Global Voices » Saudi Arabia

Proposals for Union of Arab Gulf States Prompt Concern

Salah Almhamdi — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:48:53 +0000

The governments of the Gulf are discussing transforming the current Gulf Cooperation Council into an EU-style union. The move comes in an atmosphere of uncertainty and tension caused by the Arab uprisings and Iran's growing influence. As a first step, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain might seek closer union.

Full discussions of the issue have been delayed until December.

GCC civil society groups have requested that their governments postpone the move and engage their people through a referendum. Iran has called for rallies against the proposed union of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain which it describes as an annexation of Bahrain (and its comments were in turn protested by Bahrain).

Across the Gulf concern has been expressed regarding the plans for a union.

GCC states. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Aiyah Saihati, a Saudi blogger and entrepreneur, slammed the plan:

Saudi’s attempt to create a union for the purpose of countering Iran, which is not a threat, is only to enhance the sectarian narrative. Shifting the narrative from democratization to a sectarian frame changes how potential protests in the country are handled. The smaller countries with denser resources are ahead of Saudi in some of aspects of development and already have partially and soon fully elected parliaments. Uniting with Saudi just means inheriting its dogmas and problems. It means diluting dense resources over a larger more problematic constituency as well as diluting power per square area if one considers the total area governed by Al-Saud. If I were Qatar, why would I dive in?

Kuwaiti Ghassan El-Wagayan tweeted:

@Ghassanw: Thank you but NOOOOOO thank you

In Bahrain, Ali Al Saeed asked:

@alialsaeed: Oh no, women drive in #Bahrain? How can there be a union with #saudi? Ban female drivers?! #GCCunion

Kuwaiti Mishal Al Mutire expressed his concerns:

@MishalALmutire: اكثر ما اخشاه من هذا الاتحاد كل صاحب راي بالمنامه .. يُحاكم بالرياض ! ‎‫#اتحاد_خليجي‬‏

What I fear most from this Union is [the possibility that] someone with an opinion in Manama could be tried in Riyadh!

Bahraini journalist Wafa Alamm wrote:

@wafaalamm: من يعتقد أنني ضد قيام اتحاد خليجي فهو مخطأ/ الاتحاد الخليجي مهم ولكن ولادته بدولتين فقط لظرف معين يفقده قيمته لانه يصبح معاق ‎‪#bahrain‬‏ ‎‪#GCC‬‏

Whoever thinks I'm against a Gulf union is wrong; the Gulf Union is important but its birth with just two states [responding to] a specific circumstance deprives it of value because it becomes handicapped

Journalist Mohammad Albaghli questioned the feasibility of the move:

@albaghli74: دول الخليج صار لهم 9 سنوات مو عارفين يتفقون على مشروع بسيط مثل الاتحاد الجمركي ،، اليوم يبون اتحاد خليجي شامل بين دول الخليج !! تتغشمرون ؟!

For nine years the Gulf states haven't been able to agree on a simple plan like the customs union… Today they want a complete Gulf union!! Are they kidding?

Madawi Al Rasheed, a Saudi professor of social anthropology, tweeted:

@MadawiDr: الوحدة الخليجية ليست عملية مصاهرة بين البنين و البنات بل مستقبل شعوب تطمح لوحدة من نوع اخر ‎‫#اتحاد_خليجي‬

Gulf unity is not like arranging an alliance between boys and girls, but the future of peoples aspiring for unity of another kind.

Saudi Arabia: May 7 Marked as Saudi Liberalism Day

Salah Almhamdi — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:59:09 +0000

On May 7 Saudi liberal activists gathered online to celebrate Saudi Liberalism Day, an initiative to acquire recognition and acceptance for liberal ideas. The gathering had to be online because it is forbidden to organize public meetings in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi liberals have been stigmatized for a long time for their progressive views and calls for human rights and democracy in a society that defines itself by its conservatism. They have been heavily attacked by the religiously-dominated ruling class. The group Saudi Liberalism aims in the long term to develop into a political organization.

7 May, 1st Saudi Liberalism Day. Image posted by Twitter user @mr_nejo.

Leading Saudi liberal activist, Souad Al Shammary, who is secretary-general of the group Saudi Liberalism, wrote:

@SouadALshammary: ‫#7مايو‬‏ دعوه لكل تيارات الوطن للحوار للمحبه للسلام للوحدة أرجوكم لاتقسمونا كلناهدفنا الإصلاح الليبراليه مجرد وسيله لاهدف لادين اعقلوافشلتونا

7 May is a call to all the factions to the country for dialogue, peace and unity. Please don't divide us. Reform is the goal of all of us. Liberalism is just a means not an end nor a religion. Use your minds, you disappointed us.

