#SEA Riyadh

[indoorplaygroundequipment]

Upcoming Trade Shows

Upcoming trade shows SEA Riyadh KSA May 28-30, 2023 Booth #1E+100 IAAPA Singapore Asia,  June 13-16, 2023 Booth # L1325 Foundations Entertainment University Nashville, TN, July 18-19,2023 YMCA Atlanta GA July 20-23, 2023, Booth 1530 IAAPA Vienna Europe  Sept 25-28, 2023  Booth #A-2423

[sadoom]

[fashionistasparadise]

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[chainreactionpodcast]

News: FAA Directives, Canadian Rail Strikes, Airline Mergers, Apple Services Growth, EU EV tariffs, Sinking Salt Flats in Chile

Navigating the intricacies of global supply chains is no small feat, and this week’s Chain Reaction podcast does an exceptional job unraveling the complexities involved. From Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directives to anticipated rail strikes in Canada, each segment is packed with critical insights that are indispensable for industry professionals and enthusiasts alike. FAA Requires…

[mariacallous]

On a sunny April afternoon in 2006, thousands of people flocked to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for a rally with celebrities, Olympic athletes, and rising political stars. Their cause: garner international support to halt a genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.

“If we care, the world will care. If we act, then the world will follow,” Barack Obama, then the junior Illinois senator, told the crowd, speaking alongside future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That same week, then-Sen. Joe Biden introduced a bill in Congress calling on NATO to intervene to halt the genocide in Sudan. “We need to take action on both a military and diplomatic front to end the conflict,” he said.

Flash-forward 18 years, and the prospect of genocide again looms in Sudan amid an explosive new civil war. But this time, there are no rallies, no A-list celebrities, no calls for outside military intervention. Few world leaders pay anything more than lip service to condemning the atrocities.

Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced some 9 million since the conflict began in April 2023. The United States accused both sides of committing war crimes and atrocities and concluded that the RSF and its allied militias have committed ethnic cleansing.

Western officials and aid workers working on Sudan say they are vexed, and horrified, by the lack of international attention and resources the conflict is receiving—particularly compared to the global response to the conflict in 2006, which was the progenitor of the current conflagration.

If this trend continues and there is no forceful international crisis response, they warn, Sudan will likely collapse into a failed state and could face full-fledged genocide once again.

“You can’t help but watch the level of focus on crises like Gaza and Ukraine and wonder what just 5 percent of that energy could have done in a context like Sudan and how many thousands, tens of thousands of lives it could’ve saved,” said Alan Boswell, an expert on the region at the International Crisis Group.

The top general of the SAF, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the head of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagalo, jointly seized power from a transitional government in a coup in 2021. Tensions between the rival sides escalated and finally erupted into war in April 2023.

In the 13 months since, the RSF has entrenched its positions around the national capital of Khartoum, forcing the SAF to relocate its headquarters to the coastal city of Port Sudan. The RSF has made steady gains in seizing control of Darfur and advancing southward and eastward against SAF forces. The SAF still controls territories around Khartoum and up the Nile River, a vital strategic route to Egypt; along the Red Sea coast; and the eastern borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The conflict has also expanded into a full-fledged regional proxy war. Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as Riyadh’s arch regional rival Iran, back the SAF, while the United Arab Emirates is reportedly funneling arms and military supplies to the RSF. The RSF also reportedly receives support from Chad and from Russia through its affiliated mercenary groups.

The focal point of the conflict now is on El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur and the center of fighting. The RSF has taken control of vast swaths of western and southern Sudan in its war against the SAF. El Fasher is the last SAF stronghold in Darfur, occupying a strategically important position for trade routes from neighboring Libya and Chad.

The RSF recently began its advance on El Fasher where an estimated 2 million to 2.8 million civilians have sought to take refuge from the fighting. (Precise figures are hard to come by.)

“The risk of genocide exists in Sudan. It is real, and it is growing every single day,” Alice Nderitu, the U.N. special advisor on the prevention of genocide, warned in a U.N. Security Council meeting last week.

A lengthy report from Human Rights Watch documented how the RSF and allied militias committed widespread atrocities, including mass rape, child murder, and massacres of civilians when it captured the Sudanese city of El Geneina last year. U.S. and U.N. officials and human rights experts warn that the same will likely happen if the RSF takes control of El Fasher, but on a much wider scale. The United States and aid groups have accused the SAF of blocking vital food aid from entering the country and RSF forces of looting humanitarian stocks, exacerbating the crisis and pushing regions of the country closer to famine.

“The potential fatality generation here is off the charts,” said Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale’s School of Public Health who runs a research project that monitors the conflict in Sudan. “What will happen when the RSF takes El Fasher? Exactly what is happening in every other place they control.”

