Saudi Arabia: 'ID cards revolution' inflames YouTube against regime

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Al-Dusari: My salary is 1900 Riyals. The authority is preoccupied fighting the bombings while enjoying alone the revenues of the petroleum. The maxim "stave your dog it will obey you" is no longer valid.

Al-Ghamdi: I call upon the youth to participate by recording videos in the same way.

Al-Harbi: The authority has established centres for having dialogue with the Jews and the Americans but has not yet thought of having a dialogue with its people.

Al-Asiri: Al Saud, you have stolen every thing including even Islam and the Messenger. I warn that the first Saudi republic is on its way.

Al-Juhani: If the state fails to meet the demands of the youth the repercussions will be grave indeed.

Under the emblem of "the ID cards revolution" the Saudi youth protest movement has shifted from twitter to YouTube. A group of Saudi young men have begun recording individual video clips separately to convey messages to the king complaining living hardships, criticising the performance of the authority and denouncing corruption. This started nearly a week ago, more specifically on the 30th of March, when a young man called Abd Al-Aziz Muhammad Al-Dusari published a video clip on YouTube under the title "a message to the king" in which he complained from his living condition due to the low salary he receives, which does not exceed 1900 riyals (500 dollars) and which, according to him, does not suffice his essential living needs. He criticised the preoccupation of the authority with fighting "bombings" and not paying attention to the needs of its citizens. He demanded improving the living conditions of Saudis from oil revenues that are, in his own words, enjoyed solely by the royal family. The he pulled his ID card in front of the camera announcing his full name to the public in what seemed an act of defiance to the authority and its expected repressive response.

This is the translation of what he says in his video clip:

"Peace be upon you and the blessings and mercy of God. I am a Saudi citizen. I only receive 1900 riyals. I ask you in the name of God, O Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, is this amount sufficient for the dowry or for the car or for the house? We have had enough. And you (do nothing but) blame those who carry out bombings and you blame this and that. Give us (what is duly ours) of the petroleum, which you keep to yourself and your children to enjoy. Here, this is my name, Abdul Aziz Muhammad Fahd Al-Dusari. Give us what is duly ours."

The Saudi Authorities moved immediately arresting Al-Dusary and charging him with incitement, sedition and rebelling against the ruler. This case has stirred up a wave of criticisms within the ranks of Saudi youth. Some young men have followed Al-Dusari's example and recorded their own videos in which they express their solidarity with him and criticise corruption within the ranks of the ruling regime in the Kingdom. The second message was posted by Abdullah Al-Ghamdi who expressed solidarity with Al-Dusari's demands and called on young men to express solidarity with him by means of recording similar video clips. Al-Ghamdi criticised corruption inside the kingdom as a result of which few people enjoy wealth and prosperity while the rest of the people are starving, as he put it.

The following is the translation of his video clip:

"Peace be upon you and the blessings and mercy of God. Good evening to you all. Today, I watched a video clip for a Saudi young man called Abdul Aziz Muhammad Al-Dusari complaining from low salaries and their insufficiency addressing the king in his statement. By virtue of my own judgement and knowledge of the situation I support what the young man said in his statement and message to the king. I call on everyone to participate using the same method so that (our) voice may reach the Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines and so that he may learn about the situation we are in of low income and the spread of corruption and oppression. It is neither acceptable nor sensible that only a small group of people, whether those governing or others that are corrupt, are enjoying state wealth while the rest of the population is starving and suffering because of poverty and oppression. Therefore, I support what the young man said and hereby I show you my ID card with my full details. I am Abdullah Mabruk bin Othman from Disha. I wish that everyone takes part (in this effort) using the same method. May God's peace and prayers be upon Muhammad."

The third message came from Saud Al-Harbi who started with an expression of solidarity with his comrades. He warned that this dynamic may soon spread to the street and criticised the Authority that is having dialogue with everyone including the Jews and the Americans but it has never occurred to it to have a dialogue with its own people.

Here is the translation of his video clip:

"Peace be upon you and the blessings and mercy of God. May God's peace and prayers be upon His Messenger. I would like to talk about the video clip of brother Abdullah Al-Ghamdi and the video clip of brother Abdul Aziz Al-Dusari. They demanded the improvement of citizens' living conditions. These of course are our demands, the demands of the entire people. We lost our voices talking in vain about them. Our demands are easy to find. You do not need to open a twitter account or something of the sort to know them. You will find them in the rubbish bins of Al-Tuwaijri. Do not force the people to resort to a peaceful protest dynamic. Do not force the people to take to the streets. Simply put, the number of black (word indistinct) cars is a lot fewer than the number of free men. It would be easy for us to (take to the streets) to demand our rights, peacefully of course. So, I beg you, I beg you, listen to our voice. Please listen to our voice. You have a national dialogue centre. You have had dialogue with the Jewish and the Christian and tomorrow you will be having dialogue with Obama. So, I beg you. Listen to our voice, listen to your voice, meet our demands. We need housing. We need to live a decent life. And here is our ID card: Saud Mardi Abdullah Al-Harbi."

