Many Saudis were extremely delighted when the National Dialogue was established. Regardless of their religion, ideas or occupation, most look forward in earnest to the dialogue. The concept of having the dialogue is — in theory — instrumental in creating a healthy environment and is a forum from which people can present their opinions fairly in order to serve the interests of the Kingdom.
The various cultural and intellectual differences found in Saudi communities should be considered a national treasure that distinguishes us from other countries and makes us uniquely Saudi. Therefore, we need to use this treasure and develop our relationships with one other in order to benefit ourselves by creating unity. If, on the other hand, we think of our differences as something to be fought, the possibilities of dialogue and communication will shrink and pluralism suffer. Such a turn of events might even bring about violence since certain sections of the community are so much against new ideas that they want to eliminate them.
The idea of having a National Dialogue is a brilliant and ambitious one. We were initially delighted to hear of its meetings and conferences; however, we seldom know when the meetings were held or what conclusions were reached. To be honest, I am still unaware of how people are selected to participate nor do I know how they are asked to express their thoughts and arguments.
What we can conclude is that the National Dialogue has not yet achieved what it was set up to do.
At present we haven’t seen any changes and so it would be correct to say that the National Dialogue is nothing but an abstract concept. I make these assumptions based on the news that some religious extremists have assaulted several Saudi thinkers and intellectuals. When I heard this, I wondered if we wee living in a jungle rather than in a country that wants to move forward in the area of intellectual dialogue.
What happened to the Saudi intellectual Dr. Hamazah Al-Mozainy recently was completely unacceptable. He was attacked at the Taif Literary Club while delivering a lecture about the deficiency of the Saudi school curriculum. The groups that attacked him did so in mobile text messages and interviews. They were further incited by a group of scholars who called on people to disagree with Al-Mozainy’s lecture and attack him, saying that his ideas did not correspond to their own ways of thinking.
Other similar incidents have occurred this year. Dr. Muhammad Al-Zulfa was surrounded at the Riyadh International Book Fair by a group of religious people who confronted him. They cornered him and prevented him from moving because of his view that women should be allowed to drive. The editor in chief of Al-Riyadh daily newspaper, Turki Al-Sudairy, was another victim. He was interrupted by a group of people as he moderated one of the book fair’s sessions. It is noteworthy that most of those who opposed him belong to extreme religious groups. Qenan Al-Ghamdi, an Al-Watan columnist, had a similar experience in the summer when delivering a lecture about civilized countries at the Al-Hijaz Sports Club in Baljurashy.
These four people are considered among the Kingdom’s foremost intellectuals and thinkers. We are still waiting for an official reaction that will prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Most of the four men’s opponents belong to a group that resents and rejects cultural and media discussion and dialogue. They base their opposition on the fact that whatever is discussed does not match their limited knowledge. However, they are not trying to acquire more information or learn what they don’t know in order to be able to participate in dialogue in a civilized way.
I don’t know if the National Dialogue organizers and participants have discussed or thought much about these incidents. It is essential to investigate the people who violate standards of behavior at conferences, lectures and exhibitions. There is a need to analyze their motives and study them psychologically. Once we understand them, we will be in a better position to deal with them. It will also contribute to avoiding such uncivilized violations that harm the country’s intellectual development as well as its reputation around the world.
We cannot look at the disrespect shown to certain speakers as a personal insult. Certain elements in society heckle and cause commotion because, intellectually and culturally, they feel that the speaker’s ideas should not be heard and so should be suppressed. In my opinion, these are some of the very basic problems the National Dialogues must find solutions to. We must be able to listen to other opinions and be able to respect different viewpoints. Some people, however, want neither to listen to nor respect any opinion but their own.
— Dr. Maha Al-Hujailan is a medical researcher at King Khaled University Hospital in Riyadh. ([email protected])
