Saudi Arabians face discrimination even inside their own land. Look no further than the expat Western compounds. These compounds run as a colonial state . Many of the Western compounds will not rent homes to Saudis as these compounds are meant for expatriates. Many compounds prohibit Saudi nationals from entrée.The western compounds which do allow Saudi as "guests" only, will allow entrée if the Saudi has been placed in advance on a visitor list –and- arrives in western look.The man may be prohibited from wearing a shemagh and abayas are not allowed there.
If you insist on wearing the scarf or your shemagh in the western compound they might ask you to take your stuff and just go...if you refused they can throw you out. I recall visiting a friend at Cordoba compound a few months ago and being a muhajiba (a woman who wears scarf) it was very uncomfortable frequenting the compound. I was asked to remove my hijaab and my abaya at the entrance of the compound prior to entering the premises.I was amazed that on Muslim land, land that the Prophet (saw) walked on, a land where Islam was born, that I was asked to remove my headscarf simply because the "western" people in the compound were not happy with the abaya and headscarf. It is quite ironical as well that the world thinks that there is a ban on alcohol in Saudi Arabia. This is simply a facade. The reality of the situation is quite different. Alcohol is freely available in all western compounds and what happens within the compound itself in terms of parties is quite shocking. If Saudi Arabia was truly a Muslim country the advocation of alcohol within the compunds would not be allowed according to proper Shariah law.In my opinion, if western people are not happy with the laws of a country then they should stay out of it,simple. France has banned the headscarf, and now Belgium is next in line to implement that policy which of course would be strictly adhered to according to those countries constitutions respectively. It is about time that all Muslim countries implement proper shariah law based on the Quran that all residents of the country should adhere to whether the resident is Muslim or non -Muslim. Muslims travelling to France for example would respect the newly implemented hijaab law and likewise foreigners residing in Saudi should learn to respect the laws of this country or leave. The Saudi government is at the moment short of an estimated one million homes for its citizens and yet it continues to build state of the art compounds for western foreigners. The system simply doesn't make sense at all.
The majority of Saudis treat their domestic workers fairly well and many consider them as one of the family. Now there has been instances where some employers have abused their maids or drivers. But the media have taken these individual cases and made them huge international news across the globe portraying all Saudi citizens as barbaric, uncivilized monsters. Now let us look at the flip side of things.
Some of the foreign employees commit many crimes against this country like theft, fraud and counterfeiting of all kinds, killing and raping children of their employers!!!.Those criminals usually run away and when caught they only receive a symbolic punishment then considered as illegal immigrants and sent back to their countries from where they return after less than a month with totally different identity!!!!.
There are two cases regarding babies that have reached the local media this year. One baby was killed by rat poison and the other was killed by strangulation at the hand of their foreign nannies. When Saudi Arabia tried to implement laws towards them, some of world leaders spoke to the king to prevent that.
My colleague, brother Latif had his car stolen a few weeks ago. A few days ago his car was recovered and thirty foreigners were arrested for running a car syndicate whereby luxury cars were being stolen and sent out of the country to be sold abroad in other countries.The punishment for stealing is cutting of the hands which is according to Shariah law and which the "west" finds barbaric. Hence in America lawlessness such as theft, homicide, kidnap and rape has reached alarming proportions. Yet the illusion created by the American government is a so called big American dream...a perfect society. Saudi Arabia is in general a safe place, far safer than South Africa or any other country that I have visited due to the Shariah law. It is these harsh laws that creates a fear in society and prevents people from committing atrocities against other people, citizens of the country.Now with regards to the thirty foreigners once again, the respective embassies have asked the saudi government to be lenient against the culprits and simply ask them to pay a fine or a penalty for their actions. Why should the government tolerate such requests? This is the law of the country and the law should be respected. If a Saudi national for example committed a crime in America or Europe for that matter the harshest punishment would be imposed on the perpetrator. The world has seen the atrocities carried out against Arab nationals at Guantanamo Bay and yet the atrocities continue despite human right activists and other countries raising such concerns.Many of the jailed inmates have not been given a fair trial to defend themselves. The law is the law and I sincerely hope that the 30 expats that have been caught for stealing vehicles across the Kingdom be dealt with according to the laws laid out by Sharia.
The discrimination against Saudi Arabians has been there since a longtime. But after the attack on the twin towers (which has now been proven to be an inside job by the American government themselves to pave the way for the New world order)the discrimination against Saudi Arabians has risen to a significant level in the U.S and Europe the point where all Saudis are viewed as terrorists.
A colleague of mine returning from the USA after attending a four day conference was severely harassed at the airport. He is a doctor with many degrees behind his name. A well mannered, well educated man from a very high class, intellectual family. He was taken out of the line simply because he is a Saudi and a muslim.According to him, no one else in the queue was taken out of the line for individual questioning. And yet these same western individuals come to the Middle East and demand to be treated extra special, way above the people of the county.Absolute Rubbish in my opinion.
Actually last year whilst returning to South africa during the World cup I also faced discrimination at the OR Tambo International airport.I never expected facing this in my own home country, the place of my birth. At the immigrations counter I was told in a very cold mannerism to remove my headscarf. I didnt see the point of doing that as my face was open. Only my hair was covered. I refused to remove my scarf. The man at the counter could clearly see that the picture in my passport was me in person.I didnt have on a full face cover with just my eyes showing. That would have been a different story all together. When I refused to remove my scarf, I was told "dont you think you Muslim Arabs will have your way in our country". The man at the counter was definitely dumb, as he was holding a South African passport in his hand. I asked to see the manager and senior people at the airport.I demanded an apology and threatened legal action.
Finally,I know that everyone faces racism in the world in one way or another so here I welcome your comments on the subject. If you are a Saudi or a South African, have you ever been discriminated against and how? To the rest of the readers did you ever face discrimination in your own country or somewhere else? I would love to read your comments and stories...
