The demonstrations of the celebration of Halloween on the streets of Riyadh indicate the change taking place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which used to arrest anyone who thought of reviving this “Western occasion”.
“Frightening” manifestations of transformation, according to the newspaper New York Timesindicates the changes that have taken place in the kingdom since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, now heir to the throne and prime minister, began to rise to power in 2015 and began to break free of social restrictions one after another.
Creatures from other worlds
In the images the newspaper attached to its report, parts of Riyadh, the Saudi capital, appeared to embrace creatures from other worlds.
The report describes the scene in Saudi Arabia on the eve of Halloween celebrations on October 31, with the phrase “those creatures seem to have taken control of the city, there were monsters, witches and bank robbers …”.
Yahya Al-Hazazi, a young Saudi Arabian, said in an interview with the American newspaper as scary music was playing from the speakers of Riyadh Boulevard: “In the past, this was not part of our customs and traditions, but we love to discover new things.”
and Riyadh Boulevard, a vast complex of shops, arcades and restaurants opened in 2019 as part of the government’s efforts to provide entertainment spaces for families and young people.
It is reported that in 2018, Saudi police raided a Halloween party and arrested people and ordered women who wore strange clothes to “cover up”.
In Saudi Arabia, where government policies are ambiguous as social change sweeps across the country, the government-sponsored event was not, strictly speaking, a Halloween festival, as the New York Timer claims, but it is been promoted as an “end vacation”. Week “, which coincides with the weekend before Halloween.
“Saudi Arabia is changing,” said Abdulaziz Khaled, a 23-year-old university student.
Khaled, who has demonstrated the ability to seamlessly switch from Arabic to English, said he plans to wear glamorous clothes this year.
And Rima Al-Jaber, 23, wanted to go like a white angel and with wings to meet friends in a house.
More spaces of freedom for women
Like most Saudis, Al-Jaber never celebrated Halloween, even though he saw it in movies.
Saudi Arabia Punishes Witchcraft and Witchcraft: For decades, accused practitioners have been tried and beheaded, while celebrating non-Islamic holidays like Valentine’s Day, Christmas and Halloween was taboo.
During Al-Jaber’s childhood, Saudi Arabia prohibited women from driving and were required to wear long cloaks in public places that reached the ground, and security personnel from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of vice often yelled at them to cover their hair and face.
The segregation of the sexes was imposed in offices, cafes and many other places, while the reproduction of music in public places was prohibited.
But in 2016, Prince Mohammed announced an economic diversification plan that planned to transform the kingdom into a global investment powerhouse and trading center.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has lost its authority and women have been allowed to drive.
Then many of the chains of the male guardianship system began to be undone, although other restrictions remained.
Prince Mohammed, 37, has also launched a campaign to develop entertainment options as a new economic sector away from oil.
Many of the 58% of Saudis under the age of 30 say they “wanted such entertainment” before the new changes.
Cinemas opened for the first time in decades, and a series of government-sponsored celebrations have dominated the kingdom, most notably the “Riyadh Season,” an event that spans months.
Saudi Arabia also plans to double express flights and facilitate ground travel in an effort to attract tens of thousands of football fans attending the World Cup in neighboring Qatar, the AFP said, the Tourism Minister said. Saudi.
These efforts aim to revitalize the nascent tourism sector in the conservative realm, which has been closed to the world for decades and which began issuing tourist visas in September 2019, just months before the outbreak and destruction of the global COVID-19 pandemic. .
Saudi Arabia has introduced multiple-entry visas valid for stays of up to 60 days for holders of the mandatory Haya card at the World Cup. Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khatib said on the sidelines of the “Future Investment Initiative” in Riyadh that the number of weekly flights from Saudi Arabia to Qatar will reach 240 during the tournament, which will start next month and last one month, in increase compared to normally six flights.
In addition to the music festivals and sporting events that have begun to take place across the kingdom in recent years, Saudi Arabia is also promoting new attractions such as AlUla, an emerging arts center in the north of the country.
It is also building a Walt Disney-style theme park called Qiddiya and Maldives-style luxury resorts along the Red Sea, costing hundreds of billions of dollars.
astonishment
These changes have left some Saudis stunned and others angry, as the country is almost unrecognizable to both foreigners and citizens.
The easing of some social restrictions has also been accompanied by a marked increase in political repression, with a crackdown on internal dissent that has led to the incarceration of hundreds of writers, activists and influencers on Snapchat, as well as billionaires, clergy and royalty.
On social media, the government has used a combination of manipulation and control, resulting in an increasingly unified rhetoric that venerates the crown prince and his “Vision 2030” plan.
Privately, some Saudis complain that the push for entertainment appears to be a distraction from economic challenges, such as high youth unemployment, and from political challenges, such as a lack of freedom of expression.
