Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, Washington DC
May 18, 2011
Saudi Current News
CDHR’s Commentary and Analysis
Saudi Monarchy Desperate to Survive
Unity Against Democracy and Individual Liberty
CDHR’s Analysis: Mortified by the unprecedented uprising in the Maghrib region of North Africa and the Arab East, the absolute Arab dynasties of the Gulf States are forging an alliance with two more Arab kings, the autocratic kings of Jordan and Morocco. On May 12, 2011, the six Arab monarchs of the Saudi-dominated Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) invited the Kings of Jordan and Morocco to join their fragile union. The sole purpose of this desperate move is to prevent the spread of the Arab Uprising which would abolish the remaining Arab absolute monarchies. In an article by a Saudi government flunky in the Washington Post (May 15, 2011), the Saudis point to United States policy as the cause of instability in the Middle East, failure to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Iran's rising influence and aggressive behavior, and the recent downfall of Arab dictators.
The article stated that "Saudi Arabia will not allow the political unrest in the region to destabilize the Arab monarchies — the Gulf States, Jordan and Morocco." This pledge by the Saudi monarchy might be too little too late and may increase the instability the Saudi autocracy is desperately trying to prevent. The Saudi royals may have the money to buy dictators and poverty-stricken people, but they cannot erase the omnipresent ill feelings and resentment harbored by most educated Arab men and women, intellectuals, and Arab youth toward the Saudi monarchy and its anti-women, anti-democracy, and anti-minorities Wahhabi doctrine. Arabs in many countries hold the Saudi monarchy's extremist religious ideology and economic influence in their societies responsible for their lack of social and political freedom.
This move by the Saudi-dominated ruling Gulf dynasties is meant to accentuate unity amongst the remaining Arab monarchical despots, ostensibly to counter Iran's growing influence in the Gulf and the region. However, a more plausible explanation for the unexpected invitation to Jordan and Morocco to join the cartel is that the Gulf rulers feel more vulnerable to internal uprising than ever. This is due to growing internal demands for political reforms and power-sharing by the populations of the Gulf Arab states and the amplification of those demands by the unprecedented Arab Revolt against decades of corruption, oppression, alienation and discrimination which permeate every public and private level, especially among the ruling elites and their layers of cronies.
For decades, US Administrations have naïvely entrusted the Saudi monarchs to interpret events in many Arab and Muslim countries and to dictate solutions to problems. All too often, Saudi monarchs' interpretations and solutions have benefited Saudi interests and undermined US influence. In recent years, the US has implemented its foreign policy more directly rather than through the Saudi monarchs' intercession. The Saudi government interprets the US taking charge of implementing its policies directly in the Middle East as undermining Saudi leadership and an insult to its wisdom. However, the Saudi monarchy is primarily riled by the loss of support for its deal-making role which has given it legitimacy at home and abroad. The Saudi government is striking back by attacking US “missteps” in the Middle East and threatening the US that their long-held arrangement may be dead.
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Saudi Women: Silent No More
CDHR’s Analysis: After decades (centuries) of forced silence, marginalization and relegation to third class status, Saudi women are slowly but unequivocally inching toward liberation from the yoke of state-institutionalized male subjugation. The ruling Saudi theocratic and autocratic men and their personalized institutions have treated women with utter disdain since the inception of the Saudi state in 1932. Forcing women into an invisible existence (clad in black from head to toe), the chauvinistic Saudi system attributes this detestable practice to its brand of austere Islam and Saudi traditions, both of which most Saudi subjects have been conditioned into believing are superior to the rest of the world’s traditions and faiths.
Things are changing though. As more Saudi women become educated and exposed through modern technology to other cultures, political systems, and ways of life, they examine their intolerable state of affairs and compare themselves with women in their region and around the world. Many women have concluded that the state's institutionalized, patriarchal control over every aspect of their lives, exemplified by the Apartheid-equivalent male guardian system, has to be challenged and/or removed altogether. Many instances of Saudi women challenging their marginalization in recent years can be cited, including the current demand to participate in municipal elections scheduled for September 2011.
Under global pressure, especially from the Bush Administration, the Saudi monarchy permitted cosmetic national municipal elections in 2005. Women, military personnel, and all people under the age of 21 were barred from running for office or voting. Only half of the 178 municipal seats could be elected, while the king selected the other half. Women were rightfully angry even though they were told that they would be allowed to participate in the next elections, originally scheduled for 2009 but postponed by the king for two years. Now women are told they will not be allowed to participate for the same reasons given in the last elections--the government did not have time to prepare segregated voting locations. Joined by many men, women find the government's rationale invalid and contemptuous of the people's ability to see the true intent to deny women their right to equal citizenship.
Despite the fact that women face formidable opposition from the government's religious establishment and some traditionalists, the scale is slowly tilting in their favor. This is due to their determination to be counted and increasing support from Saudi men. In addition, a few members of the ruling family, both men and women, are raising concerns about continued policies of gender inequality.
