Saudi men arrested for 'flirting'

[emad]

Source: bbc

Prosecutors in Saudi Arabia have begun investigating 57 young men who were arrested on Thursday for flirting with girls at shopping centres in Mecca.
The men are accused of wearing indecent clothes, playing loud music and dancing in order to attract the attention of girls, the Saudi Gazette reported.

They were arrested following a request of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

The mutaween enforce Saudi Arabia's conservative brand of Islam, Wahhabism.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7260314.stm

[trusty elf]

1. This pic is not particularly relevant,

I just think it's amusing.

Don't you just love fundies?!

[emad]

2. Wahhabist take on passport photos?

Sure hope those 57 guys on trial today will get legal representation.

[shaniqua6392]

3. I think I know the woman on the left!!!

LOL! OMG How ridiculous is that picture??

[Vinca]

4. I'd love to hear Grandma going through the photo album -

"That was my hand in 1985 and Aunt Fatima's hand is over here . . .":rofl:

[MichellesBFF]

5. The women at the shopping centre

What do you think happened to them?

[Vinca]

9. I don't know. Are they not allowed to be photographed even when

they're covered? Maybe you could elaborate.

[The Croquist]

41. She's a babe!

Does she have a sister?

[postulater]

7. Oh, the girls look like they're having such a good time at the party!

[ohio2007]

12. How do you know those are really women in the pic ?

I mean,
look at those man hands ;)

[donsu]

15. at home the Saudi women are work horses which would give them

hands that look like hard worked hands.

[trusty elf]

16. Oh, you mean they could be the Wahhabi version

of cross-dressing conservative Republicans?

I didn't think of that.

:)

[xxqqqzme]

40. I was wondering the same thing - second from the left

That's a big foot as well. That is a big person undercover.

[Trajan]

19. That picture is a sad commentary in itself ....

The subjects in the picture are utterly obscured - They have no identity - There is no recognition of self ...

To even choose to take a picture of 5 nameless shrouds speaks volumes to the conflict between dogmatism and human nature ....

If that were your family, each subject would show their face, the part of themselves that is 'who they are' from a visual standpoint (And when we speak of photographs, we are speaking of a visual medium) is there for all to see .... The family can see the photos later, and enjoy the memories and camaraderie they delighted in, and they could share that with others ....

Yet in this photo, while the subjects all know who they themselves are, it would be difficult to identify who is who .... They are faceless - nameless - strangely, almost inhuman ....

I am heartbroken that someone can be denied having a public self ... To have their own humanity cut off from the world ....

The dissonance of 5 shrouds standing for a photo is obvious .... It is their "I was there" moment ....

But WHO is I ?

As an Atheist, I am utterly appalled, and can find yet more reinforcement to justify the atheism of myself and others ... It is sad there are people in this world who wish to plaster over the public identity of self - to obliterate the face - and deny the world the opportunity to enjoy their community ....

[Sultana]

28. oh my, and look at the people in the background

:wtf:

this picture is... :rofl:

[superconnected]

31. Today a woman just like them walked across the street at a crosswalk in front of my car.

I was wondering how she could see. She was completely blacked out.

This is was in a Seattle suburb.

Ah well, there were always jewish nazi sympathizers in the camps. And, there will always be masochaists/self haters that will allow the abuse(not that the woman in black was one of them, I'm just considering the supporters of fundy laws that supress them).

[Seabiscuit]

36. Wasn't the one holding the purse Playmate of the Year a few years back?

[trusty elf]

37. Or maybe they are the five finalists

in the Miss Saudi Arabia competition?

[Seabiscuit]

38. Or... Judy Giuliani in drag?

Where have I seen that purse before?

[pattmarty]

6. Idea: Get ALL religious wackos from every country.......

......... put them in some desolate shithole somewhere (the CIA probably knows plenty of "shitholes") and test out one of Bush's tactical nukes on them. Now mind you, I certainly am not condoning violence here, just trying to speed up the process of "rapture".

[Teaser]

8. I thought only freeps could sink as low as you just did

Thanks for expanding my horizons.

[pattmarty]

17. Well, I am a "child of the 60's" so maybe that has something to do with it.

[Raster]

33. Oh please. The poster is not the only one sick and tired of other persons seeking to enforce their

moral and religious standards on others. Man's organized religion, in is various flavors, has been the bane of man's existence. I understand the frustration, though may not agree with the solution.

[pattmarty]

35. If this religious shit continues to escalate, "they" might just advocate.......

..... the same solution for "us".

[pattmarty]

34. Just want to help with "free market solutions", is all.

[Betty]

11. I wouldn't do that

I would just let them deal with each other in whatever way they see fit.

[pattmarty]

18. Well, I think you and the other person didn't exactly understand my sarcasm.

I grew up in the "60's" and you had to fight then, not just "accept" the right beating up on you. I have one thing I always say in todays political environment; "I don't turn the other cheek".

[DCKit]

10. How and why is SA becoming even MORE fundamentalist?

I just don't get it. Are they intentionally pushing even more of their disenfranchised youth toward radicalism?

[kirby]

13. Its partly a response to the US

The close Saudi ties to Bush and the US is a very sore point of hatred for most Saudi citizens. This intensifies the extremists elements. I think Saudi Arabia thinks that letting the fundamentalists intensify is a way to 'release some steam' from the pressure cooker. But in the end it will backfire.

