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How Do You Prove Someone's a Witch in Saudi Arabia? - By Uri Friedman. Imagined Heroism of the Saudi 'Nail Polish Girl' Saudi religious police asking a woman to leave a shopping mall while she is filming. (photo by Internet) Author: Madawi Al-Rasheed Posted May 30, 2012 YouTube has become a vibrant alternative to traditional visual media like TV and has broken the monopoly the monotonous and boring Saudi official sources had over media in the country.

Young Saudis have become freelance journalists producing their own video clips. A couple of years ago, it became common for Saudis to post video clips of young men and women being dragged away and detained by members of the state-appointed religious police, the Committee for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, known as the Haya, which means "committee. " Most often, the victim was shown in the video as submissive and silent. This is no longer the case in present-day Saudi Arabia. When she demanded an explanation for her expulsion, the Haya agent pointed out that she was wearing excessive makeup and nail polish. Saudi Feminism: Between Mama Amreeka and Baba Abdullah. On 9 May 2012, Manal al-Sharif was awarded the Havel Prize for Creative Dissent at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. This came shortly after al-Sharif was honored as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World at a Gala in New York City.

Such events have given rise to a pattern: just as numerous pictures and videos of activists attending various conferences and receiving numerous awards surface, waves of criticism pour in. Their motives are viewed with suspicion, worthiness is questioned, and a movement’s progress is reassessed. The most prevalent criticism of Manal al-Sharif was that she was accepting an award for political dissent when she was only, at most, a social activist. Well then, why was al-Sharif being hailed as a dissident? So, does this mean Manal al-Sharif did not earn her prize and that the Right2Dignity campaign was a failure?

Is it fair to demand more of Manal al-Sharif? I agree with Ebtihal Mubarak’s argument that rights ought not be prioritized. Saudi Arabia's Invisible Hand in the Arab Spring. On October 4, a brief, ominous release came from the state-controlled Saudi Press Agency in Riyadh acknowledging that there had been violent clashes in the eastern city of Qatif between restive Shiites and Saudi security forces. It reported that "a group of instigators of sedition, discord and unrest" had assembled in the heart of the kingdom's oil-rich region, armed with Molotov cocktails. As authorities cleared the protesters, 11 officers were wounded. The government made clear it would respond to any further dissent by "any mercenary or misled person" with "an iron fist.

" Meanwhile, it pointed the finger of blame for the riots at a "foreign country," a thinly veiled reference to archrival Iran. Saudi Arabia has played a singular role throughout the Arab Spring. With a guiding hand -- and often an iron fist -- Riyadh has worked tirelessly to stage manage affairs across the entire region. But that was hardly the only advantage King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud gained. Register. Saudi Arabia Is Arming the Syrian Opposition - By Jonathan Schanzer. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei didn’t mince his words during end-of-Ramadan prayers last August. "Elections have always been a challenging issue for our country," he told worshippers gathered at Tehran University. "We should be careful this challenge does not hurt the country’s security.

The various authorities should be vigilant. " Khamenei spoke for a reason. These parliamentary elections come at a turbulent time. Yet, despite the mounting frustration of Iran’s citizens, events during the run-up to the parliamentary elections suggest that regime change through domestically-inspired, popularly determined politics is less likely than ever before. To be sure, elections in Iran have never exactly been a free-for-all. Disqualification of candidates by the Guardian Council has become increasingly frequent in elections. This time around, the Guardian Council has once again begun systematically throwing out the candidacies of reformist and opposition figures. Saudi Arabia vows “iron fist” to end violence - Culture & Society. Saudi Arabia has vowed to use an “iron fist” to end violence in the country’s east after a sermon preached last week criticised the government’s use of violence against protestors in the kingdom.

The Gulf state’s Interior Ministry has accused an unnamed foreign power, widely thought to mean Iran, of backing attacks on its security forced in its Eastern province. “It is the state's right to confront those that confront it first ... and the Saudi security forces will confront such situations ... with determination and force and with an iron first,” the ministry said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency. “Some of those few [who attacked security forces] are manipulated by foreign hands because of the kingdom's honourable foreign policy positions towards Arab and Islamic countries,” it added. Protesters from the conservative country’s Shiite minority have held several rallies in the east in the last year complaining of discrimination by its Sunni rulers.

