It’s happening, again, I kid you not.
The exact same twitter frenzy scenario that rallied Saudis to attack and call for Hamza Kashgari’s trial, that many hoped will lead to his execution, is taking place again with another Saudi writer.
This time the target is Al Watan’s Columnist Hessa Al Sheikh, a strong advocate of women’s rights. Since yesterday Saudi clerics have been copying and distributing her tweet where she compares the Saudi singer Mohammad Abdu’s voice to God. “How dare she? How can this happen in the land of the two Holy Mosques? It will keep going until we make an example of one of them?” clerics angry, violent tweets exclaimed. But the farce is never quite enough without a weeping cleric. Remember sheikh Nasser Al Omar weeping plea to King Abdullah to execute Hamza Kashghari? Today, voilà, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Fowzan, member of King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue and the government-run Saudi Human Rights Commission, wept on Al Majd TV and called on the Saudi Royal family to defend religion and punish the Kafera (female infidel). Sadly, Hessa Al Sheikh denied today in an interview not only that she wrote that particular tweet, but went further and denied ever having a twitter account at all.
These online assaults are definitely not random and can never continue without the secret blessing of the Saudi government. This gang of Saudi clerics are the attack dogs of the Saudi government, specifically the Interior Minister, skilfully using religion to keep the masses in line with the Royal family’s wishes. As I said before in many interviews, this cynical use of people’s honest beliefs is more of an affront to religion than anything Hamza or Hessa have ever said. The government sole purpose in setting up and igniting such fights is to easily restrain and crackdown on outspoken activists. Only few days ago the Saudi authorities shut down Jasur Bookstore in Jeddah, where Hamza Kashgari was an active member of a young progressive Muslims community. Using the social media to condemn government corruption that lead to Jeddah floods in this YouTube clip is what the authorities really fear, dissent.
The Saudi regime keeps playing with fire knowing that most Saudis believe honestly in what the clerics say without realizing they are being manipulated for political reasons. And, i repeat, if the world keeps a blind eye on extremism in Saudi, another 9/11 might take place. Hatred is uncontrollable.
And let us all remember that Hamza Kashgri is still imprisoned. On May 2nd he spent his 23rd birthday in his cell in Al Hayer prison in Riyadh.





