"Chop-chop Square"

I found the following article in a recent edition of the Saudi Gazette:-

2 TRAFFICKERS EXECUTED

RIYADH (Rtr)
TWO foreign nationals were executed Sunday for
smuggling drugs, taking to 14 the number of reported executions in 2006.

The Saudi news agency said Adam bin Mohamed Ali Hassan from Nigeria and
Mahmoud Haji Shadi from Afghanistan were executed in the western city of Jeddah
on the Red Sea coast.
The Ministry of Interior said the two men were caught
in separate incidents smuggling cocaine and heroin.

Saudi Arabia implements strict Islamic law and usually carries out
executions by public beheading with a sword. The country executed 86 people in
2005 and 36 in 2004.
The Kingdom executes convicted murderers, rapists and
drug traffickers.

The article, although short, contains most of what I know about public executions in Saudi. The last sentence is not completely true: you can also be executed for witchcraft, apostasy from Islam and sodomy.

The executions usually take place in a large square (known as "Chop-chop Square") in the middle of one of Saudi's larger cities (Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam etc.). Just before an execution, the police will stop traffic in adjoining streets and direct all passers-by to the execution square.

I was once passing through the center of one of these cities when I came accross large crowds of people all moving in the same direction. I kept on going, but with hindsight, I realise that I just missed witnessing one of these executions.

They appear to be popular spectacles. In fact, the spectators are so convinced of the edifying nature of the spectacle that they will push westerners in the crowd to the front so that they can get a better view! Understandably, western women forced to watch one of these execution are usually quite upset by the experience.

I have heard that the executioner is, usuall, a non-Saudi to prevent blood feuds between him and the victims' families. I've also heard that after performing an execution, the executioner is so hyped up that he has to be restrained until he has calmed down. I suspect, however, that the last story is just that - a story.

Jeddah Suffers

I recently wrote about water shortages in Jeddah and how scuffles broke out between people queing to buy tanker-loads of water. Jeddah is now suffering from another problem - flooding!

After two years without any rain, heavy overnight rain last Sunday caused extensive flooding in Jeddah.

The photographs are from "The Saudi Gazzette". (I hope they don't sue me for copyright enfringement.) An article in the same newspaper commenting on the floods was entitled "Water, Water Everywhere ...". The flood water had mixed with raw sewage to become a disgusting brown sludge. The last thing you would want to do is drink it.

This rainfall was to my experience, un-seasonally early. Usually, it only rains sometime between the end of November and February. Some years you only get a few showers, some years you get a lot of rain. During the winter before I came out here, it was cloudy and rainy almost continuously for about three months. Since then, winters have been drier, sometimes with only a few showers. A few years ago the late King Fahd asked everyone to pray for rain since it had been so dry.

There is usually an abrupt drop in temperature, usually in late November. It can go from a pleasant 80F (27C) to below 70F (21C) in a few days. Sometimes, this change in climate is accompanied by the first rain of winter. If this happens, the temperatures can drop more than 10F (5C) literally overnight.

Mind you, we have become somewaht accustomed to the warm weather. When it falls below 80F (27C) it seems quite chilly to those of us who have been here some time.

The rain usually starts with a few fat drops of warm rain; sometimes, that's it - the rains stops after only a brief shower. Other times, it becomes a torrential downpour often accompanied by thunder and lightning, as happened in Jeddah. Very rarely do we ever get anything in-between.

The attitude of the authorities to rain in Saudi Arabia seems very similar to that towards snow in the UK. Most winters you only get a little of it for only a few weeks so it's not worth spending money on it! Most roads are not build with any drainage, so as soon as you get a heavy downpour, it immediately floods, as we saw in Jeddah.

After having no rain for ten months the roads are covered in a thin layer of oil, rubber and other grime. This mixes with the rainwater to produce a filthy black liquid.

Even when the rain is falling, the water is not clean. The air in Saudi contains is full of a fine brown dust powder. More when it's been windy, less when the air is still bit it's always there. Even in an aroplane, you only get above the dust at about 30,000 ft. If we have only had a light shower in the night, I can tell by the brown spots on my car in the morning. If it was a lot of rain my car would be covered in this brown muck!

The other problem with the rain is the traffic, or rather the drivers. In the same way that UK drivers are unused to driving in snow, Saudi drivers are unused to rain. Some drivers are very fearful of any water on the road and drive at 10-20 m.p.h. even on the highways, while others seem to think that it's not neccessary to slow down at all. The result, as you can imagine is even more accidents than usual.

A mischievious friend of mine, who is no longer in Saudi Arabia, used to go "thobe splashing" in his car every time it rained. A thobe is the long white cotten dress-like garment worn by most gulf arabs. It may well be more comfortable in the summer heat, but it is not very practical in the wet!

"The Pork Smugglers of Old Al Khobar Town"

Let me first explain that there is no old part of Al Khobar, or of Dammam for that matter. They were both founded in the early part of the twentieth century by some pearl fishermen who had fled from Bahrain. They apparently had some dispute with the British authorities who administered Bahrain at that time but I have no idea what was the nature of this dispute.