“There is Hiroshima- and Nagasaki-level casualty potential,” he added, referring to the U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Japan in World War II that killed up to 225,000 people.

Aid organizations and officials who work on Sudan have long decried the relative inattention the conflict in Sudan gets compared to Ukraine or the war in Gaza. Some 20 million people—or 10 times the population of Gaza—are at risk of famine in various regions of Sudan. “Very few people who don’t work on Sudan know that Darfur is on the brink of famine,” Boswell said. “Obviously, everyone knows about the risk of famine in Gaza.”

U.S. President Joe Biden’s own social media posts about Gaza versus Sudan provide another, albeit imperfect, window into the attention each conflict receives. Biden tweeted about Israel or Gaza at least 107 times in the six months since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that started the Israel-Hamas war. Since the war in Sudan began over a year ago, he has tweeted about Sudan four times—three of which were about the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum right after fighting broke out.

Aid groups are strained for resources to tackle the humanitarian crisis caused by the war. In February, Doctors Without Borders warned that in one refugee camp alone in North Darfur, one child was dying every two hours of malnutrition. In April, on the conflict’s first anniversary, aid groups said the international humanitarian response plan to aid the Sudanese was only 6 percent funded. At a donor conference that month in Paris, countries pledged $2 billion more—though that is still only about half of what aid groups estimate the country needs.

Biden appointed a special envoy for Sudan in February—Tom Perriello, a former U.S. representative from Virginia and State Department veteran. Most experts have cheered Perriello’s new push to hold cease-fire talks in the months since and engage U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill to bring more levers of U.S. power and financing to bear on Sudan, but they also fear his efforts may be too little, too late for the civilians trapped in El Fasher.

“It will be very hard to deescalate the situation, though everyone should try. But there is an aura of inevitability that this is all going to blow up,” Boswell said. “The degree of mobilization from all sides is hard to walk down.”

Diplomatic and aid officials working on Sudan have some theories on why the atrocities in Darfur and across the country are receiving such little attention now compared to the 2000s, but none gives a full answer.

In 2006, the United States was still reaching the heights of its post-9/11 “war on terror” campaign. Sudan, under former dictator Omar al-Bashir, had given safe haven to Osama bin Laden as he built up al Qaeda’s global terror network, and “bashing Bashir and his genocide in Darfur couched nicely with [counterterrorism] priorities” of the U.S. government at the time, said Nicole Widdersheim, a former senior National Security Council official now with Human Rights Watch.

The memories of failed and successful international interventions to halt genocide—Rwanda in 1994 and the Balkans later that decade, respectively—were still relatively fresh in the minds of policymakers. The costly Western campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya that later exposed the shortcomings and blowback of military interventions were still underway.

It also preceded the current era of great-power competition, where Washington is intensely focused on countering Russia and China. Sudan also competes with the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine for international attention and humanitarian resources. Others suggested racism built into Western foreign policy played a part. “It’s seen as yet ‘another war in Africa like all the others,’” said one official dryly. Not one single factor can explain it all, experts concluded.

“Gaza is taking up the always limited American public interest and activism on a foreign crisis, but to be fair, there was nearly no public activism or engagement on the Sudan war before” the Israel-Hamas war, Widdersheim said.

Experts say the relative inattention Sudan has gotten from the top echelons of the White House and other Western powers that could have influence in pressuring the warring sides in Sudan to sit for peace talks has led to the current protracted state of the war.

Biden hosted Kenyan President William Ruto for a state visit this week, where the two called on “the warring parties in Sudan to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access and immediately commit to a ceasefire” toward the end of a lengthy joint statement but did not elaborate further. U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield have also been outspoken about urging an end to the conflict in Sudan.

Successive cease-fire talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, over the past year, brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia, failed to clinch any lasting deal. Those talks were led on the U.S. side not by a top White House official or Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but by the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Molly Phee.

Behind-the-scenes efforts by some members of Congress in December 2023 to appoint a special presidential envoy on Sudan—one who would report directly to the White House, rather than an envoy reporting to the assistant secretary of state—were unsuccessful, multiple officials and congressional aides said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration dynamics. Perriello was appointed two months later.

Perriello in mid-April said that cease-fire talks would resume in Jeddah “within the next three weeks,” but so far those talks have yet to materialize. Several current and former officials familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said the talks in Jeddah could resume in June, by which point the RSF could have already captured El Fasher from the mostly cutoff SAF forces.

“The need to start formal peace talks in Jeddah is absolutely urgent, and the United States is working exhaustively with partners to make that happen,” said a State Department spokesperson. “But we are not waiting for formal talks to begin—rather, we have accelerated our diplomatic engagements to align international efforts to end this war, mitigate the humanitarian crisis, and prevent future atrocities.”

