Bahrain, Foreign Troops, and - Maybe - the Last Stand of Kings

I'm getting to Libya in the next post.

The powers that be in Yemen and Bahrain are having a shot - literally - at trying the Libyan colonel's approach to leadership. They're having their enforcers kill people who say they don't like the way things are run.

Historically, America's leadership hasn't been quite that rough on folks who aren't on the same page whoever is running things in Washington. Even here, though, it seems hard to understand that "disagreement" isn't "treason;" and that someone can have a different opinion without being 'the enemy." I've posted about that before:

• "Homeland Security Report: American Veterans are Potential Terrorists - I am Not Making This Up"
  (April 15, 2009)
• "Missouri Focus Group MIAC: Ron Paul Supporters May Be Terrorists"
  (March 23, 2009)
• "Pro-Life? You May be a Dangerous Domestic Terrorist! MIAC Says So"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 23, 2009)

Still, I'd rather live in America:

• "Police Abuse: America isn't Russia"
  (February 19, 2010)

Shia, Sunni, and Shooting the Opposition

Excerpts from today's news:

"Security forces and government supporters opened fire on demonstrators in the capital on Friday, killing at least 30 people. But the crackdown failed to disperse the protest, the largest seen so far in the center of the city, and President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared a state of emergency...."
(The New York Times)

---

"Hundreds of angry Iraqis demonstrated in the holy Shiite city of Karbala on Thursday, protesting the use of foreign troops in the crackdown against anti-government protests in Bahrain...."
(CNN)

---

"A senior Iranian cleric on Friday urged Bahrain's majority Shiites to keep up their protests—until death or victory—against the Sunni monarchy in the tiny island kingdom...."
(MercuryNews.com)

---

"Bahrain's Shiites are burying their dead amid a continued government crackdown in this Sunni-ruled island nation in the Persian Gulf...."
(ajc.com)

---

Some folks in televised news's op-ed segments have been saying that what's happening in Bahrain is a sort of proxy war between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia. I think they've got a point. Sunni and Shia, two flavors of Islam, aren't equally represented in Saudi Arabia, and Iran, or even in Bahrain, Iraq, and Yemen:

Country	Shia	Sunni
Bahrain1	70%	30%
Iran2	89%	9%
Iraq2	60%-65%	32%-37%
Saudi Arabia1	5%	95%
Yemen1	36%	63%

^{1 PBS (see Background)
2} CIA (see Background)

Religion: Important, Yes; Everything, No

I think that religion is an often-misunderstood factor in society. I think that the politically correct notion that religion kills people is silly: but acknowledge that some have done bad things for what we call "religious" reasons. (October 31, 2007)(and A Catholic Citizen in America (April 12, 2010, July 24, 2009))

I am also fairly certain that the folks in Bahrain, at least, have fairly solid economic reasons for wanting change. Again, without accepting the notion that economics and class struggle, along with psychology and/or instinct, explains everything.

For all I know, the way the Persian and Arabic languages handle verb declensions may be a factor in today's conflicts. I think philology may prove to connect with neurology, psychology, and maybe genetics - and that's several other topics, as well as speculative.

Saudi Troops Killing Shia Civilians in Bahrain: So What?

Another excerpt from today's news:

"...This week, military forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council -- including Saudi Arabia -- arrived in Bahrain to help the kingdom control a wave of anti-government protests, prompting the Obama administration and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to urge council members to act with restraint and to allow the citizens of Bahrain to demonstrate peacefully.

"Although Bahrain's protesters are making primarily economic and political demands, there is a sectarian dimension: Bahrain's population is 70% Shiite; the royal family is Sunni, as is the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia recently has seen small demonstrations among its minority Shiites...."
(CNN)

I think that the Saudi royal family, and other traditionalists in the Arab world, are in an unenviable position. They seem to be dedicated to a way of life that's threatened. In a way, their troubles started in Europe and North America during the 18th century.

The 'good old days' of aristocratic privilege are gone. These days, even beating your wife, or your wife beating servants, is frowned upon in quite a few countries. (January 12, 2011, November 2, 2007) That, along with beer commercials and individual rights, must be hard to accept. For folks who grew up enjoying privileges, at least.

In the short run, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and like-minded folks may succeed in holding on to their old ways.

I think it depends in part on whether or not their enforcers run out of bullets, so to speak, before folks who want change run out of bodies and determination.

In the long run, I think their way of life is over. Monarchies may continue, along the lines of British royalty - and I'm not going to get started on the shenanigans there. I've written about the cultural angle of the war on terror before. (April 5, 2010, March 19, 2010, October 14, 2008, and elsewhere)

I also think that killing your subjects is a miserably ineffective way of instilling loyalty: whether practiced by an old-world monarch, or a self-styled revolutionary.

Which brings me to Libya: and that's another topic.

Related posts:

• "Beer, Basketball, the War on Terror, Today's News, and Me"
  (March 10, 2011)
• "Information Technology, People, and a Changing World"
  (February 23, 2011)
• "Bahrain, Libya: My Take on the News"
  (February 19, 2011)
• "Bahrain and the Information Age"
  (February 19, 2011)
• " 'They're all Muslims' - This Does Not Help"
  (December 29, 2007)

News and views:

• "Yemen death toll rises to over 20, 100 wounded"
  SANAA, via Edition: U.S., Reuters (March 18, 2011)
• "At Least 30 Protesters Are Killed in Yemen"
  Laura Kasinof, J. David Goodman, Middle East, The New York Times (March 18, 2011)
• "Iraqis protest against crackdown on Shiites in Bahrain"
  Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN (March 18, 2011)
• "Iran cleric tells Bahraini Shiites to protest on"
  Nasser Karimi, Associated Press, via MercuryNews.com (March 18, 2011)
• "Iran cleric tells Bahraini Shiites to protest on"
  Barbara Surk, Associated Press, via ajc.com (Atlanta Journal Constitution) (March 18, 2011)

Background:

• "Bahrain"
  World Factbook, CIA (last updated March 8, 2011)
• "Iran"
  World Factbook, CIA (last updated February 22, 2011)
• "Iraq"
  World Factbook, CIA (last updated March 8, 2011)
• "Saudi Arabia"
  World Factbook, CIA (last updated March 8, 2011)
• "Pilgrimage to Karbala | Sunni and Shia: The Worlds of Islam"
  PBS (March 26, 2007)
• "Yemen"
  World Factbook, CIA (last updated on March 8, 2011)

Saudi Arabia and Propping Up Mubarak

I've discussed Saudi Arabia before. Basically, I think the old guard in the desert kingdom is doing a pretty good job of trying to maintain a culture that was ancient when Abram moved out of Ur. Whether they should be trying to do so is another matter.

Anyway, here's something about Saudi Arabia and Egypt's president. Mubarak obviously has a few friends left.

"Saudi Arabia has threatened to prop up President Mubarak if the White House tries to force a swift change of regime in Egypt. In a testy personal telephone call on January 29, King Abdullah told President Obama not to humiliate Mr Mubarak and warned that he would step in to bankroll Egypt if the US withdrew its aid programme, worth $1.5 billion annually...."
(The Times (UK) (February 10, 2011))

Egypt's president Mubarak has been doing a fine job of humiliating himself, in my opinion: and doesn't need any help.

From the looks of it, back in 1981 Hosni Mubarak got the job as Egypt's president: liked it, and made sure that nobody else got elected. Can't say that I blame him, in a way. It's nice to have a steady paycheck, a degree of job security, and the perks that often come with an executive position.

I have nothing against autocracy as a form of government: in theory. In practice, autocrats seem unable to pay attention to what their subjects actually need. I've discussed that, recently, in another blog. (Apathetic Lemming of the North (February 5, 2011))

Don't get me wrong: as an American citizen, I like living in a constitution-based federal republic with strong democratic ('small d') traditions and a bicameral legislature. I just recognize that it's not the only sort of government that can adequately serve the people of a nation.

Still, we've got a pretty good system of checks and balances - and that's almost another topic.

More of today's posts:

• "Today's World: Not Boring; Not Simple"
  (February 10, 2011)

Saudi Arabia and the Servant Problem

This is - unexpected. And welcome news.

