This is a self-reflection post on how I relate and try to understand change happening thus far in Saudi Arabia. I look back at 2018, perhaps like others, with mixed feelings. As someone who comes from the most conservative region in the Kingdom, Al-Qassim, I have always been apprehensive about change. My parents, both from […]
Takhwin: A Present Day Witch-Hunt
Those familiar with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible know that the play is inspired by the events of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692. Miller wrote the play in the 1950s during the era of McCarthyism in the United States. Communist influence was considered a threat and accusations […]
The Evolution of the Culture of Exclusion
Observers of the social media scene in Saudi Arabia may have noticed a growing sense of nationalism among its users. Expressing nationalist sentiments has become a ritual and an important part of the daily life of Saudis. The strong sense of nationalism coincided with the disappearance of any other critical voice. Has nationalism contributed to the evolution of […]
Filling the Void (2): Nationalism
Earlier this year, I wrote a post on the declining influence of religious figures in Saudi Arabia and how this could leave a void ready to be filled with something else. Within a few months, a growing nationalist sentiment swept social media and became the new body to fill this void. For decades, tribalism and […]
The Fight Against the Muslim Brotherhood in the Education Sector
The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood has been a turbulent one. Formally listed in 2014 as a terrorist organization, the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood began to be actively challenged. However, their power over the education sector is considered the most problematic. Ahmed Al-Issa, Minister of Education, expressed in March that “the invasion […]