Finally, empowering Saudi women will likely undermine religious extremism in the birth place of Islam and set a positive example for many of oppressed Muslim women around the world. This is in the best interest of the international community, especially given Saudi Arabia’s centrality to Islam and possession of a large repository of petroleum. Western advocates of human rights, especially women's organizations, can and should highlight the importance of supporting liberty for Saudi women.
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“Saudi state is based on Islam”: Prince Salman
CDHR’s Analysis: Having used religion to effectively subjugate its captive population since the inception of the Saudi Kingdom in 1932, the Saudi monarchy seems bent on strengthening and continuing the use of religion as a repressive ruling tool despite the urgent need to modernize all Saudi institutions and rewrite school and religious textbooks that teach intolerance. The Saudi population of the 21st century (the majority of which is under the age of 25) is different from the small 7th century Muslim community in Madinah.
Prince Salman, the governor of the Saudi capital Riyadh, and his powerful brothers Sultan and Naif (the Defence and Interior ministers, respectively) are known for their adamant opposition to any democratic reform which they denigrate as Western and anti-Muslim. During a recent lecture at one of Saudi Arabia's ultraconservative religious universities in Madinah, the Prince reiterated his life-long theme, "The Saudi government has been an extension of the first Islamic state in Madinah...and its constitution is based on the Qur'an and Sunnah. ...The Kingdom's political and social systems are rooted in Islam and not based on any imported thoughts or ideas."
Not surprisingly, Prince Salman’s comments came 12 days after a speech by his half-brother, King Abdullah, on March 18, 2011, in which the king praised the religious branch of the government for declaring public protests un-Islamic. To show the ruling family’s appreciation for the clerics' service, the king decreed that the religious establishment is above all laws and granted it total immunity from any public or media criticisms.
It is hard to understand the Saudi rulers' mindset at a time when many Arab states, including bordering countries, are roiled in revolutions against political and religious oppression, corruption, marginalization of women and minorities, and lack of economic opportunities, especially for their burgeoning youth populations. The Saudi people suffer from the same calamitous conditions that propelled the people of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, Syria, and other countries in the region to take to the streets to overthrow their repressive dictators, some of whom were less brutal than the Saudi autocratic and theocratic elites.
Prince Salman and his brothers should be focusing on reforms that will save the country from a destructive and bloody uprising that could fragment the fragile state, threaten its source of income and necessitate foreign military intervention to secure the production and flow of petroleum, without which the world's economies could collapse.
There are several steps the Saudi monarchy could take to avoid a costly uprising. It could heed the call of diverse Saudi reformers, including some pragmatic members of the ruling family, who have been calling for a constitutional monarchy. It could also permit free elections for the national Consultative Council and local municipal councils.
Finally, all aspects of Saudi society must be opened to the full participation of women. These demands are formidable but doable; and they are necessary because the Saudi people, like their counterparts in the rest of the Arab world, want more than cash inducements, promises of housing for the poor, and the hiring of sixty thousand police to protect the royals and cronies.
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Sanctification of Saudi Officials and Clerics
CDHR’s Analysis: In a typically stern warning to the Saudi people not to emulate the Arab Uprising, the Saudi government announced sweeping amendments to its already restrictive media law "…that makes it a crime to publish materials that harms the good reputation and honor of the Kingdom's grand mufti {the highest religious authority}, members of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars and government officials." This is a well-worn tactic of the Saudi regime to avoid facing problems and finding solutions that serve the best interests of the people, and even of the rulers themelves. The approach is losing its effectiveness faster than the regime is willing to accept, or perhaps understand.
Amid steadily rising disdain and mistrust of government officials and growing public resentment of the Saudi religious establishment and its role as a promoter and executor of the Saudi monarchs' repressive policies, cracking down on pro-reform groups and individuals will only add fuel to the fire. Many Saudi men and women, especially those of the Facebook and Twitter generation, have begun to defy fear and voice their disapproval of autocratic and theocratic elites' policies and practices. Criticism usually focuses on the rampant corruption, ineptness, social and political oppression, continuing marginalization of women, religious intolerance and the lack of civil society and free expression. These are the ingredients of social explosion.
Given mounting public discontent, it's only a matter of time before Saudis take to the streets to demand the overthrow of their absolute monarchy. The Saudi ruling elites should heed the causes of the Arab Uprising and implement reforms that will give people hope for a better future instead of royal handouts and more restrictions on public freedom of expression.
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Invading Bahrain an old Saudi Government Objective
CDHR’s Analysis: The Saudi monarchs (with the exception of King Fahd, to a degree) have long considered Bahrain a threat to their rule, though for reasons other than the fear of Bahrain becoming an Iranian colony. That theme was developed in recent years to turn Saudis against Iran and to draw credulous Western allies into a war to rid the Saudi royals of their last regional religious and strategic rival.