"Reports: Woman gets three years for abusing Indonesian maid"
CNN World (January 12, 2011)

"In what some say is a first for the kingdom, a Saudi woman has been sentenced to three years in prison for abusing her Indonesian maid, according to Saudi media reports.

"The woman was sentenced Sunday in Medina, the reports said. According to Saudi Arabian daily newspaper Al-Watan, the employer, who was not named, was sentenced under a new royal decree issued to combat human trafficking.

"The maid, Sumiati binti Mustapha Salan, 23, was hospitalized in November after being severely beaten. At the time, a migrant rights group and Indonesian officials told CNN that she had suffered cuts to her face and was also burned, possibly with an iron. The case, which outraged many in Indonesia, also brought international attention to an issue that has repeatedly made headlines in recent months -- the abuse of migrant workers in Middle Eastern nations...."

I'd be even more impressed if a man had been sentenced for this sort of crime: but this is a step in the right direction, in my opinion.

I'm not the House of Saud's biggest fan: but I've got a little sympathy for the folks living in Saudi Arabia who seem to be trying to reconcile the values and assumptions of a culture that was old when Abram moved out of Ur with an Information Age global society.

I also think that some critics of Saudi leadership have a point. It's likely, in my opinion, that the House of Saud wouldn't be addressing their culture's quaint methods of dealing with servants, if "international outrage," as the article put it, wasn't happening.

Related posts:

• "Ali Hussain Sibat wasn't Beheaded, Allegedly: That's Nice"
  (April 5, 2010)
• "Saudi Arabia, Lawyers and Women: Edging Toward the 17th Century"
  (February 20, 2010)
• "Saudi Arabia Lashes a Man - Credit Where Credit is Due"
  (October 7, 2009)
• "Saudi Women Protest Lingere Shops - It's Not What You Might Think"
  (March 26, 2009)
• "Saudi Arabia Bans Valentine's Day - and the Color Red"
  (February 10, 2009)

In the news:

• "Reports: Woman gets three years for abusing Indonesian maid"
  CNN World (January 12, 2011)

Ali Hussain Sibat wasn't Beheaded, Allegedly: That's Nice

Sometimes news from the desert kingdom ruled by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and a bunch of religious crazies is funny.

Recently, it's been anything but.

Ali Hussain Sibat was sentenced to have his head cut off last Friday. He had a fortune-telling show in Lebanon. You know: the sort of thing that American law has people label 'for entertainment purposes only.' I'm no fan to dial-a-psychic services and mediums. But executing someone? Because he's got a fortune-telling gig?? That's nuts.

Apparently, Ali Hussain Sibat wasn't beheaded Friday. I hope it's because someone with sense - and knowledge of how the rest of the world has been acting for the last thousand years or so - sat on the head of whoever was running that particular circus, and is trying to keep Saudi Arabia for making a fool of itself.

Again.

I'm a bit upset about this particular bit of cruelty. Not all that many people get hurt if religious sociopaths outlaw the color red. (I'm not making this up.) But grabbing a citizen of another country, and deciding that he should have his head cut off, is not acceptable in today's world. Unless someone's doing a remake of something like "Malice in the Palace" (1949).

I just hope that whoever's got his nose out of joint in Saudi Arabia over this Lebanese television personality can be reasoned with - or overpowered.

Related posts:

• "Lebanese Man Due for Beheading in Saudi Arabia"
  (March 31, 2010)
• "Ali Hussain Sibat, Islamic Law, and Getting a Grip"
  (March 19, 2010)
• "Saudi Arabia Bans Valentine's Day - and the Color Red"
  (February 10, 2009)

In the news:

• "Reprieve for 'sorcerer' sentenced to death by Saudi court"
  CNN (April 5, 2010)

Lebanese Man Due for Beheading in Saudi Arabia

I think it's safe to say that people who enjoy living on this side of the 16th century should stay well away from Saudi Arabia. In today's news:

"A Lebanese man charged with sorcery and sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia is scheduled to be beheaded on Friday, the man's lawyer said Wednesday.

"May El Khansa, the attorney for Ali Hussain Sibat, told CNN that she and Sibat's family were informed about the upcoming execution. She said she heard from a source in Saudi Arabia with knowledge of the case and the proceedings that Saudi authorities 'will carry out the execution.'..."
(CNN)

Saudi Arabia is an outstanding example of a nation that follows Islamic law - just ask them.

As I've said before, "With friends like these, Islam doesn't need enemies."

The House of Saud's enforcers got their hands on Sibat when he was in Saudi Arabia for the Islamic religious pilgrimage known as Umra. If the 'gotta go to Mecca' sort of pilgrimages didn't predate the family that runs that anachronistic kingdom, I'd wonder if those Islamic requirements were made to help the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques keep an eye on his franchise.

I've written about this sad case before.

Related post:

• "Ali Hussain Sibat, Islamic Law, and Getting a Grip"
  (March 19, 2010)

In the news:

• "Lawyer: Beheading planned in Saudi sorcery case"
  CNN (April 1, 2010)

Ali Hussain Sibat, Islamic Law, and Getting a Grip

With friends like these, Islam doesn't need enemies.

"TV presenter gets death sentence for 'sorcery' "
CNN (March 19, 2010)

"Amnesty International is calling on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to stop the execution of a Lebanese man sentenced to death for 'sorcery.'

"In a statement released Thursday, the international rights group condemned the verdict and demanded the immediate release of Ali Hussain Sibat, former host of a popular call-in show that aired on Sheherazade, a Beirut based satellite TV channel.

"According to his lawyer, Sibat, who is 48 and has five children, would predict the future on his show and give out advice to his audience.

"The attorney, May El Khansa, who is in Lebanon, tells CNN her client was arrested by Saudi Arabia's religious police (known as the Mutawa'een) and charged with sorcery while visiting the country in May 2008. Sibat was in Saudi Arabia to perform the Islamic religious pilgrimage known as Umra...."

The Saudi legal system seems to have, ah, interesting procedures. Ali Hussain Sibat's case apparently went to an appeals court. And bounced a few times.

"...The case was taken up by the Court of Appeal in the Saudi city of Mecca on the grounds that the initial verdict was 'premature.'

"El Khansa tells CNN that the Mecca appeals court then sent the case back to the original court for reconsideration, stipulating that all charges made against Sibat needed to be verified and that he should be given a chance to repent.

"On March 10, judges in Medina upheld their initial verdict, meaning Sibat is once again sentenced to be executed.

""The Medina court refused the sentence of the appeals court," said El Khansa, adding her client will appeal the verdict once more..."

Ali Hussain Sibat and his family are people I'm sincerely glad I'm not.

Diversity and Islam

At times like these, it's a little difficult to shake the impression that Islam is the property of the House of Saud. I've written before, though, about Muslims around the world stretching Islamic beliefs and practices over whatever culture they have.

I'll admit that it makes Islam one of the more colorful of the world's major religions. You've got everything from the lot that's running Sudan to Indonesia's people deciding what Islam is. Having no central authority (that I know of) probably helps.

In its own way, Islam is one of the finest examples of diversity on the planet.

Culture Shock

It's occurred to me that Islam may have lasted this long partly because until the last generation or so we didn't have transoceanic telephone cables, communications satellites, and the Internet.

Another few generations back, and telegraph service was the latest thing in information technology. I live in America, where we've kept up, at least: and I remember when you couldn't call someone in, say, Hong Kong or Mumbai without negotiating your way across the globe. Good grief. I remember when Mumbai was Bombay. ("Well, That's Interesting: Brooklyn and the Names of Things," Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (March 9, 2010))

Getting back on-topic:

Over the centuries, every Muslim who could had to go to Mecca at least once. My guess is that most of the foreign Muslims were savvy enough to keep quiet about their own culture's brand of Islam. Death threats, particularly from an area's rulers, get people's attention. Back in the 'good old days,' foreign Muslims might not know all that much about what was "Islamic" and what wasn't in Mecca when they started their journey. But they had plenty of time to pick up travelers' tales on the way.

No airlines, remember?