If you wish to see a traditional arabian old town and souk (market) then you have to go to Hofuf which is a two hour drive to the south-west from Khobar. A popular outing for ex-pats is to visit the Friday morning camel market at Hofuf. Since it starts at about 6 a.m. and only lasts an hour or two you have to get up very early to see it. As I am not a morning person , I've never been.

While many people are aware of the ban on alcohol in Saudi Arabia, not so many realise that pork is also forbidden. Some of the batchelor compounds provide breakfast and an evening meal. New arrivals would turn up for breakfast and see "Full English Breakfast" on the menu. However, if they order it they are sadly disappointed: the bacon is beef bacon, and the sausage is also beef.

For Muslims, I understand that pork is worse than alcohol. Pigs (and dogs) are unclean animals, whereas alcohol is not unclean, only forbidden. I heard a story about an ex-pat family who were frying bacon in the Riyadh appartment where they lived. The neighbours smelled the frying bacon and called the police. Not only was the husband arrested by the police but the landlord threw the family and their possessions out of the flat. (The man's employer found alternative accommodation for the family but I don't know what happened to him.)

Pork products are available in Bahrain supermarkets; the pork department is usually separate and hidden from the main part of the store. Since Bahrain is so easily accessible by Al Khobar residents via the causeway, many ex-pats will travel there over the weekend so that they can get a real alcoholic drink. On their way home they often stop off at the supermarket and pick up some bacon or pork sausages to take back with them. This is so common that, on request, the butcher will wrap the meat "for Saudi".

The customs officers on the causeway are less concerned about pork than alcohol. If they see that you have been to the supermarket they may ask if you have any "meat" - meaning pork - but if they find any, the worst that happens is that they confiscate it. If they find alcohol, on the other hand, you will be arrested and probably deported!

Several years ago a young colleague of mine went over to Bahrain for the weekend and arranged, with his friends, to have a beach barbecue. As well as the food for the barbecue, he also took along some tins of beer bought from a Bahrain off-license, called a "bottle shop". (I've seen one of these bottle shops - I thought it looked like a bomb shelter: no windows, thick walls and metal bars on the doors.)

Anyway, back to the story: unfortunately my colleague inadvertently left a tin of beer in the door compartment of his car. When he returned to Saudi, this tin of been was found by one of the customs officers on the causeway. This caused my colleague a lot of trouble and he had to do some fast talking. He pointed out to the customs officers that if he was going to intentionally smuggle alcohol into Saudi Arabia, he would have a lot more than just a single tin of beer! Eventually they believed his story and released him.

If the customs officers find a suspicious looking package in your car and suspect that it's pork, they won't unwrap it themselves. If it is pork then they don't even want to touch it; instead they have some non-Muslim (probably Indian) assistants to open it for them. Now these are not "assistant customs officers"; they are unskilled workers who also sweep the floor and empty the bins. After they've unwrapped your bacon, I'm not sure you would still want to eat it.

Often, however, if the customs officers only find a small amount of pork and its clearly for personal use, they may well turn a blind eye and let you through with it. On the other hand, I've heard several ex-pats complaining that they had their ham or bacon confiscated on the causeway. I've also heard about a cafe on an ex-pat compound that had a consignment of ham and bacon, worth several thousand riyals, confiscated.

For my first few years here, I hardly noticed the lack of pork. Now however, I've become like all the other ex-pats whose primary requirement for a holiday destination is that you can have a beer to drink and a bacon buttie to eat!

The Traffic

Warning: this posting contains some graphic detail of a traffic accident.

I was on my way to work the other morning when I got stuck behind a queue of traffic at a set of traffic lights. I could just see the front of the queue and, when the lights changed, I could see that only two or three cars went through the junction before the lights changed back again.

When I got to the front of the queue everything was explained. Two cars had had a minor accident and the drivers were sitting in their cars, blocking the traffic, waiting for the traffic police to arrive.

The traffic police insist on seeing the vehicles in exactly the position they were immediately after the accident. The most likely place for an accident is a busy junction so when an accident occurs the drivers have to leave their cars, typically in the middle of a junction, blocking all the traffic, until the traffic police arrive. The whole point of this rigmarole is so that the traffic police can assign blame for the accident and, thus, responsibility for who pays for the repairs.

Having been involved in a couple of minor accidents, I know what happens after the traffic police arrive. All those involved have their ids taken by the police and they have to follow the police car (if their vehicle is still drivable) down to the police station.

The Byzantine bureaucracy will then consume most of the rest of the day. Eventually, you will get the forms you need to get your car repaired. If you do not have this paperwork, many workshops will refuse to repair your car. Some back-street workshops, may agree to fix your car, but at a higher price.

The police make suprise visits to the garages and workshops and if they find that they are repairing a vehicle without the proper paperwork, they will get a heavy fine!

