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Kingdom Bans Demonstrations

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Thus went the headline in today's Arab News, our main daily newspaper. Following is the first paragraph:
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that it would not allow any demonstrations or sit-in protests in the country that are aimed at undermining the Kingdom’s security and stability. “Laws and regulations in the Kingdom totally prohibit all kinds of demonstrations, marches and sit-in protests as well as calling for them as they go against the principles of Shariah and Saudi customs and traditions,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said such demonstrations not only breach the Kingdom’s law and order but also encroach on the rights of others.

We also note the letter-to-the-editor prominently displayed on the same webpage:
Your Majesty:
As a Saudi national, I am writing to say how pleased I am to see your return to the Kingdom after successful medical treatment abroad. I am sure this feeling is shared by all Saudis, since your citizens not only hold you in high esteem but you are also, in an unprecedented way, very close to the heart of all Saudis and indeed the symbol of reform and stability in our country. What you have done for the Kingdom since you became our king will not be forgotten and will be revered for all time.

A casual reader might think the letter is simplistic fawning, planted by the king's p.r. department? But no, the rest of the long letter actually details intelligent proposals for reform, written by a well-known columnist here. Your humble expatriate blogger here hopes that the King takes these reform suggestions to heart -- by all accounts, the current king is the most enlightened of the line thus far, so we all have hopes that he will voluntarily make some of these reforms: written constitution; clear political rights; decentralizing development planning; independent judiciary; more comprehensive education; ...and I think he actually calls for the disbanding of the religious police, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vices. I heartily agree, as the Commission serves as cover for vigilante interference in what nearly every other modern society would say are harmless personal choices -- last week they crashed a book fair (while the government's culture minister was attending!) and grabbed the microphone to scold the participants.

In the meantime, following NYT columnist N.Kristof's insightful and heartfelt commentaries -- his latest,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/opinion/06kristof.html?_r=1&hp
is a good effort to try to move the conversation forward, in what seems to be a widely-felt hope for new models developing in the Middle East.

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