Secular university student Mohammad tweeted:

@M7mad_24: فكر بنفسك وأستعن بعقلك .. أحترم من يخالفك الرأي .. لا تؤجر عقلك لكنهة ووعاظ ‎:)‏)

Think by yourself and seek the help of your mind… Respect those who disagree with you… Don't “lease” your mind to priests and preachers.

Prominent liberal activist Wael Alqasm tweeted:

@waelalqasm: بدأ البذيئون في “تويتر” بالدعاء لي بالهداية والجنة، بعد أن عجزوا عن الانتصار بالشتائم. اللهم إن أدخلتهم جنتك، فاجعلني خالداً في النار أبداً.

Twitter's vulgar [users] started to call for me to have [religious] guidance and heaven after having failed to win through insults. O God, if you let them into your heaven, send me to hell for eternity.

Other people, however, criticized Saudi Liberalism Day as well as the idea of liberalism itself. Law graduate Jawahir Al Subaie commented:

@TheJawahir: I don't understand the purpose of Liberalism Day in ‪#Saudi‬ ‫#7مايو‬

Badr Al Rashed criticized Saudi liberals saying:

@BALRashed: الليبرالي السعودي يشجب ويتضايق من تشويه طالبان للإسلام لكنه ما يستاء من نحر أمريكا للحرية في أفغانستان والعراق ‎‫#7مايو‬‏ ‎‫

The Saudi liberal condemns and is annoyed by the Taliban's distortion of Islam but doesn't resent America's killing of the freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq

Abdullah Mohemed Al Dawood quoted [ar] Al Jazeera talk show host Faisal Al Qassem who apparently said: “I laugh very much when I see a secular man, who hasn't even convinced his family about his ideas, attacking the Islamists who control the streets everywhere.”

Abullrahman Al Kanhal criticized liberals in a blog post:

قيمهم الليبرالية تتمحور حول المرأة والهيئة والقضاء ، حتى بدا لكثير من الناس أن الليبرالية مجرد دعوات لإختلاط ومعاداة لرجال الشريعة.
الليبرالية الحقة لا تتجزأ ولا تتلون مثل حرباء الليبرالية السعودية ، فهم فجأة ضد ثورات الشعوب ، و ضد مطالب الإصلاح. […] لم يكن لهم حديث عن الفقر ولا الفساد إلا عندما منحهم الملك عبدالله الضوء الأخضر

Their liberal values are focused on women, the Committee [for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice] and the judiciary, to the extent that it seems to many people that liberalism is just a call for intermixing [between men and women] and against religious scholars.
True liberalism is indivisible and not colored like the chameleon of Saudi liberalism, as they are suddenly against the peoples' revolutions and the demands for reforms. […] They didn't talk about either poverty or corruption, only when King Abdullah gave them the green light.

Saudi Arabia: Twitter Hacking Prevention Tips

Mohamed ElGohary — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:25:08 +0000

Online accounts are frequently hacked and stolen. We often hear of those who hacked someone's email or stole someone's email password. Twitter is no different, so the Saudi tweep and blogger Manal Al-Sherif, who has worked as a Information Security Consultant in an oil company for years, shared her tips on how to protect Twitter accounts from being hacked [ar].

Egypt: Anger at Arrest of Lawyer in Saudi Arabia

Tarek Amr — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:20:39 +0000

A lot has been going on in Egypt in the past few weeks, such as the preparation for the presidential elections, and the clashes in Abbassiya. On top of that, diplomatic relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been under pressure because of the arrest of the Egyptian lawyer Ahmed El Gizawy in Saudi Arabia.

El Gizawy was arrested as soon as he arrived in Saudi Arabia on April 17 for pilgrimage. News reports stated that he was sentenced to 20 lashes for “defaming the Saudi king”, referring to El Gizawy's criticism made on television of Saudi Arabia's imprisonment of a number of Egyptian citizens.

Ahmed El Gizawy. Image taken from Egyptian Chronicles blog.

