Blog Closed

I have been back in Blighty for over a year now so I don't think I can continue to post on Saudi Arabia on a regular basis. I should have posted this closing post a long time ago but I was busy, first with moving back to the UK, and then with some Open University studying in my spare time.

I may start another blog where I can rant about things that get me worked up. Thanks to anyone who read this blog.

AbuTrevor

Saudi Blogger Arrested

The Saudi Ministry of the Interior has detained a well known Saudi blogger, called Fouad al-Farhan. He was arrested on December 10th, but news about it was only released on January 1st.

This arrest has received considerable attention world-wide in both the MSM and the blogshpere. Online articles about this case can be found e.g. here, here, here, and here. Related Arab News articles can found here and here.

The reason Fouad's detention can be found in this article:-

Even so, Farhan told The Washington Post and others in early December that an Interior Ministry official had warned him that he would be detained because of his online support for a group of men arrested in February and held without charge or trial.

At the time of their arrest, the government accused the Jiddah-based group, made up of a former judge, academics and businessmen, of supporting terrorism. The men's attorney, Bassim Alim, had said they were arrested for their political activism and their plans to form a civil rights group.

This is not very hopeful for the supposed increase in official tolerance for dissent and criticism since King Abdullah's ascent to the throne.

Fouad's blog can be found here. Fouad blogged mainly in Arabic, however, it is now being maintained by friends of his who write in both English and Arabic. The blog Saudi Jeans (in English) has a lot on the campaign to free Fouad.

Having outlined the facts I now come to the point of this post which is, I have to admit, some concern for my personal safety. The following are my thoughts on this issue.

1) Now you know why I blog anonymously. Even so, if they were determined to do so, I'm sure the Saudi authorities could find out who I am.

2) While Fouad blogged in Arabic and was one of the most popular Saudi bloggers, I blog in English and few people read what I say. For this reason I doubt that the Saudi authorities will be concerned about me.

3) On the other hand I have made some criticisms which some Saudi authorities might not take too kindly to.

Family members, however, have heard about the case of Fouad and have begged me to stop blogging. While I do not intend to stop blogging completely, out of respect for their wishes, posting may be light for a while.

Christmas Trees

(Image for illustration only - this is not our Christmas tree.)

My friend over in the Eastern Province told me a story recently which implies that Saudi customs guards are still confiscating Christmas trees.

Apparently, this family which he knows went over the causeway to Bahrain for the day and while there they bought a Christmas tree. The particular tree was selected by the four-year old son of the family.

When they tried to return to Saudi, the customs officer refused to allow the tree into the kingdom and was about to confiscate it. This caused the little boy to burst into tears. The father went to the chief customs officer and pleaded with him to allow them to keep the tree on behalf of his still weeping little boy. Finally, the senior customs officer relented and allowed them to keep the tree.

We were aware that the customs guards on the Bahrain causeway used to confiscate Christmas trees because of some friends of ours who moved to our vicinity from Khobar. Several years ago they had tried three times to bring a Christmas tree over the causeway into Saudi and had the trees confiscated each time.

We bought our seven-foot Christmas tree "under the counter" from a shop in a local shopping mall many years ago. However, for our first Christmas here, I recall making a Christmas tree out of cardboard. We also made a cardboard star which was then covered in tin-foil. The same star is still proudly attached to the top of our Christmas tree over ten years later.

The (Wahabi-inspired) attitude of the Saudis contrasts strongly with that of the Bahrainis. My friend also tells me that the Christmas decorations in Bahrain airport are significantly better those at Heathrow!

Lightbulbs!

File under "What a Country!"

Light bulbs is the subject which is currently exercising my indignation.

Let me start the story from the beginning. Our compound has been bought by a new owner. The new, penny-pinching, management have decided to terminate the supply of replacement light bulbs to tenants.

Not a big problem, you might think, after all light bulbs are not very expensive and can be easily obtained at the nearest hardware store (yes, we do have hardware stores here).

Wrong!

All the lights in my house are 110V, screw fitting (similar to the one in the picture). This is the US standard and is used by most lights in the kingdom. Matching bulbs should be easily available - but they are not.

I went to the hardware store yesterday and bought some 110V bulbs only to find, when I got home, that they were bayonet fitting not screw fitting. When I took them back to exchange them I found that the shop did not have a single bulb of the type I need.

You can get a 110V bayonet fitting bulb, or a 220V screw fitting bulb, but you cannot get a 100V screw fitting bulb! Why?

Well, I went and asked the Saudi behind the Customer Services desk about it (hah! - they don't know the meaning of "Customer Services") . He was very polite but at first claimed ignorance.

When I pressed him for an explanation he told me that when they do put light bulbs of the type I wanted on the shelves, they all go the same day. According to him, people buy these bulbs for 1.50 riyals in the shop and then sell them for 2.00 riyals in the market!

He then shrugged his shoulders as if to say "what can one do?"

Well, let me suggest to them what they can do. If they are making a profit at 1.50 riyals per light bulb, why don't they order more light bulbs and keep putting them on the shelves until they stop selling them all the same day? Then, someone who comes into their shop might actually be able to buy what he needs! The customer will be happy and they should be happy with the extra profit.

On reflection, I realise that I know what the problem is. Saudi owners and senior management do not like to delegate authority; they want to micro-manage the business. What the store (and most stores in the country) lack is a manager who has the authority to take independent action that can affect the performance of his shop and who is rewarded for its success.