I’ve heard of someone who had a minor accident when they were on the way to an important appointment. Rather than call the traffic police, they left the scene of the accident and continued on their way. The following day, the people involved re-positioned their cars exactly as they had been after the accident and then called the police!

Shortly after I first came here, a British ex-pat advised me that if I saw a serious accident, I should continue driving and not stop. The reason for this, he explained, was that, in such a situation, the police would take everyone involved, including any witnesses, down to the police station and sort out who was to blame there.

If you were a westerner, you were, at that time, likely to be the only one who had car insurance. The police would quite probably blame you for the accident so that the family of someone killed in the accident could claim against your insurance.

Actually, it is not necessary for you to be responsible for the accident; if you are involved in a car accident in which someone is killed, even if it’s not your fault, you may still be liable to pay “blood money” to the family of the deceased. The following table shows the amount of blood money in different cases:-

• 100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man
• 50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman
• 50,000 riyals if a Christian man
• 25,000 riyals if a Christian woman
• 6,666 riyals if a Hindu man
• 3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman.

(Can you imagine anything so discriminatory in the west!) Anyway the rule is, if you’re going to run someone down, try and make it a Hindu woman rather than a Muslim man!

Since then, the law has changed. All drivers are now required to have third party insurance; this is available from a number of insurance companies at a fixed annual price of about 100 riyals per person. When this law was first proposed, all the Muttawa (the religious police – a definite topic for a later posting) invaded the Ministry of Transport, complaining against it on the grounds that insurance was a type of gambling!

The real reason for their complaint, it is suspected, is that they all have very large families and this per driver insurance was going to cost them a lot of money.

Well, now that I’m on the subject of traffic, I should warn any potential visitor to The Magic Kingdom (as some ex-pats refer to Saudi Arabia) that the greatest threat to life and limb of anyone staying or living here is not terrorism, but the traffic. The carnage that occurs on the Saudi roads and highways, on a daily basis, is beyond belief.

Almost every extended Saudi family has lost at least one member in car accident. One of my young Saudi colleagues told about one time when he heard that some of his friends has crashed their car. He went along to make fun of them, but the smile was wiped off his face when he found out that one of them had been killed in the accident.

(BTW Saudi humour is very “robust”; another Saudi colleague told me that if a Saudi plays a practical joke on you, you will probably end up in hospital!)

Some of the teenage girls who lived on a compound where I used to live, helped out at a local orphanage in their spare time. Almost all the children there had been orphaned by traffic accidents. (BTW, there were over 90 girls in this orphanage and only one boy. Families are apparently much more willing to look after orphaned boy relatives than girls.)

Part of the problem is the small minority (mainly Saudis) who drive like complete lunatics. You often see them weaving in and out of the traffic at high speed.

On the other hand, you have a number of drivers, usually from the Indian subcontinent who drive very slowly so as to reduce their fuel consumption (after all, every 10 riyals saved is over 100 rupees back home).

I once came upon the scene of an accident shortly after it had occurred; a speeding car driven by a Saudi had hit the back of a car containing five Indians, and had completely sheared off the rear of the car, including the boot and rear axle!

Most of the Saudi highways have no pedestrian crossings. That means that anyone who does not have a car (i.e. unskilled Asian workers) who have to cross a busy highway, take their lives in their hands.

Certain stretches of busy highways are particular blackspots for pedestrians being mown down by fast moving cars. A colleague of mine once came across such an accident; he told me that he had run over a severed arm! This is, I guess, the result of a car traveling at 120 kph hitting a human body.

A favorite vehicle here, especially for those with large families, is the Suburban. When my wife first saw one of them, she described it as a hearse with seats. Actually, it’s even bigger than a hearse. They come in two engine sizes: the standard 6.7 litre and the economy 5 litre!

For some reason, when you see an aged suburban on the road, it is invariably driven by a bearded Saudi with a small child on his lap. (Seat belts have only recently been made compulsory for drivers and front seat passengers - you should have seen the fuss when this law was introduced!).

Not only suburban drivers but many others drive with small children on their laps; some western ex-pats, with typical black humour, call them “Saudi airbags”.

abuTrevor

Hypocracy!

There are some things that you come across in Saudi Arabia that strike the average westerner as being more than a bit hypocritical.

Here is an excerpt from an article in yesterday's Arab News:-

Misyar Brokers

I really do not know how an owner of a real estate office in Makkah manages to work as an estate agent and simultaneously arrange misyar marriages. Apparently, this man magically transformed his agency into a misyar marriage-fixing center.

In fact he has even prepared an application form that takes details of the groom and the bride. Prospective misyar partners can pay SR100 and fill the form. When two individuals are found to be compatible and who decide to see each other then the groom is asked to pay a SR500 fee. In case both the bride and the groom agree to marry each other, then the amount of money paid to the agent goes up to SR5,000.

. . . . . . . . .
It would have been more appropriate and convenient if our community worked on establishing charitable institutions to perform such tasks free of charge and faraway from greedy real estate agents.

Having an institution organizing and arranging marriages is much more reliable and suitable for young women and it saves the suitors the amount of money wasted in getting the services of real estate agents.

