The event was woven around a presentation by Engineer Yasser M. Bahjat, World Cyber Games board member and Electronic Sports World Cup supervisor in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia [link], titled “Electronic Games: The New Media Outlet.” Bahjat is responsible for phenomenon such as Badr Hakeem, who won the ESWC in 2005 playing in the Pro Evolution Soccer division, and was in the headlines in 2006, and for getting Saudi Arabia to the second round of the ESWC in both 2004 and 2007.

The presentation was aimed at parents to educate them about the potential harms and benefits of electronic games and the guidelines to safe gaming. He also addressed the possibility of developing electronic games in the region. “Electronic games are not toys; we need to understand this first. And don't criticize or approve of an electronic game right away; try it, read about it, and listen to what gaming communities are saying about it, online and offline. That's the only way you can determine if a game is suitable for your son or daughter,” said Bahjat.

In addition, Bahjat mentioned that the average age of individuals who play video games at least four hours a week in the United States is 34 years. He also cited an interesting study that was conducted in New York in which surgeons “who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37% fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27% faster than their counterparts who did not play video games.” Following the presentation, Bahjat answered some questions and concerns that the audience had, which was made up of both male and female attendees, regarding the topic.

The presentation was held at the Center for the Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Program for Youth Development at 6:00pm [GMT+3] and was broadcasted live on Yahoo! Live by fellow Saudi blogger and Saudi IT Club member, Saleh Al-Zaid. It was also followed by an inspirational speech given by Abdulrahman Tarabzouni, a Saudi MIT graduate student, titled “The World Awaits You.”

In Saudi Arabia, video games receive the majority of the blame for the spread of obesity among Saudi youth, coming close-second only to cartoons when it comes to children [link]. Electronic games have also gained the attention of Saudi authorities for many other reasons; this article in Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat talks about a Saudi campaign against violent video games (especially one which illustrates a fight between the United States and Al-Qaeda). The name of the video game in question was not disclosed but is most likely Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Electronic games in the Saudi market are worth about 187 million dollars, which represents 30% of the Saudi retail market [link]. The Saudi game market receives about 3 million video games annually; only 10,000 of those games are original copies and the rest is pirated. Other numbers were also included in the previously-linked article; the average Saudi youth spends about $400 on video games annually and over 60% of Saudi households have at least one gaming console.

Electronic games were also the target of a recent Saudi study conducted among participants in a juvenile detention center in the Saudi capital of Riyadh [link]. The study showed that “90% of the juveniles were affected negatively by video games and sought to imitate these games in reality.”

Keyword here should be moderation, which is a something that is very unlikely to come about at such a young age as that of gamers in the Kingdom. For that reason, the electronic gaming division in the Saudi IT Club was created; for the aforesaid reason and for Saudi youngsters to be introduced to moderate and safe gaming by other Saudi youngsters.

Related Blog Entries and News:

• Saudi Arabia Bans Pokemon
• Say No to Violent and Pirated Games
• Arab World Frets Over Video Games
• Internet Gaming Worries Saudi Parents
• Social Phobias Among Saudi Children: Blame Television and Video Games (Arabic)
• Blending Gaming With Historical Regional Themes: Serious Games Exploring Middle East Markets
• Blogger Viper Suggests Bringing Video Games Along if One Plans on Living in Saudi Arabia

The Iranian president has recently paid his first visit to the Kingdom a couple of days ago. According to the Yahoo! News article, they “pledged to fight the spread of sectarian strife in the Middle East” and “stressed the importance of maintaining Palestinian unity and bringing security to Iraq.” However, we must realize that this is what the Saudi Press Agency said. Crossroads Arabia posted an article about the Iranian take on the talks with Saudi Arabia. Neal of Arabia has reported on Her Majesty's now-former-Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles', reassignment to Afghanistan as part of the British attempt to expand diplomatic presence there.

