Pulse of the Saudi Blogosphere · Global Voices
Ahmed Al-Omran

Eid is an occasion of amusement, a time of the year people always relate to with happiness and joy. However, for some Saudi bloggers, this Eid was a little different. For example, Nzingha did not have fun, and thinks that Eids “are generally boring anyway.” Meanwhile, Riyadhawi have decided to break Eid traditions by boycotting the family gathering (Arabic), because some religious relatives of his will kill any kind of fun he might get. There is also Mansour, who is too depressed, and described Eid as the Eid of “loneliness, forbidden streets, and celebrations that have nothing to do with me,” pointing to the fact that most activities of Eid celebration in Saudi Arabia are restricted to families, and no single men are allowed.
Young Saudi men are not comfortable with such restrictions. According to Majoudi, these restrictions leave many people with the feeling that they are isolated and unwelcome (Arabic) by the society, which in return makes them feel discomfort with their own society. However, opening doors to the boys can be unwanted by others, like ubergirl78, who thinks that Saudi males are stupid. She provides plenty of reasons for her conclusion, including racing expensive cars in public streets, and being rude to Saudi girls in particular. Probably what is needed to solve such problem is equality; “[e]quality at all levels, in all places is what the world needs,” Random Saudi says.
On another matter, Abu Sinan, an American blogger married to a Saudi woman, has questioned the real identity of the famous Saudi blogger The Religious Policeman. For Abu Sinan, it seems that reform in Saudi Arabia is the last thing on The Religious Policeman's mind, and even if “he is interested in reform he is going about it the exact WRONG way.” Abu Sinan thinks that he is probably not Saudi, and even called him a “fraud.”
Finally, here are some random, quick snippets from around the Saudi blogosphere: Ruba, one of the youngest bloggers, is so feminist, and she blames Saudi men for that. That also led her to think about writing a book with a friend of hers. Good luck with that! Meanwhile, Rimyoleta makes a list of her 30 favorite blog posts. Fouad al-Farhan talks about his visit to a little village (Arabic) on the coast of the Red Sea. Catch-22 has not celebrated her 25th birthday, and she has some really good reasons for not doing so. Riyadhawi takes on the controversial TV series “Al-Hour Al-Ayen,” and says the hype about it was unjustified (Arabic), and Abu Joori takes on the low performance (Arabic) of the national Saudi airlines.