The National Day is historically a precious Saudi cultural event. This is something that no one can disagree with. However, some of us — especially the young — have celebrated the National Day this year in the wrong way. Riyadh’s streets and roads were full of cars moving at a snail’s pace. People were forced to spend hours waiting for the traffic jam to end after a police officer came, intervened and got the traffic moving.
I’m not a stickler who disapproves of people celebrating or doing anything that entertains them according to our Islamic rules. But we should not have to face chaotic and haphazard celebrations that only serve to confirm a weakness in upright behavior. We don’t want that, do we?
On the eve of the National Day, people in Riyadh broke traffic rules in every possible way. I agree that the green flags were beautiful and stirred our nationalistic passion. I loved the youth’s enthusiasm and their pride in loving their country, something that is a source of pride for everyone. Pictures of King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan hanging on cars driven by youths and on their chests express their spontaneous love and admiration for the Kingdom.
The problem isn’t in the significance of the expression; it’s in the way the celebration was held, its location and some of the things that happened.
In future, I wish the municipality and the General Presidency of Youth Welfare would organize these celebrations in an objective way. What’s more important than patriotism is to give these young boys a chance to express their love of the nation without projecting a negative image similar to the one that we saw on the streets of Riyadh. The other big cities in the Kingdom such as Jeddah and Dammam also witnessed the same.
If we consider an alternative option of celebrating in one of the sports stadiums where we could have some contests and the Saudi traditional dance, then we would not experience any problems or chaos. Women should also participate in such events organized by the municipalities of each city along with the private sector.
I don’t think that this is very difficult; in fact it could easily be done. Everyone can celebrate the National Day, which would encourage and deepen our patriotism and teach us the proper way of celebrating. Our roads need not turn into a circus where some insist on dancing in the middle of the street and others want to walk between cars. Streets were created to serve a purpose, celebrating the National Day is not one of them.