The Saudi authorities arrested all three men one after the other and charged them with incitement, sedition and rebelling against the ruler. Consequently, there has been more discussion among the youth about this. Some of them pursued the same methodology of recording video clips in solidarity with the detained young men.

The next message came from Abul Rahman Al-Asiri who criticised the authorities for arresting the three young men who preceded him simply for demanding their rights.

The following is the translation of his video clip:

"Peace be upon you and the blessings and mercy of God. I am citizen Abdul Rahman Ali Ahmad Ghraib Al-Asiri from Tuhama of Asir. I have watched a video clip for some repeatable and kind young men from our country, namely Al-Dusari, Al-Ghamdi and Al-Harbi. They were demanding their rights, their most basic rights. They were imprisoned the following day. The problem is with you Al Saud. You deliberately seek to humiliate and impoverish the people. The poor fellow Al-Dusari says "my salary is 1900", by Allah this is not sufficient to pay for dinner for one of your children. The following day we saw one of the princes, one of your children, who bought a gold plated car. The problem is with you Al Saud. You have stolen everything. You have stolen our name and our country and you have annexed us to you. By what right have you done that? You have even stolen Islam. It has become Saudi Islam, the one that belongs to Al-Fawzan, to Al Al-Sheikh and to you. You have even distorted it. You have stolen Messenger who has become Saudi. As for petroleum, instead of distributing it and giving to the people, you have (pursued a policy of) empoverishing and humiliating the people. And if you ever distribute petroleum you distribute it to the enemies of the Ummah, the Sisi and the Christians of Lebanon who look down upon the Arabs and see them as nothing but trash. The problem is with you. You have stolen everything. This is unlawful, this is unjust. This is unjust. I am a medical doctor. I trained in (National) Guards and military hospitals and in hospitals belonging to the Ministry of Health. Once we had to place three patients in one bed. Where is this Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz? You seem to see nothing! I am demanding the rights. The first right I demand is (to ask) why have you imprisoned them? All they did was to demand their rights. Why have you imprisoned them? It is from the man who bought a gold plated care that we seek to demand our right. While I am recording this clip you are busy giving an oath of allegiance to Migrin. This is a selling / buying process as if the people are nothing but a piece of furniture. You sell and buy when you tell people come and pay allegiance. No, this will not do. This is unlawful. And when we speak you imprison us. You imprison us or you tell us to leave the country. This is not your country alone. No. The people demand their rights. We want freedom. I warn you. We want what is right for our country. Yemen, Tunisia and the others are in the second republic (phase). Saudi Arabia will enter the first republic (phase) if you do not move and apply reason. And for the benefit of the secret police, because I know their tactics, here is (my ID card). Abdul Rahman Ali Ahmad Ghraib Al-Asiri. Peace be upon you and the blessings and mercy of God."

The fifth message was recorded by Mu'adh bin Sulaiman Al-Juhani. He criticised the authority for imprisoning the youth who are only demanding their rights. He himself demands that the state distribute wealth to the people, build housing estates, employ the unemployed, and increase the salaries or else repercussions would rather grave, as he put it.

The following is the translation of his clip: "Peace be upon you and the blessings and mercy of God. I direct this message to Al Saud. When the despotic king [reddens his cheeks] we flock to him with swords. You have stolen the people's wealth and when the people demand their rights you imprison them. What religion is this and what humanity? We demand the government to distribute the wealth fairly among the people and to stop stealing it you and your children. We demand the building of housing estates, employing the unemployed and increasing the salaries of employees. Otherwise the repercussions will be rather grave. And this is my ID card. I am Mu'adh Muhammad Sulaiman Al-Juhani from the Blessed Hijaz. May God's peace and prayers be upon Muhammad."

Message by by Al-Shammari

"Peace be upon you. I have three messages. The first message is directed to the people. Naturally, we all wish for reform except, of course, for the House of Saud. We as people wish for reform and wish to see things change (for the better). But, to be fair, whoever sees things will discover that it would impossible for reform to take place under the banner of the House of Saud. It is impossible, just impossible, by the Almighty God. These people are hostile to Islam, they are traitors, they are lackeys. They sold Iraq and they sold Palestine to Israel and they are hostile to all the Arab revolutions. The people are destitute. 25 per cent of the people are below the poverty line. All of this and (ours) is the richest country in the world. 70 per cent of the people cannot find housing. 60 % of the land is in the hands of the princes. And who ever utters a word demanding reform will be thrown in jail. Evidently, the young men who a few days ago demanded reform have been imprisoned. Why? What did they say to deserve imprisonment by you? As the proverb says: "evil and arrogant". You do not like to hear people demand reform! You just want them to pay lip service to you? Praise and thanks be to God. By God, even the Pharaoh was not like that. So, my message to the people is: rebel. Rebel because reform will not occur unless the House of Saud is no more.

