The confusion followed claims of a so-called “Day of Rage” protests on social media websites, which was then supposedly canceled by some of the sites but not by others. In the event, in the Eastern Province, foreign correspondents dispatched to cover the event said there was nothing much to report. The story was the same elsewhere. Normality reigned.
Families were making purchases in shops and malls and there was normal traffic flow on city streets. Despite the normality, however, some expatriates, especially Westerners, did have apprehensions. Arab News was inundated with calls about demonstrations rumored to take place Friday. Several embassies also confirmed their nationals have called them with the same concerns. Residents were reportedly sending each other e-mails and text messages, claiming — erroneously — there would be a curfew on Friday.
The phone call from an Indian manager at a private company was typical of many Arab News received. “I want to know more about the curfew. When does it start and when does it end,?” he asked.
“What are we supposed to do if something happens on the streets and we are out for work or socializing with family and friends? Do you advise us to stay at home and not leave until Saturday?”
An Egyptian family said they went grocery shopping and stocked up on food supplies. “I’m ready to stay at home if anything happens and we are forced to stay at home like in Egypt,” said Tariq Saleem. “I also canceled my plans for the day with my family and we are staying at home instead and praying to God to keep us safe.”
Expatriates from North Africa told Arab News they would not leave their houses on Friday just in case the rumors were true.
“My family and I agreed with other families to cancel our weekly meetings and gatherings and stay at home instead because safety comes first,” said Aisha Abbas. “I told my children not to hang out with their friends on Thursday and Friday and reschedule for next week or the one after.” Other residents planning to travel on Friday expressed worry that their trips might fall through.
In one or two cases the fears bordered on the hysterical. “I don’t know what I would do if people cause any trouble in the Kingdom. I’m concerned for my safety and I would like to know if I should just go back to my country,” said Filipino housemaid Medelle. “I saw what happened to my people in Egypt and now in Libya and I don’t want this to happen to me or to my family in Saudi Arabia.” She claimed that a number Filipino overstayers had handed themselves in to the consulate in Jeddah in the hope of being immediately repatriated because of fears for their safety.
The fears contrasted with the calm and normality found by a number of Riyadh-based foreign reporters assigned to the Eastern Province to cover “political unrest.”
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal had acknowledged on Wednesday that there was a protest march last week, but the protesters were invited to share their concerns peacefully and through proper channels. But international news agencies went viral with reports about protests in Qatif.
Adding to the confusion, a Facebook page about planned protests Friday attracted lots of attention and had thousands of members. The Saudi government has made no effort to get the page closed.
“I don’t know from where my bosses in the States are getting all kind of weird stories — that tanks are rolling in the Eastern Province, that there is a curfew in many towns,” said one foreign journalist who has been combing the Eastern Province for two days in search of a story. “I am sitting here in one of the best-known hotels in Alkhobar, and everything is so normal.”
On the way to the hotel she had not seen a single checkpoint. “The other day I visited most of the towns and saw nothing,” she said. “That is a story by itself, but my bosses are not interested in a business-as-usual story. They need a sensational story — one that fits whatever negative news they are hearing about Saudi Arabia.”
On Thursday morning in Alkhobar, shoppers purchased items at malls and grocery stores. Some people went to breakfast and then onto their next destinations on what appeared to be normally busy streets and highways.
In Qatif, Arab News witnessed more shopping and more coffee drinking. Families were busy enjoying the cool weather. There were no policemen or police cars in sight. “I don’t know what to do. I simply talk to the local people, compile their quotes and submit it to my bosses,” said another perplexed foreign correspondent. “The next day I find a very wonderfully written and highly sensational story full of spicy details with the quotes interspersed very nicely in between.”
Meanwhile other Facebook anti-protest websites have appeared in the past couple of days attracting tens of thousands of members. One had over 110,000 members.
