Sometimes people are so hopeful about the prospect of more bloodshed spilled in the Middle East that they resort to stretching the truth to further their agenda. There is the thinking along conventional lines that if Tunisia, Egypt and Libya fall, then so must Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The jury is out on Bahrain, although it does not look good for the Sunni monarchy. But Saudi Arabia? There is no question the Saudi government is a little more than nervous about the Shi'a-led protests in Bahrain. It is impossible to predict what the end result means to the Kingdom, but there is the odor of hope in the western media that Saudi Arabia will fall with the endless coverage of "Will Saudi Arabia Be Next?"
This leads me to wonder whether foreign policy analysts and so-called Middle East experts are being deliberately obtuse about Saudi Arabia's future. Since when do 465 people signing a Facebook Saudi "Day of Rage" page constitute a brewing revolution in a country of 16 million Saudis? It appears that most of the petitioners are non-Saudis with more than a few living outside the Kingdom. I am all for the democratic reforms they demand. However, will a thousand or even 465 people stage a demonstration in Riyadh on March 11 or March 20, or whatever day they decide, to vent their rage? Maybe, but the support from most Saudis is likely to be from the comfort of their homes while watching them on Al Jeezera.
Much is made of the couple dozen Saudi women staging a demonstration in Riyadh demanding the release of their men from custody because they have been charged with no crimes. Several dozen expatriate workers demonstrated in Makkah because they have not been paid. Legitimate grievances, sure. But are these public demonstrations out of the ordinary? No. Has anyone seen Saudi tribes gather in the desert for a meeting with an emir over water issues? I would not want to be on the receiving end of a finger wagging from a Bedouin tribal leader with an entire village standing behind him.
The west's argument that Saudi Arabia is poised to erupt in revolution is found in the reports about King Abdullah allocating an estimated $36 billion in social benefits to Saudis. The benefits will provide home loans, funding for NGOs, 15 percent fixed raises for government employees, scholarship money for Saudis studying abroad at their own expense and unemployment benefits.
News outlets ranging from Investment Watch to the Washington Post and the New York Times assert the money is simply to stave off protests with a Band-Aid. One BBC commentator likened the benefits to "bribery" to keep Saudis quiet.
One must wonder where these news organizations have been for the past five years. The Saudi government has been issuing these types of social welfare benefits annually since King Abdullah became the Kingdom's leader in 2005. Each year, usually in December, the Saudi government allocates massive funds to help Saudis keep pace with inflation, build more schools and universities, and send Saudis abroad for a western education. This year's announcement of providing unemployment benefits is not only new, but historic. Yet it is consistent with previous fund distribution schemes since 2005. This year's allocation occurred in February and not December because the King has been in Morocco for medical treatment.
It is convenient, if not lazy, to place the social benefits package in the context of the regional uprisings, but a look into the archives of any Saudi newspaper tells the story of consistent annual fund allocations for similar programs.
The Saudi government has been on a reform binge for five years, but its sometimes lethargic pace has little to do with the will of the government, but with some Saudis who have their own agenda. They have only their interests in mind, and government transparency and efforts to end corruption threaten those interests.
The true discontent among many Saudis is the lack of accountability for the rampant government corruption and the lack of transparency in how the government goes about its business. It botched the follow up to the 2005 municipal elections by not holding further voting, but I am not sure the average Saudi's interests truly lie in local elections.
There is no question now that Saudi Arabia needs to pick up the pace of reform. It cannot allow special interest groups in various government ministries to continue dragging their feet to implement programs ordered by the king. But the simplistic thinking that the Saudi government unleashed this huge sum of money to keep the Facebook revolutionaries at bay is laughable.
Follow Sabria Jawhar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/saudiwriter
Today, nearly 40 percent of Saudis ages 20 to 24 are unemployed. Unemployment benefits, subsidies for housing, education, and culture have not stopped the discontent
The youth are familiar with the global discourse of democracy, freedom, entitlement, empowerment, transparency, accountability, and human rights that has exploded in the face of authoritarian regimes in the Arab world for about two months now.
Saudis have been watching in silence while the outside world including the godfather of democracy the USA remaining oblivious to abuses of human rights and turning a blind eye in the interests of oil, arms, and investment.