The Draft Anti-Terrorism Law in Saudi Arabia: Legalizing the Abrogation of Civil Liberties. In July 2011, Amnesty International published a leaked copy of the draft Saudi Arabian Penal Law for Terrorism Crimes and Financing of Terrorism. This Anti-Terror Law, which grants the Ministry of Interior unprecedented levels of authority and discretion in intelligence gathering, policing, and detention, has already been reviewed by the Security Committee of the Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura) and the Committee of Experts in the Ministers’ Council, and awaits final approval for its enactment. Given the recent appointment of the Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz as the new Crown Prince, it seems likely that the law will soon be adopted.

Widespread criticism of the law has been voiced internally, by local activists, and internationally, with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch leading the way. The Saudi Criminal Procedure LCP In 2002 Saudi Arabia published its first Law of Criminal Procedure (LCP). The Draft Penal Law of Terrorism Crimes and Financing Terrorism. Gulf union or merger? Assessing calls for a Saudi and Bahrain-led Gulf Union.

The two kingdoms of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain look increasingly likely to take the first tentative steps toward cementing a new union which, they hope, will be the first moves towards initiating a region-wide ‘Gulf Union’ incorporating all six member states of the GCC. Already approved by GCC leaders in their 32nd Summit in Riyadh last December, the blueprint will be submitted to a GCC Consultative Summit, scheduled to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 14 May, the hope being that a more concrete proposal for a GCC union will be laid out for all to see.

Given the somewhat questionable reputation of the GCC as a cohesive political and military entity, one could be forgiven for treating assertive Saudi and Bahraini rhetoric with a heavy dose of scepticism. This is especially so in the case of Bahrain, where hardline Sunni-aligned papers have fiercely promoted the Union as a ‘dream’ they have longed for. This argument verges on the nonsensical. Bitter Frenemies.

Last month, Saudi Arabia rolled out the red carpet for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The visit was yet another example of the degree to which relations between the two countries have improved in recent years. Historically, the two nations have not been friendly, with economic relations only developing in the 1970s. Turkey needed Saudi Arabia's oil. For its part, Saudi Arabia needed Turkey's huge construction sector to build its modern cities. The United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003 changed all that. Jordan and Egypt were natural fits.

To continue reading, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Register now to get three articles each month. As a subscriber, you get unrestricted access to ForeignAffairs.com. Register for free to continue reading. Registered users get access to three free articles every month. Have an account? Hosting Morsi's First Foreign Trip Is a Coup for Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s newly installed, democratically-elected president, has chosen Riyadh as the destination for his first foreign visit.

With his keenly anticipated arrival in the Saudi capital imminent, the news will deliver a bitter blow to its regional rival Iran. In recent days, Tehran has mounted a major diplomatic offensive, led by Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi, to improve relations with Cairo. Now it would appear that despite the impending success of this strategy being heavily promoted in the Iranian press, it has failed, or at least suffered a serious setback. So why does currying favor with the new Egypt matter so much to the Islamic Republic? And in choosing to prioritize a visit to the Saudi Kingdom, has President Morsi delivered a snub to Iran?

Iran broke off relations with Egypt in 1980, when Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Accord and made peace with Israel. For Saudi Arabia, the stakes are equally high. And for Egypt? Political Imaginaries in Saudi Arabia: Revolutionaries without A Revolution. The contemporary Saudi-led counterrevolution, fierce as it has been throughout the Arab world, is perhaps most relentless inside the Kingdom’s own borders. US-trained and armed security forces have been dispatched more thoroughly throughout the country to thwart any potential signs of public gatherings or protests. In the last year alone, at least eight Saudi nationals have been killed for partaking in public protests. This is in addition to the unrelenting police brutality against unarmed civilians that has injured numerous men and women. Further, hundreds have been illegally detained across the country for supporting calls for reform and protest. The above listed acts only begin to scratch the surface of the lived consequences of the counterrevolutionary campaign inside Saudi Arabia.

Increasingly stricter laws, coupled with the media blackout, nonetheless stand in contrast to small yet consistent protests across the Kingdom. [Where Revolution Roundabout used to Stand] Saudi Revolutionaries: An Interview. What is happening in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia? The Saudi media empire, coupled with its security apparatus, has to a large extent succeeded in preventing developments in Qatif from reaching the world. The Saudi regime has also resorted to a multipronged counter-revolutionary campaign in the last year in order to suppress the uprising there. Despite attempting to co-opt religious and political figures, exerting economic pressure on civilians, imposing blockades on Qatif and its surroundings, and using live ammunition to disperse protesters, Qatif’s revolutionaries remain steadfast in their fight against tyranny and oppression.