NeeArt posted (in Arabic) her take on the situation of the recently-abandoned Saudi blogs, mentioned in last week's roundup. She thinks that the bloggers' decisions have more to do with increasing tensions, divisions among Saudi bloggers, and hearsay than governmental or political reasons; it's a very interesting perspective. Raed Al-Saeed has posted (in Arabic) a humble letter to Dr. Ghazi Abdul Rahman Algosaibi, the Saudi Minister of Labor. His letter mainly addresses the issue of Saudization in the job market. His solution is to place Saudis and non-Saudis seeking employment in similiar conditions, instead of forcing policy.

Numerous bloggers have reported on the 2007 Riyadh International Book Fair. Before the actual date of the fair, Saudi Jeans (a.k.a. Ahmed Al-Omran) hoped “it would be a good assortment of brain food” and an opportunity to meet some bloggers. He also posted a list of the events he was planning on attending. As soon as the fair was inaugurated on March 1, Crossroads Arabia posted an article saying that the fair got off to a quiet start:

The opening of the Riyadh Book Fair has gone off quietly. Last year's fair—though not the opening—was disrupted by religious and social conservatives who shouted down a member of the Shoura Council who had tried to raise the issue of women's driving during a Council session. Let's see what happens during the rest of the fair.

Swalfy (translates to “My Chit-Chats”), who blogs in Arabic, thought the fair was a bit more organized than it was in previous years, and said that the number of people at the event was fairly large. He also met blogger Herbaz there. Herbaz, who also blogs in Arabic, also thought that the outcome of the fair was great. Mohammed Al-Shehri has recently posted (in Arabic) about another piece of interesting news, a team of Saudis won MBC's show “Al Tahaddi.” He thinks that saying that “the average Saudi has sharp intellect and an ability to address different aspects of a situation, along with a naturally-charismatic nature that aids in dealing with any problem thrown his way” should not be considered exaggeration or self-praise. Also regarding the show, Wireless Visions addressed (in Arabic) concerns that the competition was fixed.

Blogger Rasheed addressed the situation of the French victims of the seemingly-militant attacks in Madain Saleh from a totally different perspective. As a journalist, he addressed the press coverage aspect:

As the French reminded the press this week, they have a policy of not divulging the names of victims of acts of terror. This of course obviously made our jobs as journalists very difficult. Who were these French people, what were their names, ages, why were they near the ancient ruins of Madain Saleh, were some of them Muslim and on their way to Makkah to perform Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage)? These were questions that no one was willing to answer either directly or quickly.

According to Crossroads Arabia, two suspects of the attacks were arrested. An update on the post said that “Saudi authorities were willing to provide a reward of up to 7million SAR for information leading to the rendition of the two individuals.”

Now, to wrap up…

Crossroads Arabia updated on the case of the young Saudi stunt driver, who was sentenced to death. Obviously, the case involved more than just “joyriding,” it had three instances of vehicular homicide. The Observer posted about Arabic male belly dancers and his disappointment in the new Lebanese TV channel, Jaras TV, which specializes in scandalizing celebrities. Bassem posted about his latest encounter with the traffic police in Jeddah. Crossroads Arabia also posted an article about the US Department of State's release of its new report on Human Right in Saudi Arabia. And, finally, Saudi Jeans (a.k.a. Ahmed Al-Omran) posted about the failure of US attempts, including Hi Magazine, “to win the hearts and minds of Arabs.” Towards the end of his post, he suggests some ideas that just might work.

Khloud did a great job at summarizing a recent BBC article that talks about King Fahad Academy's regret over some books, parts of which label Jews as “repugnant” and Christians as “pigs.” Ash, who happens to have spent 12 years in that school up until 1999, claims that it's all a “damn lie,” and elaborates on the recent hysteria:

It started when a teacher Colin Cook, who taught my brother btw :P decided to take legal actions against my school after being dismissed in 2005. Honestly I don’t really care if he wins or not he feels he was unlawfully dismissed that’s his problem and he has to deal with it, BUT to drag my school's name through the mud?!?!

According to Bloggers Observatory there has been a recent governmental campaign against 4 Saudi male bloggers, Fouad Al-Farhan, Riyadhawi, Mashi Sah (translates to “On the Right Track”), and Rajul Al-Huriyya (translates to “Man of Freedom”). This did not go unaddressed by other bloggers; Al-Failasouf (translates to “The Philosopher”) has written (in Arabic) a post about it and titled it “A Letter.” He began it with: “Our silence, as Saudi bloggers, in itself, is a shameful thing.” Aya addressed a similiar case; the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Suleiman (pseudo name: Kareem Amer) to four years in prison for “the crime of insulting the president and inciting hatred of Islam.”