[ohio2007]

14. Because the people over there are not allowed to vote the bums out of power. nt

[happyslug]

25. High Birth rate lead to a cut in GDP per person in the 1980s-2000

Now since 2000 the price of Oil has skyrocketed, but the effect of the 1980s and 1990s still is strong. Basically the income PER PERSON was cut in HALF between 1980 and 2000, part of this was the result of the DROP in oil prices in those two decades, part of it was the high birth rate, part of it was the excessive spending on frills by the various members of the House of Saud (Which numbers in the 1000s, but a very rich clique). Thus, in the 1980s and 1990s you saw a DROP in income per person, a lot of people saw an even further decline do to increase demands by various members of the House of Saud. As people became poorer, they turn to the only real opposition in Arabia, the Radical fundamentalists (There are other opposition but they are either dis-organized small groups or individuals, neither are a threat to the House Saud for control of Arabia, the Shiites and Radical Sunnis have both a wide spread organization and structure to oppose and overthrow the House of Saud, thus the growing support for both groups in Arabia. The Shiite are the Majority in Eastern Arabia where the main oil fields are, thus adding a further concern to the House of Saud, a fear that forces the House of Saud to leave the Radical Fundamentalists alone, for they are potential allies against the Shiites).

[JBoy]

20. It's promising that these young men actually did that

They learned to wear indecent clothes, play loud music and dance from somewhere. Maybe there's hope for the future of that country.

[The Stranger]

21. Tell me again why I am supposed to give a shit about this.

Why is this Latest Breaking News on DU?

[donsu]

22. think about it some more and maybe you will give a shit

nt

[reorg]

23. I would not get too sanctimonious about it

This could easily happen in the US, in Europe, everywhere, actually.

There may be differences in what constitutes "decency" in clothing, but if the limits are crossed, don't expect the vice squad to get tolerant on you ANYWHERE.

Or maybe I just don't know such a place, suggestions, anyone?

It's certainly not the US, or do I need to post a picture of an indecently clad young man to prove it?

[Bilbo Heugan]

24. All this could change

if EVERY Muslim woman would just keep her legs crossed till her man got the idea.

[happyslug]

26. The Arabs were this way BEFORE Islam, it is cultural.

Mohamed even had a problems, his last wife was left behind when his caravan de-camped and was picked up by a man who took her to Mohammad's camp. Mohammad had to decide if she committed "Adultery" by being with that man. Under traditional Arab rule it was (Mohammad's son in law, Ali, took this position and said he would support Mohammad's decision to execute Mohammad's wife for that was the law and had always been so). Mohammad decided that law was bad and made a requirement that to be found guilty of Adultery there had to be FOUR wittinesses to the act, since they was only one, his youngest wife life was spared. This sounds reasonable to us, for we are living 1400 years later, but it was a RADICAL change from previous traditional Arab law. Mohammad could do it, but his son in law could not. The Shiites are the "Party of Ali" i.e. they support Ali as being the rightful heir to Mohammad. Ali kept the rules of Mohammad, even forgiving Mohammad's youngest wife when she lead a revolt against him (after Mohammad was long dead). The two always had a problem with each other (Mostly the youngest wife against Ali, but she had good reasons) but she seems to have accepted Ali after her revolt had failed AND he forgave her for it. Some indications that she even supported Ali told the end of his Rule as Caliph, even as other people were in revolt against hi. The revolts seems to have more to do with WHO gets the spoils of the Arab Conquest than any religious difference. The Religious difference between the Shiite and Sunnis came later and more a result of Sunnis adopting a more traditional Arab/Syrian/Egyptian attitude while the Shiites embraced a more Persian Attitude (Thus the whole face must be covered in Syria/Egyptian and other Sunnis areas while women whole face must be uncovered in Persia and Shiite Areas).

My point is the problem PRE-DATE Islam, and even Christianity (and probably Judaism), it is how these people lived in Rural pasture communities for thousands of years. It is hard to change, even through today most Citizens of Saudi Arabia live in Urban Areas.

[Wabbajack_]

30. They'd just be raped

[Nye Bevan]

27. I think this sort of thing has happened before....

Our great Mikado, virtuous man,
When he to rule our land began,
Resolved to try
A plan whereby
Young men might best be steadied.
So he decreed, in words succinct,
That all who flirted, leered or winked
(Unless connubially linked),
Should forthwith be beheaded,
Beheaded, beheaded....

There's an earworm for Gilbert & Sullivan fans.

[chaz4jazz]

29. That's my wife - second from the right. Isn't she beautiful?

[superconnected]

32. Interesting. I LOVE how it's men they arrested instead of gays and women.

That means there's a good chance the laws will get changed.

What this shows it that the laws are archaic for the times. With that country connected to the interent there's bound to be deep seated dissent in the youth wether they are able to vocalize it publically or not. They apparently can speak with each other. The future of that country may have hope to be a more liberal one.

It can only start with actual MALE dissent. So this is good news. I doubt they'd give a fuck if it were women who were arrested.

One famous feminist - Florynce Kennedy, said it well:
'If men could get pregnant, abortions would be a sacrosant.'

I think you can apply suppresive laws against men to that. Typically the men in these unenlightned countries don't supress themselves (unless there's gays among them), it's women and everyone else they try to surpress. They keep their own interests at the forefront.

[flakban]

39. It figures.

Par for the course.