Egyptians received the news with rage both online and offline. A special hashtag was created for tweets attacking the Saudi king; it can loosely be translated as “Screw You, Royal Highness” [ar]. In addition, protesters gathered in front of the Saudi embassy in Cairo to condemn the arrest of the Egyptian lawyer.

Saudi officials later denied that El Gizawy was arrested for defaming the king, and they claimed instead he was arrested after being found in possession of more than 21,000 pills of the anti-depressant drug, Xanax.

Egyptians don't buy this claim; they wondered how El Gizawy was able to smuggle such a huge number of pills, and why the Saudi authorities did not announce that the arrest was because of drug trafficking from day one. In addition the authorities at Cairo airport said that they did not notice anything illegal in his luggage [ar] when leaving the country.

Writer Alaa Al Aswany said:

Al-Gizawi is a brave revolutionary lawyer who defended many of the rebels before military courts. He then took the cases of Egyptian workers in Saudi Arabia who were detained without trial, thus finding himself in litigation with the Saudi king himself. When al-Gizawi and his wife went to perform umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca), he was assured that the Saudi regime would not be able to punish him for his political positions, as under Islamic law, all those who go on a pilgrimage are untouchable. Unfortunately, al-Gizawi was arrested as soon as he landed in Saudi Arabia. Those who asked about him were told that he would be whipped and imprisoned for insulting the king of Saudi Arabia. Two days later, Saudi authorities announced that they found more than 21,000 drug tablets on al-Gizawi. This silly accusation is not worth discussion. Al-Gizawi is a brave fighter who got arrested several times in defense of his principles. What made him suddenly turn into a drug dealer? Is he stupid enough to travel with such a high amount of drugs through the Cairo airport, where baggage X-rays make it impossible to transfer that many drugs? Moreover, the quantity of that many tablets weighs more than 60 kilos, and the baggage weight limit is only 30 kilos. According to the records of the Cairo airport, the weight of al-Gizawi and his wife’s bag did not exceed the limit.

Zeinobia commented:

Young Egyptians on social networks do not buy the Saudi statement as it reminded them of the case of Khaled Said and how the ministry of interior in Egypt fabricated the drug story about him.

Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported [ar] that El Gizawy had previously filed a lawsuit in Egypt against the Saudi ambassador regarding the detention of torture of a number of Egyptian citizens in Saudi Arabia.

Zeinobia referred to another Egyptian detainee:

Now it is not only the case of Gizawy that we should follow and work on , I think we should work on the case of other Egyptians allegedly arrested and detained for years in the Kingdom for no reason like for instance the case of Abdullah Mamdouh [ar]. Mamdouh was detained from four years ago for no reason according to his wife Israa Kamal [ar] who is campaigning online and offline for him.

The Saudi government closed its embassy in Cairo in response to the protests there, in the worst diplomatic rift in years between the two countries. However the Saudi ambassador returned to Egypt a week later, after a high-level Egyptian delegation went to Riyadh led by Saad El Katatny, Muslim Brotherhood member and the current speaker of Egypt’s parliament.

As'ad Abou-Khalil wrote about the visit in a post entitled, “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood bows down to House of Saud“:

Such an opportunity to meet with the Saudi king would likely not have arisen in the short to medium term had Gizawy's case not been escalated by Egyptian activists. During the visit, Katatny clearly stated, “We will not interfere in Gizawy's case,” adding that “the Saudi justice system is fair.” Katatny stressed the “historic relations” between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and said that Saudi has “white hands” (Arabic for “a shining track record”) in backing Egypt. Katatny again remarked that Egypt and Saudi Arabia, “the two greatest powers in the region,” could lead the region into a bright future.

Ahmed El Gizawy remains in detention in Saudi Arabia, awaiting trial.

Saudi Arabia: Qatif Protest to Demand “Rights”

Amira Al Hussaini — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 08:46:32 +0000

Revolution2East posts on YouTube this video from a protest in Qatif, Saudi Arabia, in which protesters, who include women, chant that they will not give up on demanding their rights.

Arab World: Netizens Turn to Twitter to Complain About Dust

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:05:47 +0000

A massive sandstorm hit the Gulf region, disrupting air traffic in Yemen, and closing schools in Saudi Arabia. Netizens from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar turned to Twitter to complain.

In Dubai, UAE, Iyad El-Baghdadi complains:

@Iyad_elbaghdadi: God there's dust everywhere, in my eyes, in my nose, on my desk, between my fingers, in my glass, on my keyboard. And I'm sealed indoors.

