Despite the perception that Saudi Arabia has weathered the storm of the Arab Spring, dissent continues in the kingdom and is growing concludes Omayma Abdel-Latif who also interviews Saudi human rights activist Fouad Ibrahim On 23 February 2011, less than two weeks after the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak amid massive demonstrations, a group of Saudi intellectuals issued an important document urging political reform in the country. The document was entitled "The State of Rights and Institutions". It was followed, a week later, by a second document, titled "A National Call for Reform". Both documents listed a range of political reform demands, from public freedoms to power sharing, to writing a constitution and ensuring the independence of the judiciary. A week later, a Saudi activist set up a Facebook page calling for a "Day of Rage" in the kingdom on 11 March. The protest never materialised. The Saudi regime acted quickly to abort the move, including by arresting hundreds of activists and issuing a stern warning via the Interior Ministry that engaging in public protest was "punishable by law". A religious fatwa prohibited engaging in public protest, equating "conspiring against the political leadership" with "conspiring against God". Media propaganda claimed the protest call was instigated by Iran, while another narrative linked it to Al-Qaeda. As popular revolutions continued and gathered pace elsewhere in the Arab world, the assumption emerged that the tide of Arab awakening had failed to reach Saudi Arabia. There is growing evidence to suggest otherwise as more Saudi citizens, in defiance of a ban on public protest, resort to the street as the only means to express their discontent with state policies. From 2011 onward, protests have become a weekly -- and in some areas of the kingdom a daily -- occurrence. As early as January 2011, unemployed university graduates gathered outside the Education Ministry offices in Riyadh to demand jobs. Similar protests were staged in April that year in both Riyadh and Jeddah. Also several demonstrations by the relatives of prisoners detained without charge or trial have taken place in front of the Interior Ministry. A recent protest of prisoners' families took place 10 September when up to 50 people, including eight women, stood quietly outside a prosecutor's office in Riyadh, watched by uniformed policemen. No placards or slogans were raised. Some even had to cover their faces so as not to reveal their identities. Last Sunday, 23 September, a similar protest took place in Al-Qaseem City, also calling for the release of prisoners. Despite the fact that such protests remain small in size and do not compare to the vast rallies seen in Cairo, Tunisia or Sanaa, they are highly symbolic. Contrary to the regime's narrative, which portrays the Eastern Province as the only place where "rioters" take to the street, many protests took place in major cities like the capital Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Qaseem. Second, such manifestations of public resentment defy the myth of a "silent" Sunni majority that chose to stay off the street, submit to the fatwa banning public protests, and accept to be bought by the makrama malakiya -- or royal handouts -- which King Abdullah lavishly spent to nip in the bud any calls for political and social change. While it is true that such demonstrations do not pose an existential threat to the House of Saud and are not likely to bring about the kind of change which took place in Cairo or Tunis, the protest movement still exposes the fragility of the system, in forcing the Saudi monarchy to resort to a myriad political and economic measures to mute any public expression of dissent. Al-Saud family will continue to rely on material wealth, access to oil revenues, and personal networks to maintain its influence. Two factors, however, are likely to decide the pace and direction of change: socio-economic, particularly the demographic factor; and the impact of social media on raising public awareness regarding social and political opening. Youth under the age of 30 represent 60 per cent of the population. The latest published statistics for youth unemployment put the figure at 10.5 per cent, while the number of Internet users in the kingdom was estimated at 13 million. A recent study concluded that 54 per cent of Internet users have engaged in heated discussions about issues considered taboo by Saudi standards including women status, the role of the ulama as well as poverty and unemployment. Such high level of online activism has been translated into a wider participation in street protests. Inspired by online discussions, a demonstration was staged by 7,000 female students at King Khaled University in Abhaa in March 2011 to protest against the miserable conditions at the university and the lack of basic infrastructure and other services. It came to be known as "the university spring". Another equally significant demonstration took place in February 2012 when 28,000 unemployed graduates of health institutes staged a sit-in in front of Health Ministry offices in Riyadh demanding jobs. STATE HANDOUTS: In the weeks following Mubarak's ouster, Saudi King Abdullah announced a series of new benefits for citizens amounting to $10.7 billion. These included funding to offset high inflation and to aid young unemployed people and Saudi citizens studying abroad, as well as writing-off some loans. As part of the Saudi scheme, state employees would see their incomes increase by 15 per cent, and additional cash has also been made available for housing loans. No political reforms were announced as part of the package, though the 86-year-old monarch did pardon some prisoners convicted of financial crimes. The carrot of "social benefits" was accompanied by the stick. An Amnesty International report issued in November 2011 accused Saudi authorities of reacting to the Arab Spring by "launching a wave of repression". On 5 March came the Interior Ministry ban on public protest. The morning after, the Saudi Arabian Council of Senior Scholars, headed by Grand Mufti Abdel-Aziz Al-Sheikh, issued its fatwa, stating: "It is illegal to issue statements and take signatures for the purposes of intimidation and inciting strife." The fatwa included a "severe threat against internal dissent". Assessing the impact of the popular Arab awakening on Gulf States, one writer concluded that such uprisings at least "exposed" the arrangement between the ruler and the ruled as "a tradeoff of economic wealth for political power while ensuring loyalty and the legitimacy of the regime". Importantly, the pre-emptive measures taken by the king also reaffirmed the legitimacy of popular demands for social justice, equality, transparency, political participation and national reconciliation. Such demands existed before the euphoria of the Arab Spring. In the words of prominent activist and human rights advocate Fuad Ibrahim, "the moment of change has begun in the kingdom and there is no turning back." THE EASTERN PROVINCE QUESTION: Saudi Shia constitute 10-15 per cent of the population. Shia activists accuse Al-Saud regime of pursuing a pervasive institutionalised sectarianism that denies them their religious, political, social and economic rights. The list of demands raised by pro-reform activists of the Eastern Province include the release of political prisoners, political participation and the end of social and economic marginalisation policies. In the state-controlled media and Saudi-financed pan-Arab newspapers, Saudi Shias are represented as "rioters" who act upon "orders from Tehran". At least one Saudi activist suggested that this rhetoric was used as a premise for Saudi troops to invade Bahrain under the guise of the Gulf Cooperation Council, whereas the Saudi regime actually acted out of fear of an "uprising contagion". During 2011-2012, the Eastern Province has been a hotspot for unrest. The situation escalated in November 2011 when Saudi police opened fire on a number of protesters killing at least four. This incident was followed by the arrest of hundreds, including prominent reform activists. One incident, however, that galvanised the dissent movement took place when Saudi police killed a young man 12 January 2012 while demonstrating in Al-Awamiyah district. A few days later thousands of protesters took to the street to commemorate his death. This soon became a pattern for the protest movement. The Saudi police's excessive use of violence against peaceful protesters led to unintended consequences. It failed to deter citizens from taking to the street. Indeed, it created a cycle of protests, killings, funerals and mass rallies, helping to steel the protest movement.
