The easy manner in which Saudi students obtained visas to study in the US changed dramatically after 9/11. While many of the problems in visa issuance have been sorted out, there are still lingering issues of delays. Not all of these can be blamed on the process—waiting until the last minute to seek a visa is not smart, particularly if you’re facing a deadline—but the wheels of bureaucracy can still grind slowly.
Here, Arab News reports on a group of Saudi students in the US who are collecting data on visa delays while advising other Saudi students on what they can do to minimize problems. I think that’s a great idea and applaud them for it.
US visa delay upsets Saudi students
Laura Bashraheel | Arab NewsJEDDAH: Despite efforts by the US Embassy to ease visa process for Saudi students, some still risk being unable to obtain new visas or get their visas renewed on time. Many students scrap their plans to go home during breaks fearing they won’t get visas to return to the US, according to a group of Saudi students running a campaign to raise awareness about the issue.
The group, comprising Saudi students studying in the US, has launched a program under which they study problems faced by the students. As part of the campaign, over 3,000 Saudi students were surveyed and asked to provide details of the difficulties they have faced.
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Arab News writes about the ‘Inside Islam’ program, created by the US Dept. of State and broadcast in cooperation with Saudi sponsors on a Saudi network. The program looks at the practice of Islam around the world, seeking to demonstrate that hardline Islam is far from the only Islam followed by the 1.6 billion Muslims around the world.
The United States, as a country which formally separates church and state in its foundation document, the Constitution, is singularly ill-placed to talk about religion, any religion. It can, however, use the experience of others to give a view of what moderate Islam looks and feels like. I particularly commend those Saudis involved in broadcasting the film. It shows that they are aware that Islam, as practiced in Saudi Arabia, is not the standard. That’s a bold statement to be making, one that is most unwelcomed in certain circles.
Al Arabiya to telecast ’Inside Islam’
JEDDAH: Al Arabiya satellite channel will broadcast tonight at 10:00 p.m. a new documentary film titled “Inside Islam” in cooperation with the Coexist Foundation established by Mohammed Jameel, president of Abdul Latif Jameel Company. The film is one of the latest productions based on Gallup’s research and studies, which are conducted under the title “What a Billion Muslims Really Think.”
The Coexist Foundation (www.coexistfoundation.net) has developed a not-for-profit relationship with The Gallup Organization, in which the Coexist Foundation has agreed to support Gallup in order to transform world thinking based on a set of facts — the collective views of the world’s Muslims and Western populations.
“Inside Islam” is the latest documentary produced based on such studies and research work. A private reception prior to the world premiere of “Inside Islam” was conducted for approximately 180 officials from the US Department of State, including top officials such as the assistant deputy of the secretary of state and officials responsible for the Middle East in the department.
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Writing in Christian Science Monitor, Caryle Murphy has an excellent piece on an effort to improve the tenor of discussion in the Middle East. She’s writing about the ‘Doha Debates‘, a TV program out of Doha that brings the skills of debate, rather than anger, to issues that confront and often confound the region. The program’s purpose is to change the way people talk about issues, changing them from the ‘cock fights’, as one Saudi interlocutor describes them, to rational argument, bolstered by facts and research.
This is a new thing for the region and the program’s popularity is a measure of that. What is important, though, is that rather than being swept under the carpet or buried in heaps of hot derision, the things that matter are being discussed calmly, with the intent to convince rather than overwhelm. The program has led to the creation of debating clubs in Saudi universities, a marked accomplishment in itself.
The program is hosted by Tim Sebastian, formerly of the BBC’s ‘HARDtalk’ program. I worked with (against?) him while assigned to London and found him to be a no-nonsense interviewer, able to cooly keep the focus on the issues and not be distracted by the ephemera of the day. I always approached him, whether it was I or the Ambassador or a visiting Cabinet officer who was to be interviewed, with both respect and trepidation. He’s very good.
Arabs tackle free speech taboo
Across the Middle East, what would never happen in polite company now appears on broadcasts of The Doha Debates – discussion of controversy
Caryle MurphyDoha, Qatar; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – As soon as the cameramen called it a wrap, the audience swarmed onto the TV studio set. Almost giddy with delight, several university students from Saudi Arabia went straight for chairs vacated by the performers and pretended to be stars of the show.