From Qatar, Hannah laments:

@hshurey: I am so fed up with this dust in Doha. I can barely even remember what fresh air is!

Ahmed Al Hashemi, from Abu Dhabi, UAE, notes:

@ADHashemi: Covered in so much dust I'm gonna need a car wash to get it all off. To make matters worse its really doing a number on my eyes

And Ozair Taher, from neighbouring Dubai, UAE, adds:

@Ozair25: Dust, dust, dust, dust & D.U.S.T “We should all pray for rain seriously!” #Dubai

Rain is also on Wael Al Jaber's mind. Al Jaber, from the Saudi capital Riyadh writes:

@W_Jaber: That awkward moment when people are talking about rain but all i see is dust #RiyadhWeather

Håkon Gaarder-Larsen, a Norwegian hotelier who lives and works in Riyadh, notes:

@Haakon_G_Larsen: Funny how a week of sandstorms and dust in Riyadh makes me look forward to the polluted air in Cairo next week

And Hisham Wyne jokes:

@HishamWyne: It's not a sandstorm. It's just that the dust bunnies are breeding ferociously. They're allowed four wives each too.

Meanwhile, in Sanaa, Yemen, schools are closed because of the dust storm. Noon Arabia clarifies:

@NoonArabia: Tomorrow and after will shut down too “@WomanfromYemen: dust storm in #sanaa caused schools to shut down today #yemen”

Saudi Arabia: Tweets for Jailed Saudi Activist Draw Global Attention

Amira Al Hussaini — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:53:51 +0000

Saudi Twitter users have joined forces to highlight the plight of a political prisoner Shaikh Yusuf Al-Ahmad on the micro-blogging site. Their effort has made the Islamic scholar's name become a worldwide trend, raising awareness about his imprisonment without charges and access to a fair trial.

Essam Al Zamil quips [Ar]:

الله أكبررر ‎:)‏ اسم الشيخ يوسف الأحمد اسمه يصل للترند (العالمي) “Al-Ahmad” ‎‬#justice4YA‪‏

@essamz: God is great! Shaikh Yousif Al-Ahmad's name is trending worldwide

Foreign Policy editor Blake Hounshell shares a similar observation, which is acknowledged by Saudi blogger Ahmed Al Omran:

@ahmed: They did it RT @blakehounshell: Watershed moment? Saudi tweeters get al-Ahmad, a detainee, to trend.

Al-Ahmad trending worldwide on Twitter

According to Human Rights Watch, Al-Ahmad was arrested for his comments on a video he posted on YouTube, on July 7, 2011, criticising the long-term detention of security suspects without charge or trial.

Ironically, Saudi authorities have not announced any charges against Al-Ahmad, who was jailed eight months ago and who had taught at Imam Muhammad bin Sa'ud University in Riyadh.

Tonight's Twitter campaign to raise awareness about his imprisonment has resulted in an out pour of reactions both under his name Al-Ahmad and the hash tag #justice4YA.

The campaign is being spearheaded by @SaudiDetainees, following the success of their first Twitter campaign to draw attention to another political prisoner - 34-yrear-old Mohammed Albajady, who has been behind bars for almost a year, also without charges or access to a fair trial.

Al Zamil writes:

@essamz: He said NO in the face of Injustice. We say YES for his freedom #justice4YA

Khaled Al Naser adds [ar]:

عندما نطلب العدالة ليوسف الأحمد نطلبها لكل معتقل تعسفياً، نطلبها لكل إسلامي أو ليبرالي، لكل سني أو شيعي، العدالة والحرية للجميع

@Mashi9a7: When we call for justice for Yusuf Al-Ahmad, we demand it for everyone being held arbitrarily. We demand it for every Islamist and liberal and every Sunni and Shia. Justice and freedom is for all.

And renowed Saudi blogger Fuad Al Farhan, who was himself arrested for writing on his blog, lends his voice to the campaign. He writes:

الحرية للشيخ يوسف الأحمد.. آن لملف الاعتقال والسجون أن يغلق للأبد ونضعه كشعب وحكومة خلف ظهورنا ونمضي..

@alfarhan: Freedom for Shaikh Yusuf Al-Ahmad.. It is time for this chapter of arrests and imprisonment to be closed for good and for us as a nation and government to put it behind our backs and move on

Al-Ahmad also maintains a Twitter account here - @yusufalahmed. The account is now managed by a supporter, who tweets updates on Al-Ahmad, his imprisonment conditions and how his elderly mother, who is sick with cancer, is faring.