In the following interview, the organizers of the Eastern Province Revolution Twitter/Facebook page describe their role in organizing protests via social media, the goals of their revolution, and the multiple challenges they face. Rosie Bsheer (RB): Please describe your group to us. Who are you and how do you define yourselves? Saudi princess: What I'd change about my country. 8 April 2012Last updated at 19:21 ET Princess Basma Bint Saud Bin Abdulaziz tells the BBC there are many changes she would like to see in Saudi Arabia - but that now is not the time for women to be allowed to drive.

I speak not as the daughter of King Saud, the former ruler of Saudi Arabia, but as a loyal citizen. My father established the first women's university in the kingdom, abolished slavery and tried to establish a constitutional monarchy that separates the position of king from that of prime minister. But I am saddened to say that my beloved country today has not fulfilled that early promise. Our ancient culture, of which I am very proud, is renowned for its nobility and generosity, but we lack, and urgently need, fundamental civil laws with which to govern our society. As a daughter, sister, (former) wife, mother, businesswoman, a working journalist and a humanitarian, these are the things that I would like to see changed in Saudi Arabia.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote. Teaching Intolerance - By Eman Al Nafjan. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — In the years just before the 9/11 attacks, I spent two semesters at a public school in Riyadh for my training as a teacher. I was stationed each day at the campus gates, instructed to inspect the girls' abayas as they left school.

For each student older than 12, I checked: Was she wearing the tent-style cloak over her head and down to her ankles? Was her face fully covered, no slits for her eyes? I felt like a hypocrite, penalizing girls for violating a custom I don't support -- and one that the majority of Islamic scholars say is not a religious obligation. The mandate was and still is part of the government-issued curriculum taught in Saudi public schools; it was in their textbooks that the girls were told they should cover their faces in order to be good Muslim women. Much is made about the role of Islam in Arab societies -- how different interpretations of the Quran can shape laws and conventions. Omar Salem/AFP/Getty Images.

The 140-Character Fatwa - By Jonathan Schanzer and Steven L. Miller. Despite assurances from the Saudi government that it is cracking down on religious radicalism, the kingdom's top clerics continue calling for attacks on Christians across the Arab world. And in the Internet age, these voices of hate have been handed a larger megaphone than ever before. You don't have to look hard to find examples of religious intolerance emanating from the very top of the Saudi religious hierarchy. On a visit to Kuwait in March, Saudi Arabia's grand mufti, Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, told the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society -- which has been designated as a "specially designated global terrorist" entity by the United States and the United Nations for arming and financing al Qaeda -- that it is "necessary to destroy all the churches in the Arabian Peninsula.

" And there's more where that came from. These sentiments are particularly troubling as Saudi clerics flock to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and mobile apps to amplify their messages. Qarnee spews similar invective. Saudi Arabia's old regime grows older. The contrast between the deaths, within two days of each other, of Libya's Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi and Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz is one of terminal buffoonery versus decadent gerontocracy. And their demise is likely to lead to very different outcomes: liberation for the Libyans and stagnation for the Saudis. But the death of Sultan, at 86, marks the beginning of a critical period of domestic and foreign uncertainty for the Kingdom. After all, Sultan's half-brother, King Abdullah, 87, is still hospitalised in Riyadh, following a major operation last month.

Who will be next in line? The Saudi regime's stability now depends on its ability to maintain unity and establish clarity in its system of succession. Sultan had already been dead - politically, that is - for the last three years; indeed, since June 2011, when he left for New York for medical treatment, young Saudis speculated on numerous websites that this was also literally the case. Injection of young blood needed. The Underestimated Prince Nayef - By Michael Stephens. Good Riddance - By Simon Henderson.

Saudi Arabia: The long day closes. The Price of Dissent in Saudi Arabia. Saving Khader Adnan's Life Saves Our Own Soul. The Man Who Would Be King - By Simon Henderson. Saudi Arabia's moribund monarchy. This Week at War: Deterrence on the Gulf - by Robert Haddick. Has the 'Arab Spring' Finally Arrived in Saudi Arabia? The Prince of Twitter - By Faisal J. Abbas. Saudi Professor Faces Charges After Fighting for Free Speech. How to Lower the Price of Oil - By Bernard Haykel, Giacomo Luciani, and Eckart Woertz. Hedging Bets.