Cease-fire talks have worked in limited ways in the past, such as when the United States got both sides to briefly stop fighting in Khartoum so it could evacuate its embassy in April 2023. “When the right leverage is put on the table at the right time to get the RSF and SAF to stop fighting, it can be done,” said Kholood Khair, a Sudanese policy analyst and founding director of Confluence Advisory, a Sudan-focused think tank. “The international community has just chosen not to deploy that same leverage this time around.”

Khair added that the Jeddah talks format has failed before, and it will likely fail again. “The concern is that because of the laziness and complicity of the international community at this point, you don’t have any diplomats who are looking for a new way of doing things. Jeddah in many ways is blocking the start of any new diplomatic efforts or other good ideas that could be effective.”

“Diplomats are fixated on Jeddah now, simply because it’s already there,” Khair said.

As Perriello engaged in frenetic diplomacy, he has also publicly marveled at how little attention the scale of the conflict and death in Sudan is receiving on the international stage.

“One of the things that to me captures just how invisible and horrific this war is, is that we don’t have a credible death count,” Perriello said during a congressional hearing in front of the 21-member Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month. “We literally don’t know how many people have died—possibly to a factor of 10 or 15. The number was earlier 15,000 to 30,000. Some think it’s at 150,000,” he said. During the course of Perriello’s hearing, senators cycled out of the room due to scheduling conflicts, often leaving only one senator in the room and 20 empty seats.

[zvaigzdelasas]

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to attend a summit on Gaza, making him the first Iranian president to visit the Gulf kingdom in years, after a thaw between the longtime rivals earlier this year saw them restore diplomatic ties.

Raisi was seen greeting Saudi officials after landing at the airport. He donned the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.

President Ebrahim Raeisi of Iran says the Israeli regime must be brought to justice in international courts over its genocide of the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip. Raeisi made the remarks while addressing the joint emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the issue of Gaza in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.[...]

“Now that the international assemblies under the influence of the United States are suffering from indecisiveness, and lack of character and identity, we must take the field.” The president said the Arab and Muslim countries shoulder the responsibility towards the issue of Palestine and the oppressed people of Gaza. Raeisi proposed Iran’s 10 urgent solutions and suggestions for the benefit of the Palestinian nation. The president urged Muslim leaders attending the summit to take a “decisive and swift” decision in favor of Palestinians. Raeisi said the United States and Israel must be obliged to accept an immediate halt to the war machine. The Iranian president gave primacy to the complete lifting of the human blockade of Gaza and immediate and unconditional reopening of the Rafah border crossing in cooperation with Egypt to send humanitarian aid to people in Gaza as Iran’s second proposal.

The president said the pressure exerted by the US and its Western allies is by no means an excuse to close borders. As Iran’s third offer, Raeisi urged Israel’s immediate military withdrawal from Gaza, saying the Gazan territory belongs to Palestinians and not those who act under the command of the US and Israel. He warned all countries, including Muslim nations, to be cautious about any American-Zionist plot under the pretext of ensuring security in Palestine. Raeisi said Iran’s fourth proposal urges all Muslim countries to terminate any political and economic relations with Israel. He said economic sanction, particularly in the energy sector, against the regime must figure high on the agenda. As Iran’s fifth offer, the president called on all Muslim countries to label the Israeli regime’s army a terrorist organization. He stressed the importance of establishing an international court to prosecute the criminal leaders of Israel and the US, particularly those who have played a role in the genocide in Gaza. The president called for the establishment of a special fund for the immediate reconstruction of Gaza with the acceptance of the Muslim countries attending the summit

Referring to an Israeli airstrike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip, which killed at least 500 Palestinians, the president said October 18 should be named as the day of genocide and crime against humanity.

If Israel keeps its crimes going in the “unequal war,” Raeisi said, Muslim countries must arm the Palestinian people and help them fight the occupying warmonger. The president undercored the importance of the liberation of Palestine “from the river to the sea” as a permanent and democratic solution.[...]

The president said the US is the main perpetrator and accomplice in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Israel is the “illegitimate child of America,” Raiesi said. “It is America that has preferred support it over the sacred lives of thousands of oppressed Palestinian children. By immediately forming its security cabinet in the occupied territories, America encouraged the Zionist regime to carry out criminal operations against the helpless people of Gaza and called it legitimate defense,” the president said. The claim of legitimate defense is “one of the bitter ironies of history, which goes against any established legal rules and international standards,” the president said. He said the US sent its warship to the region to effectively enter the war on behalf of Israel. “The all-out support of the Zionist regime in the UN Security Council and preventing the adoption of a resolution to stop the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza was another service of America to the aggressors, allowing them to conduct war crimes more than ever,” Raeisi stated.