I think people should work toward freeing the concept of marriage from the shackles of unscrupulous real estate agents. There is a huge difference between land and humans and the contracts of marriage and real estate.

The article is not talking about marriage brokers but misyar marriage brokers. Misyar marriage can be described as a marriage for SEX. I found that the Wikipedia article describes misyar marriage much better than I can:-

Nikah Misyar or "travellers' marriage" can be described as a legal framework of marriage in which a Muslim couple is united by the bonds of marriage, based on the usual Islamic marriage contract, but without the husband having to take the usual financial commitments with respect to his wife.
. . . . . . .
The wife continues to carry out a separate life from that of her husband, living in her home and providing for her needs by her own means. But her husband has the right to go to her home (or to the residence of her parents, where she is often supposed to reside), at any hour of the day or the night, whenever he wants to. The couple can then appease in a licit way their "legitimate sexual needs" (to which the wife cannot refuse herself).
. . . . . . .

The practice of Misyar marriage is often different from the original intent for creating this institution. Wealthy Kuwaiti and Saudi men sometimes enter into a Misyar marriage while on vacation. This allows them to have sexual relations with another woman without committing the sin of zina [fornication].

They travel to poor countries, such as Egypt or Syria, and meet middlemen who arrange a marriage for them. Some men arrange Misyar marriages online. The middleman brings some girls and they pick the one that they like most. These men pay the girl's family some money.

. . . . .

A reporter in Jehhh has reported that some marriage officials say seven of 10 marriage contracts they conduct are misyar, and in some cases are asked to recommend prospective misyar partners. Most of the women opting for misyar either are divorced, widowed or beyond the customary marriage age. The majority of men who take part in such marital arrangements are already married.

. . . . . .

Based on the experience of the "misyar marriage agencies", the man who resorts to the "misyar" marriage is usually married to a first wife with whom he shares a residence, and to the financial needs of whom he provides.

. . . . . . .

Since he usually refrains from telling his first wife of his second marriage, the relationship within the couple is distorted, resulting at times in major complications which can even end in divorce, when the first wife finds out about the situation.

As to the second wife, her status is devalued, because she does not have any right on her husband, be it over the time he gives her, his presence at her home, or his financial contribution to help her cover her own needs. Moreover, this type of marriage ends up sooner or later in divorce, (in 80% of the cases, according to some), when the wife is no longer to the liking of the husband.

It sounds remarkably like legalized adultery to me, yet many in the ME think we are immoral and decadent!

There are other examples of behaviour that strikes us as being hypocritical. During the holiay season you will find the Saudi-Bahrain causeway choked with cars full of Saudi men.

They come from Riyadh and other parts of Saudi and leave their wives and children in one of the holiday resorts that are mushrooming in Khobar. The men then go over the causeway to Bahrain to drink and visit the Russian prostitutes there!

To be fair, there are many scholars who criticize misyar marriages, and the Saudis who visit Bahrain to drink and whore are not the same as the ones who say that western civilization is immoral. However, many ex-pats like myself still feel that there's an awful lot of hypocracy flying around.

abuTrevor

Alcohol in Saudi Arabia

I first came to Saudi Arabia on a 3-day "look see" visit before accepting the job offer from my current employer. On the very first day here two British soon-to-be colleagues took me to a pub at lunchtime for a pint of beer. True, the beer was home made and the "pub" was an illegal bar, but the beer was real nonetheless.

It is well-know that alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia. What is less well know is how much alcohol is produced and consumed in this country. It is a veritable cottage industry.

There are those who come to Saudi with the attitude that alcohol is against the law here and while they are, in effect, guests in this country, they will respect the local laws and customs. Others feel differently - for them there are many opportunities to obtain and drink various types of alcoholic drink.

One of the first things you come across when you came to live in Saudi Arabia is "sid". This is short for "siddiqi" which is arabic for "my friend". "Sid" is a locally distilled spirit. A one gallon jar of "un-cut" sid can be bought for about 300-400 riyals (GBP 50-60). Since this "un-cut" sid needs to be diluted one part of sid to one or two parts of water, one gallon of un-cut sid will go a long way. Sid is usually drunk with a mixer such as coca-cola or tonic. Personally, I don't like it - I think it smells like paintbrush cleaner!

Un-cut sid is extremely powerful and dangerous. I heard a story about a woman who came out to Saudi to join her husband. Shortly after she arrived, some friends came to visit while her husband was out. Being polite she offered them a drink and they asked for a sid and coke. Unfortunately, the sid she severed them was un-cut: it took the guests three days to recover from alcohol poisoning. The woman's husband was extremely angry with her, although it seems to me that it was not her fault.

Many people brew their own wine. It is easy to do - all you need is grape juice, sugar and yeast. Mind you the results are very variable. If you are invited round to someone’s house for a drink and you ask for wine, you are playing Russian Roulette. You may be served something acceptable or it may be absolutely disgusting - and you have to drink it out of politeness.

