Saudi Hooligans
Everyone was talking about the opening of KAUST, the new university in Saudi, everyone was feeling proud and honoured to have this new monument which represents a new chapter and another achievement for King Abdullah… everyone except a few people who decided to be themselves, their true selves, hooligans.
Now Hooligans and hooliganism are everywhere, that is why police are on high alert and their presence is very noticeable in public events, high school graduations days, parades, sporting events… etc. all over the world.
Hooliganism is attributed to many reasons, in most countries it is alcohol fuelled and it is blamed on excessive drinking. In Saudi where alcohol is not easily obtainable, it is not easy to do the same. So people attribute that to the lack of jobs, having nothing to do, and to many other things…
I would like to put in my 2cents, and attribute the behaviour to lack of discipline… those guys have not been raised well, or not raised at all… mostly negligent parents. Those are the same guys that bother others with smoking in non smoking sections, they are the same ones that bother women in shopping centres, and I do not mean flirt… but bother… they are the same ones that tear up their books at the end of the school year…
As I said people will attribute this behaviour to many things including the “not have anything to do”, and just like the “we have many gays because we have segregation” well in the western world they have gays, enough to call for equal rights and rights to get married… true, not everyone in jail who had a sexual experience with a man is homosexual, I’ve heard that some inmates start looking like Beyoncé after a few months in jail… ok… I will stop here.
The fact of the matter is, no one is holding these boys accountable for any of their actions, and they are spoiled neglected kids… I have seen them growing up, they are the kids that are always in the streets, since three years old, some run around almost naked… some were/are my relatives and some were/are neighbours, one kid even threw a glass on my car, and when I talked to the father… he just smiled, shrugged and said “he’s just a kid… haha” no apologies, no sorry, no nothing.
These are they same guys who grew up learning that they can do no wrong. Even if they fall down they blame the ground… their parents even hit the ground for them to show them that they are not wrong… this is no exaggeration! I am not making this stuff up!
It is not a funny matter… but then again… I will not let them or anyone else steal the light from KAUST at the moment… so to KAUST, and as I said in twitter… Happy National Day Saudi Arabia, may every National Day be crowned with an achievement bigger and better than KAUST.
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
Celebritylife.org
Sep 25, 2009 @ 18:32:07
Celebritylife.org tracking back – Saudi Hooligans…
Celebritylife.org tracking back – Saudi Hooligans…
Twitter Trackbacks for Saudi Hooligans « Qusay [precognitive.wordpress.com] on Topsy.com
Sep 25, 2009 @ 20:43:35
[...] Saudi Hooligans « Qusay precognitive.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/saudi-hooligans – view page – cached tags: Beyoncé, gay, Hooligans, KAUST, Kids, King Abdullah, Saudi, saudi arabia, Saudi National Day, University by Qusay — From the page [...]
Twitter Trackbacks for Saudi Hooligans « Qusay [precognitive.wordpress.com] on Topsy.com
Sep 25, 2009 @ 20:43:35
[...] Saudi Hooligans « Qusay precognitive.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/saudi-hooligans – view page – cached tags: Beyoncé, gay, Hooligans, KAUST, Kids, King Abdullah, Saudi, saudi arabia, Saudi National Day, University by Qusay — From the page [...]
Many Questions, No Answers « Saudi Jeans
Sep 25, 2009 @ 21:31:26
[...] the National Day by acting like hooligans, I was disturbed but not surprised or shocked. As Qusay said, we can probably attribute this behaviour to many reasons, including the lack of discipline. But [...]
Sep 25, 2009 @ 21:58:47
I noticed that they usually end up in positions meant to stop hooliganism (i.e. street cops, security guards, managers), so will it ever be taken care of?
Sep 25, 2009 @ 23:42:35
I was just about to write exactly what you wrote in this post! had a conversation with mom about it in the car on our way to that wedding (check twitter for everything that happened in the wedding). I just never thought it could amount to THIS!
Sep 26, 2009 @ 00:10:40
Thank you Qusay.
You toke the words out of my mouth in correctly analyzing the primary cause of this and other similar incidents.
It is the last part that we disagree on though
You don’t like the incident to distract us from another important event.
I think no matter what happens, there are opportunists who would like nothing more than to seize the moment for personal (or political) reasons.
There are people out there who are waiting to capitalize on any such incidents to further their political and/or ideological agendas.
In other words, the sorry state of a few of our destructive youth, was portrayed in a way as to serve the agendas of people with a certain ideology. Or to further serve the cause of a political movement. (mainly online comments and analysis)
Sep 26, 2009 @ 02:18:51
Excellent post on this topic!
Indeed whatever the other causes of poor behaviour, parental permissiveness is both the triggering and the perpetuating factor.
I second your wish: “Happy National Day Saudi Arabia, may every National Day be crowned with an achievement bigger and better than KAUST”.
Saud–I enjoyed your comment but I don’t see the 2 perspectives, Qusay’s and yours, as mutually exclusive. Such behaviour is a distraction even if spontaneously so, but does give others permission to exploit the theme to their own ends. It is possible the behaviour itself was instigated or escalated by ideologues, and not just the reporting of it, but it seems this was not the first instance.
A vicious circle of repression, instigation/justification, repression…?
Sep 26, 2009 @ 04:51:28
I agree with you about the lack of discipline but, honestly, I’m still a bit perplexed. There’s obviously a lot of spoiling and lack of discipline, but the thing we saw on the video.. what was that? What makes a _group_ of people, young or old, do what we saw? Did they just get carried away, or did they actually intend to do that before getting there, or what exactly? Does being spoilt alone do that to your taste in entertainment, or is there more to it?