The program that thrills these students isn’t a reality show, a religious forum, or a sexy soap opera. It’s something far more ordinary – but also mightier. As the show’s producers like to say, it’s about “the power to change minds” – through words.
That is the theme of The Doha Debates, the five-year-old hit show on BBC World News. Produced eight times a year in Doha, capital of the tiny Gulf emirate of Qatar, the program features speakers debating such controversial questions as “Does political Islam threaten the West?” “Does the face veil hinder Muslim integration?” “Do Gulf Arabs value profit over people?” “Are Muslims failing to combat extremism?” “Is Arab unity dead and buried?” and “Should Muslim women be free to marry anyone they choose?”
Moderated by former BBC interviewer Tim Sebastian, the debates follow the format of the prestigious British debating club, the Oxford Union. After four speakers (two on each side) argue for and against a motion, the panelists are questioned by Mr. Sebastian and the audience, which then votes electronically to determine the winning side.
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Mshari Al-Zaydi has an interesting essay in today’s Asharq Alawsat. He explores sectarianism, i.e., identify by religious affiliation, across the Middle East. He notes that there are really only two sects worth mentioning as actors on the world stage: Sunni and Shi’a. Other groups may be important on the local scene, but even they end up falling on one side or the other of this divide.
His piece focuses on Lebanon, to a lesser extent Syria, and mentions in passing the conflicts in Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, and Kuwait. He points out that religious identity is being used as a political tool that has reshaped the contours of much of the Middle East over the past 30 years, beginning with the Iranian Revolution.
Sectarianism, he argues, is a tool that wears away civilization. Even if one sect were to ‘win’, what would be the cost to Arab civilization? Would there even be a civilization to speak of in the end?
Exhausting the Term “Sectarian”
Mshari Al-ZaydiWhat exactly do we mean when we say there is a “sectarian” problem in the Middle East?
This statement is both confusing and misleading, both in letter and spirit, as it seems to indicate the existence of [many] sects and trends in conflict with each other whereas in reality there is tension and conflict between only two sects; the Shiites and the Sunnis. This conflict is taking place in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan and the Gulf and the reverberations of this can be felt throughout Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. This impact can be seen in the talk of a campaign to Shiaficate the four countries mentioned above, even though these countries do not have Shiite communities, or have an almost negligible Shiite population.
So it is meaningless to talk about a variety of different sects, when it is only two sects who are monopolizing the conflict, although other smaller sects or trends may become involved in this conflict, as was the case with General Aoun’s [Free Patriotic] movement or Walid Jumblatt’s party [PSP] in Lebanon.
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Snopes.com, a generally accurate website that debunks urban myths, takes a look at an e-mail currently circulating about an Muslim prayer service to be held on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on September 25. A call has gone out asking Muslims—and anyone else—to come to the event. The organizer of the service, Hassen Abdellah, is the president of the Dar Ul Islam mosque in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He says that the event is to be non-political: no speeches, no signs, no banners… just prayer.
That this might happen, at the Capitol building, is gravely offensive to a certain sector of the American Christian community. They see it—as shown in the letter upon which Snopes is commenting—as a sign of the End of Days.
Snopes does a good job of distinguishing the allegation made and the facts. It’s worth a look
Here’s a nice piece from the Arabic daily Al-Madinah, translated by Arab News. In it, the writer complains about the plethora of fatuous fatawa being issued on the subject of the fate of those Muslims who die of swine flu. The writer points out, correctly, that it’s not going to be the issuance of a fatwa that determines this. He also suggests that clerics might better spend their time on other matters.
Swine flu is more relevant to the living than the dead
Hamoud Abu Talib I Al-MadinahEVER since our Arab and Muslim brothers have realized they are not excluded from the effects of the swine flu pandemic they have offered a unique way to deal with the global health problem.
While the rest of the world figures out the best way to contain the spread of the H1N1 virus, we are spending time debating what happens in the afterlife to those who succumb to swine flu!
While the rest of the world is preoccupied with how to save human life, we are busy thinking about what happens to these people after they die. While they work to save life, we are concerned about the question of whether these unfortunate souls are martyrs or not.
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Arab News runs a wrap up of the Saudi Minister of the Interior’s weekly press conference. Prince Nayef talks about the creation of a new department specifically designed to combat terrorism. Unfortunately, there are no details about it, only an expression of its goals.