Very few people brew beer; it's a little bit more complicated than wine. However, most of the bars serve beer; it's obviously home-made and, for me, it's an acquired taste. One of the wives on a compound where I used to live brewed some excellent beer. Unfortunately, she returned to the UK before I could get the recipe from her.

Bottles of real spirits can also be bought on the black market. Last time I enquired, the price was 450 riyals (GBP 70) a bottle. A bit too expensive for me and, anyway, I'm not too fond of spirits.

An friend of mine told me that he once met a sales representative for a well-known brand of whiskey out here. My friend asked what he was doing here since there wasn't much of a market for his product out here. "On the contrary" replied the rep, "this is one of our biggest markets"!

You way be wondering how the spirits are smuggled into Saudi. One way is by passing ships dropping a consignment overboard and a Saudi fishing boat coming along and picking it up later.

Smugglers are, of course, noted for their ingenuity. A few years ago there was some "excitement" in the city of Al Khobar, over on the Gulf coast and a British ex-pat had to leave the country in a hurry. Apparently, whiskey was being smuggled over the Saudi-Bahrain causeway on a Coca-Cola truck. Unfortunately, one day the driver gave the bribe to the wrong customs officer!

Another story I’ve heard is about a Saudi prince who landed in his private jet, with his entourage, at an airport in one of the other Gulf countries. Normally, the planes belonging to members of other royal families are not searched out of courtesy. However, for some reason this plane was searched and guess what they found - crates and crates of whiskey and other spirits!

Because there is little entertainment available in Saudi some people do end up drinking more than is good for them. One last story, which may be another myth. A UK company had an employee who had a serious drinking problem. Since Saudi Arabia is nominally “dry” they thought they could help him by sending him to work in their Saudi office. Unfortunately, he ended up being returned to the UK suffering from cirrhosis of the liver!

abuTrevor

Women Made to Sit With Water Tanker Drivers

The following article appeared in Arab News on 1st October 2006:-

Women Made to Sit With Water Tanker Drivers
Somayya Jabarti, Arab News

JEDDAH, 1 October 2006 — In their efforts to end the water crisis, authorities at the Aziziya Water Distribution Center yesterday triggered another problem.

Women — young and old, shrouded in black, most with their faces totally covered — climbed up to seat themselves into the cabs of water tanker trucks alongside the drivers.

“It is either that or the driver will run off with your water,” said a security officer to a twenty-something Saudi woman, who called herself Muna, when she drew back from joining a water tanker driver in the passenger seat. She said her brothers were angry enough because they had already bent the rules in allowing her to come to the Water Distribution Center in a taxicab. With her father dead, Muna’s brothers, some studying and others employed, had full legal guardianship over her, but none had the time to either fetch water or even give her a ride to Aziziya.

Citizens waiting at the center remarked that this practice was improper. “How can they ask them (the women) to ride in the cab without a mehram (legal guardian). This is a clear violation.”

“Ride in the water truck beside the driver alone and all the way home? Ya rabi — oh my God — what do I do?! I thought things here would be different today,” she cried raising her black-gloved hand to her black-covered head.

Things at the Water Distribution Center were different.

Last week, countless citizens complained of foul play from employees working at the center. Foul play included: toying with the water prices, opening the water units for some while closing them for others, and favoritism when it came to water coupon and tanker distribution.

A black market in water had also sprung up amid the crisis, with water tanker drivers ditching the people who hand them their coupons (purchased at the nearby window) and running off with a truckload of water to sell at three to four times the price at the distribution center.

“The center employees encouraged us to sell the water on the black market,” said an Asian water tanker driver to a customer who had threatened to file a complaint against him for selling the water on the black market. He said the employees were in on the commission, so to whom should the customer complain?

Consequently the city’s Water Administration changed the entire team of employees at the center since earlier this week.

Indeed, the employees of last week were nowhere to be seen yesterday. Instead a policeman was systematically passing the water coupons to the women and men — in their separate sections — through their coupon windows.

The lines were in motion and there was no human congestion at the windows.

Additionally, the lot where the water trucks were parked was sealed off to the public in order to avoid the chaos and confusion that allowed truck drivers to sneak off with the tankers in order to set up side deals.

. . . . . . . .

In the parking lot, men in uniforms made an effort to facilitate the exchange of the coupons with the water truck drivers as orderly as possible.

Yet under the afternoon sun and heat, their impatience reaching boiling point with their fasting, customers soon began to trample on the organizational efforts. They continuously tried to grab water tankers as they drove toward the customers waiting for it at the beginning of the line.

Soon customers — beginning, mid and end of the lines — were breaking out and fighting with one another.

A security official, his face drenched in sweat that dripped off his face in streamlets, struggled simultaneously with three Saudi men.

A mid-30s Saudi man had broken from the line, hijacked one of the passing water tankers — a 19-ton tanker — and jumped up into the passenger seat in the cab. A second man, also mid-30s, was pulling him down off the seat shouting, “It’s not your turn — get down!”