Crossroads Arabia have also been very busy recently. In one week, they updated on the recent Valentine's-day-related punishments, Adel Al-Jubeir's formal assignment as Saudi ambassador to the US, HR groups protesting Saudi beheadings, cyber activism by Saudi women, and both forced divorce cases of Fatima and ex-husband Mansour, and Rania and ex-husband Saud.

Regarding the most-recent death of celebrity Anna Nicole Smith, Yazeed seems to have had it with the obsessive media coverage of the case. He is disappointed with CNN's Larry King and said: “Every night, every single night (I like to have CNN on when I sleep) that's all he talks about, he has the same guests (almost), talking about the wacky case.” He also said that he is changing his “sleep channel” to Fox News. This whole craze has certainly turned some heads. Aya thinks that the media regards Anna Nicole's death more important than Iraq. Speaking of Iraq, Ubergirl87 raised some very interesting questions, in a recent post, regarding the wartorn country.

Our favorite couple in the Saudi blogosphere, Two Dykes and a Closet, return once more with some news; The L Word DVDs are being sold right now in Saudi. Maybe these two girls would like to know that Crossroads Arabia is, yet again, sharing a very interesting article with its readers; “Saudi Lesbians Coming out of the Closet.”

Now, to wrap up…

Sous posted about the hassles of getting a maid in Saudi. Sam linked to an article that talks about a Saudi being sentenced to death for joyriding. Personally, however, I'm not really sure that the car was stolen. Syed was evoked by a funny picture to talk about Saudi marriages and related divorce rates. Green Tea posted (in Arabic) about a national strategy, devised by the Saudi Council of Ministers, to “protect integrity and fight corruption” amongst government officials, regardless of rank. Here is a related English article on the Khaleej Times Online website.

I noticed many Saudi bloggers referring to the recent happenings in Jerusalem. As it turns out, last Friday, February the 16th, was the Jerusalem Blogging Day. According to Saudi blogger ماشي صح (translates to “On the Right Track”), it was the fruit of joint efforts by bloggers Nuzha and Mohammed Lachyab. A new website is also dedicated to the cause.

Two new airlines in Saudi were launched recently. Until recently, Saudi Arabian Airlines were the only air carriers operating in the Kingdom. In one of his posts, Yazeed said that “Sama recently operated their first flight within Saudi, and plan to expand into the Middle East soon.” Feras talks about NAS Airlines in one of his posts, and mentions something very interesting about the airlines:

You might find this a bit funny, the CEO of the company Captain Peter Griffiths flies the companies planes!! Just goes to show you…

This past week, Saudi bloggers have also observed Valentine's Day. It is a well-known fact that as a result of efforts by the Saudi religious authorities, mainly the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (a.k.a. Religious Police), red roses are banned from being sold on Valentine's Day; a day which, according to our lovely lesbian couple in the Saudi blogosphere, Two Dykes and a Closet, is “the day that the single people love to hate, and the in-a-relationship people love to love.” However, according to an article posted by Crossroads Arabia, red roses were still sold out due to the huge demand by young Saudis, who have been defying the Kingdom's official ban year after year. Furthermore, Crossroads Arabia suggests: “Perhaps we can start to do what we recommend to others: ‘Judge people by what they do, not by what they say.' ” If you want to hear it from someone who is not Saudi, but happens to be living in the Kingdom, you should visit Chris' take on V-Day in the KSA.

Now, for the latest in Islamic sportswear, the burqini (burqa + bikini = burqini). Designed by Lebanese Australian, and mother of four, Aheda Zanetti, it costs between 135 and 150 US dollars. It has already been seen at Sydney’s Cronulla Beach, worn by the likes of 20-year-old lifeguard Mecca Laa Laa, according to a post by Khloud. “The two-piece, body- and head-concealing swimsuit” has also received honorable mention in one of Sheikh Dot's recent Q & A sessions; a must-read if you enjoy the sting of sarcasm.