An interesting thing does appear in the article, however. Pr. Nayef talks of the great bounds Saudi Arabia has made in areas like education. He notes that in 1953, the number of high school graduate (in Riyadh, I’m assuming) was six! Of course, more schools can educate more children and hundreds of thousands of Saudi youth are being educated in high schools. But it’s not just quantity that matters. The quality and content of that education is equally important.
New department planned to combat terrorism
Galal Fakkar I Arab NewsMAKKAH: Saudi Arabia will soon open a special department for combating terrorism, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif announced on Tuesday night.
He said the department would be established on the basis of a well thought-out strategy. “The Interior Ministry, along with the Shoura Council, has worked out a strategy to combat extremism and terrorism,” said Prince Naif at a sahoor party at the residence of Abdul Rahman Faqeeh, a prominent Makkah businessman.
The prince said the new specialized academic department for combating terror would be the first of its kind in the world. “We have taken this step out of our conviction that thought should be confronted by thought and through reasoning,” he added.
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Some Saudis apparently have a difficult time in understanding that when they’re living in foreign countries, they’re subject to those countries’ laws. Here, from Saudi Gazette, is a report on a Saudi who had been abusing his Indonesian domestic worker while living in Ohio. As part of the process of obtaining a visa for a domestic worker to come to the US, the employer signs an agreement that US labor laws will pertain. Those include not only the regular payment of salaries, but limits to work hours and freedom to both leave the place of employment and even to quit. Unfortunately for the Saudi involved, the Ohio court found that his treatment amounted to abuse. He’s been ordered to pay restitution and was sentenced to five years’ probation—a period during which the individual is free of prison, but must behave legally in all matters. If a probationer violates the law, any law, he can be put in prison.
In this instance, that’s unlikely. The Saudi had also exceeded the period for which his visa allowed him to stay in the US. The government is seeking his deportation back to the Kingdom. His maid, most likely, will not be accompanying the family.
Saudi gets 5 years’ probation for housemaid abuse
Saleh Aal HaydarOHIO – A Saudi man has been given five years’ probation, a part of which requires the payment of $143,000, for abusing the contract terms of an Indonesian woman he hired as a housemaid.
The sentence, passed two weeks ago, followed the arrest of the unnamed Saudi in July over his employment of an Indonesian woman in 2002 in the Texan capital of Houston.
The Saudi was reportedly in the US with his wife so that she could receive medical treatment, and signed a contract with the Indonesian lady stipulating a monthly salary of $1,300 for a six-day week of eight hours per day, in accordance with US labor law.
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It might be helpful to point out that this case shows that the Ohio courts are not bending over backwards to help Muslims—an allegation made in reference to the Rifqa Bary case (see post below).
More information has come out on the Rifqa Bary case as the Florida court unsealed the investigation report on her case. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the state’s equivalent of the FBI, looked into the girl’s allegations that she would be killed in an ‘honor killing’ as the result of her conversion from Islam to Christianity. The investigation found nothing to support that. The investigation did find that the girl’s story was at a variance from facts on several counts, including how she got to Florida.
There is still no word on whether she will be sent back to her parents in Ohio.
No credible reports of threats toward Rifqa, FDLE says
n an investigative report unsealed today, FDLE did not discover any threats toward Rifqa Bary or her family in Ohio
Amy L. Edwards and Rene StutzmanAlthough officials in two states have yet to prove it, Fathima Rifqa Bary told investigators she would become the victim of an “honor killing” because of her conversion to Christianity.
The Ohio teen had planned locations thousands of miles away from her home — known as “fire drills” — where she could seek refuge. Orlando was her “primary planned sanctuary,” and that’s exactly where Rifqa ended up in July.
Those were among the details of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report that said investigators found no credible reports of threats toward the 17-year-old runaway. The report was unsealed Monday. Rifqa’s taped interview with investigators remains sealed.
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This result does not please some, of course. The Islamophobic audience, quick to find ‘dhimmitude’ under every rock, is still convinced that the girl’s life is in danger:
Florida law enforcement report on Rifqa Bary half-baked at best
This piece from the Arabic daily Al-Watan, translated by Arab News, shines a light on the scale of remittances, money sent by foreign workers back to their homes. Saudi Arabia, as other Gulf States, relies heavily, no, is utterly dependent upon foreign workers. The workers get paid, even if their salaries are risible by Western standards. The amount of money sent back each month to their families in Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, and elsewhere exceeds the amount paid to all Saudi government employees, the writer contends. He laments that hundreds of billions of dollars are leaving the country while young Saudis are still without jobs. He has a point, both economic and social.
