Down and Dirty in Jeddah

By Joseph El-Khoury

Sex is the ultimate taboo in any society. It is the subject that mesmerises audiences from Amsterdam to Tokyo passing through...Jeddah.

A storm has been brewing over the closure of the offices of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) in Saudi Arabia following the personal on screen revelations of a Saudi citizen. Given the LBC’s obsession with ratings and the delivery of a competitive product in the murky world of Arab Satellite Broadcasting, it is no surprise that they chose to milk the subject of sex through their bold talk show ‘A7mar bel Khatt El 3areed’( Red in bold writing) fronted by a babyfaced rising star, Malek Maktabi. Having started as a propaganda tool for the Christian Lebanese militias in the mid-1980s, over the years, LBC has gradually shed any ambition of being a political messenger and has focused instead on winning the broader Arab market, where political debates (even in other countries) disturb and upset. The problem with that approach is that no debate on social issues can be apolitical, since the two are inextricably linked. Policies are dictated by society and in turn dictate social behaviour. The process is open and transparent in democratic societies but not in the Arab world. Debating sexual behaviour, domestic violence or religious beliefs is not only a challenge to patriarchal tradition and the moral authorities of the realm, but one step away from asking tough questions on the state of the economy, human rights and foreign policy. Individual liberties and political freedom go hand in hand; a fact that Arab regimes, may they be presidential dictatorships or religious monarchies, are very aware of and actively counteract. The means of control will vary from secular Damascus to conservative Khartoum and so far have proven successful. That said, it is no surprise that it was the Saudis who proved most sensitive to the sexual adventures of one of their compatriots. Religious dogma and politics are one in Saudi Arabia where the ruling family’s claim to power since their ascendance in the first part of the 20th century is inseparable from the domination of the militant group of Islamists known as the Wahhabis. Furthermore, the culprit is the LBC, a network with an ex-Christian identity now mostly owned by Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal, a Saud himself but not part of the ruling inner circle. Confronted with this explosive cocktail mix, the tenants of the moral order and political stability in the Kingdom had no choice but to act. The rhetoric on ‘negative cultural influences’ and ‘habits that are foreign to Saudi society’ were brought out for the benefit of the masses, who are unlikely to witness the excesses of their rulers in the clubs of London or the Casinos of Monte-Carlo.

Malek Maktabi will most likely be asked to down tune his program to less threatening topics, making it virtually unwatchable. May we suggest covering the Palestinian-Israeli for a change? At least we all agree we support the Palestinians, or is that denial as well?

Saudi Justice, Egyptian Outrage: The Case of the Two Doctors

By Joseph El-khoury

"Saudi Arabia previously pardoned a Philippine housemaid, sentenced to jailing and flogging after intervention from its government," said Ebrahim Al Zafran, a representative of the Arab Doctors' Union in Cairo.

"Are the Egyptian doctors inferior to the Philippine maids?"

GulfNews

http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Egypt/10264066.html

It is with these enlightened words that one leading Egyptian doctor protested against the flogging and jailing of two Egyptian doctors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In October, Drs Rauf Al Arabi 53 and Shawki Abd Rabuh were sentenced to 1500 lashes and 15 years jail for their alleged role in ‘facilitating the addiction’ of a Saudi princess. Very little is available online on the exact nature of their offence. Facilitating addiction is a vague term as it could mean anything from supplying a prescription to a patient in genuine pain to chasing the dragon with her in a crack den. Opiate painkillers (Morphine being one of them) are prescribed on a daily basis to millions of patients across the world. They are highly addictive and caution is required beyond a few weeks of chronic use. Ideally consumption should be closely monitored and capped by health professionals. Despite these measures, a small number of patients develop dependence. Although they do not necessarily fit the profile of the ‘addict’ their overall level of functioning is frequently affected.

 

Given the opaque and archaic nature of the Saudi legal system, the evidence on which the two doctors were convicted has not been disclosed. In the event that they were actually intentionally supplying Morphine to the lady in the absence of symptoms then they are in breach of their Hippocratic Oath and the ‘do no harm’ principle. In this context the term then ‘facilitating’ is misleading, these boys were dealing drugs! This would be very difficult to prove and solid specialised medical expertise should be consulted by the court. I would still argue that 1500 lashes and 15 years in jail is disproportionate, even throwing in their supposed lack of morality (Having illicit affairs pales in my mind next to drug dealing) and even for Saudi Arabia. In the event that the doctors’ sole crime was that they failed to monitor the care of the princess properly, then they are guilty of negligence and flogging them becomes gratuitous. It is interesting that few in the Arab media chose to explore the issue at hand from a scientific fact based approach. Instead, the focus was on the typically Arab styled settlement that followed: My one Camel for your two goats. In the interim, the news outraged Egyptians, who make up a high proportion of the workforce in KSA in a variety of fields. For years, they complained of being ill treated, underpaid and undervalued. Following a temporary move by the Egyptian government to ban their doctors from working in the KSA, Saudi Authorities paid lip service by promising that Egyptians workers would be given full rights. It is unlikely this promise will be extended to Philippine maids.