on Wednesday complaining of high fever, coughing, breathing difficulty and obesity.
The man was treated with antibiotics and the flu medication Tamiflu but his condition deteriorated and he died early Saturday. It did not say why the announcement of his death was held for 48 hours.
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While I criticized the Ministry of Health for no longer publishing the number of swine flu cases in the Kingdom, stating that a sudden lack of information can be more disconcerting than unpleasant information, I learn that the American CDC has also stopped reporting cases. The CDC says that it is, at present, unable to quickly and accurately distinguish swine flu cases from other viral infections because so few cases are tested for the A/H1N1 virus. Thus, it claims, whatever number it reports is actually going to be an under-report. That makes sense, so I’ll retract part of my criticism. I still hold that keeping public health information from the public is not a good way to go, but it’s arguably better than providing bad information.
The Menassat website has an interesting piece on how the Islamophobic concept of ‘Eurabia’, a Europe dominated by Muslim Arabs, is being challenged in the international media.
Confronting fears of Eurabia
Courrier International and Newsweek
EMILY DISCHE-BECKER and ANOUK BERTHIERThe French weekly Courrier International and the mainstream US weekly magazine Newsweek deal with growing anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiments in Europe fueled by statistics portending to show that countries such as Germany and France will have Muslim majority populations by the turn of the century.
BEIRUT, July 20, 2009 (MENASSAT) – In his much-heralded speech in Cairo on June 4th, which sought to improve relations with the “Muslim world,” US President Obama also criticized European hostility to Islam:
“It is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit — for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We can’t disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism.”
This remark was widely seen as a reference to France’s ongoing saga in regards to the hijab. France banned women from wearing the veil in public schools in 2004. Obama’s speech was followed—two weeks later—by French President Sarkozy’s address to France’s parliament.
In a two-hour speech that ran the gamut from the economic crisis to secularism, Sarkozy also responded to Obama’s comments about Muslim women’s clothes: “The problem of the burka is not a religious problem, it’s a problem of liberty and women’s dignity. It’s not a religious symbol, but a sign of subservience and debasement. I want to say solemnly, the burka is not welcome in France. In our country, we can’t accept women prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity. That’s not our idea of freedom.”
Controversially, Sarkozy recommended the formation of a committee that would study the banning of the burqa –and niqab– in public all together. And while such a move would be practically unenforceable, Sarkozy’s speech ignited a furious debate, overshadowing much of the rest of his address.
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The National, out of Dubai Abu Dhabi, has a very interesting op-ed on the use of ‘framing’ in the American discussions about Middle East conflict and peace. The writer—who is also on the editorial staff of ‘The New Yorker’ magazine—suggests that pro-Israel sources in the US are distorting the picture given to Americans by creative use of words. This, he asserts, has worked in the past, but is beginning to fray as the frame—the way in which a story is narrated—comes against a different reality that is visible to all. Definitely worth a look.
Unsettling words
A leaked document intended to provide “words that work” for pro-Israel advocates in America strikes a few surprisingly panicked notes, Justin Vogt writes.Marriage metaphors have reliably found their way into commentary on the conflict between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East since at least 1897, when two representatives of Vienna’s Jewish community visited Palestine on a fact-finding mission. “The bride is beautiful,” they reported, “but she is married to another man.” Perhaps, though, it is the modern-day alliance between the United States and Israel that is better suited to the language of romance. After all, it seems that whenever the two countries are at odds, it is merely a lovers’ quarrel – in the end, all is forgiven.
These periods of uneasiness, which invite endless (and often fruitless) scrutiny and speculation in the press, can nevertheless be revealing: they illuminate the tensions that lie just beneath the surface, the anxieties that shape a close relationship between two states whose interests are similar but hardly identical.
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Interesting piece in Dubai’s Abu Dhabi’s The National on the secret and not-so-secret relations that the Arab Gulf States have with Israel. Definitely worth reading. The writer asks exactly what is gained—other than a feeling of righteousness—from not having overt, political relations.
Ties with Israel are the Gulf states’ worst-kept secret
Sultan Al QassemiShould the Gulf countries maintain contacts with Israel if this would make life easier for Palestinians? Could having such ties propel the Middle East peace process forward?
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber, the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, spoke recently about Israel’s attack on Gaza last winter. Noting that Turkey was able to deliver emergency goods to the Palestinians immediately, he said: “I would have been glad if Egypt had done the same,” alluding to the fact that both countries have ties to Israel.
He then added: “Everyone was asking us to shut the Israeli commercial office in Doha and we have done so. Show me now how this will benefit the peace process?” It could be argued that such commercial ties with Israel allowed Qatar in the past to donate $6 million to finance the building of the Sakhnin football stadium, which is used mostly by Israeli Arabs.
It is an open secret that all six Gulf countries maintain contacts with Israel and some have overt commercial interests. Officials as senior as the current Israeli president himself have visited Oman and Qatar on various occasions. In fact, not too long ago a Gulf official asked me for contacts in the Israeli foreign ministry (which I did not have). It was a casual request, as if I were being asked to introduce a potential business partner.
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Arab News reports that Saudi Arabia is ready to deal with a ‘radiological emergency’. For contemporary purposes, that means something causing Iranian reactors to spew radioactive materials across the Gulf.
The article mentions that there are potential radioactive hazards already present in the Kingdom, with 13 radiotherapy centers and 50 nuclear medicine centers, mostly in the major cities. It also suggests that the Arab states in the region are moving forward in planning for peaceful nuclear power generation.
Country prepared for any radiological emergency
Ghazanfar Ali Khan | Arab NewsRIYADH: Saudi Arabia, which will send a delegation to the meeting of the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) in Tunis on Monday, says it is prepared to respond to radiological emergencies with a national emergency plan.
“The plan gets activated in case of any radiological disaster,” said Abdulrahman Mohammed Alarfaj, a prominent energy expert working at the Atomic Energy Research Institute of the Riyadh-based King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), here yesterday.
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