So the folks around Mecca probably didn't get shocked too often. When they did, the carnage that followed would probably ensure that the next set of pilgrims would have gotten word that you didn't do whatever horrific thing the deceased did.

Like wear the wrong kind of clothes.

Welcome to the Information Age

Until just a few generations ago, almost all the folks on the Arabian peninsula seem to have been living pretty much the same way that their ancestors did when Abram moved out of Ur and changed his name.

Things weren't exactly placid as the millennia rolled by. Energetic cultures like the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans shook things up a little: but that was mostly politics and warfare. As each empire in turn (Alexander the Great was from the area we call Greece these days) had its heyday and crumbled, the nomads and farmers lived in a way Abraham would have recognized and understood.

Then, about four and a half centuries back, someone invented a machine that knitted socks. That was, arguably, the start of the Industrial Revolution. A century earlier, somebody in Germany invented movable type. You could call that the start of the Information Age, although I'm inclined to use Jacquard loom's invention or the implementation of telegraph technology as a significant milestone.

Then as century followed century, canals were built, steam power developed, factories automated, robot spaceships sent out to explore the solar system, and hundreds of channels of cable programming made available to just about anybody with a dish antenna.

Meanwhile, Back on the Saudi Peninsula

Meanwhile, folks living around Mecca and Medina weren't being bothered much. Which seems to have suited them just fine. Change can be - and usually is - a bit difficult to deal with.

Then folks in Europe - a place that had been bothered, big time - developed machines that needed something with more power per pound than coal. Today, we've got nuclear reactors, are working on developing fusion reactors, and there's a promising development or two in antimatter production. But we're still using petroleum products.

A lot.

The Arabian Peninsula is mostly desert. But underground are some of the world's richest petroleum deposits.

We're Rich! Good News, Bad News

I've gotten the impression that the first generation or so of oil production in Arabia profited westerners more than the folks living there. But things change and a few decades back, sheiks with suitcases full of money were a staple news item. At least one of the mansions they built here in America set a new standard for tastelessness.

It's likely enough that they acted as - eccentrically? - as they did in large part because back home they'd have been executed for indulging their personal tastes. Over here, they were among foreigners who simply didn't care what you did with your place, aside from restrictions like how much yard you had to have. But as long as you didn't own a place with a neighborhood association, pretty much anything goes.

Loud taste in lawn ornaments, repressed for decades and suddenly released, is not a pretty sight.

But that's yet another topic.

More seriously, the folks back home were dragged over several thousands of years of cultural change in a generation or two. A world of burqas and Sharia law suddenly had things like individual rights, Barbies, soap operas, bikinis, Mickey Mouse, Ex-Lax, and Budweiser roaring in over satellite feeds with hundreds of television channels.

Islam as a House of Saud Franchise?

I'm pretty sure it's not, but as I said before, it's hard to shake the impression that Islam is a sort of franchise owned by the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques." (November 14, 2008) Many franchises let local owner-operators tailor the brand to local culture: just like Islam has been shaped to fit a wide variety of cultures.

I hope the House of Saud doesn't see it that way: and I'm not going off on that topic.

16th Century Values, 21st Century Information Technology

Seriously: I can see charging Ali Hussain Sibat with fraud, if he received goods or services from his listeners, in exchange for (bogus, I trust) predictions. But I'm an American: and fortune tellers are legal in most parts of the country, provided they have some sort of 'for entertainment purposes only' notice up.

I think it helps that Americans had to learn to live with people who didn't believe exactly what they did, since before the revolution. All those Protestant Christians who came over from England probably look like a homogeneous group to an outsider. But many came over because they were convinced that they alone were the true believers, and all the rest were wrong. There were a lot of groups like that.

But as the 13 colonies grew - and eventually got fed up with King George III - these mutually antagonistic groups learned that cooperation and coexistence are good ideas.

America has more diversity now, ethnically, culturally and religiously, which I think helps us keep from going (too) crazy over religious differences.

Which is a good thing for me. As a Catholic, I'm part of a religious minority. Which, getting back to Ali Hussain Sibat, means that I wouldn't touch anything like the sort of fortune telling he seems to do. Divination is something we're not supposed to do. (" 'If you must see ghosts ...' Materialism, Being Spiritual, and Uncle Deadly," A Catholic Citizen in America (December 18, 2009))

But, apart from protecting people from fraud, I wouldn't force my beliefs on anyone. It's against the rules.¹

And yes, I know about the Spanish Inquisition. If you're an American, it's well to remember that those legal proceedings came to America after being filtered and edited by the sincerely non-Catholic English culture. Henry VIII and all that.

And, as I've said before, America isn't perfect. (July 3, 2008)

But execute someone because he did on-air fortune telling? Get a grip. This is the post-Magna-Carta world. You don't like fortune telling? You think it's wrong? No problem. But get a grip: Tell people why you think it's wrong; don't kill them.

Related posts:

• "Indonesia, Islam, Adultery, Stoning, Burkinis, Divisiveness and the West"
  (October 13, 2009)
• "Afghan Husband Rapes Wife: Culture, Law, History, and Catching Up"
  (September 24, 2009)
• "Tolerance: Yes, it's a Good Idea"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 3, 2009)
• "Indonesia: Still Investigating the Jakarta Bombing"
  (July 19, 2009)
• "Indonesian Deradicalization Program Working: In Indonesia, at Least"
  (January 15, 2008)
• "Saudi Arabia, Lawyers and Women: Edging Toward the 17th Century"
  (February 20, 2010)
• "Another Stampede-Free Hajj: Credit Where Credit is Due"
  (November 29, 2009)
• "Make That Two Egyptian Doctors, a Saudi Princess, and Thousands of Lashes"
  (November 14, 2008)
• "Saudi Cleric Wants Women to Use One Eye - I'm Not Making This Up"
  (October 4, 2008)
• "It's Arabic, Is It Islamic?"
  (November 21, 2007)
• "Sudan, Women, Trousers, Culture and Common Sense"
  (September 7, 2009)
• "Darfur: Overview of the Current Mess, and Some Background"
  (April 23, 2008)
• "British Teacher Home from Sudan: Gillian Gibbons, Muslim Clerics, and a Teddy Bear named Mohammed"
  (December 3, 2007)
• "Islam, Christianity, Culture, and Kooks"
  (November 26, 2007)

In the news:

"TV presenter gets death sentence for 'sorcery' " CNN (March 19, 2010)
• "Group wants Saudia Arabia to stop execution over sorcery"
  CNN.com Blogs (rch 19, 2010)

More:

• "Saudi Arabia 'sorcery' death sentence upheld"
  Amnesty International USA (March 18, 2010)

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¹Like I said, I'm a Catholic, and we've got rules about a lot of things: including tolerance.

• "The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace"
  (Synod of Bishops, Vatican City) (2006)
• "Intervention by the Holy See Delebation at the International Consultative Conference on 'School Education in Relation to Freedom of Religion or Belief, Tolerance, and Non-Discrimination' " (Madrid)
  Vatican.va (November 54, 2001)

Those documents are about as dry as their titles suggest. But they give a pretty good look at what the Catholic Church really teaches - not what you hear on the evening news.

That 2001 document refers to a United Nations Conference. I'm not the biggest fan of the United Nations, but the Church works with them, and with the national governments of places like America, China and Haiti. About fifteen centuries back, we worked with the war bands of barbarian Europe (my ancestors, by the way). We'll work with anybody.

Saudi Arabia, Lawyers and Women: Edging Toward the 17th Century

It looks like Saudi Arabia is edging toward the 17th century in at least one sector of its culture.

America's first lawyer who was a woman was Margaret Brent, who came to the American colonies in 1638. (She asked for, but was denied, a vote in the Maryland Assembly: but that's another story.) (ABANow)

Saudi Arabia? Women may be allowed to be lawyers:

"Saudi Arabia's justice minister says his department is drafting a law that would allow female lawyers to argue legal cases in court for the first time.

"Sheik Mohammed al-Issa told reporters Saturday the bill will be issued in the coming days as part of the Saudi king's 'plan to develop the justice system.'..."