Reporters without Borders lists Saudi Arabia as an Enemy of the Internet in its 2012 list of countries that censor the Internet and stifle free speech. It is only a matter of time before we find out how long the outspokenness of Saudi netizens online will continue for.

Saudi Arabia: Tweeting AlBajady's Hunger Strike

Mona Kareem — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:09:21 +0000

Saudi netizens joined forces last night to tweet about the plight of Mohammed Albajady, a 34-year-old Saudi activist who has been imprisoned for a year with no charges and no fair trial and who has been on hunger strike in protest against his detention for almost two weeks.

The online move follows last week's attempt by Bahraini netizens, who with the help of Arab and international Twitter users, were able to trend worldwide the hashtag #Hungry4BH in support of political detainees, most notably human rights defender and activist Abdulhadi Khawaja, who have been on hunger strike for more than three weeks.

Supporters shared the following information about Albajady:

On 20Mar'11 #Albjady set out from Qaseem to Riyadh to support the protest of families of the illegally detained
Though #Albjady had no relatives whatsoever among them, he went out to protest & tweeted in support of all detainees.
#Albjady tweeted during the protest that an officer asked if he had detained relative, he replied all were his family
On 21Mar'11 #Albjady was detained till now w/no charges or just trial, seen in MOI court blindfolded, ankles shackled
On 21Feb'12 #Albjady began #AlbjadyHungerStrike to protest his extrajudicial treatment/detention & hasn't eaten till today
Upon last arrest #Albjady was in solitary confinement for 4 months then regular prison, secret trial w/no lawyer access

Here are some of the tweets posted under the #AlbjadyHungers hashtag by activists, journalists, and Twitter users. Dima Khatib, head of Al Jazeera's Latin America office, wrote:

@Dima_Khatib: Mohammad Albjady defended the rights of detainees in Saudi prisons.. until he became one of them. Now he's on hunger strike

Saudi activist, Waleed Abu Al-Khair, who went on trial a few months ago, posted several tweets including this one [ar]:

من أوائل من دافعوا عن البجادي هو الغالي عبدالهادي خواجة إبان عمله في فرونت لاين فرّج الله عنهما ‎

@abualkhair: One of the early defenders of Albajady was detained Bahraini activist Abdulhadi Khawajah, when he was working for Frontline. May God help them both.

A young Saudi woman who goes with the name “Ana 3arabiya,” made the link between Albajady's case and other detainees:

@Ana3rabeya: Focusing on One for Online Campaign is Effective Attention-Grabbing Method. It is NOT Denial/Ignoring of others Imprisoned.

Anti-slavery Mauritanian activist Nasser Weddady participated with several tweets:

@weddady: #AlbjadyHungers marks another landmark in the internal struggle between an authoritarian geriatric ruling class & a youth reform current

Jaffar Alsaffar, a Saudi who mostly tweets about Qatif protests in the Eastern province of the Saudi Kingdom, noted:

@jsaffar: Rarely have I seen such unity from my fellow Saudis on a common cause .. and what a cause :')

Khalid Ibrahim from the Gulf Center for Human Rights tweeted:

@khalidibrahim12: Freedom to Saudi Human R Defender Mohammed Albjady as he enters day13 of his Hunger Strike after a 1 year illegal detention.

Daughter of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Bahraini activist in exile Maryam Al-Khawaja tweeted in support:

@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: #albjadyhungers bcz it could b any1 of us, arbitrarily detained for speaking, protesting.. for existing.

And Tunisian Tounsia Hourra made the connection between Albajady and Khader Adnan, the Palestinian who went on hunger strike for several weeks [ar]:

من ساند خضر عدنان فلن ينسى محمد البجادي ,الاثنان اعتقلا دون تهم ودون محاكمة مع فارق بسيط واحد من المحتل والثاني من نظامه

@tounsiahourra: who supported Khader Adnan will not forget Mohammed Albajady; both were detained with no charges and with no trials. The only difference is that one detained by the occupier and the other by his regime.

Saudi Arabia: Facebook Page Calls for Protest

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:18:01 +0000

A Facebook page [ar] has been created calling on Saudis to protest tomorrow (Thursday) and on Friday against financial and administrative corruption, the jailing of activists and the lack of justice, among other grievances. The page details are being circulated via Twitter by bloggers. Previous calls for protests in Saudi Arabia have failed to materialise into large scale demonstrations.