The result is organisations which have very centralised management and which are unable to respond to local conditions or rapidly changing conditions..

Oh dear, my rant about light bulbs has become a lecture on business management!

The NIE Report

This cartoon from today's Arab News (originally from the Arabic Al-Watan newspaper) had me puzzled. Who is Abu Mussa and what are the Greater and Lesser Tunbs?

Well, it turns out that they are all islands in the Strait of Hormuz (see map below) which are claimed by both Iran an the UAE.

Anyway, the point is that the cartoonist appears to be unconvinced by the recently released NIE report which stated that:

We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons
program

Like many others, I have a certain scepticism when it comes to the US intelligence community. The media, however, seems to be completely ignoring the remainder of the document which says things like:-

... we also assess with moderate-to-high confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons.
. . .
We assess with high confidence that until fall 2003, Iranian military entities were
working under government direction to develop nuclear weapons.
. . .
... the NIC assess with only moderate confidence that the halt to those activities represents a halt to Iran's entire nuclear weapons program.
. . .
... we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.

The overall tone of the document contrasts somewhat with the first sentence on which the MSM have focused so much.

The reaction to this document (not least the gloating of the regime in Iran) is such that I have to suspect that something is going on. So far I have come up with two theories:

The first is quite simple: someone highly placed in the US intelligence community opposes President Bush's policies and is determined to stop any possible military action against Iran in the last year or so of Bush's presidency.

The other theory is a little bit more elaborate: it is possible that Iran has decided to "do a Libya". They have decided that they want UN sanctions removed and to enable this to happen, they have agreed to stop their nuclear weapons program and to allow IAEA inspectors to visit their civil nuclear plants.

Of course, they can't openly agree to this without a massive loss of face. It has to be done in such a way that they do not lose face - and how could that be achieved? If the US intelligence community announces that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program after all, then everything else falls into place.

Before long you should expect to see IAEA inspectors visiting Iran and then sanctions being lifted. Alternatively, the "quid pro quo" for this intelligence report is Iran stopping its support for the insurgents in Iraq.

Don't we humans love a good conspiracy theory!

Update: This article in the Telegraph shares my scepticism over the NIE report but has a different theory. Apparently, British spy chiefs think that Iran may have 'hoodwinked' the CIA.

These conspiracy theories are good fun, but I wonder if my amusement won't turn to radioactive ashes one day when a nuclear bomb explodes over Tel Aviv?

Misyar Brides

According to this article in today's Arab News a Saudi Man has duped three men who wanted a misyar marriage with his daughter:-

RIYADH, 6 December 2007 — A Saudi man took advantage of the high demand for misyar brides and duped three men out of more than SR75,000, the daily Al-Riyadh reported yesterday.

In Saudi Arabia, misyar works like this: A woman basically agrees in a binding Islamic marriage contract to be set up with certain material provisions (an apartment, a car, etc.) in exchange for living with a married man. She may also forgo any pre-nuptial demands, but since she doesn’t get a dowry or access to other material support she usually asks for something. Usually the more attractive and younger the woman, the more leverage she has in getting material positions.

In this case, three different men asked the man for his daughter’s hand in marriage. But instead of approving one prospective groom, the man accepted all three proposals and also collected a total of SR75,000 in dowry from the wannabe husbands. After he had the money, the man fled to an unknown location and conveniently changed all of his contact numbers.

Some points to note: the suitors thought the father could decide who his daughter would marry, so she presumably had no choice in the matter? The father also pocketed the money; surely it's the woman who should receive the dowry?

Tell me this isn't the same as selling your daughter into prostitution?

I have written previously about misyar marriages here.

Unnecessary Hostility

It is often worthwhile to check the "Islam" section of the Arab News. It often contains some edifying piece like, for example, a Saudi sheikh explaining the correct way to beat your wife.

In today's on-line version, I found an article entitled "Unnecessary Hostility". I found the title quite ironic: the hostility referred to is that of the Jews of Medina to the prophet Mohammed. The term "Unnecessary Hostility" could also, however, be used to describe the Arabic attitude to modern day Jews.

They might argue the "unnecessary" part, but the "hostility" is certainly true.

One of the interesting facts about this article is that it was written by Sayyid Qutb, chief ideologue of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and author of extremely influential book "Milestones". Let me quote a little from the Wikipedia article on Sayyid Qutb:-

... has contributed significantly to modern perceptions of Islamic concepts such as jihad, jahiliyyah, and ummah. In the West he sometimes described as "the man whose ideas would shape Al Qaeda.

and from the Wikipedia article on his work "Milestones":-

Commentators have both praised Milestones as a ground-breaking, inspirational work by a hero and a martyr, and reviled it as a prime example of unreasoning entitlement, self-pity, paranoia, and hatred that has been a major influence on Islamist terrorism.

Interesting choice of author for their section on Islam!

The article itself describes the "hostility" of the three Jewish tribes of Medina to the Prophet Mohammed. It also describes the expulsion of two of these tribes: the Banu Qaynuqa and the Banu Nadir.

It omits, however, the fate of the third Jewish tribe: the Banu Qurayza. When they surrendered to the tender mercies of the early Muslims, all the adult male members of the tribe were executed (some 600 or 700 men) and the women and children enslaved. Unnecessary hostility indeed!