11 Nov 23

[hummussexual]

Alexander Durie 23 May, 2024

The Cannes Film Festival this year showcased screenings from the Middle East and North Africa that captured significant attention.

The New Arab has curated a list of the top seven films premiered there, and we highly recommend giving them a watch.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024) 

Director Mohammad Rasoulof – Iran, France, Germany

In the bustling streets of Tehran, the life of Judge Iman takes a drastic turn when he discovers his gun missing, leading him to suspect his own family, including his wife and daughters. The film explores the intricate dynamics of familial relationships, as suspicion and distrust put their bonds to the ultimate test. 

Despite facing an eight-year prison sentence in Iran, Director Mohammad Rasoulof's determination to present this story at Cannes highlights the enduring power of artistic expression in challenging times.

Norah (2024) 

Director Tawfik Alzaidi – Saudi Arabia

Transporting audiences back to the conservative landscape of 1990s Saudi Arabia, Norah introduces us to Nader, a newly arrived teacher in a remote village, and Norah, a spirited young woman yearning for freedom. Their secret affair blossoms amidst the shadows of societal restrictions and impending danger, fueled by their shared passion for art and beauty.

Against the backdrop of a repressive society, the film serves as a reminder of the power of love and the human spirit's pursuit of liberation.

To a Land Unknown (2024)

Director Mahdi Fleifel – Palestine, UK, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia

To a Land Unknown tells the story of Chatila and Reda, two Palestinian cousins in Athens, Greece, aiming for a better life in Germany. They face tough challenges as refugees, pushing themselves to their limits. Their journey highlights the struggles of seeking refuge and finding hope in difficult times.

Across the Sea (2024)

Director Saïd Hamich Benlarbi – Morocco, France, Belgium, Qatar

Across the Sea follows Nour, a young immigrant who comes to Marseille, France, for a better life. He faces tough challenges surviving on the outskirts of society, getting involved in small crimes with an uncertain future. But meeting Serge, a charismatic but unpredictable cop, and his wife Noémie, gives Nour hope.

The story spans from 1990 to 2000, showing Nour's search for love, identity, and belonging in a world that's changing fast.

East of Noon (2024) 

Director Hala Elkoussy – Egypt, Netherlands, Qatar

East of Noon welcomes viewers into a fantasy world rooted in Egyptian folklore. It follows young Abdou, a musical prodigy who defies tradition with his music. As Abdou's melodies resonate across the timeless landscape, he confronts the norms, embarking on a bold journey of self-discovery.

Director Hala Elkoussy's tale celebrates Egypt's cinematic heritage, with enchanting characters and captivating storytelling that transport audiences to a realm of limitless imagination.

The Brink of Dreams (2024)

Director Nada Riyadh & Ayman El Amir – Egypt, France, Denmark, Qatar, Saudi Arabia

In a remote village in Upper Egypt, a group of young girls breaks societal norms by forming a street theatre group. They dream of a life beyond their traditional upbringing. Through daring performances, they challenge the expectations of their Coptic families and local communities. Daughters of the Nile, filmed over four years, shows their journey from rebellious teens to empowered women.

This film is a powerful story of resilience and strength, capturing their universal longing for self-discovery and freedom.

Everybody Loves Touda (2024) 

Director Nabil Ayouch – Morocco, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway

In the charming villages of Morocco, Touda dreams of a life beyond what society expects. She wants to become a Sheikha, a traditional Moroccan performer. Despite facing criticism from her community, Touda finds comfort in her music, singing about resistance, love, and freedom. Every night, she performs in local bars, her voice filling the streets as she imagines a better future for herself and her son.

Driven by a desire to break free from tradition, Touda sets her sights on the bright lights of Casablanca, determined to make her own way in a world full of opportunities.

[collapsedsquid]

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting against the Houthi movement in Yemen said on Monday it would close all air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. The move, which follows the interception of a missile fired towards the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday, is likely to worsen a humanitarian crisis in Yemen that according to the United Nations has pushed some seven million people to the brink of famine and left nearly 900,000 infected with cholera. "The Coalition Forces Command decided to temporarily close all Yemeni air, sea and land ports," the coalition said in a statement on the Saudi state news agency SPA. It said aid workers and humanitarian supplies would continue to be able to access and exit Yemen. The United Nations, however, said it was not given approval for two scheduled humanitarian flights on Monday and was seeking clarification on the coalition's announcement.

Your freedom-of-navigation news from 2017

[khalid-albeshri]

Reasons behind the fast economic growth of Saudi Arabia:

The rapid economic growth of Saudi Arabia in 2022, especially being the fastest-growing among G20 economies, can be attributed to several key factors:

- Increased Oil Production and Prices: Saudi Arabia, being one of the world's largest oil producers, benefited significantly from rising global oil prices and increased production levels. The rebound in global demand for oil post-pandemic, combined with geopolitical tensions that disrupted other oil supplies, contributed to higher revenues.