Remittances of foreigners: Fearful figure
Ali Saad Al-Musa | Al-Watan, almosa@alwatan.com.saSome headlines in our local newspapers are passed over casually; had they appeared in papers in other countries they would have caused perilous social volcanoes.
A headline in one of our local newspapers recently quoted economic and banking sources as estimating the remittances of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia to be SR660 billion over the past decade.
The same sources expected the remittances through illegal means to jump to SR1.2 trillion.
The size of the transfers made by the expatriate laborers during the last nine months of the year 2009 reached SR89.4 billion with an increase of 14 percent over the remittances for the same period in 2008. This increase in the volume of transfers comes in the midst of the world financial crisis that has caused the bankruptcy of a number of banks and the collapse of manufacturing units. A number of countries and organizations have disappeared from the global economic map as a result of this crisis. While all this is happening around us, we are increasing the remittances made by the foreign manpower through legal and illegal channels.
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Perhaps this site needs a new category: ‘Only in Saudi Arabia’… This story, from Arab News, would certainly fit in.
While the religious police make it mandatory that all in public attend the prescribed daily prayers, something nearly unique to the Kingdom, shutting websites at prayer time takes things to an entirely new level. The shutdown, as the article makes clear, is not being enforced from outside, but being done voluntarily. I suppose it’s pious and there’s certainly nothing wrong about this voluntary act. It would be a problem if suddenly, someone else decided it’s such a good idea that it should be obligatory.
Website closes down for prayer
Hassna’a Mokhtar | Arab NewsJEDDAH: While the debate on stopping all commercial activity during prayer times continues, one local online newspaper in Hail province has decided to advocate for this pause by taking down its site for 20 minutes, five times a day.
If visitors to Aen Hail (“Hail’s Eye” at http://aenhail.com) visit the site during prayers, they be met with a message “Closed for Prayer” in Arabic along with a countdown to the end of the prayer break at the bottom of the page.
The site shutdown, which was unveiled this month, is automated and linked to local prayer times, according to the site’s online editor, Majid Al-Mismar.
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The case of the Sri Lankan girl from the State of Ohio who fled to Florida alleging her family would kill her for apostasy, continues.
A newspaper out of Florida notes that the Ohio governor has asked that she be returned to that state. He is confident that there is no danger and that the state’s child protection services are adequate to monitor the situation. Oddly, the Florida governor has thrown himself into the brouhaha saying that the girl is safer in Florida.
Until the State of Florida releases the results of its investigations and interviews—likely to come about in a few weeks’ time—we don’t really know what’s happened here.
Ohio governor says send Rifqa Bary back
Rene StutzmanThe office of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has issued a statement, saying the teenage girl who ran away from her Muslim home in Columbus, Ohio, to evangelical Christians in Orlando, should be returned.
“Child welfare agencies and authorities in Ohio and Franklin County are fully capable of providing for the security and well-being of Ohio’s children,” said the statement. “The governor believes this is a family matter and therefore would most appropriately be handled here in Ohio with the assistance of the child welfare and foster care system.”
Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, is currently living with a foster family in the Orlando area. She fled Columbus aboard a Greyhound bus in July, saying her father had threatened to kill her because she had abandoned his faith — Islam — and become a Christian.
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Today’s Arab News reports that the lack of information isn’t preventing some from getting on the soapbox to declaim on facts that are missing in evidence.
Hate groups use teen to defame Islamic center
Sameen Khan | Arab NewsCOLUMBUS, Ohio: At only age 17, Fathima Rifqa Bary has already managed to create one of the most controversial national news stories in the United States. Her heinous allegations have tried to give Islam a bad name and taint the reputation of Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC), one of the most prominent mosques of Columbus, Ohio.
She and her family left their Sri Lankan hometown in 2000. Bary, who had lost sight in one eye, hoped to find a cure in the United States. What she found, instead, was religion. Bary left Islam four years ago and secretly converted to Christianity. According to her testimony, her father recently learned of her conversion and threatened to kill her, prompting her to run away from home.
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