It is said that more than 90 percent of all visitors to the shopping festivals held in the various Gulf states are Saudi. I don’t think we need statistics or reports from other sources to corroborate the figure. Just follow the festivals on TV and when there is live transmission, it is clear that Saudis are the mainstay and backbone of the festivals in Dubai, Muscat, Doha and Kuwait.
That is not the end of the story. Saudis are found to be the principal viewers of such frivolous shows as Star Academy. As if this were not enough, satellite channels transmitting songs, dances and other suggestive programs have chosen the Kingdom’s time as a basis for scheduling their programs. While our youth may know nothing about Greenwich Mean Time and what it means, they learn by heart the times for live concerts and dancing. What kind of hearts do these youth carry inside them and what fills these hearts?
Right now we have a situation representing the ultimate contradiction. Listening to Saudis talking to each other, one would think ours is a society of angels. What we focus on is the positive side, the values and way of life that produced a society immune from anything bad and one that strives hard to protect these values. We are a society envied by everyone, a blessed and lucky society and we lead perfect lives. We talk about how our education system has been so effective and use this as a pretext to oppose those calling for change on the ground that any such move may destroy the very foundations of society. We continue to live an illusion known as “the special Saudi status” only to discover that the special status of a whole generation can only be gauged from the percentage of those attending Arab festivals.
Those who think I am hard on my people or have blown things up should watch one of those these satellite channels specializing in live concerts and dancing before judging me. To those who say we have succeeded in building a coherent society whose values have earned its people a special status, I say each society has its own way of exporting what it produces. Just look at what is leaving this country for foreign destinations. Our small but blessed population enjoying “special status” is lining up in airports, theaters, discos and cafes all over the world, with many streets in many cities showing all the signs of that special Saudi status.