- Economic Reforms Under Vision 2030: The Saudi government’s Vision 2030 initiative aims to diversify the economy away from oil dependency. Reforms under this vision have encouraged growth in non-oil sectors such as tourism, entertainment, real estate, and finance, driving economic expansion.

- Investment in Infrastructure: Major infrastructure projects, including NEOM, the Red Sea Project, and the expansion of Riyadh, have attracted significant investments. These projects are not only boosting construction and related industries but are also creating jobs and stimulating the overall economy.

- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Saudi Arabia has seen an increase in FDI due to improved business regulations, economic reforms, and strategic partnerships with global companies. The Kingdom's efforts to create a more business-friendly environment have made it an attractive destination for foreign investors.

- Strong Private Sector Growth: Government initiatives to boost the private sector, including supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), have contributed to economic growth. Privatization of certain sectors and public-private partnerships have also played a role.

- Expansion of Non-Oil Sectors: Sectors such as tourism, entertainment, and technology have seen rapid growth, fueled by government support and increased consumer spending. Events like the Saudi Seasons, international sporting events, and cultural festivals have attracted visitors and investments.

- Labor Market Reforms: Reforms in the labor market, including Saudization efforts (Nitaqat program) and improved labor laws, have increased workforce participation and productivity, particularly among women and young Saudis.

- Fiscal Prudence and Debt Management: Saudi Arabia has implemented effective fiscal policies, including managing public debt and reducing the budget deficit, which has helped stabilize the economy and promote growth.

- Global Economic Recovery: The global economic recovery post-COVID-19 also played a role, as increased global trade and investment flows positively impacted Saudi Arabia's economy.

These factors combined to create a robust and diversified growth environment, contributing to Saudi Arabia's rapid economic expansion

#KhalidAlbeshri #خالدالبشري

[duhragonball]

Were you aware of/do you have an opinion on the Dragonball theme park that is starting construction soon? On the one hand it seems like that Harry Potter theme park (which was a dumb idea, nobody serious cares about HP anymore), but Dragonball also isn't shitty, and Akria Toriyama didn't spend the last years of his life making sure everyone knew he was a transphobe (which J.K. Rowling is doing her best to do). Do you have a take?

I was not aware of any of this, so I don't think I have much to contribute to the conversation.

The article I just found was published only a few hours ago, so I guess this is a HOTTT scoop? Also, it looks like the thing is being built in Saudi Arabia, so I guess that's why this got announced in the middle of the night where I live. It's 3am here and I'm up early because I went to bed at 7pm and woke up around 1am.

Okay, so the Saudi connection is something I can talk about, because this sounds a lot like the same agenda that led to the WWE's infamous deal with Saudi Arabia. For those of you who aren't into pro wrestling, in 2018 WWE started putting on events in Jeddah and Riyadh. This has been controversial for several reasons, but the main sticking point is that the Saudi assassination of dissident journalist James Khashoggi took place in October 2018, a few weeks before WWE's second-ever Saudi show, Crown Jewel. The U.S. condemned the assassination, and politicians pressured WWE to call off the show, but the Kingdom paid a lot of money for the deal, and Vince McMahon only cares about himself, so they just went ahead and did the show anyway. There's other issues, but that one especially stuck in my craw, and it's why I canceled my WWE Network subscription and haven't watched their product ever since.

Basically, the Saudi government has been trying to revamp their economy to reduce dependence on the petroleum industry. The WWE deal is part of the "Saudi Vision 2030" project, which aims to increase the economic, social, and cultural diversification of the country by the end of this decade. Tourism is a big part of that plan, which is why they're paying big money for sporting events, live shows, and so on. Their plans also include a lot of political and social reforms, but this feels like an afterthought, especially to a lot of critics. For example, they announced a "Red Sea Film Festival" in 2019, but in order to put on such an event, they first had to lift a 35-year moratorium on building new movie theaters. They started allowing women to enter the King Fahd International Stadium for the first time, but that's probably just because they really wanted a packed house for these shows and concerts they're putting on.

The whole thing smacks of propaganda designed to distract the public from KSA's lousy record on human rights. When WWE was promoting their first Jeddah show, they ran a lot of video packages about Saudi Vision 2030 and talked up how cool it was that the country was seeking to modernize. Meanwhile, a lot of their roster couldn't even go to these shows for various reasons. Sami Zayn's a Syrian by descent, Noam Dar is an Israeli, and Montel Vontavious Porter is a former Muslim, so he might get executed for apostasy if he entered the country. The women's roster was a whole other thing. I think they were just left at home for the first couple of shows, and then they gradually started allowing more women to participate. And all those slick Saudi Vision video packages looked pretty hollow when James Khashoggi got murdered.