Saudis are not safe even in their internet world. The regime has been determined to trace each and every word and whisper that challenges its version of reality. Young bloggers, writers, and essayists have been jailed.
Even Salafists are calling for democracy, elections, and respect for human rights. So also Prince Talal. He has been calling for constitutional monarchy.
Hiding behind Islamic rhetoric such as “Our constitution is the Quran” is no longer a viable escape route. People want a new political system that matches their aspirations, education, and abilities.
while meeting their basic rights. Scaring the population by raising the spectre of al Qaeda is not going to work.
Whatever corruption is in Saudi Arabia; it is PEANUTS as compared to the
EXTENT of corruption in the USA where every seat in Congress/Senate/Mayor/etc..
is open to many bidders (in bed together) disguised as
"contributors" to the Election Campaigns of so & so.....
hyped by BIAS/CORRUPT US NEWS MEDIAS that include George Will (to name just ONE).
At least in Saudi Arabia; the King & the Princes do NOT want to be at the receiving end
of a Bedouin (wagging his Finger) who is a TRUE Descendent of Abraham
and just as straight forward as Abraham was!
But in the US; the King (Obama/Bush/Clinton/etc) and all the Princes of DARKNESS in
US Congress/Senate/Governor/Mayor/etc.... don't give a damn about most
Americans and ENJOY being at the receiving end of an American (wagging his Finger) as they blame each others (Democrats VS Republicans) for the ills that BOTH brought upon the "Kingdom" of the USA!
In Conclusion:
The American (wagging his Finger) gets confused and HAS to side with either Republicans or Democrats (switching is COMMON) thus ending up with CRAP;
while the Saudi Bedouin (wagging his Finger) gets the GOODIES even before wagging his Finger!
Down with Saudi Israelia - the Middle East will never be free with the Saudi - Israel connection with the US still intact.
I hope it is just as impossible for the House of Saud to be brought down as it was with Mubarak, Inshallah
The true discontent among many Saudis is the lack of freedom of religion!
Why are there no synagogues or churches in Saudi Arabia?
Why do Saudi government persecute Shi'a Muslims?
"What followed were fatwas passed by the country’s leading cleric, Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz which denounced the Shias as apostates. Another by Adul-Rahman al-Jibrin, a member of the Higher Council of Ulama even sanctioned the killing of Shias. This call was reiterated in Wahabi religious literature as late as 2002.
Unlike Iraq and Lebanon which hold sizable Shia wealthy, Saudi Arabia has nothing resembling Shia elite of any kind. There have been no Shia cabinet ministers. They are kept out of critical jobs in the armed forces and the security services. There are no Shia mayors or police chiefs, and not one of the three hundred Shia girls’ schools in the Eastern Province has a Shia principal.[12]
The government has restricted the names that Shias can use for their children in an attempt to discourage them from showing their identity. Saudi textbooks, criticized for their anti-Semitism, are equally hostile to Shiism often characterizing the faith as a form of heresy worse than Christianity and Judaism. Wahabi teachers frequently tell classrooms full of young Shia schoolchildren that they are heretics."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Shia_Muslims#Saudi_Arabia
DOWN WITH SAUD, DOWN WITH LIKUD!
You didn't mention religious freedom, once, is that because the Saudi government is a hopelessly lost cause?
"Religious freedom is virtually non-existent. The Government does not provide legal recognition or protection for freedom of religion, and it is severely restricted in practice. As a matter of policy, the Government guarantees and protects the right to private worship for all, including non-Muslims who gather in homes for religious practice; however, this right is not always respected in practice and is not defined in law.[2] Moreover, the public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited.[1] The Saudi Mutaween (Arabic: مطوعين), or Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (i.e., the religious police) enforces the prohibition on the public practice of non-Muslim religions. Sharia Law applies to all people inside Saudi Arabia, regardless of religion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Saudi_Arabia
Money does not buy freedom, everyone views the Saudi move as little more than a bribe to buy time, the Saudi monarchy is exactly like the tyrants of Israel.
Down with the Saudi tyarnts and down with the Israeli tyrants.