"...Women in Saudi Arabia are nearly totally segregated from men in public life."
(AP)

In September of 2008, the Saudi king made some remarkable statements about who was besmirching Islam's reputation. (September 27, 2008) If this apparent change in policy in Saudi Arabia's justice department goes through, it'll be evidence that the Saudi king was serious. And, just as important, able to take a country that has earned a reputation for bizarre official pronouncements and behavior a little closer to the present day.

Not that I expect - or would want - Saudi Arabia to become a 'republic with strong democratic traditions,' like America. I like it here: but I also recognize that not all countries are alike. (November 15, 2009)

But that's another topic.

Related posts:

• "Another Stampede-Free Hajj: Credit Where Credit is Due"
  (November 29, 2009)
• "Saudi Women Protest Lingere Shops - It's Not What You Might Think"
  (March 26, 2009)
• "House of Saud Lashes Old Woman: Another Tale from the Weird Side"
  (March 10, 2009)
• "Saudi Arabia Bans Valentine's Day - and the Color Red"
  (February 10, 2009)
• " 'Mecca is being blown into pieces' "
  (December 7, 2008)
• "An Egyptian Doctor, a Saudi Princess, and 1,500 lashes"
  (November 11, 2008)
• "Saudi Cleric Wants Women to Use One Eye - I'm Not Making This Up"
  (October 4, 2008)
• "Saudi Arabia's National Day, Islam, and Tribalism: This is Big"
  (September 27, 2008)
• "Chief Saudi Judge: Death to Network Owners!"
  (September 19, 2008)
• "Mickey Mouse Must Die! Agent of Satan Targeted by Saudi Cleric"
  (September 19, 2008)

In the news:

• "New Saudi Law Would Allow Women Lawyers in Court"
  The Associated Press, via FOXNews (February 20, 2010)

Another Stampede-Free Hajj: Credit Where Credit is Due

Something wasn't in the news this year: another stampede at the tent city of Mina.

Because, as far as I can tell, it didn't happen.

No News was Good News from Saudi Arabia

Looks like the Hajj is wrapping up for this year - or maybe it already has. Hajj is "the fifth pillar of Islam ... a pilgrimage to Mecca during the month of Dhu al-Hijja...." (Princeton's WordNet) - was, or is, in late November this year.

The date of the Hajj seems to jump around a bit, since it's based on a lunar calendar, and other factors. I don't see any thing unusual about someone not using a solar calendar - but then, I'm one of those people who celebrates Easter. The date of which is determined by another lunar calendar.

The famous - or infamous - stampedes have been at what Western news often calls the "stoning of the devil." Here's what CNN had to say about this year's event:

"...Jamarat is a re-enactment of an event when Prophet Abraham stoned the devil and rejected his temptations, according to Muslim traditions.

"The ritual stoning of three pillars, which occurs in the tent city of Mina -- about two miles from Mecca, was the scene of stampedes and many deaths in the 1980s and 1990s as pilgrims passed a crowded bottleneck area leading to the small pillars on the ground...."
(CNN)

With due respect to CNN, the eighties and nineties weren't the only period during which devout Muslims trampled their way into the world's headlines:

A short selection of regrettable incidents during the Hajj, so far in the 21st century:

• "Pilgrims killed in Mecca stampede"
  (March 5, 2001)
  • Stampede at stoning of the devil
• "Hajj ends peacefully"
  BBC News (February 24, 2002)
  • "Nearly two million Muslims have been performing the symbolic stoning of the devil at the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca - the Hajj...."
• "Fourteen killed in Hajj stampede"
  BBC News (February 11, 2003)
  • Stampede at stoning of the devil
• "Saudis review Hajj danger points"
  BBC News (February 2, 2004)
  • "Saudi Arabia is setting up a high-level group to redevelop Islam's holiest sites following a stampede that is now said to have killed 251 people...."
• "Hundreds killed in Hajj stampede"
  BBC News (February 1, 2004)
  • Stampede at stoning of the devil
• "Pilgrims 'stone Satan' for Hajj"
  BBC News (January 20, 2005)
  • No stampede
  • And: "A top Saudi cleric has urged Muslims to shun militant forms of Islam, as pilgrims carried out one of the final rituals of the Hajj...."
• "Hajj ritual sees new safety moves"
  BBC News (January 10, 2006)
  • "Saudi Arabia has deployed tens of thousands of stewards to stop stampedes..."
• "Hundreds killed in Hajj stampede"
  BBC News (January 12, 2006)
  • Stampede at stoning of the devil
• "Hajj pilgrimage draws to a close"
  BBC News (January 3, 2007)
  • "Millions of Muslims have taken part in the final day of the Hajj, which has passed without major incident after new security measures were introduced...."
• "In pictures: Hajj pilgrimage"
  BBC News (December 7, 2008)
  • My guess is that 'no news is good news'
• "Saudi security high as Hajj pilgrimage begins"
  BBC News (November 25, 2009)
  • Another year, no major disaster
  • "...The authorities have warned people not to stage protests and will use force if necessary...."
  • Video, 1:51

Note: as far as I can tell, newsworthy stampedes occurred in only in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2006. Counting 2000 as the first year of the 21st century, that means lethal stampedes were a part of only 4/10 of the pilgrimages.

I think one factor that helped this year was a major investment in the infrastructure for this year's Jamarat. According to CNN, Saudi Arabia put up $1,200,000,000 set of five pedestrian bridges - and three "massive pillars" to accommodate the millions on Muslims who came.

My hat's off to the House of Saud, for learning from experience: and making arrangements that didn't kill pilgrims this year. Also, for taking what appear to have been effective steps toward seeing to it that this year's Hajj was a religious event. Not a political one.

Looks like the king of Saudi Arabia saying, back in 2008, that terrorists were giving Islam a bad name may not have been a fluke. (September 27, 2008)

And, looks like another Hajj has passed (or is passing) without disaster, and without the seemingly-obligatory 'death to people we don't like' chants. Despite a few - ah, enthusiastic - Saudi clerics, the government of Sudan, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Somalia's own Al Shabaab, and assorted jihadist wannabes: I think it's possible to think that Islam isn't the hopelessly out-of-touch bunch of dangerous misfits who can't deal with a world where women are often allowed to drive.

Related posts:

• "In the News: Shaking it for Islam; Wannabe Jihadist Stopped"
  (October 21, 2009)
• "Indonesia, Islam, Adultery, Stoning, Burkinis, Divisiveness and the West"
  (October 13, 2009)
• "Afghan Husband Rapes Wife: Culture, Law, History, and Catching Up"
  (September 24, 2009)
• "Protesting Election Fraud is "Waging War Against God" - Ayatollah Khatami"
  (June 28, 2009)
• "Truck Bombing in Iraq: Lions of Islam Hit Another Mosque"
  (June 21, 2009)
• "Using a Kid to Bomb a Mosque: Non-Western Cultural Values, Just Plain Evil, or Something Else?"
  (June 12, 2009)
• "American Journalist Roxana Saberi: Fargo's Freedom; Iran's Ayatollahs"
  (April 14, 2009)
• "House of Saud Lashes Old Woman: Another Tale from the Weird Side"
  (March 10, 2009)
• "Canadian Mosque's 'Specialized De-Radicalization Intervention Program' - Sounds Good"
  (February 26, 2009)
• "What is Islam? Even Muslims Don't Seem to Agree"
  (February 6, 2009)
• "Make That Two Egyptian Doctors, a Saudi Princess, and Thousands of Lashes"
  (November 14, 2008)
• "Saudi Cleric Wants Women to Use One Eye - I'm Not Making This Up"
  (October 4, 2008)
• "Saudi Arabia's National Day, Islam, and Tribalism: This is Big"
  (September 27, 2008)
• "Honor Killing is Against Islam, Islamic Party Members Say"
  (September 7, 2008)
• "The Subway Project and 'Why Islam?' - Terrorists in the Subways! Or, Not"
  (July 23, 2008)
• "Pro-Islamic Ads Coming to New York City Subways: There's a Real Danger Here, of Becoming Informed"
  (July 21, 2008)

In the news:

• "A bridge to safety unveiled for Hajj stoning ritual"
  CNN (November 28, 2009)
• "Saudi Arabia warns against protests at Hajj"
  BBC News (November 23, 2009)

Background:

• "Hajj perils, ancient and modern"
  BBC News (March 5, 2001)
• "Hajj ends peacefully"
  BBC News (February 24, 2002)
  • Includes summary of six major Hajj disasters, 1987-2001

Saudi Arabia Lashes a Man - Credit Where Credit is Due

The desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia isn't the best advertisement for Islam. Particularly the way the leadership seems to focus on those women and their evil ways. Exposing both eyes for just anybody to see! Imagine!