Arab World: Mourning Anthony Shadid

Jillian C. York — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:23:28 +0000

On February 17, 2012, the tragic news that New York Times Middle East Correspondent Anthony Shadid had passed away in Syria at the age of 43, reportedly as a result of a severe asthma attack triggered by an allergy to horses, saddened news readers the world over.

Shadid, an American of Lebanese descent, was widely respected for his balanced reporting in the region, and was honored in both 2004 and 2010 with the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the American invasion of Iraq and the ongoing conflict there, respectively. In the past year, he had reported from Egypt, Libya (where he was arrested along with three Times colleagues), and most recently, Syria.

Photo by Terissa Schor (CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Lebanese entrepreneur Habib Haddad tweeted:

We mourn the loss of a genius today! RIP #AnthonyShadid http://bit.ly/zohXFW

Anissa Helou mourned Shadid, saying:

so so sad about anthony shadid. his articles were really great and he understood both the people and the situations. RIP

Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who had earlier tweeted his admiration for Shadid, expressed sympathy for the deceased's family:

Tonight I will sleep thinking of Anthony's wife Nada Bakri, and their kids and the incredible legacy #AnthonyShadid leaves behind.

Saudi philanthropist Muna AbuSulayman shareda similar sentiment:

my deeepest condolences. Mr. Shadid was a role model to journalists..your loss is one that is shared by all of us Arab-americans @nadabakri

Journalist Tamer El-Ghobashy also spoke for the Arab-American community, noting that Shadid did a difficult job with few detractors. He added:

Anthony was the most prominent Arab American of our generation and he did it without making it a brand or a mission. Great by merit alone.

Referring to Shadid, Cairo-based writer Ashraf Khalil stated:

We all wished we could be like him, but without any jealousy or resentment because he was so damn sweet and deserving.

Palestinian @Falasteeni wrote of Shadid:

So sad to hear Anthony Shadid has died. Has always been a cut above the rest in mainstream journalism, and a brilliant writer.

And from Syria, the location of Shadid's final assignment, @BSyria put it simply

I really don't know what to say. Thank you @anthonyshadid.

Arab World: Where Even Valentine's Day is Different

Amira Al Hussaini — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:29:37 +0000

It's Valentine's Day today! The occasion was not forgotten despite a year of protest across a large portion of the Arab world.

From the UAE, Yasser Hareb tweets:

@YasserHareb: I don't believe in valentine's day. True love has no occasion.. True love is the occasion #Valentine

Abdullah Al Rasheed, from Saudi Arabia, which bans all forms of Valentine's celebrations, writes [ar]:

لا أريد أن احتفل بهذا اليوم .. أحرقوا كل أعيادهم وأعطوني مجتمعاً لا يشوه الحب .. لا يحاصر القلب ! ‎#valentine‏

@ALRrsheed: I don't want to celebrate this day. Burn all their festivals and give me a society which does not tarnish love … and does not arrest the heart

And Ramu Salame jokes:

@ramisalame: Hey, Saudi tweeps, I have a question: Tomorrow, for Valentine's Day, are we supposed to avoid red meat?

Eyad Joudeh explains why this question is plausible in Saudi Arabia. He tweets:

@EyadJ: Valentine's day, the only day of the year where people in Saudi Arabia can go to jail for wearing a certain color.

While reminds Sultan Angari reminds us [ar]:

سوف نضحك يوماً ما..بأنه كان بيننا أُناس يمنعون إهداء الوردة الحمراء أو حتى بيعها وشراءها في يوم محدد من ايام الله! ‎#Saudi‏ ‎#Valentine‏

@AngariSultan: We will laugh some day about how we had people living amongst us who banned people from giving, selling or buying red roses on a certain day of the year

Saudi Arabia bans all forms of Valentine's celebrations. It's notorious Commission for the Prevention of Virtue and Prevention of Vice raids shops in the run up to Valentine's Day, forcing owners to remove all symbols of the Valentine's, including roses, hearts, balloons and red wrapping paper.

