Saudi Arabia: Protests Reach Eastern Province  · Global Voices
Haifa Alrasheed

The flame of protests raging across the Arab world, from the Ocean to the Gulf, has reached the Saudi Arabian cities Al Qatif and Al Hafouf. More than 100 people gathered in each of the two cities for the release of Shiite cleric Tawfiq Al Amir, who was arrested on Friday, March 4, after calling for a constitutional monarchy and a war against corruption.
YouTube user Arabia Today uploads this video of the demonstration in Qatif, where protesters are chanting: “Our presence is peaceful, our demands are legitimate,” and “We will never forget those being imprisoned”:
Authorities arrested more than 20 protesters. Tweeps from all over the kingdom reacted to this unusual event, as protests are rare in Saudi Arabia, under the hashtags #qatif #qateef and #saudi.
Freedom is What We Call for!
A number of Saudi tweeps were in favour of the protests and below are some of their reactions:
The Eastern Revolution has also created a Facebook fan page to trace all of movements.
On YouTube, Saudi2014 shares this scene of arrests in Qatif:
Salute to The Government!
On the other hand, some were against the protests, and called for their end, accusing the Shi'ites of being traitors:
@as_alshamrani
اللهم وفق ولاة الأمر لصالح البلاد والعباد .. آمين يارب #saudimataleb #ksa #saudi #Qatif #saudimatalib #mar11 #khoja #riyadhbook
Finally, an announcement from Hasan Almustafa a few hours ago today:
@halmustafa
#Saudi government release Sheikh Tawfiq #AlAmer, after demonstrations in AlAhsa and #Qatif, Eastern Kingdom.