Reformation of the Saudi Constitution and Islamists Social Media

The article Saudi Islamists and the Arab Spring by Stéphane Lacroix, addresses the influence of revolutionary protest and deadly repression. The article does an impressive job applying contextual knowledge to research. Lacroix’s writings discussing the Saudi Arabian royal family’s response to the Arab Spring is narratively written and well balanced on the development of the Arab revolutions’ Saudi Arabian interests. I think Lacroix made some really insightful representations of both sides. With Saudi Islamists playing a pivotal role in the new political generation of Saudi youth, the importance of the subject was received in respect to the prevailing religious and cultural experiences. I found the information presented by Lacroix, establishes a curvilinear between oppositions within reach of resolve. However, even-tempered as the opinions may seem the unification of ideas is further from the truth.

The current debate within Saudi society, is introducing a whole new perspective on the significance of the Sunni Islamist Sahwa movement in the Saudi Arabian political environment. The Sahwa, meaning the Islamic Awakening, is infusing the pervading social movements of the Saudi youths with strong social and political protests against the royal family. However, these demonstrations have been severely met with heavy resistance from religious detractors. The revolutionary stance by Saudi Islamists on the social activism of Saudi youth and the disparaging political oppositions against constitutional reformists have been strongly influenced by the development and use of social media in Saudi Arabia.

Through communication and technology, both Saudi youths and reformists were able to grow convincingly influential by politically challenging the traditional authority of Saudi government. Intellectually funding the legitimacy of their social activism, young reformists developed an extension of their political positions, through demonstrative writing and academic pursuit. Three separate petitions for reform, represented by the different activist groups, were effectively influential on the overwhelming religious authority among the Saudi public. However, by taking both an economically supportive stance in favor of funding Saudi society and then subsequently incarcerating the youth movement’s most influential activists, the Saudi government furtively discredited the accomplishments of Islamists further dividing Saudi society by minimizing the issues.

Urgency for Change in Saudi Arabia

“No Spring in Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s Seemingly Impossible Revolution”

by Stéphane Lacroix

“Revolutions happen when deep and serious reform is absent… People don’t provoke revolutions, only repression, oppression, corruption, backwardness and poverty provoke revolutions”

“People here, like people around the world, have demands, longings and rights, and they will not remain silent forever when they are denied all or some of them”

“When one becomes hopeless, you can expect anything from them”

-Salman al-‘Awda

#Women2Drive

Stéphane Lacroix’s “No Spring in Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s Seemingly Impossible Revolution,” touched on a lot of important topics regarding Saudi Islamist and the Arab Spring. Even though the reading did not touch on the #Women2Drive campaign in Saudi Arabia, I wanted the focus of my blog post to be on this topic.

So why can’t women drive in Saudi Arabia? In all actuality, there is no written law that states that women cannot drive. There is literally no reason and no law that says that women should drive. The absurdity and ideals of this ban is demonstrated by a conservative Saudi Arabian judicial advisor, Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Lohaidan, who commented, “If a woman drives a car, not out of pure necessity, that could have negative physiological impacts as functional and physiological medical studies show that it automatically affects the ovaries and pushes the pelvis upwards. That is why we find those who regularly drive have children with clinical problems of varying degrees.” Obviously, there is no medical studies to support his argument or we would all have clinical problems, assuming all our mothers drive.

All in all, I feel this is an extremely important campaign in Saudi Arabia because it is opening a discussion on the problems in Saudi Arabia, specifically to basic human rights for women. The fact that women cannot drive in Saudi Arabian is absolutely bizarre. Women can’t drive, even though they want to. But this restriction goes deeper than just driving, it touches on basic rights that affect women’s ability to work, travel and live a normal and free life. It’s evident that there needs to be change in Saudi Arabia, especially because of the fact that women are not real and full participants of society.