Egyptian Nermeen Edrees finds a heart drawn on her red car. Photo credit: Nermeen Edrees, shared on Twitter

Moving on, Egyptian Nermeen Edrees was welcomed after work with a lovely surprise. She tweets:

@NermeenEdrees: Nice surprise..someone decided to draw a heart on my car :D

Meanwhile, in Bahrain, today marks the first anniversary of the start of massive protests, styled after the so-called Arab Spring revolutions which have also rocked Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen, to name a few.

There, blogger Mahmood Al Yousif comments on the brief detention this afternoon of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab by saying:

@mahmood: #FreeNabeel another special #Bahrain hash tag on this lively Valentine's day @NABEELRAJAB

Anonymous, the loosely formed international group of hackers, also presented Bahrainis with a Valentine's present. Human rights activist Maryam Al Khawaja tweets about it:

@maryamalkhawaja: “#Anonymous to People of #Bahrain: Happy #Valentine's Day” Anonymous takes down websites of contractors tht sell to Bahrain regime #feb14

And finally, back in Egypt, Mohammed El Dahshan could be in trouble. He exclaims:

@eldahshan: Ha! I managed to spend the entire day without speaking about Valentine's day and… oh crap.

Saudi Arabia: Qatif Protestor Shot

Amira Al Hussaini — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:48:12 +0000

On Twitter, Arab Revolution shares a link to a video allegedly showing a Saudi protester in Qatif getting shot. The video is dated February 9.

Saudi Arabia: Fate of Journalist Hamza Kashgari Hangs in the Balance

Jillian C. York — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:13:12 +0000

Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari set off a social media firestorm last week when he tweeted an imaginary conversation with the Prophet Mohammed. In his tweets, which have since been deleted, he wrote to the Prophet: “I have loved the rebel in you” but “I do not like the halos of divinity around you. I shall not pray for you.” He also wrote, “I shall shake [your hand] as equals do … I shall speak to you as a friend, no more.”

Not long after publishing the tweets, Kashgari began to receive death threats. His address was posted on a social media site, and clerics began calling for him to be executed, or tried for apostasy. On February 8, he fled the country, headed for New Zealand…but was caught in transit in Malaysia by local authorities, who detained him; shortly after, news emerged that Saudi Arabia had issued an extradition order.

Malaysian Home Minister Hishammudin Hussein was quoted as saying that Malaysia would repatriate Kashgari to Saudi Arabia. A Facebook page in solidarity with Kashgari that emerged mid-week has more than 1,500 members.

As of the time of publication, an interim order had been issued to stop Malaysian authorities from deporting Kashgari:

@FadiahNadwa: Justice Rohana Yusuf jz gave interim order 2stop Govt fr deporting #HamzaKashgari to Saudi Arabia.On our way to serve court order to police.

There were, nonetheless, conflicting reports that Kashgari had been extradited.

A battle of opinions

A battle of opinions is being waged on social networks, with many of Kashgari's fellow Saudi citizens continuing to argue for him to be tried. Their calls seem to be outnumbered by calls from members of the international community, as well as citizens of Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, for Malaysia not to extradite Kashgari.

Saudi blogger Ahmed Al Omran believes that there's more to the case than meets the eye:

While I understand how many Muslims would take offense at anything that touches the prophet, I don’t think it explains the whole story. Yes, many feel strongly about such matters and therefore they reacted accordingly. However, it is clear that many on the right decided to take advantage of the incident to score points and make political gains. It was a low hanging fruit.

While some may perceive religious conservatives defending the Prophet’s honor simply as piety, others say there is more behind it, that this is actually part of a long-term plan.

Mariam, a writer for Arab News, is dismayed by the potential charges:

@onlymytweets: I don't recall an Ayah or Hadith saying God has transferred authority to mankind to judge. Or is it just me? #HamzaKashgari @SalmaanTaseer

Self-described Saudi-American poet Bint Talal has been tweeting her concern for Kashgari's safety. She tweets:

@majda72: I want to go to sleep but I'm consumed with fear for #HamzaKashgari I keep checking twitter & fear the worst.

@RFatani is angered by the reactions on social media, tweeting:

@RFatani: 1000's of tweeps calling for #HamzaKashgari head to roll! They should be banned from entering countries that have ‘inciting hate' laws

Writer Khaled Almaeena's [ar] tweets expressed the widespread sentiment that the threatened punishments do not fit the crime:

@khaledalmaeena: ان الله غفور رحيم ولو كان حبيبنا سيدنا محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم بيننا وسمع اعتداره وشهادته لسامحه ‎#hamzakashgari‏ ‎#saudi‏ ‎#ksa

@khaledalmaeena: God is merciful and if Mohammed (PBUH) were alive he would have heard his apology and forgiven him.”