My take has been that KSA is just throwing money at their problems and trying to distract their critics. Saudi Arabia is practically synonymous with oil, and that's what made the country rich. I watched a video on this a while back, and if I remember right, they discovered oil in the 1930s and wanted to avoid getting exploited by the British and French, so they partnered with the United States. That prosperous relationship allowed Saudi Arabia to become a regional power and basically have things their way. The human rights problems were allowed to persist because they knew the U.S. would always back them up to protect their oil interests.

But over the last fifty years or so, U.S. dependence on Saudi oil has declined. See, it's not that Saudi Arabia has more crude oil than other countries. What made it so important in the petroleum industry is that Saudi crude is much easier to refine than other sources. So Saudi refineries can produce more fuel in a short span of time, which gave them a lot of leverage in that sector. But there's been a big push in the U.S. to seek out and refine more crude oil domestically, and that's cut into Saudi Arabia's prestige. Now, when rival powers like Iran start bothering Saudi Arabia, the U.S. isn't as quick to offer support, and that's why KSA is trying to figure out how to adapt to the changing times.

To be blunt, I don't know how the hell a Dragon Ball theme park helps solve any of this. If the oil revenue is on the decline, then it makes sense for a country to invest in other industries while the coffers are fuil, but now Saudi Arabia has to backtrack a lot of their draconian laws and authoritative policies to improve their public image. And they need to do it quickly, but not so quickly as to upset the conservative elements in the country.

Like, all right, let's say they open this park, and they really want people to fly in from all over the world. I know a lot of women in the Dragon Ball fandom. What kind of restrictions would they have to deal with in the park? Is there a stringent dress code? They made a big deal out of the historic first-ever women's match at one of those Crown Jewel shows, but the wrestlers had to wear black unitards under their usual ring gear. So they eased up on some rules, but you watch the show and you can tell there's still some rules in place.

I've met a lot of LBGTQ+ people in this fandom. Can they go to the Saudi Dragon Ball theme park? Can a same-sex couple hold hands as they wait in line to ride the Ginyu Force Log Flume? And I'm sure there's a guy at the General Entertainment Authority office who would assure me that it's all good, nothing to worry about, everyone is welcome, please come to the theme park and spend lots of money. But once you get there? Remember, James Khashoggi was a citizen of Saudi Arabia, and he walked into that consulate assured that everything would be cool, and then it wasn't.

You mentioned the Harry Potter theme park, and yeah, that whole franchise is a PR hot mess, but at least I don't have to ask these kinds of questions about who can go to the park without getting detained. That's the public relations mess Saudi Arabia has to clean up. At least with Harry Potter, they just have to distract people from one hateful, cranky billionaire. For most casual fans, "J.K. Rowling" is a name they barely notice in the credits. But Saudi Arabia's issues are baked into the government, laws, and history of the whole country. Reform is possible, but it isn't as simple as the propaganda makes it sound. There's a lot of damage that needs to be repaired.

I'm sorry, I kind of turned this into a rambling essay about Saudi Arabia's pivot to tourism, but for me that's the main issue here. The park might get completed and it may even do big business, but I don't think there's a lot of transparency with these projects. From what I've heard, the WWE shows in Jeddah and Riyadh don't actually make a lot of money. Much of the live crowd attends for free just to make the shows look more popular than they are, and WWE only plays along because they're getting paid handsomely for the effort. It just comes across like the country is spending lots of money to imitate a tourist destination without actually becoming one. So the Dragon Ball park looks like it's also going to be a means to an end. Someone in charge liked the idea enough to push it through, but that doesn't translate into success.

Oh, wait, I just realized: What if the park opens, then fails, and it gets abandoned? I really don't have any interest in theme parks, but abandoned theme parks kick ass. Imagine Dogpatch U.S.A, except it's Dragon Ball themed. That would be amazing. I hope I live long enough to see photos of it when it gets all old and decrepit.

[heritage-harmony-records]

NEW ALBUM STREAMING NOW!!!

Water In The Sea is the new EP from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia based psychedelic alternative/indie pop/indie rock artist SOVL, released July 12, 2024. Listen to the full EP:

[sadoom]

[usafphantom2]

Saudi Defense Minister sees Rafale's demonstration while Riyadh wants 54 aircraft

The kingdom approached Dassault after Germany refused Riyadh's request for Eurofighters.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 12/21/2023 - 08:29 in Military

The Saudi Minister of Defense, Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, today visited the French frigate "Chevalier Paul" in the Mediterranean Sea, in the south of France, where he witnessed an air defense exercise with the participation of a series of Rafale aircraft.