This time, Saudi authorities sentenced a man to get lashed.

And, I think they have a point.

"A Saudi court on Wednesday sentenced a man who caused uproar by bragging about his sex life on television to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes, according to Ministry of Information officials.

"Mazen Abdul Jawad, a 32-year-old airline employee and divorced father of four, spoke openly about his sexual escapades, his love of sex and losing his virginity at age 14. He made the comments on Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, which aired the interview a few months ago.

"Saudi authorities shut down LBC offices in Jeddah and Riyadh after airing the interview on an episode of its popular show 'A Thick Red Line.' Abdul Jawad was arrested shortly after the program aired and charged with violating Saudi Arabia's crime of publicizing vice.

"On the program, Abdul Jawad is also shown in his bedroom, where he holds sexual aids up to the camera. The episode ends with him cruising the streets of Jeddah in his car looking for women...."
(CNN)

Mazen Abdul Jawad's apologized, and is thinking of filing a complaint, by the way: he says the show's people took a two-hour interview and boiled it down to the really juicy parts. If Saudi media works the way American media does, he probably has a point.

Still: some dude who's old enough to know better, showing off sex toys and going off to cruise for chicks - on camera?! In Saudi Arabia?!!

In a way, he deserves a lashing: for world-class stupidity. Paraphrasing the song title, "what was he thinking?"

I suppose I'm not broad minded enough to 'understand' the situation. I was born in an American subculture where you didn't call women 'broads,' 'dames,' or terms that might get this blog in trouble. I understand the terms 'chicks' and 'babes' are in more common use, now. I didn't need the bra-burning branch of women's lib to tell me that women were people.

Even now, after all the (progress?) America has gone through, I'm not really sure that chicks dig the idea of being seen mainly as a plaything: something for a dude to try out his new toy on.

But then, I'm very much out of step with the times.

Back to the Saudi sentence: I think the lashing thing is a bit over-the-top; on the other hand, the dude pulled a really dumb stunt - acting like that, on camera, in Saudi Arabia. You'd think he was a dumb blond.

Related posts:

• "Saudi Women Protest Lingere Shops - It's Not What You Might Think"
  (March 26, 2009)
• "House of Saud Lashes Old Woman: Another Tale from the Weird Side"
  (March 10, 2009)
• "Saudi Arabia Bans Valentine's Day - and the Color Red"
  (February 10, 2009)
• "An Egyptian Doctor, a Saudi Princess, and 1,500 lashes"
  (November 11, 2008)
• "Saudi Cleric Wants Women to Use One Eye - I'm Not Making This Up"
  (October 4, 2008)

In the news:

• "Saudi sex braggart gets 5 years, 1,000 lashes"
  CNN (October 7, 2009)

Saudi Women Protest Lingere Shops - It's Not What You Might Think

Just when you think you know a country - - -.

Saudi Arabia's authorities seem to have been going out of their way lately, trying to make their country look like it's a land of pathologically repressed people.

Then, something like this comes up. From the headline, I thought I'd be reading about some women in Saudi Arabia who had decided to shut down the lingerie industry, or at least drive it underground.

I hadn't been aware that there were women's lingerie shops in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Women Love Lingerie: It's the Clerks They Could Do Without

The problem seems to be that clerks in Lingerie stores in the desert kingdom are men. The article explains a little of the cultural reasons for it, but the bottom line is that Saudi women like to buy fancy, colorful - you get the picture - lingerie: but they'd much rather talk to a woman about cup sizes and fit.

I see their point.

Beware Assumptions

Saudi Arabia follows customs which demand very strict dress code on the street and in public. In the privacy of your own home, well, that's neither the street nor a public place.

Repressed? Maybe: but then again, maybe not.

Related Posts:

• "House of Saud Lashes Old Woman: Another Tale from the Weird Side"
  (March 10, 2009)
• "Saudi Arabia Bans Valentine's Day - and the Color Red"
  (February 10, 2009)
• "An Egyptian Doctor, a Saudi Princess, and 1,500 lashes"
  (November 11, 2008)
• "Saudi Cleric Wants Women to Use One Eye - I'm Not Making This Up"
  (October 4, 2008)

In the news:

• "Saudi women to spurn lingerie shops over salesmen"
  The Associated Press (March 25, 2009)

House of Saud Lashes Old Woman: Another Tale from the Weird Side

More weirdness from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' desert kingdom.

This time, a Saudi court sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman named Sawadi to deportation. First, though, she'll be lashed 40 times, and imprisoned for four months.

She's guilty of what, in Saudi Arabia, is a serious offense: lingering with men. Two of them. Much younger than she is. Who were bringing her bread. Five loaves. Sawadi seems to have been accused of corrupting them, too. Which, considering that she asked them to bring the bread, is sort of true.

Providing that you really think that bringing bread to an old woman warrants lashing her 40 times.

This may sound crazy, but in Saudi Arabia it's the law. As enforced by the 'religious police.' Or, more formally, The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. (Translated into English)

The religious police are the chaps who enforced the 'no-red' rule on Valentine's Day this year.

"...The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, feared by many Saudis, is made up of several thousand religious policemen charged with duties such as enforcing dress codes, prayer times and segregation of the sexes. Under Saudi law, women face many restrictions, including a strict dress code and a ban on driving. Women also need to have a man's permission to travel...." (CNN)

Saudi Arabia: Leader of the Islamic World, or a Sort of Sideshow?

Islam got started in what is now Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia's king seems to take quite an interest in Islam: hence the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" title.

How good a representative he and his religious police are is, I think, a point that Muslims around the world should consider. Seriously.

In a way, the antics of Saudi Arabia's rulers shouldn't be in a War on Terror blog. But, since this conflict involves what some people think Islam ought to be, and since Saudi Arabia is thought by some (including, apparently the king), I think it's reasonable now and again to discuss the Keystone Cops show that passes for Saudi law and justice.

Related Posts:

• "Saudi Arabia Bans Valentine's Day - and the Color Red"
  (February 10, 2009)
• "What is Islam? Even Muslims Don't Seem to Agree"
  (February 6, 2009)
• "An Egyptian Doctor, a Saudi Princess, and 1,500 lashes"
  (November 11, 2008)
• "Saudi Cleric Wants Women to Use One Eye - I'm Not Making This Up"
  (October 4, 2008)
• "Mickey Mouse Must Die! Agent of Satan Targeted by Saudi Cleric"
  (September 19, 2008)
• " 'Will the Real Islam, Please Stand Up?' "
  (February 6, 2008)
• "Saudi Arabia's National Day, Islam, and Tribalism: This is Big"
  (September 27, 2008)
• "Muslims Are Not All Alike"
  (August 19, 2007)
• "More about 'Yeh Hum Naheen' / 'This is Not Us' "
  (August 9, 2007)

In the news

• "Saudi court sentences 75-year-old woman to lashes"
  The Associated Press (March 9, 2009)
• "Saudis order 40 lashes for elderly woman for mingling"
  CNN (March 9, 2009)

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.

Saudi Arabia Bans Valentine's Day - and the Color Red

News from Saudi Arabia, that kingdom ruled by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is getting to be a sort of blooper reel of 'Islamic' beliefs.

Valentine's Day - and Red - Banned

I am not making this up. The BBC and a few other news services ran articles last year, about the desert kingdom's determination to protect its citizens from un-Islamic holidays like Valentine's Day. And the color red, at least around February 14.

There's some logic to banning Valentine's Day. It is quite un-Islamic: The full name of the holiday is Saint Valentine's Day, after all.

Boys and Girls Together - Call the Religious Police!