Russian president Vladimir Putin's first visit to Saudi Arabia, and the one-of-a-kind warm welcome he has received in Riyadh, seems to have disturbed many bloggers. Mohammed Al-Shehri, a Saudi who blogs in Arabic, has formulated a very simple equation to explain what is going on:

It's a very simple equation: Russia is a nuclear country with a nuclear excess, and Saudi is an oil country with an excess in its budget. And solving this equation, thought it might have taken years, is easier now than ever.

Other Saudi bloggers, were disturbed by the series of activist arrests the Saudi Arabian government has been making. Aya ponders the question “do Saudis have the right to request reforms?” and posts about the case of the arrested activists, which was picked up by Human Rights Watch.

Saudi Jeans (a.k.a. Ahmed Al-Omran) has posted recently about taking part in Bitter Lemons International's weekly issue. According to a post by Crossroads Arabia, Bitter Lemons is “a non-profit organization designed to provide new avenues for thought, discussion, and understanding of the Middle East and its problems.” They produce a weekly online magazine and the focus of their last issue was the Arab blogosphere.

Since I'm a Saudi college student in the US, I should emphasize the significance of the following to me. Crossroads Arabia has recently published a very insightful post about a newly released article by CNSNews.com, the Cybercast News Service. The article hypes fears of the large number of recently-admitted Saudi students in the US. The post responds to the article, which put more emphasis on spin than content:

This is a fine piece of Saudi-bashing put out by the Cybercast News Service. The organization, born as the ‘Conservative News Service' tends to represent the more fringe-y elements of conservative America, putting more emphasis on spin than content. This piece, for example, tries to suggest that the students mentioned are somehow related to either the 9/11 attackers or are part of a new Al-Qaeda plot. What's the substance of the link? The students' Saudi nationality.

Now, to wrap up…

Feras threw in his two cents on Saudi Post, the Kingdom's mailing services provider. Ibraman posted about the dawning of a new threat in Saudi; the massive increase in population. And Yazeed shared a YouTube video in which Britney Spears was spotted bald and getting a tattoo.

Relating to the demise of the blogging trend, mentioned in last week's roundup, Ahmad published a very interesting post about Saudi “sleeping blogs.” The number of Saudi blogs saw a sudden rise this past summer; many of these newly-born blogs have not been updated for more than two months so far. In a lighthearted manner, Saleh asks those reading his blog: “Is your computer a zombie?” He introduces a Wikipedia article titled “Zombie Computer” to his fellow Arabic readers. This past week in the Saudi blogosphere has also seen the emergence of two blogs published by Saudi girls that celebrate the lesbian lifestyle. “Saudi Ballerina” belongs to a 19-year-old single Saudi girl in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “Two Dykes and a Closet,” however, belongs to a lesbian couple that is also from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

When it comes to Christmas, and celebrating it in Saudi, Saudi blogs are divided in their opinions. Al-Failasouf posted (in Arabic) against the availability of Christmas decorations and sweets in many Saudi stores. He said: “In simple words, we are not responsible for bringing them happiness on their holy occasion, while our brothers everywhere are dying because of Christians like them.” Ahmed (a.k.a. Saudi Jeans) strongly opposes this view in a post of his. His rebuttal was: “This is what makes people like Debbie Schlussel object to Barack Obama's nomination for presidency because his father was a Muslim.” Now, if you want to hear it from someone who converted from Christianity to Islam and happens to be living in Saudi Arabia, you should read Nzingha's post about the celebration of Christmas.

On the Saudi driving culture, Margrave complains about young Saudi “weavers,” the one thing he refuses to get used to, and wonders: “Why do you [Saudi] guys have two or three different names for every main road?!” Crossroads Arabia has recently linked to a renewed US travel warning for Saudi Arabia:

Due to concerns about the possibility of additional terrorist activity directed against American citizens and interests, the Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia. The United States Mission in Saudi Arabia remains an unaccompanied post as a result of continued security concerns.