Among those in Saudi Arabia who were happy to hear that Kashgari might be extradited was @AboTamem, who tweeted:

@AboTamem: @nsurendrann Our brother HAMZA in the way to his home…he is not under your law!! #hamzakashgari

@mkabmr also felt that Kashgari went too far:

@mkambr: Personally anyone who ridiculed prophet Muhammad PBUH is a persona non grata #HamzaKashgari

But @ArabRevolution's tweet was more representative of the general sentiment on Twitter:

@ArabRevolution: Just putting this out there, neither I or millions of other Muslims agree to what Saudi decides to do with #HamzaKashgari #freehamza

Iran: Leader's website blocked in Saudi Arabia

Hadi Nili — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:37:47 +0000

Iranian sources say [fa] that Saudi Arabia has blocked Iran Leader's site Khamenei.ir. This sources says this website is blocked because of Ayatollah Khamanei's remarks on “Islamic Arab Spring”. Iranian user on Friendfeed believes [fa]: This could be a start for a cyber-war between Iran and Arabia.

Saudi Arabia: A Family Living in a Cemetery

Haifa Alrasheed — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:52:30 +0000

Away from the political scene and on a more human level, a short movie shot by young Saudi filmmaker Bader AlHomoud named “Almagbarah,” which translates to cemetery in Arabic, has changed the life of a Saudi family. Bader describes the montage phase in his tweet [ar]:

#ma8barah اليوم أصبت باكتئاب وانا اعمل مونتاج لفلم سيصيبكم بالكابة سترونه قريبا

Today I got depressed while editing a movie that will make you all depressed too

The three-minute movie, posted below from YouTube, shows a Saudi family living in a cemetery. It has no script, nor a dialog. It features members of the family and their children playing around the cemetery and the abject poverty they live in.

Saudi tweeps were emotionally touched by the movie and below are some of their reactions under the hashtag #ma8barah.

@MarwanAlrouqi describes the logic behind the location [ar]:

عزيزي المواطن : من اجل رفاهيتك اخترنا لك سكن بعيد عن الازعاج وقريبً من الاخره ! #ma8barah

Dear Saudi citizen, for your convince we picked you a residence that is far away from the noise and close to your resting place!

A screen shot from the movie

@hayaalshatti asks [ar]:

هل أصبحت خيارات الحياة تقف عند أنني يجب أن أفضح ملامحي وأنشر فقري في فلم .. حتى أحصل على كرامة .. تباً لمن سلبهم كرامتهم ! #ma8barah #KSA

Did we reach the point in which I have to expose my life in order to get some dignity? Woe to those who robbed them of their dignity!

And in reaction to the video, which has been watched more than 148,000 times on YouTube, smartman7779 says [ar]:

شي محزن فبكت عيوني من هذا الحال احمد ربي ع حالتي

This is sad, I cried watching it! Thank God for my circumstances

Three hours after publishing the movie, Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, who is Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees and Head of the Executive Committee of the Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundations, announced on her Twitter [ar] account:

الحمد لله، ستقوم مؤسسة الوليد بن طلال الخيرية بتأمين سكن دائم لهذه العائلة وتم التواصل مع بدر الحمود وسنبدأ من الغد إن شاء الله #ma8barah

Al-Waleed bin Talal Charity Foundation will provide the family with a permanent residence, we are currently contacting Bader AlHomoud

@malsahli [ar] comments:

لو لم يقم شاب مبدع يدعى بدر الحمود بتسليط الضوء على عائله سعوديه تسكن مقبره..لماظهر المنقذون ولبقيت الأسره مهمشه خلف ناطحات السحاب #ma8barah

If the creative Bader did not shed light on this family they would have been still living behind the skyscrapers and forgotten!

and @essamz stresses on the power of the social media:

فيلم مدته 3 دقائق يؤدي لحل مشكلة عائلة خلال 3 ساعات من نشره. إنها قوة الإعلام الجديد. #ma8barah

A three minute movie solves a problem in three hours.. that is the power of the new media!

Two days later, @BaderAlHomoud announces:

#ma8barah الحمدلله حتى سيارة وصلت لأبو شريفة من فاعلة خير

The family received a car from an anonymous donor