And, what seems to trouble the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and his religious police at least as much, Valentine's Day is thought to encourage relations between men and women.

Shocking, from the Saudi point of view.

As BBC put it last year, "Saudi Arabian authorities impose a strict Islamic code that prevents men and women from mixing." (BBC) It can't be a total ban, or they'd have run out of Saudi subjects a long time ago. People die, and need to be replaced, you know.

Saudi Arabia Takes No Chances: Officials Ban Red from Shops

Saudi authorities were taking no chances in 2008, when "The Saudi Gazette quoted shop workers as saying that officials had warned them to remove all red items including flowers and wrapping paper." (BBC)

Saudi Arabia Gets Economic Stimulus: Black Market in Red Roses

It's risky, but Saudis can, I understand, get black market roses. For a price. Or, if they've got the cash, they can go out of the country around this time of year, and enjoy a breath of fresh air. And, roses.

Apparently the ban on roses and red in Saudi Arabia is seasonal - but the ban on men and women getting together seems to be year-round.

Seriously, Now

The antics of Saudi authorities are funny - to someone who doesn't live under their rule. And isn't a Muslim.

I think there's good reason to believe that the atavistic weirdness that comes out of Saudi Arabia is at least partly a reflection of an ancient, isolated culture that was ripped out of the time of Abraham and dropped into the Industrial Age.

Then, as the leaders of this desert kingdom were grappling with the alien beliefs that petroleum wealth had exposed them to, Western civilization changed again. Satellite television, the Web, and the rest of Information Age technology isn't making the job of keeping Saudi Arabia anchored in a bygone age any easier.

Maybe it's no surprise that Saudi leadership seems a little frantic now and again.

On the other hand, what got said on Saudi Arabia's National Day may be a sign that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is aware that Saudi Arabia has to change, or become a sort of cultural museum piece.

Islam, or Ancient Practice?

I could be wrong about this, but Saudi Arabian tradition and Islam may not be quite the same thing. I think it's possible that the Saudi 'death to Mickey Mouse,' 'ban the roses,' approach to post-Magna Carta phenomena is not so much 'Islamic' as a set of cultural preferences: whose fans use their version of Islam as an authority to back them up.

Related Posts:

• "An Egyptian Doctor, a Saudi Princess, and 1,500 lashes"
  (November 11, 2008)
• "Saudi Arabia's National Day, Islam, and Tribalism: This is Big"
  (September 27, 2008)

In the news:

• "Red Roses Hit the Black Market as Saudis Ban Valentine's Day Gift"
  FOXNews (February 10, 2009)
• "Saudi Arabia bans sale of red roses"
  guardian.co.uk (February 12, 2008)
• "Saudis clamp down on valentines"
  BBC (February 11, 2008)

Thanks to T Town Tommy, for providing the URL of last year's BBC article.

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.

---

UPDATE (February 12, 2009)

Saudi Arabia is up to it's old tricks again this year:

"Religious police break hearts in Saudi Arabia"
The Associated Press (February 12, 2009)

"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Just days before Valentine's Day, a young Saudi woman desperately searched for a red teddy bear to buy for her boyfriend. But all Nof Faisal could find were blue and white ones, minus the "I love you" she wanted hers to declare.

"It's not because the store couldn't keep up with demand. It is because fear of the religious police forced the store's owner to strip the shelves of all red items, including the hottest-selling item: heart-festooned red plastic handcuffs inscribed, 'Take me, I'm yours.'..."

Why I Call "Knights in Support of the Invasion" Islamic

A few minutes ago I wrote a post about the Facebook group, "Knights in Support of the Invasion." I called it an Islamic group.

A Muslim, whose word I have no reason to disbelieve, said, "...that's the whole truth, we are a part of a peaceful religion...."

If I believe the 'peaceful religion' person, why would I call "Knights in Support of the Invasion" Islamic?

I Let People Define Themselves

In general, I prefer to let people define themselves. For example, if someone says, "I am a Democrat," or "I'm a Christian," or "I'm a vegetarian," I'm not likely to say "no, you're not."

If I've got fact-based reasons for thinking that the person isn't acting the way a Democrat, Christian, or vegetarian, might be expected to behave, I might point that out. I might even, if - say - the vegetarian was chowing down on a 16-ounce porterhouse steak at the time - come right out and say that there's specific reason to believe that the person isn't what he or she claims to be.

But, I don't know enough about Islam to say that Facebook's "Knights in Support of the Invasion" isn't Islamic. They claim to support Islam, and the group is (or was) focused on that support, so I think it's reasonable to say that it's Islamic.

Besides, the membership of Muslim clerics, prominent ones, who are subjects of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, seem to affirm that "Knights in Support of the Invasion" is an Islamic group.

With so many flavors of Islam around, I'm not going to be the one to say 'this is Islamic,' and 'this is not Islamic.' Besides, the closest thing that Islam seems to have to an authority, clerics under the ruler of the House of Saud, seem to think that the "Knights in Support of the Invasion" version is the real McCoy.

Related posts:

• "Islamic 'Knights in Support of the Invasion' Group on Facebook Shut Down: Censorship, or Common Sense?"
  (December 20, 2008)
• "'Will the Real Islam, Please Stand Up?' "
  (February 6, 2008)

Mediterranean Internet Cables Accident-Prone?

Three Internet cables snapped in the week spanning the end of January and the first of February this year. Two were in the Mediterranean, near Egypt, the other was in the Persian Gulf.

This week, the trouble is about a thousand miles west of Alexandria, where January's first break happened. (8.3 kilometers from Alexandria, to be exact.)

There's been another cable break. Three, actually. Between Sicily and Tunisia. Europe, the Middle East and Asia are having trouble communicating with each other. There's still no word on what severed the cables.

A France Telecom spokesman said that whatever it was, it probably wasn't an attack.

When the January/February accident cluster happened, I wrote: "If a fourth, or fifth, or sixth cable gets cut in the next few days, I'll start re-evaluating my 'cluster of accidents' opinion."

This is way beyond "the next few days," so I don't have to re-evaluate.

Sicily

View Larger Map

Quite a few people have been offline:

• India lost 65% of traffic
• Qatar and Djibouti, on the Gulf of Aden lost 70% of traffic
• Maldives Indian Ocean islands lost 100% of their traffic

Other countries with severe outages:

• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Saudi Arabia
• Egypt
• Taiwan
• Pakistan
  (AFP)

Today's three-way break shows how sensitive - and flexible - the global communications network is. Quite a bit of traffic between Europe and Asia was re-routed through America, reducing the impact.

So, do I think this is some kinda plot? No. Although I'm a little impressed at France Telecom's statement: "The causes of the cut, which is located in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia, on sections linking Sicily to Egypt, remain unclear," followed closely by the assurance that it wasn't an attack.

I could imagine the scene in a movie: a massive communications blackout happens. The company spokesman comes on camera and says, "we don't know what happened, but we're sure it wasn't an attack." In a movie, that would a clue to the audience that it was an attack.

This is the real world, so it's possible that broken undersea cables in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf are accidents - the sort of thing that happens where there's a lot of traffic.

I'm getting increasingly interested in the growing number of coincidences, though.

Cut cables, earlier this year:

• Wednesday, January 30, 2008 -
  Egypt undersea communications cables cut
• Friday, February 1, 2008 -
  Persian Gulf undersea cable cut
  (International Herald Tribune (February 1, 2008), BBC (February 4, 2008))

Related post:

• "Cable Cuts, Accident Clusters, and the Information Age"
  (February 2, 2008)

In the news:

• "Severed cables bring down phone lines linking Europe, Asia, Mideast"
  AFP (December 19, 2008)
• "The ten most noteworthy web and network incidents for 2008"
  ComputerWeekly (December 19, 2008)
• "Internet provider in Emirates confirms undersea cable cut in Persian Gulf between Dubai, Oman, cause unknown"
  International Herald Tribune (February 1, 2008)
• "New cable cut compounds net woes"
  BBC (February 4, 2008)

"Mecca is being blown into pieces"

Irreplaceable buildings in Mecca have been destroyed. The city that's close to every Muslim's heart has lost:

• The house of Muhammad's first wife Khadija
• The Dar al-Arqam

As a historian, I'm very sorry to learn that the house where Muslims believe the Prophet received some revelations of the Quran; and the first Islamic school, where Muhammad taught, have been destroyed. I'm pretty sure that Muslims feel the loss even more.

