Monday, May 28, 2012

(12) Opposition Movements in Saudi Arabia Take Root


     The Arab world was facing great amounts of social unrest during the anti-Western movements of the 1950s. These opposition movements were mainly fueled by “anti-colonialism, nationalism, and pan Arabism.” The movement for reform in Saudi Arabia was mainly caused by the large gap between “the wealth and power of the ruling elite” and the poor, underprivileged people of lower social classes. In Saudi Arabia, opposition groups are illegal, but the social tensions amongst the people quickly led many to appear, the first being the Front of National Reforms (FNR). The FNR’s ideals for Saudi Arabian society included “an end to foreign and oil company domination, a constitution, free press, elections, the right of assembly, abolition of slavery, and improved education.”
Saudi Arabian Opposition Groups
            The ideas of anti-colonialism, nationalism, and pan Arabism were specific to the Arab countries, and drove people to ask for change. The ideals of anti-colonialism were seen in the Baghdad Pact of 1955, which was an effort by the United States to prevent the “domino theory”, which stated that once one country falls to communism in Asia, the rest follow its path. The United States had therefore decided to create an alliance with the Arab world. However, the Baghdad Pact was a failure because “it was seen by Arab leaders as an attempt by the West to continue its colonial domination over Muslim states”, and the Arab world’s rejection of Western imperialism sparked new ideas for opposition movements. The Baghdad Pact was also seen as a contradiction towards the ideas of pan Arabism in the Middle East, the Baghdad Pact seen as an attack against the promotion of Arab nationalism; which had been used as a tool to ward off Western dominance and imperialism.
            In Saudi Arabia, the government was seen to be fighting off these opposition movements and calls for reform by trying to promote the traditional values of the nation and cut off the ideas of modernization from Saudi Arabian society. In 1954, King Saud had offered a 2,000 riyal prize to any citizen that could memorize the Koran, a holy book that is an example of Saudi Arabian traditional values. This reward was created as a response to the youth’s disregard towards the studies of the Koran. The next year, any Saudi Arabian student who was studying abroad was called back to Saudi Arabia, which is another example of how the Saudi Arabian government fought against the Western ideas and teachings to be implemented in their youth’s head.
The Flag of the Arab League symbolizes the ideologies of
pan Arabism.
            The population of Dhahran is made up of many “oppressed Shia”, a different believer in Islam when compared to the Sunnis, “who made up the bulk of unskilled oil workers, was a natural bleeding ground for reform groups and protest.” When King Saud came to visit Dhahran in the year of 1956, he was resisted by groups of people that were protesting for the closing of the air base located in Dhahran and demanded for increased rights of the workers. Within a couple of days, the King had banned the protests and strikers and had threatened the resisters with three years in prison if they had violated his demands. The names of the other protestors were provided by Aramco, and they were arrested and beaten. Obviously, the citizens of Saudi Arabia were not granted the freedoms, such as the freedom to protest/assemble, as those that are living in modernized nations.
            Again in 1956, students in Najd had established Saudi Arabia’s “first student organization.” The students had asked for the undoing of the League for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and butted heads with the authorities.  However, the government was not allowed to punish their calls for reform because the state needed the students to manage Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure.
            Overall, Saudi Arabia’s suppression of many people’s calls for reform may go against the traditional and cultural values of the nation, and may cause the fall of the monarchial regime and other components of the nation that could use updating. The people’s cries for change and modernization can always help Saudi Arabia to succeed as a more influential figure in the modern globe, that is, only if Saudi Arabia is ready to listen.