In other news, Dotsson posted about the recent countdown for Saddam Hussein's death sentence. Suprisingly, the countdown seems to be already over; this is all while the US “frees 18 ex-Guantanamo detainees,” according to the article posted by Crossroads Arabia.

Now, to wrap up…

Ahmed (a.k.a. Saudi Jeans) posted about the founding of a new Arabic MTV, Muneeb posted an interesting article about how YouTube “helped Canadian police find a man they believe responsible for a murder,” Al-Failasouf posted (in Arabic) some observations of his on the severe gender segregation in Saudi Arabia, and, finally, Prometheus posted an article about the Commission's most recent breach of individual rights and abuse of a Saudi mother and her daughter. Saudi human rights lawyer Abdulrahman Al-Lahem is taking the case of the mother and her daughter to court and says “he had been waiting years for a case like this.”

According to Rasheed's post, “Human Rights Watch issued a press statement yesterday [December 19th] about how their delegation that was here in the Kingdom last week were denied access to many detention facilities that they had wanted to visit here [in Saudi Arabia].” Crossroads Arabia, however, sheds some light on other claims regarding the visit; according to an article on the Saudi Gazette, HRW “was able to visit prisons.” Aya thinks that they were -genuinely- denied access to prisons and detention facilities. “I don't think that HRW actually expected to be granted full access to the country, for God's sake, even its ‘contact us' page is blocked in the kingdom,” she says.

Ahmed said he couldn't believe his eyes when he read in the newspaper that “80 RATS were found on a Saudi airline plane going from Riyadh to Tabuk! Apparently they were in one of the passengers BAGS!!!” He exclaims: “I mean HOW ON EARTH did that bag pass in the first place?!” In another topic, according to Crossroads Arabia and the article they posted, illegal immigration is currently growing to be a major issue in Saudi Arabia.

Rasheed posted about how the British press reported “about a British Midlands International (BMI) flight attendant who is taking the airline to an employment tribunal after the airline allegedly banned her from carrying a Bible into Saudi Arabia.” Still relating to holy books, Amer has posted about a very interesting new trend in Denmark, “Kristeligt Dagblad reported that the holy Quran is currently the 2nd most wanted Christmas present this year.”

Now, to wrap up…

Both Khloud and Mohammed (Arabic) were intrigued by Time Magazine's choice for Person of the Year; “You.” Sheikh Dot is back with a Christmas special. JeddahFood.com has emerged as “a major point of call for all those wishing to find out about the latest restaurants and hot spots in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.” Margrave has posted about the city of Riyadh's new Tom and Jerry fixation. And, lastly, Abu Anas shares some statistics (in Arabic) that might suggest the near demise of the blogging fad; he thinks the number of blog authors and contributors in the world will settle on 30 million, and will only see minuscule fluctuations.

Rasheed has done a great job covering HRW's visit in one post:

On Tuesday they visited the safe house run by the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh which houses runaway maids. There they met with many abused maids, including Nour Miyati who was beaten so badly by her Saudi employers that her fingers and toes had to be amputated because of gangrene.

He has also posted an interview with Christophe Wilcke. Still in the light of the recent HRW visit, Khloud wonders in a post why the HRW “Contact Us” page is blocked in Saudi Arabia. In a very unique reaction to the aforementioned post, Aya decided to post the details of the page that KACST's ISU unit doesn't seem to want Saudis to find.

According to a recent poll administered by the Gallup Organization, Saudi Arabia was perceived as the fifth least corrupt country in the world. Bandar finds the result of the poll very interesting, and equally hard to believe; he talks about it in an Arabic post. Lipstick Wahhabi thinks the poll was manipulated. “Oh what a tangled web we weave with the little $$$ [money] we use to deceive,” she exclaimed.

Another major issue the Saudi blogosphere is concerned with is the recent resignation of Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, and his subsequent prompt departure from Washington. Aya has gathered a bunch of speculations justifying Al-Faisal's actions in one of her posts. Also, an article was recently posted on Crossroads Arabia that tries to read between the lines of the resignation.