My second message is directed at the Ulema. If you consider rebellion against the ruler is unlawful, this does not justify your defence of them and paying lip service to oppression and oppressors. By God, some Ulema, and some laymen too, justify oppression by the House of Saud in a manner that makes one suspect that they are none other than secret police. Why are you justifying this? What motivates you to defend them in this way? Some (much earlier) ulema used to prohibit rebellion against the rulers but they used at the same time to denounce them and even curse them. There is no contradiction (between the two acts). Regrettably, some ulema are not content with justifying (their oppression) but they also praise them. That is one thing. But if you consider rebellion against the oppressive ruler to be mandatory, then why are you silent? Why are you silent? I would like to know. You are (supposed to be) an example (to be followed by others). The House of Saud are oppressing (the people) and stealing (the wealth) while you are preoccupying the people with (trivial matters such as) growing the beard, shortening the gown and the technique of uttering praise post prayer. Ok, these are part of jurisprudence, we do not dispute. But, to what extent are we in need of this (type of) jurisprudence. Are these things more important than justice? Gold Almighty says: "We sent down our messengers with the book so that people establish justice and balance". He made justice an objective of sending messengers and books (to humanity) while you only care about growing the beard and shortening the gown. Yesterday, during the Friday sermon the imam spoke about the rewards allocated for those who fast on Mondays and Thursdays. You may say to me, so what, where is the problem (in this)? I shall tell you what is the problem. When oppression is so widespread and when corruption is so widespread and when all types of deviation are widespread while you are giving (the Friday) sermon about the reward (awaiting these who) fast on Mondays and Thursdays, there must be something wrong with you. This means you are completely detached from reality. So, my message to the ulema is that you should speak the truth. You should tell the oppressor "you are an oppressor". By God Almighty, the people will never respect you or appreciate you if you do not tell the House of Saud the truth to their faces.

My third and final message is directed at the House of Saud. Naturally, I am not (here) to demand or wish (anything) from you. Frankly and clearly, we have already lost all hope in you. Since the day you detained those young men who demanded reform, I feel you live in a world and we live in a different world altogether. However, I would like to say just one word. I would like to say that your end is drawing near, you lackeys. Your end is near. And this is my name: Muhammad Mut'ib Abdullah Al-Shammari."

Translation of a video clip by Al-Amri

"In the name of God most Gracious Most Merciful. May God's peace and prayers be upon Prophet Muhammad and all his companions. I would like to extend my thanks to the brothers who have demanded the rights of the citizens. My Allah reward them on our behalf. It is your legitimate right to demand you rights. So long you are on the (path of) truth, we are the supporters of Truth. The brothers have said enough regarding demands for the rights of the citizens.

The money that is sent abroad, to (support) coups and other things for the purpose of protecting your thrones, (you'd better) give to your people. Empower your own people instead. It is your people that will protect you. I ask you by God, (is it acceptable that) you have been so disrespectful of your people to the extent that a minister from Al Al-Sheikh comes out to say that we are protecting our asses? Shame on you by Allah. Not only is the citizen in dire need but is being humiliated by you. What a mess.

The detainees, the detainees, oh Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, (include) scholars and ulema. Whoever speaks the truth, you imprison him. By Allah this is a disaster. Sheikh Khalid Al-Rashid who is a defender of the Messenger of God, you have imprisoned him for 15 years? And then you say you implement the Law of God? No by God, this is not the Law of God. Never, never. The same thing happened to Sheikh Sulaiman Al-Ulwan. This by God is a strange thing. Fear god. There is this poor weak woman who is powerless and helpless, and you have imprisoned her. (Something about Muhammad bin Nayif - indistinct). I am present and my name is Jabir Salih Hamdan Al-Amri. This on the one side.

On the other side, whoever calls for the implementation of Shari'ah is accused of terrorism. If demanding the implementation of Shari'ah (amounts to being accused of) terrorism, (I'd say) welcome. If demanding our legitimate rights is (considered) stirring up sedition, then we seek God's help. Consider us fomenters of trouble. To (give my claim) more credibility that the people are suffering, I shall move elsewhere to video from it. Peace be upon you.

My second message is from the bedside of my father in the hospital. May God cure him and provide him with recovery. My father is the father of detainee Ali Salih Al-Amri who has been held inside Al-Ha'ir prison for the past 12 years. He was sentenced to three years but has not so far been released. There is no charge whatsoever apart from having god to (perform) jihad in 1410 (of Hijrah). Apart from that he has never been charged (of any crime). Frankly, we have not kept quiet for 12 years out of cowardice or fear. No, by God. We have appealed to the king, we have appealed to the Court of Grievances, we have appealed to the human rights (council), we have appealed to prince Nayif, we have appealed to Prince Muhammad bin Nayif, but to no avail. He was sentence for three years and now they are retrying him and fabricating new charges to justify keep him locked up for 12 year. For 12 years we have left no one but appealed to by letters and by faxes etc. You tell us your door is open? For 12 years, oh Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, I and my father have spared no effort. Of the open doors you talk about we have found none whatsoever. Muhammad bin Nayif has burnt the heart of this elderly man. May God burn his heart and provide us with victory in the life before the Hereafter.

I have only spoken and recorded this clip to clear my responsibility. I am not going to ask you once again whether you will release him or not. It is all in the hand of God. But I wanted to convey to you a picture that is already known to many people.

This is the father of detainee Ali Salih Hamdan Al-Amri whose nickname is Abd Al-Majid Al-Tabuki and I am his brother. May the peace and mercy of God be with you."