From the sounds of it, more of Mecca's treasures will soon be gone.

"Mecca is being blown into pieces," is the way that Islamic architecture Sami Angawi put it. (TimesOnline (December 6, 2008))

Rebuilding Mecca

Americans call this sort of thing 'urban renewal,' and it can get messy.

But sometimes rather important. About 1,3000,000 people live in Mecca year-round. Many more come each year, for the Haj: around 2,000,000, more than doubling the population. Make that 3,000,000. Any time you have that many people in one place, there's going to be trouble. Particularly if streets, walkways, and the rest of the city isn't really built to handle the crowds.

Saudi Arabia has avoided a repeat of the 1990 disaster, when 1,426 died, but I get the impression that Mecca's infrastructure still has problems. Body counts are still pretty high:

Year	Event	Deaths
1997	Fire	343
1998	trampling	118
2004	stampede	251
2006	stampede	363

(TimesOnline (December 6, 2008), BBC (March 5, 2001))

That may be why the House of Saud has decided to do a whole lot of remodeling in Mecca. I could be cynical about members of the royal family owning contractors who will be involved, but this is Saudi Arabia. That territory seems to be run the way places were in Europe, back in the feudal period. Whoever was sat on the throne, owned the territory. So, it would be a little odd if a major construction project didn't involve a member of the royal house.

Sensitivity Training for the House of Saud?

Islamic architecture expert Sami Angawi says that he's not against Western influence, but that local experts should be involved in re-building a mosque. I see his point.

Particularly since none of the architects are Saudi, and some aren't Muslim - and so won't be allowed to enter Mecca. I understand that many architects believe that buildings should fit their environment. I'd think that a person would learn more about a place by going there, rather than relying on photographs and maps made by someone else.¹

I was quite impressed that Foster & Partners - headed by Lord Foster - is part of the team that will be working on the northern expansion of the Haram mosque. I'm not sure what to think. Maybe King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, wants to show how global-minded he is. Or maybe he figures there aren't any Saudi architects who can handle the job.

Mr Angawi said that this isn't the Saudi Arabia of the fifties: " 'There is a lot of expertise right here in Saudi Arabia. It is not 50 years ago. We have the knowledge to do this ourselves.' "

Sounds to me like the Saudi king isn't quite in touch with his subjects' feelings - or that he's looking at more important things.

Coming Soon to Mecca: Hajorama!

Mecca already has Top Shop and Starbucks. When King Abdullah's project is finished, four years or so from now, Mecca will have 130 new skyscrapers, including a complex with seven towers and:

• A hotel with 2,000 rooms
• A convention center for 1,500 people
• Heliports
• A four-story shopping mall

The Abraj al-Bait Towers will be one of the biggest buildings in the world.

In a way, it's nice to see that Dubai isn't the only place in the Middle East where the leaders think big. And I think there's some sense to plans for catering to wealthy Muslims who want to visit Mecca. Saudia Arabia's oil won't last forever, and developing alternative sources of revenue is prudent.

And, I don't have a problem with businesses that provide goods and services to people engaged in religious pursuits. Although some of the 'Jesus junk' I've seen is amazingly tacky.

On the other hand, I think that some Muslims won't be entirely happy about Mecca's projected commercial and retail developments.

Terrorists Targeting: Mecca?!

I know: it's hard to imagine terrorists who claim to be defending Islam blowing up buildings and killing people in Mecca. But I wouldn't be all that surprised if it happens in the next decade.

It wouldn't be the first time that outfits like Al Qaeda or the Taliban hit a holy place that was in the way of their vision of Islam. Remember Samarra's Golden Dome mosque? the 2006 bombing of the Askariya Shiite shrine pretty much destroyed the Golden Dome, another attack in 2007 took out two minarets. (International Herald Tribune (June 13, 2008))

I've gotten the impression that it's mostly Shiite targets that get hit, like the one last month in Peshawar (BBC (November 24, 2008). That would seem to give Mecca, which apparently is in Sunni territory, a sort of immunity.

But, once in a while, it's a Sunni mosque, that gets bombed. Like the one in Zubair. (ABC News (June 15, 2007)) From what I've heard and read, the attacks on Sunni targets sometimes happen after a Shiite target is hit - which may be a response to an earlier attack on a Sunni site: And so on. You get the idea.

Given the Middle East's history of using bombings, beheadings, and shootings as a medium of communication, I think it's quite possible that some self-styled lions of Islam will voice their displeasure with economic development in Mecca with explosives, or something else lethal and indiscriminate.

In the news:

• "SAUDI ARABIA: Revamping Islam's holiest site"
  Los Angeles Times (December 7, 2008)
• "Gherkin designer Norman Foster must keep hands off Mecca, insists Muslim architect"
  TimesOnline (December 6, 2008)
• "Pakistan mosque blast hurts eight"
  BBC (November 24, 2008)
• "Golden Dome mosque is bombed again"
  International Herald Tribune (June 13, 2007)

Background:

• "Mecca"
  Holy Pilgrimage Site for Muslims
  About.com
• "Pilgrims killed in Mecca stampede"
  BBC (March 5, 2001)
Abraj al-Bait
skyscraperpage.com
• "Lord Norman Robert Foster"
  Structurae
• "Building the Gherkin"
  (about the Swiss Re London headquarters in London)
  artfilm.ch

¹ This won't be the first time that outsiders have had to deal with Mecca's special requirements. Ten years back, a Los Angeles company, won the bid to rewire the sound system in Mecca's mosques. Most of the project was done in a California warehouse, by American engineers. They put the sound system together and tested it there, because they weren't allowed to enter Mecca. A team of Muslim mosque technicians went to Los Angeles, where they learned how to install and run the system. On top of that, since the system mustn't handle any sound except an imam reading from the Quran, someone invented a way of testing the speakers - without sound.(TimesOnline (December 6, 2008)

The TimesOnline article leaves it vague, which set of technicians invented a soundless sound system check.

Mecca Maps

View Larger Map


View Larger Map

Quran On Demand Text Service - By an Israeli Company

I think this is a great idea, but then: I'm no Muslim.

Pelephone has a Quran text service. Muslims in Palestine can get verses of the Koran on their mobile phones. I understand that the Salah prayer routine should be done five times a day - so this should be a big help.

The screen display looks like an actual Quran that users can scroll through

It's New, So it Must be an Attack on Islam?

Happily, no Imam has issued a fatwa against Pelephone's Quran text service. Yet.

In fact, a researcher of Islam, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, thinks it's a good idea: " 'I'm not a subscriber yet, but I think it's a very practical idea. As a researcher, I can see myself going into the Koran via a 3G phone and urgently retrieving a specific verse. It's certainly something accessible and good. I also think that the Muslim community very much likes all the technological innovations on the market,' " he said in a Haaretz.com article.

It's early days, though. The service is a couple weeks old, so some Muslim leaders may not have heard of it yet. I can see a few objections right off the bat:

• Pelephone is owned by Bezeq
  • That's the Israel Telecommunication Corporation Ltd.
  • Jews?!
  • Providing a Quran text service??!!
• Pelephone has had a similar service for the Christian Bible for about six months
  • Words of the Holy Quran getting mingled with un-Islamic text on the cell phone channels?!
  • And/or -
    How dare these Jews insult Islam by having this service for those Christians before us?
• This service could lead to great evil
  • Like men and women praying in the same room

That's Ridiculous! Muslims Wouldn't Act That Way

Many wouldn't: and don't. Quite a few Muslims, unhappily, aren't the best spokespersons for their beliefs. Or, rather, for what I sincerely hope the beliefs of Islam are.

