Saudis resort to blogs to call for change

By Abdel Wahab El Saleh in Riyadh
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-04-29

[FAHD SHADEED/AFP/Getty Images] Ahmed al-Omran writes the Saudi Jeans blog.

When Saudi blogger Khuloud al-Fahd wanted to open a sports club for women, she found out that Saudi law only allows men-only clubs.

To lobby for her cause, she started an online campaign.

"Without the internet, there would have been no campaigns to get Saudi women their rights," al-Fahd said.

Al-Fahd believes the internet has become the most important channel for communication in the Kingdom. In her blog posts on "Culture Tavern", al-Fahd often details her frustration with Saudi laws. "

Such a beautiful virtual world gave me the best friendships," said al-Fahd. "It created a wide space for me, away from the restrictions on my thinking and the pre-judged concept of freedom that they want to impose on me... The internet had a huge impact on improving freedom of expression," she said.

Like Al-Fahd, many Saudi men and women are finding shelter in the virtual world of the internet as they attempt to initiate change.

According to the Saudi government, the number of Saudi internet users increases every year by 10% to 15%. Statistics show that there were 200,000 internet users in December 2000, while in 2009 they reached 7.7 million, out of a total population of 28.1 million.

However, the internet has come under fire by some conservatives.

Two clerics, Othman al-Khamis and Saad al-Ghamidi, issued religious decrees declaring that internet use is unlawful for women because of "the vileness of their intent". A woman, according to the fatwa, cannot use the internet "without a close relative who is knowledgeable about the fornication and wiliness of women".

But these beliefs are met by online forums spreading a freer exchange of dialogue in a society that is often not open to alternative views. Some of these forums have come under cyber attacks, while others have been blocked because of the boldness of their proposals and discussions.

The Tawa 2001 discussion forum was the first online Saudi effort to play a major role in spreading this counter-culture. It eventually closed under pressure from Saudi religious authorities. Other discussion forums followed, and each had to withstand cyber attacks or strong pressure to stop publication from extreme religious proponents.

Many Saudi internet users eventually turned to blogs, and Saudi Blogs was launched. The group's primary condition is that a "blog must not cause harm to any of the religions in any form and distance itself from fanaticism and racism in all its forms." In addition, bloggers must be Saudi or a resident of Saudi Arabia to join.

"Some of the websites serve as a project to complement the reforms adopted by Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abd al-Aziz," said researcher Muhammed Said al-Tayyeb, describing the Saudi Liberal Network, part of Saudi Blogs. The forum had more than 2,000 members who daily discussed local issues and current affairs.

But the Saudi Liberal Network blog recently met the same fate as many of its predecessors. Ahmed al-Omran's Saudi Jeans blog reported on April 11th that the Saudi Liberal Network had been shut down due to "extraordinary circumstances and expensive costs." When al-Omran interviewed one of the moderators of the forum, he was told, "The owners have come under a huge pressure. They had no choice but to shut it down". The moderator did not reveal who was behind the pressure, but said it was from "high above".

However, Hiam al-Hashem, a lecturer at Abd al-Aziz University, believes in the ability of the internet to foment change, and that despite setbacks, this is becoming increasingly easier.

"The internet has pushed [Saudis] away from the radical ideologies and intellectual terrorism that afflicted our sons in the past," she told Al-Shorfa.

Al-Hashem said many of the discussions taking place online have created a space for free expression, especially between religious and liberal websites.

"The internet is an appropriate environment to promote thought and condemn violence," she added.

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