This is while an elderly late 50s Saudi man stood obstructively in the way of the 19-ton water tanker shouting at driver, passenger and security official “Khafu Allah!” — have the fear of God in all of you! I am an old man!”

Men, waiting for their turns, shouted out their discontent when organizers gave women priority in both l9- and 11-ton lines.

“Aren’t we human too!” shouted a late 30s man as a woman, almost tripping on her abaya, made her way up with her three-year-old son, onto the passenger seat in the cab of the water tanker.

The man’s shout set off a dozen cries of “yalla!” — come on — or “mah yiseer” — this can’t be — bellowing from the men’s side of the lines.

“It’s true, this can’t be”, repeated Umm Fatmah, a Saudi late 50s woman, as her teenage daughter drove off in one of the water tankers sitting beside the driver alone. “There are no more men — how can there be when I’m here at my age and my daughter is sitting beside a stranger alone?”

Umm Fatmah turned toward Muna and said, “Put Allah in your heart and get into the water tanker truck. Don’t let your mother worry.”

Yesterday, the Saudi Water and Electricity Minister announced a whole raft of measures to deal both with the short term water shortages in Jeddah and with the long term water needs of the country. Hopefully, the issue is now closed, there are no more water shortages in Jeddah and the House of Saud will not fall, at least not for a while.

However, the attitude displayed by the brothers of the woman Muna beggers belief. They were unwilling to take her to the Water Distribution Center, yet they were angry with her because they had bent rules and let her go in a taxi!

This is a twenty-something adult women, yet she must have an adult male relative who is her guardian! This view of women is not far from one which leads to things like honour killings!

I really sympathise with the poor people who were struggling to get water. They hadn't eaten or drunk since dawn and temperatures in Riyadh are still arround 40C. Combined with the frustration they must have felt, it is little wonder that some resorted to violence.

However, when I first read the article, I'm afraid that the description of the chaotice scene caused me to laugh out loud. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help it!

A word about Arab News: this is not the first article of this nature that I've read in Arab News. They write the articles in such a manner that they cause no comment by the censor, yet manage to describe some aspect of Saudi life in a way that will evoke criticism when read by a westerner. Very clever.

abuTrevor

Water Riots in Jeddah!

Since there are no rivers that run all year in Saudi Arabia, the government has built 30 or more de-salination plants on the shores of the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf [I've always known it as the Persian Gulf, but they prefer you to call it the Arabian Gulf. It's a bit like the French not liking us calling the English Channel by that name.]

There are some artesian wells, but they are not sufficient to provide water for Saudi's growing population. [Growing? - exploding is more like it. They've gone from some 8 million people in the early '80s to an estimated 21 million in 2005. There are also an estimated 5.6 million ex-pats living in Saudi Arabia.]

The Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf are, like the Mediteranean, land-locked bodies of water that are only connected to the oceans by a very narrow channel. They are therefore, naturally much saltier than the open oceans. The effect of huge de-salination plants pumping thousand of gallons of brine every hour into these seas is to excacerbate their natural salinity. Conservationists are concerned that, sooner or later, these seas will become too salty for marine wildlife and an ecological disaster will ensue.

The mains water supply that comes from these de-salination plants is quite brackish. It is suitable for bathing and other household uses, but not for drinking and cooking. In one compound where I lived, most of the taps in the house supplied water from the mains, but the kitchen had an extra tap that provided "sweet water". Sweet water is water that contains hardly any salt and is suitable for drinkling and cooking.

Sweet water is delivered to compounds and appartment blocks by small tanker lorries. The sweet water is obtained either by further de-salination of the mains water or from artesian wells.

Recently however, the supply of water has not met demand. The following article from Arab News does not distinguich carefully between ordiary mains water and sweet water.

Water Crisis Causes Fistfights, Frustration

JEDDAH, 26 September 2006 -- With Ramadan under way, an angry mob -- already frustrated by long queues and fasting -- gathered yesterday at the main water distribution center, located in Jeddah's Aziziya District.

Tensions erupted into fisticuffs last night among some people waiting in queue to get their water tankers after the officials announced that they would stop issuing coupons needed to get water trucks for the day.

"Come back tomorrow," the official told the crowd. The disappointed and angry crowd dispersed to the parking lot where cars were parked in haphazard fashion. Police finally arrived to help direct the traffic.

Water distribution has been in the news in recent weeks because distributors have been discriminating against non-Saudis, who have been told that they must return later in the day after Saudis have been served. Furthermore, Ramadan is a peak season for domestic water consumption as families spend more time at home. A rise in demand for water leads to water cuts in many parts of the city, leaving residents scrambling to obtain a water truck from somewhere in order to fill the tanks in their buildings.

Salman Al-Qahtani said he was standing in the queue since after the Asr prayers.

"There are 400 people in front of me," said Salman Al-Qahtani as he was entering his second hour waiting in line to get a coupon for a water truck.

One angry woman was seen nearby banging with a rock on the locked door of the water distribution office trying to get the attention of somebody with authority.