Upon his arrival, His Highness was received by the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic, Sébastien Lecornu, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz received an explanation that included the capabilities of the Rafale jet and the sophisticated and advanced technologies and equipment it contains.

On Wednesday, the Saudi Defense Minister met with French President Emmanuel Macron, where the duo discussed bilateral relations between France and the Saudi Kingdom.

Separately, the CEO of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, confirmed that Saudi Arabia is negotiating the purchase of 54 Rafale aircraft.

Speaking to the Association of Defense Journalists in Paris on December 14, Eric Trappier said that “although Saudi Arabia has traditionally purchased British aircraft, Saudi Arabia's request for 54 Rafales was “independent of the crisis in the Middle East,” he said, indirectly referring to Germany that blocked Saudi Arabia's request for additional Eurofighters due to the kingdom's intervention in the Yemen civil war.

Tags: Military AviationDassault AviationDassault RafaleRSAF - Royal Saudi Air Force/Royal Saudi Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[isitandwonder]

Openly gay filmmaker Luca Guadagnino attending a film festival in KSA, organized by a good friend of Armie Hammer, Mohammed Al Turki???

You can get sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for having gay sex.

The human rights situation in KSA is atrocious.

They just sentenced at least 2 women to 30+ years in jail for posting critical tweets against the royal family.

Raif Badawi is still not allowed to leave the country and join his family in Canada.

Denying women basic human rights, stoking war in Yemen....

The list goes on and on...

What a great place to go 🤮

I'm all for supporting reforms but maybe one should visit such totalitarian states AFTER they accept and implement basic human rights, not before?!

The people of Iran are risking their lives protesting for basic liberties - and these fucking traitors visit a country that's far worse and with their glamour help to make a place which Guadagnino would normally be forbidden to enter as a gay man look nice, modern and welcoming.

What kind of shitshow is this?

Btw, Blue Caftan is a beautiful movie and I'm shocked that the director is attending such a hypocritical festival...

[mariacallous]

This was not supposed to happen. Israel’s vaunted military and ruthlessly efficient security services had Hamas bottled up in the Gaza Strip. Sure, every few years there was a conflict that followed a similar pattern: a provocation, Hamas rocket attacks, Israeli air strikes, Egyptian mediation, and then quiet again. Meanwhile, Israel’s diplomatic achievements piled up as it expanded its circle of peace to include the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Until a few days ago, Washington was debating when Saudi Arabia and Israel would normalize relations.

That was when people began getting news alerts on their devices informing them that Hamas had invaded Israel, killed many civilians and soldiers, and had yet to be subdued while a salvo of anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 rockets rained down on Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Tel Aviv.

By now, whatever has been said about Hamas’s “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” as this latest assault has been dubbed—that it’s unprecedented, a quantum leap, Israel’s 9/11—has become cliché. However folks want to describe it, it should be clear that the merciless lethality of Hamas’s invasion of Israel has—at the risk of another cliché—changed everything. The familiar pattern of Israel-Hamas conflict is now something of the past. There is simply no way the Israeli government will not unleash the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the Gaza Strip on the ground, in the air, and by sea to destroy Hamas and, in the process, kill or capture leaders such as Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif.

As a result, the issues that the world of Middle East experts, punditry, and officialdom was concerned with just a week ago—Israel’s eligibility for the U.S. visa waiver program and the prospect of Saudi-Israeli normalization—suddenly seem irrelevant. The starting point for the new Middle East will be an Israeli reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, not an Israeli Embassy in Riyadh.

This parlous state of affairs is only really a surprise because bad assumptions about the region hampered a clear view of the Middle East’s complex political dynamics. This is particularly acute when it comes to the Palestinian issue and its alleged diminution in parallel with the march toward regional integration, the idea that the problem is Israel’s occupation, and the persistent belief—despite so much evidence—that U.S. diplomacy can alter Iran’s behavior for the better.

Take each one in succession. First, although some Middle Eastern governments want to establish ties with Israel, the issue of Palestinian rights has not lost its importance for the vast majority of Arabs who view normalization dimly. Lost in the miasma of violence in recent days is the fact that Israel has occupied the West Bank for 56 years and, along with Egypt, maintains a cordon sanitaire around the Gaza Strip. Prominent features of life for Palestinians in these areas are violence, dispossession, and dehumanization.

Under these circumstances, there are few Palestinians who regard resistance as illegitimate. This was perhaps best articulated in a media interview with Mustafa Barghouti, the leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, who is neither aligned with Hamas nor its political rival, Fatah. Without explicitly condoning or condemning Hamas’s rampage throughout southern Israel, he focused on what he sees as Israel’s culpability. He told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that the Hamas attack was a reaction to a host of actions, including settler attacks on and evictions of Palestinians in the West Bank; attacks on Muslim and Christian holy sites by Israeli extremists; and Israel’s normalization with Arab countries, which Barghouti characterized as an attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “liquidate” Palestinian rights and the Palestinian cause.