Islam doesn't have a monopoly on crackpots, of course. On the other hand, the ruler of the House of Saud, in his self-proclaimed capacity as "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" is running a kingdom that doesn't quite seem to have made the transition into the thirteenth century. Examples:

• The head of Saudi Arabia's highest tribunal declared open season on network owners.
• A former Saudi diplomat to Washington, D.C identified Mickey Mouse is one of Satan's soldiers
• A highly-respected Saudi cleric said that women should only use one eye at a time when they're let outside

And that's just in the last half of 2008. Then, there's the case of the Egyptian doctor who was sentenced to death by slow torture.

Granted, "death" wasn't in the sentence. But, when you put a 53-year-old man in a Saudi prison and lash him 1,500 times over a period of 15 years: death isn't too unlikely. It works out to about 70 lashes a week, by the way. Another doctor was sentenced, too. The charge seems to be malpractice. A Saudi princess demanded morphine. When she got her way, she 'then' became an addict. So the doctor must be flogged. Probably to death.

It's not just Saudi Arabia, of course: there's a fairly steady stream of things like the strange case of the teddy bear vs. Islam in Sudan. As I've said before, with friends like these, Islam doesn't need enemies.

No News Will be Good News

If this dial-a-Quran service doesn't get in the news again, that will be very good news. I sincerely hope that devout Muslims in that part of the world can accept an assist from Information Age technology. Even if it doesn't come from a pure Islamic source.

Finally, some good sense from " '"The integration of Muslim ideas that were born in the seventh century with 21st century gadgets is a welcome phenomenon. In my class, for example, there are Arab students who download ringtones from the Internet that are the Adhan, the chant the muezzin uses for reciting the call to prayer. When they forget to turn off their cellphones, I suddenly hear the muezzin in the middle of my class.' " (Haaretz.com (November 24, 2008))

In the news:

• "Israeli Company Provides Muslim Text on the Go"
  FOXNews (December 1, 2008)
• "God speaking "
  Haaretz.com (November 24, 2008)

Background:

• Pelephone Business Profile
  (this page is mostly in English)

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.

Pirates Hijack Saudi Supertanker: Not the Brightest Idea?

It's a familiar plot device in several genre:

• The cattle rustler who steals a herd belonging to "Vengeance" Sutton, the biggest cattle baron in the state
• The pickpocket with the score of a lifetime: "Icepick" Grogan's numbers receipts for the day
• The cutpurse who relieves a shabby stranger of his pouch, and finds some very odd jewelry
  • Mordu the Necromancer wants his tools back

Somali pirates may have finally hijacked the wrong ship.

Pirates Anchor Saudi Supertanker off Somali Coast

The Saudi supertanker Sirius Star was carrying around 2 million barrels of oil. That's about a quarter of a day's output for Saudi Arabia. Not exactly chump change.

The pirates almost certainly want money in exchange for the supertanker, its cargo and crew.

The House of Saud wants them gone.

Pirates, Ransom, Common Sense, and History

The Somali transitional government's prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, says that shipping companies should stop paying ransom to pirates. (CNN) Sounds reasonable to me. Giving pirates money when they hijack a ship isn't what a behaviorist would recommend, if your goal is to have fewer hijackings.

It's easy for me to say that: I don't have captive relatives. Some Ukrainian families seem to have raised money for a ransom (The Standard), and I sympathize with them. I'd want my kinfolk back, too.

On the other hand, it is probably a good idea to stop the pirates. And paying them, so they can hijack more ships, isn't the way to do it.

We've been through this before. A few centuries back, the Barbary Pirates had a lucrative business going, until an upstart former English colony sent in the Marines.

I know: quite a few people feel that it's 'simplistic' to think that military action might be considered. I'd just as soon have the Somali piracy issue resolved through sweet reason alone. But I doubt that the pirates will give up their profits, and think it's unlikely that many countries and companies will have the hard clarity of vision it takes to not pay ransom.

Not the Best Time to Insult the House of Saud

I imagine that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques was already in a less-than-sunny frame of mind, what with dropping oil prices. Under the circumstances, I'd say that the Somali pirates could have picked a better time to steal his ship and his oil: insulting him in the process.

America's Stake in Somali Piracy

There's some truth to the tired old 'it's all about oil' slogan. In common with every other industrial and post-industrial culture on the planet, America needs petroleum to keep running. We're working on alternatives, but right now oil is important.

Which is one reason why the American Navy is helping keep an eye on the Somali coast. The USS Destroyer Howard is, as far as I can tell, still stationed there, along with warships from a number of other countries.


USS Howard (DDG 83)
(From the official website of the USS Howard)

I don't have a problem with that. The Howard's mission is "to conduct prompt, sustained combat operations at sea in support of carrier battle groups, surface action groups, amphibious assault groups and stands ready to become an integral part of interdiction forces." ("USS Howard's Mission") The current task, monitoring a hijacked Ukrainian ship, sailing under a Belize flag, seems to be part of its mission.

But, if there's trouble somewhere else in that part of the world - hardly unlikely these days - either the Somali mission will have to be abandoned, or the American Navy will have one less destroyer to work with.

Related posts:

• "American Destroyer USS Howard Watching Ukrainian Ship With Belize Flag and Russian Tanks Taken by Somali Pirates: Nothing's Simple, These Days "
  (September 27, 2008)
• "Barbary Pirates, Tribute, and Tripoli "
  (November 12, 2007)

In the news:

• "Saudis label pirates 'terrorists' after $100m loss"
  TimesOnline (UK) (November 18, 2008)
  Text article and video (1:14)
• "Seized tanker anchors off Somalia"
  Al Jazeera (November 18, 2008)
• "Pirates grab more ships, captured tanker docked"
  CNN (November 18, 2008)
• "Somalia pirates hijack ship and release another after ransom"
  The Standard (November 18, 2008)
• "Pirates take 'super tanker' toward Somalia"
  CNN (November 17, 2008)
• "Gasoline prices tumble in California, U.S."
  Los Angeles Times (November 18, 2008)

Make That Two Egyptian Doctors, a Saudi Princess, and Thousands of Lashes

A Saudi judge sentencing a doctor to 15 years and 1,500 lashes may be a bigger deal than I thought. Sure, it will almost certainly be a case of death by slow torture, but this is Saudi Arabia: They do things the old-fashioned way there.

Apparently, Egyptians and the Egyptian government don't see eye-to-eye with Saudi justice in this case.

More details are seeping into the news over here. Turns out there are two doctors involved. Rauf Amin Mohammad al-Arabi, who we heard about earlier, and Shawky Abd-Rabbu. They were convicted of prescribing morphine to a Saudi princess. She "then" became a drug addict.

Looks like she may have been prescribed morphine in America, and told the Egyptian docs to give her morf. There are at least two ways to look at this:

• It's the fault of the Americans
• Princess was a junkie when she met the doctors

The doctors denied the allegations, and got their sentences doubled to the 1,500-lash level when they appealed.

If what a family member says is true, we get an interesting look at Islamic justice, Saudi style:

"The sister of Abd-Rabbu said her brother was coerced into making false confessions and the Saudi authorities had threatened to imprison his wife who is also working in the kingdom."
(BBC)

A story about a princess who gets a trusted old doctor and his colleague killed by slow torture might have been mildly entertaining as a bad B-movie flick.

Being played out in real life, it's appalling.

The Egyptian government has banned more Egyptian doctors going to work in Saudi Arabia. The ones who are there already can stay and take their chances. Smart move, I'd say, as far as it goes.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the House of Saud's very own Islamic law rules the land, and the Saudi royal family won't comment on the little issue of the princess and the flogged doctors.

The Saudi king's official title translates as "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques." I wonder if this "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" has any clue, what this sort of barbaric 'justice' does to the perception of Islam outside his borders?

Change in the Middle East?

The BBC article wraps up with "Egyptian newspapers blame their own government, which they say suffers an inferiority complex when it comes to dealing with the oil rich Saudis, says our correspondent."

I could be wrong, but the House of Saud may be losing its grip on the respect of the rest of the Middle East. And that could lead to less 'pure' forms of Islam getting a hearing. Which might not be such a bad thing: at least for doctors dealing with very rich and influential patients.

Related post:

• "An Egyptian Doctor, a Saudi Princess, and 1,500 lashes "
  (November 11, 2008)

In the news:

• "Egypt halts doctor visas to Saudi"
  BBC (November 13, 2008)