I think we should invite a psychologist to talk about it. There must be a speciality called ‘mob psychology’.
Sep 26, 2009 @ 15:22:23
I hope the parents really begin to take this issue seriously and try to control their children. The youth is behaving like illetrates in such a developed country. May Allah guide them.
Watch Saudi women at work – Blend of deen and duniya at adnisa.yolasite.com
Also watch a documentary that can change your life at http://adnisa.yolasite.com/worlds-biggest-secret-exposed.php
Sep 29, 2009 @ 21:03:57
SMIME, your sources might be faster than mine, last I heard we are still waiting.
I do not believe it is easy as that. The franchises belong to very rich individuals, it won’t just go like that.. but I might be wrong.
I am not a supporter of public lashings, they need to have a trial and evidence needs to be brought forth… I think those that were caught were the fat guys that stayed behind to eat the free donuts and ice cream who had done nothing… have you seen the pics at Nidal’s blog… everything at GNC was still there, yet the donuts and ice cream were all gone.
I hope they get punish them by making them clean the dirtiest public toilets with old toothbrushes!!! and have a drill sergeant make sure it is clean!!!
Sep 26, 2009 @ 17:20:10
are you sure the inauguration cost only 100m dollars .. i heard it cost 3 times that much ..
also .. do you know if any media covered the “riots” on national day .. as far as i can tell it was only reported in saudi forums and blogs but not in the news ..
Sep 26, 2009 @ 17:21:07
whoops sorry i meant to write that in saudi jeans .. my mistake .. i wrote it here cuz he linked to you from the same article .. sorry again
In Pictures: The AlKhobar Riots | NidalM Photography
Sep 27, 2009 @ 02:04:44
[...] who’ve already covered it from that angle. Saudi Jeans – Many Questions, No Answers and Precognitive – Saudi Hooligans are two I recommend. I deal in pictures, and if you want to see lots of them, you’ve come to [...]
Sep 27, 2009 @ 06:13:17
I hate when parents make excuses for their children like that. Oh for some personal responsibility and accountability .. NOT just in Saudi, believe me.
Sep 29, 2009 @ 19:51:16
Here’s the kicker to the whole story. According to multiple reports, the looters/rioters/thugs who were arrested for the vandalism and were supposed to have been punished with public lashings here the other night have all been pardoned and released. Mmmm. All news on the topic has evaporated. Now, not that I am cynical or anything (lol), but doesn’t this send a message, a starkly conservative PVPV-type message that the icons of the consumerist west – places like Starbucks and Pizza Hut, for example – are fair game? That you can viciously attack and destroy them and not be held accountable? If that’s the message the Powers that Be want to send, then what can we expect here in the future? Seriously…what’s next? And why the message? Frankly Qusay, I think this is just the open door some folk around here have been waiting for. I hope I’m wrong but…
And of course, these “celebratory riots” and mob psychology events DO happen elsewhere, heck everywhere. But most places at least attempt to hold those responsible responsible. I remember years ago the police confiscating camera phones after a sports team won and a riot broke out. They went frame by frame through all the videos and were able to catch a lot of the looters etc.
Sorry for the length on this one. As you can tell, it has me riled!
Sep 26, 2009 @ 08:27:48
Sharaf–I have not been able to find a video or even a news article on the actions, so perhaps you could give us a reference/link or a little more detail.
There is indeed a “mob psychology” or “crowd psychology” and it is both spontaneous and can be manipulated. The Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 is one excellent example of a spontaneous mob action. Others are lynchings, panics at natural events, etc. Manipulations are done by instigators to incite the crowd, or the forces of order for crowd control, or the forces of order to provoke the crowd and justify reprisal.
The Canadian RCMP tried to plant an instigator in a recent demonstration but he was so obvious (the regulation RCMP shoes, and his behaviour), the crowd so controlled, and the leaders so aware that it became merely another blight on their rather tarnished image of late.
Good point to raise. I look forward to more detail on the actual events this Saudi National Day, since aside from vandalism I haven’t been aware of anything else.
Sep 28, 2009 @ 09:04:01
Sharaf,
Chiara gave the academic answer… what would make them do that… I will hold my tongue on that for a bit until I can say it in a way so not to offend and unnerve
Sep 28, 2009 @ 08:54:05
I ask my self the same question all the time… thanks for passing by Khayra
Sep 28, 2009 @ 08:55:12
Yes, never had I… but it did… hope you had fun at the wedding… from the tweets it sounds like you had… other than the customary zaffa delay!
Sep 28, 2009 @ 08:58:46
What I meant was… I will not let these killjoys kill… my joy… they need to be dealt with, I suggest cleaning public toilets with old toothbrushes, and have a drill sergeant make sure they clean them right.
Sep 28, 2009 @ 09:01:19
Alright, so my theory is being supported by a psychologist… I feel, all Freudian and all, better go smoke my pipe now… hahaha.
Sep 28, 2009 @ 09:04:54
ADNISA, Thanks
Sep 28, 2009 @ 09:05:29
No problem, I hope you had fun reading both posts
Sep 28, 2009 @ 09:06:12
Susanne430, I know… it happens everywhere… Thanks for your comment
Sep 28, 2009 @ 09:50:35
LOL
Looking forward to it 
Actually NidalM just did a post with pictures and video from AlKhobar which helped me recognized more what had been happening:
In Pictures: The AlKhobar Riots | NidalM Photography
http://nidalm.com/blog/?p=738
Gratuitous would be one word to describe the violence. This wasn’t looting for money, or social justice, or anything much that can be made meaningful.
Sep 28, 2009 @ 09:53:06
Don’t forget to stroke your beard and say “Verrrry interrrresting” LOL
