#JeddahProtest

Upon the unrest and grief of the citizens of Jeddah from the effects of the November 25th '09 floods, the damages by the rain seasons at the beginning of this year, and the devastation that is still taking place from the flash floods the past Wednesday, action was demanded to be taken.

In a Saudi Channel One telephone interview with Prince of Jeddah, HRH Prince Khalid bin Faisal, praise was given to the King's recommendation of urgently fixing the damages done by the flood, and fixing the problems, be it in the city's design and lack of infrastructure, or the administrations incharge of fixing Jeddah especially after a similar recommendation that took place November of last year.

Interview is in Arabic

The Prince confirmed (again) that things will be dealt with (again) and the King's recommendations will be implemented exactly and literally (again) and those recommendations will be taken seriously this time (again? hold on, it wasn't serious before?)

I'll reserve my personal opinions about this whole mess for a later time. For now, I'm completely focused on keeping track of the rescue and volunteer efforts organized by the citizens themselves, along other relief and charity NGO's across the city. Major updates and locations/numbers/addresses can be found here.

note: If you have any information and suggestions that need to be published, contact me through the comment section below and/or the contact button in the upper right corner of this page.

During this weekend, a more socially-influenced development surfaced on all Social media networks and was broadcasted across a huge number of Black Berry broadcasts. a Group of Jeddah activists are organizing a Peaceful Protest infront of the Jeddah Amara (the highest authority incharge of the city) Event was moved to Jeddah Municipality instead. The event will take place tomorrow, from 10:00am to 1:00pm Makkah Timing. The news was caught by Al Jazeera. So far, there are no official responses or reactions by the government or different authorities of Saudi Arabia.

You can participate/spread/keep-track-of the event through the official Facebook Event and the Twitter hashtag.

The Goals of the Protest:

• Prince Khaled Al Faisal to resign from office AND apologize to the people of Jeddah for failing to do his duties in making sure this crisis won't happen again. removed by event organizer apparently..

• Initiation of a full project of restoration and repair of the damaged areas of the city, run by a foreign none-governmental 3rd party, keeping track of the expenses and/or procedures carried out to make sure the milestones are achieved. 

• Dissolving the existing Investigation Committee assigned a Year ago to investigate the 2009 floods, and assigning a new one with members who don't have any conflicts of interests with the criminals responsible.

• Complete removal of the Om Al Khair district and compensating the residents with the amount they paid to live there. Moreover, charging Zuhair Fayez Partnership and the Jeddah Amanah (municipality) with the responsibility for the deaths/damages, equally.

• A national public inquiry by the citizens of Jeddah to investigate deeper into the reasons behind the infrastructure corruption in the city's administrations.

• Giving the Baladia and Regional committee the power to implement changes and requests, rather than being optional consultants.

The event organizer(s) continue to explain the reasons behind the protest, and emphasized over and over how this is a PEACEFUL cry for what should've been done long ago to be done as soon as possible to avoid more damages done by the rain.

All participants are asked to print this sheet out, sign it, and hand it to the Amanah on the day of the protest..

original link here

I personally agree 100% with the intentions of the protest, but i still think the first goal/request is too harsh and extreme that it may ruin it for the rest of the goals to be seen in a just way. I mean, come on, an apology AND a resignation? i think we're seeing an Either Or situation, the social and political awareness of the country is still young. But then again, am all in support of the cause's right to happen, as a citizen, because it's our right and purposes as people who love their country to complain about the problems and demand changes for the safety of our lives and those we love and care about.

I hope the protest takes place, to show the kingdom and all its administrations, that your people are wide awake and they're quite aware of what they need. We're not asking much, just the safety of whatever little we have in this kingdom, and the just and fair trial of those responsible of causing traumatic effects on our lives over a drizzle of rain that is half the rain that hit villages and small towns around the Asia pacific, let alone other countries that rain daily without any similar damages to ours.

Our hearts are with you guys, and my body is included this time. See you Saturday :)

Yours,

Lou..

Update on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 5:00PM by Lou K

Apparently there was a smaller protest that took place today in Tahlia street..

More updates can be found on the twitter trend #JeddahProtest

Update on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 6:17PM by Lou K

The facebook event settled down and they changed the requests/goals of the protest.. I updated the quote above accordingly..

Update on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 6:22PM by Lou K

The location of the event was moved to the Amanah (municipality) in Andalus District in Jeddah..

Update on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 6:26PM by Lou K

a request sheet was assembled by the event organizers, and it's asked to be signed by anyone who wants to attend and bring it with them to the scene..

Three friggin' updates, slow the heck down lol..

Comments

[Soraya Darwish]

I totally agree that asking for his resignation is too much.. Our top priority right now is that they start fixing this immediately. I'm not against the investigation, but how do we know there are investigations taking place? Like you said, weren't they serious last time? So please, let us see something this time.

I just hope that the peaceful protest does remain peaceful. I don't recommend that expats take part in it though.

[Lou K]

Egyptians were protesting infront of the embassy in Jeddah.. So, they might think of joining in :D

[Rayan Karkadan]

I think and know that the word protest in this country is taboo and it just frealks the arm hairs right off any official that hears it. The use of the term in my opinion just overwrites wht ever results we might want out of it, and plain pushes the anger buttons on these guys. Not to mention it is by constitution (if there is one) a political crime..... more or less.....

I suggest you guys change the word to something more Saudi......I'm not saying I got full marks on all my "wa6anyya" exams, but in the name of pragmatism, if that's what it takes to get the results, so be it.

[Lou K]

Changing the system with something more Saudi?

hmmm..

http://zlouk.blogspot.com/2010/12/saudi-citizen-is-oxymoron_11.html

I think my general thoughts about that are summed up..