Of all the Gulf States' populations, the Bahraini people are the least socially conservative. They are religiously tolerant, politically open-minded, and accepting of ethnic, religious, and regional differences. They also happen to be only twelve miles from the oil-rich Saudi Eastern Province and its politically and socially nonconformist oil workers who come from every corner of Saudi Arabia. Bahraini beliefs and practices are incongruous with the Saudi government-imposed way of thinking and living. For these reasons, the small island became a sanctuary for many Eastern Province Saudi residents. As a former employee of the oil industry, I remember vividly that many of us could not wait for the weekend to arrive so we could flee to Bahrain to enjoy movies, night clubs, and to mix with the opposite gender - basic freedoms denied us under the suffocating Saudi-Wahhabi constrictions. The more we visited Bahrain, the more we resented our government, society, traditions, and even our religion which we were made to believe was responsible for our oppression and deprivation. We began to ask questions and compare our lifestyle with the Bahrainis. They are Muslims, they have mosques, they pray and read the Quran; at the same time, they enjoy a social life that could get us flogged and in some cases beheaded in public squares.
For some Saudis, visiting Bahrain transcended the pleasure-seeking adventures. During their frequent visits, anti-monarchy and anti-"oil men" (American oil companies) Saudis used their time to organize political and labor actions. Many were discontented with wages and living conditions associated with policies of cultural and racial discrimination. Representatives of Saudi oil employees met in Bahrain to brainstorm and draw up plans for strikes against the oil companies directly and the monarchy indirectly. The strikers came from all segments of society and regions of Saudi Arabia. Regardless of regional background, race, or religious orientation, the planners and leaders of the strikes, as well as the strikers themselves, were united by common grievances. Consequently, their unity and extraordinary actions shook the foundations of the oil companies and the Saudi ruling family. Because of the organizers' and strikers' diverse religious, ethnic and regional backgrounds, many p eople in the country were affected by what happened to their relatives during and after the strikes.
The overworked and underpaid Saudi employees wanted higher salaries, transportation (buses), and air conditioning in their scorching cement barracks. They wanted facilities comparable to those awarded to expatriate oil workers. The strikes were massive, and the results were impressive, but they came at a high price. King Saud authorized one of Saudi Arabia's most anti-modern and ruthless officials, the governor of the Eastern Province Abdul Aziz Bin Jlewi, to crush the strikers, especially the instigators of the uprising. The governor sent his religiously-indoctrinated militia to beat and kill strikers with clear instructions to hunt down their leaders, specifically Nasser Mohammed Al-Saeed Al-Shammari, Mohammed Ibn Namah, and (I believe) Nasser or Mohammed Ibn Mammar. Some of the leaders were able to save their lives by fleeing to Bahrain and from there to Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq. Mind you, all of this happened in the 1950s at a time when the Saudi monarchy had brotherly Mu slim relations with Iran under Emperor Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, or the King of Kings. The Shah and his wife, Empress Suraya, were close friends of King Saud at that time.
After the strikes subsided, our travels to Bahrain were restricted and we were followed by Saudi spies to make sure no more plots were concocted. Since then, the Saudi monarchs have considered Bahrain a source of instability and its ruling Al-Khalifa family socially debauched because they allow alcohol, movies, and a freer lifestyle on their island. The current Saudi government's occupation of Bahrain provides the Saudi political-religious establishment with a long-sought pretext to turn Bahrain into a strict Wahhabi state.
History shows that the residents of Eastern Saudi Arabia have been at the forefront in challenging the Al-Saud family and its repressive system. They are more secular, less conformist, and were once the most informed group in Saudi Arabia due to their interactions with oil workers from many countries and nationalities. Contrary to the statements of Saudi royals and their beneficiaries and defenders who accuse the Shiites of fomenting trouble, the leaders and strikers of the 1950s were mostly Sunnis, not Shiites.
I was an eyewitness to the strikes and the leader of the strikers, Nasser Mohammed Al-Saeed Al-Shammari, was my immediate supervisor at Aramco’s storage facilities in Abqaiq, eastern Saudi Arabia, where I served as an "office boy".
Despite intense pressure from Saudi monarchs and the religious establishment's incitement against their Shiite citizens, the Saudi people today, regardless of region, ethnicity, or religious orientation, share grievances comparable to those of the oil workers in the 1950s. They will figure out that the Saudi ruling family’s "divide and conquer" policy of turning Sunni citizens against their Shiite brothers and sisters and of turning the genders against each other is designed to prevent them from uniting against their common oppressor, the Saudi-Wahhabi establishment. The uprisings sweeping through the Arab World today will not stop at the Saudi desert borders. The message, for those who are not blind to the reality around them, is writ large on the trembling walls of Saudi palaces.
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