After several tries, Arab News was able to speak to a person at the media relations department of the water authority, who provided the number of a high ranking official. Several tries to contact this official were unsuccessful as there was no answer.

Police officers say that more than four fistfights were reported yesterday as residents argued about who was first in line.

"I saw three fights before Duhur (noontime) prayers and saw a fourth going on a few minutes ago," said Muslih Al-Fani, resident of the Al-Samr District, east of Makkah highway. "There is no excuse for this confusion."

"We are calling on King Abdullah to fix this major problem," said Mohammed Al-Ulayan, a resident of Al-Basateen District. "This is the second time that I have come this Ramadan. The first time I waited 10 hours."

Al-Ulayan said that the second time round he decided to arrive early and so showed up at the center at 11 a.m. It took him five hours to get a water truck. Local reports say that more than 15 districts in Jeddah have been without water for over a month, sending many of these residents to the black market were -- for a premium fee -- they could have water delivered to their cisterns.

Near the Aziziya distribution center several full tanker trucks were parked: the black market for sweet water isn't far away. A vendor there who didn't want to be named told Arab News the price for a truck delivery was SR500 ($133). The rate at the nearby distribution center is SR115 ($30). This markup is encouraging some truck drivers to simply fill their trucks under the pretense of making a delivery and parking nearby to scalp the water to those willing to pay the price.

Abdul Aziz Ali, a student at the Al-Thagher High School, said most of his classmates are experiencing water shortages at home.

"Today our teacher asked the students suffering from lack of water at their homes to raise their hands. Only two students out of 30 didn't raise their hands," he said.

This could be the beginning of the end for the house of Saud. If the supply of drinking water does not keep up with the rapid growth in population, then I can forsee more and worse rioting This could eventually result in the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy.

Of course, if the house of Saud falls, then it will in all probability be replaced by a theocracy comparable to the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The idea of a Taliban-like regime with their hands on the revenues from Saudi Arabia's vast oil reserves hardly bears thinking about!

abuTrevor

Ramadan in Saudi Arabia

Since Ramadan started a few days ago, I thought it would be appropriate to say a few words about what it’s like to be in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan. It has, however, turned into quite a long post. It is difficult to convey in only a few words or sentences what this country is like during Ramadan. A westerner who comes to work to Saudi Arabia may, after a few months, think that he is beginning to understand the country. Then comes Ramadan and everything he thinks he knows no longer applies..

The most obvious thing that changes is the opening times of shops and restaurants. Normally, shops open at 8 or 9 p.m. and stay open its time for the noon prayer. They re-open at 4 p.m. and stay open until 10 p.m., apart from two 30 minute breaks for prayer.

The weekend here is Thursday and Friday. I well remember going to the downtown shops one Thursday afternoon, shortly after I'd arrived, and finding them all closed! This is like the shops back home being closed on Saturday afternoon!

Well, you get used to this and then comes Ramadan. During your first Ramadan, you may drive to the shops in time for them to open at 4 p.m., only to find that they have just closed! In Ramadan, shops will open at about 10 a.m. and close at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. They will re-open at 8 p.m. and stay open until midnight or even later. Restaurants may stay open all night!

Just to keep you on your toes, the last prayer is now two hours after sunset instead of 90 minutes after sunset. Did I mention that all shops are required by law to close at prayer time? This would be tolerable if the prayer times were fixed, but they are not. Since the prayer times are related to the Sun, they move about with the seasons. The last two prayer times, for instance, are at sunset and 90 minutes after sunset. At certain times of the year these prayer times can change by several minutes a day, so it’s easy to loose track. The annoyance of driving to a shop or supermarket and finding that it has just closed for prayer is something that you just have to get used to.

It is easier to understand what's going on in Ramadan if you know what the locals are doing. They are abstaining from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk, as are all the non-Saudi Muslims. In fact, it is against the law here for anyone to eat, drink or smoke in a public place - that includes offices – during the hours of daylight. You can be arrested and will probably be deported if you are caught breaking this law.

It used to be that companies had a special "Ramadan room" where non-muslims could eat and drink out of sight of the fasting Muslims. With increased Saudization this practice seems to have disappeared. Fortunately,I live near enough to where I work to be able to go home for lunch.

Another feature of Ramadan I want to mention is due to the Hijra calendar. The Hijra year is about 11 days shorter that the solar year. Ramadan, and all other Islamic festivals, thus occurs approximately 11 days earlier every year. Over the past few years Ramadan has fallen during either the winter or late autumn. However, this year it has started during September when temperatures still reach over 40C. In the next few years Ramadan will move progressively into the hotter months of summer.

Many manual workers who work outdoors in Saudi are recruited from the Indian subcontinent. The hardships for anyone working outside during these months and who is forbidden to eat or drink, hardly needs to be stated.