Now, to wrap up…

Bassem has posted some observations regarding the Diabetes Awareness Program that was held at “Madinat Al-Malek Fahad Al-Sahliyya” from Tuesday 12/12/2006 to Thursday 14/12/2006. Margrave describes Christmas in Saudi, and some funny details about shopping for Christmas decorations in a country where “public practicising of any religion other than Islam is illegal.” Abu Omar talks about an “ex-informant who became a Muslim” and “says his handlers wanted him to frame an Islamic scholar.” A blogging colloquium, recently, described Saudi Arabia's role in Iraq's current civil war. Clueless as to what to gift a special someone this Christmas? In the spirit of Christmas, Dotsson compares Apple's iPod to Microsoft's recently-released Zune as possible choices for an MP3 player as a Christmas gift. Lastly, Abdullah addresses (in Arabic) a social issue that is currently prominent in Saudi Arabia; the lack of hobbies amongst Saudi youth.

On the case of woman driving, Ahmed (a.k.a. Saudi Jeans) says that “when asked about issues such as women's driving and providing more entertainment outlets for youth, some decision makers here [in Saudi Arabia] say: this is not a priority for us in the present time,” and thinks “that some officials use prioritization as an excuse to ignore, avoid, or delay taking decisions.” A recent survey has shown that 50% of females do own cars, but they can't drive them.

In recent news, a rape case in Qatif, Saudi Arabia, has triggered a debate about Saudi Arabia's legal system. In a post that talks about the sentencing in the case, OT said that he “cannot see how this could be religiously correct!” In another post, Aya thinks that “punishing the victim is a specialty of Saudi courts” and went as far as calling the Saudi legal system “a rapists' best friend.” Riyadhawi has also addressed the matter in an Arabic entry.

Moving to another topic, a group of women doctors, attending a medical conference in Riyadh were asked to leave the lecture hall since a male speaker — Dr. Yousef Al-Ahmed, PhD on the teaching staff at King Saud University — refused to address a group consisting of both men and women. Eventually, they did leave. Ahmed disagrees, in a post, with those who say that “the female attendees are to blame for leaving to the request of the organizers, who are the only to be blamed for this ridiculous incident.” Aya said that the case reminded her “of the struggle for civil rights in America.”

Rasheed revisits another Saudi Arabian human rights case, this time in American news; Homaidan Al-Turki, who was sentenced to 27 years in jail in Colorado on Aug. 31 for sexually abusing and enslaving his Indonesian maid:

A top Saudi official told me that he believed Al-Turki was guilty of abusing his maid, and that the Saudi government was only helping him because he was a Saudi citizen and not because they necessarily sympathized with him.

And for sure, Al-Turki is not a nice person. According to his indictment, he enslaved his Indonesian maid for four years in his Boulder, Colorado home; kept her locked in the basement; sexually abused her; took her passport away and failed to pay her regularly for all of that time. He and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, settled a lawsuit by the US Department of Labor by paying their former maid $64,000 in back wages.

Now moving to education, Crossroads Arabia has published an article about Saudi universities' disturbingly low positions on a Global Ranking of World Universities:

There's no question that Saudi Arabia, for many reasons, is simply not up to global speed on the use of the Internet. That includes the merging of Internet technologies with higher education, of course.

Dodi said she “had higher expectations.”

In an interesting post, Aya talks about a very recent incident in which a group of bearded men stormed the stage of a play at Al-Yamamah College in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The post was updated recently with videos. If you were ever interested in viewing Saudi Arabia through the eyes of a foreigner, I recommend reading the blog “An Englishman in Saudi Arabia;” Margrave is a married Englishman who has recently moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I also recommend reading “S as in Saudi,” which is a blog published by a Swedish woman who recently moved to Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Finally, to wrap up, Rimyoleta documented her encounter with a real Saudi prostitute, Ahmed posted about Ruby Tuesday's grand opening in Jeddah, Mohammed wonders (in Arabic) why his bank is not “paying him to wait in line,” DemonEyes compares Saudi graffiti to its counters worldwide, Nzingha is concerned about the amount of TV her kids watch, and both Aya and Rasheed have posted about the recent Human Rights Watch visit to Saudi Arabia.