It was likely hard for many viewers to hear at a moment when the full horror of the murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians was coming to light, but Barghouti accurately characterized the situation for many Palestinians.

Now that war has broken out, it has brought into sharp relief the fact that the Palestinian issue is not just a “checkbox” ahead of a Saudi-Israeli signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Security, rights, and justice for the people in the West Bank and Gaza remain critical pieces of the normalization that so many Israelis want.

To their credit, U.S. President Joe Biden and his advisors understood this and pushed the Israelis to take the issue seriously. Still, in Washington, until Saturday morning there was an overall sense that the primary obstacles to Saudi-Israel normalization were not the Israeli occupation and Palestinians’ lack of rights, but rather a radical far-right Israeli government and a toxic Saudi leader who was unworthy of the goodies the White House was willing to offer for coming to terms with Israel.

Those may be valid reasons to be skeptical of a deal, but it’s clear that, now especially, Arab countries will not be able to move forward with normalizing relations with Israel so long as the Palestinian grievances remain unaddressed.

Second, anyone attuned to the issue will have seen placards at pro-Palestinian rallies that declare “End the Occupation!” The underlying assumption is that an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and the end of the blockade of Gaza will go a long way toward ending the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

That seems unlikely, but also beside the point—because when Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing, affirms that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood aims to end the world’s longest occupation, he does not mean the 56-year occupation that began with Israel’s victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. He means the occupation of what he sees as the land of Palestine—to include Israel. This is something that Palestine’s supporters would rather be left unsaid; or, when it is raised, will protest that the Hamas Charter was revised in 2017 to soften the group’s view of Israel. That is hardly the case, however. Article 18, for example, states:

The following are considered null and void: the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate Document, the UN Palestine Partition Resolution, and whatever resolutions and measures that derive from them or are similar to them. The establishment of “Israel” is entirely illegal and contravenes the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and goes against their will and the will of the Ummah [global Muslim community]; it is also in violation of human rights that are guaranteed by international conventions, foremost among them is the right to self-determination.

It also states, “Resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and by international norms and laws. At the heart of these lies armed resistance, which is regarded as the strategic choice for protecting the principles and the rights of the Palestinian people.” This should bring into sharp relief Hamas’s goals. Taking over towns in Israel, rather than targeting settlements in the West Bank, belies the apologists’ claim that Hamas aims to liberate the Gaza Strip and West Bank only.

So yes, the occupation as understood by the international community is a problem, but it is not the problem. For Hamas, the problem is that Israel exists. And although the vast majority of people in the Arab world do not subscribe to Hamas’s methods, if some of the polling on normalization is any indication, their view of Israel as illegitimate is not dissimilar from Hamas’s own view. Operation Al-Aqsa Flood has thus laid bare a problem at the heart of all the talk about a new integrated Middle East: Without justice for the Palestinians, the support for normalization is thin at best.

Third, the notion that the United States can coax changes in Iranian behavior through diplomacy is misguided. It remains to be seen to what extent Iran had a hand in Hamas’s infiltration of Israel, but there are tantalizing signs that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force played a role.

That group’s commander, Gen. Esmail Qaani, met with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah in the spring to encourage coordination among the groups and attacks on Israel. Hamas leaders have also said publicly that Iran provided weapons, money, and equipment for Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The sophistication of Hamas’s operation and its stunning change in tactics also suggest the possibility that the group received outside assistance. And the Iranians have warned countries against normalization with Israel, a clear confluence of interest with Hamas.

If the Iranians had a hand in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, it should bring an end to the assumption that both Democratic and Republican administrations have held that, with Iran, “good will begets good will.” There is very little evidence of this. Instead, the Iranians pocket U.S. goodwill, regard it as weakness, and pursue their goal of undermining the regional order, including by confronting Israel.

Now, in response, the Israelis are laying siege to the Gaza Strip in order to destroy Hamas. It will be a long, hard fight, as the Israelis acknowledge. Given the scale of Hamas’s attacks, Israel will likely have unusual amounts of leeway from the United States, Europe, and even some of its Arab partners to achieve this goal—despite what will likely be an enormous loss of civilian life.

But then what? The Israelis have been trying to offload the Gaza Strip for decades. They were even willing to give it to Yasser Arafat. Given that there are no good options, the Israelis may now find themselves occupying the same territory they withdrew from almost 20 years ago. Even if they do not intend to do so, Gaza is a trap. This will surely set back normalization in the region and much else. Victory to the Iranians.