Having fasted all day, the Saudis and the other Muslims may have a small snack at sunset just before performing their prayers. They then have a special meal called "Iftar" (literally "breakfast"). This is often a huge banquet shared with friends and family. Most companies will arrange an Iftar for employees and clients at least once during Ramadan - a bit like UK companies organizing a Christmas dinner for their employees. Now you see why last prayer is delayed by 30 minutes during Ramadan - it's to allow more time for the Iftar meal.

Another thing you become aware of during Ramadan is how dangerous it is to be on the roads just before sunset. Anyone who isn't already home is hurrying to get there in time for Iftar. You can imagine that many drivers, having fasted all day, are beginning to feel a bit light headed. Coupled with the urgency to get home and a growing disregard for traffic signals as sunset approaches, this makes the roads extremely dangerous.

It is understandable, given the heat of the day, that many Saudi tend to shop and socialize during the evening hours. This tendency is enhanced during Ramadan when wives and children will sleep as much as possible during the day. They then stay up most of the night, shopping, eating and socializing with friends and family. This, however, is tough on those who have to go to work or school the next day. Offices, shops and other workplaces will start work later (9 or 10 a.m. instead of 7 or 8 a.m.) and will close earlier. Nevertheless, it is noticeable that the efficiency of any Saudi worker gradually decreases during Ramadan until, by the end, he's almost a zombie.

How much this affects the Saudi economy can hardly be guessed at. And how much a Saudi child learns at school during Ramadan is also very questionable.

Finally, I want to mention that Islam has many exemptions to the rules of fasting, e.g. children, nursing mothers and the sick. They are, however, applied far more liberally in other Muslim countries, or so I am told. Also, much more consideration is given to non-Muslims in countries such as Egypt. where you will find some restaurants open during the day so that non-Muslims can eat.

abuTrevor

A Cure for Diabetes and a Forced Marriage?

Saudi Arabia has (to my knowledge) two english language newspapers: "Arab News" and "The Saudi Gazette".

The Arab News is nicknamed the "Green Truth" - "green" because the outer sheet is printed on green paper. The "truth" bit is sarcasm; it refers to the censorship imposed on the media by the Saudi government. Of late, however, I believe that I've noticed a slight relaxation in this censorship and a willingness by Arab News to print articles that are slightly critical of at least the Saudi way of life, if not the government.



Let's leave this sidetrack and move on to the main issue of this post. Two days ago, Arab News published the following short article on it's back page:-

Man Gets Bride by 'Curing' Diabetes

Arab News 24/9/06

JEDDAH - An elderly man in Renya was so ecstatic in his belief that another man had cured his diabetes with an herbal remedy that he offered the medicine man a gift: His daughter. Now the medicine man is off on a honeymoon, and for the time being isn't able to offer his patients a cure that all the science in the world has been unable to discover, but is allegedly locked a secret herbal recipe "discovered" by one man in Jeddah, the daily AI- Madinah reported yesterday. Great! So as soon as the man returns from his honeymoon, Ministry of Health officials should pay him a visit so that Saudi Arabia can give to the world a cure that has so far eluded the brainpower of the world's scientific community. (Either that, or the old man should go immediately to a hospital before he dies believing that his potentially fatal blood sugar condition has been cured.)

Despite the jocular tone taken by the reporter, there is a serious issue here - how did the daughter feel about being married off to this quack? How did she feel when her father came home and said "Wonderful news! This clever man has cured my diabetes amd I want you to marry him"? Did she think to herself "This man who has cured my father is so wonderful that I want to marry him" or was she perhaps forced by her father to marry him?

Back in April last year the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh issued a fatwa saying that forced marriages were un-islamic and that fathers who force daugthers into unwanted marriages should be imprisoned. A CBS report on this item said:-

The high number of forced marriages is believed to be the main reason behind the sharp increase in divorce. According to Saudi newspapers, about half of all marriages end in divorce.

Now anyone who has lived in the Middle East knows that appearance is much more important than the reality. Despite the fatwa issued last year, I strongly suspect that forced marriages are still a fact of life for many youbng women in Saudi Arabia, especially in small towns and villages away from the large cities.

abuTrevor

What's it like in Saudi Arabia?

Welcome to my Blog!

I'll use my first post to explain why I'm writing this blog. Occaisionally, when I'm back home in Blighty, I get asked "What's it like in Saudi Arabia?" At first I was left speechless by this question; it's very difficult to describe how stange some aspects of this country are to a westerner. Later I would reply with another question: "How many hours have you got?" This, I hoped, would give the (correct) impression that Saudi Arabia is very different to anything they are used to and it would take several hours to answer their question.

This blog is an attempt to take the answer to the question above a little further.

Many times in the years I've been here I've personally experienced events, or heard from friends about events, or read in the local press about events, that would help to give someone who doesn't know Saudi Arabia, some idea of how different this country is. From now on, as I come accress such events, I will be able to record them here.

Of course, I'm an opinionated so-and-so or I wouldn't be arrogant enough to think that people might want to read something that I've written. So, from time-to-time, I will take the opportunity to express my opinion on some World event that I feel strongly about.

I do hope you will continue to read my blog.

Regards,
abuTrevor