Saudi Arabian cleric, Mohammed al-Areefi asked the airport authority to impose the test drugs and alcohol to students of Saudi Arabia who had returned from study abroad. The request was, he made in his Facebook social networking account.
Request for testimony against the backdrop of al-Hassan al Areefi-Kaaoud, Saudi Arab students who had studied in England. In an interview, Hassan said about 80 percent of Saudi Arabian students in Britain consume alcohol and to stop performing the five daily prayers.
The statement of cash sparked strong reactions among academics in Saudi Arabia. According to them, what was said al-Areefi inappropriate and reckless. "What he said does not refer to scientific facts," said Professor of Sociology, Nasser al-Oud, Islamic University of Imam Muhammad bin Saud alarabiya.net quoted as saying on Monday (9 / 1).
He also requested with respect to al-Areefi to provide accurate statistics to prove his claim. "He should not have to provide medical assessment and related statistics," retorted al-Oud.
According to al-Oud, al-Areefi should also not need to intervene, mainly to give suggestions to the relevant airport authority security measures that need to be done.
Al-Oud add Saudi Arabia overseas students are selected and the best. Do not just because of a statement in social networking, those who excel no longer have the opportunity to obtain scholarships. "They are the hope for the progress of this country," added al-Oud.
Professor of Economics, University of Prince, Riyadh, Hamza al-Salem, also objected. However, he acknowledged that there are a number of students who fail to achieve the best performance when shipped overseas.
University-Salem explains Saudi Arabia's university students studying impose very stringent academic standards. Thus, it is difficult for students to waste the opportunity to play around.
"That is why it is important to send our students abroad. The hope, ensure that they remain committed to learning," he asserted.
Salem said Saudi Arabian students studying at a prestigious university that does not then there is the opportunity of students involved in negative activities such as drinking or smoking.
By ABDULLAH AL-ALAMI
Our Ambassador Leena Nasser
I received an e-mail from a 21-year-old Saudi female university student from Alkhobar currently studying politics in the US.
She said she has a dream, simply put, to plan a short trip for students in her anthropology class to Saudi Arabia.
Leena Nasser is planning a three-week visit next May, such that students and faculty at Bates College would be able to focus on one specific subject and explore it through research and study of the country.
Why is she doing it? Leena explained that this is to give the students first-hand experience in delving deeply into studying different cultures and creating links between their studies and different parts of the world. What a vision!
A group of fifteen students will accompany Leena to come to Saudi Arabia to meet the people and study the “real” Saudi culture. First, they will spend one week at their college preparing and familiarizing themselves with Saudi history and society, after which they would fly into Saudi Arabia and spend three weeks visiting the Eastern Province, Riyadh, and Jeddah.
We all know that US-Saudi relationship is based on common interests that are fundamental and critical to both countries. Having said this, Leena’s objective is for foreign students to get to know and understand Saudi people, as opposed to simply studying the cliché and stereotypical side of KSA. Potentially, this initiative could achieve long-term goals and open up great opportunities for dialogue and collaboration.
I hope that Leena would also try to bridge the distance between the cultures and eliminate the misconception and preconceived notions among them. I hope that she would not allow it that cultures remain distant or that the potential for misunderstanding and misreading becomes greater. As I indicated in my open letter to President Barack Obama a couple of years ago, Saudi-American relations are currently strained and facing serious challenges. The bilateral relations have passed through a difficult phase since the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Through my meetings with various US ambassadors, members of the honorable Senate and House of Representatives as well as the US media, I have had the opportunity to explain the consequences of the negative US media campaign on Saudi-American relations.
Leena’s Anthropology course will cover a variety of topics, such as Saudi culture, modern history, economic change and development, education, health care, women issues, expatriates, social services, the environment and more. Furthermore, Leena is searching for people interested in diverse backgrounds (sociology, history, art, women, economics, as long as they have the passion and motivation to be part of this wonderful communication channel).
It is a fact that Saudi Arabia and the United States of America have been encountering obstacles and challenges in the path of a successful relationship since it first began. In his book “The Origins of Saudi-American Relations,” Dr. Fahad Al-Nafjan expertly illustrates the basis of the “special relationship” between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
I am a firm believer that it is not only through the respective representatives of the two governments, but also through the people of the two countries that we can continue to strengthen this “special” relationship. These interactive visits are surely excellent examples of initiatives conducive to that effect.
There is no better opportunity to facilitate improving the relationship between Saudi Arabia and all nations than through the creation of a healthy and continuous dialogue between them.
Well done Ms. Leena, you are an example of which we are very proud.
Pictures:
1.Family members of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and military personnel perform final prayers at his grave at Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh
2.Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3. Saudi military personnel view the grave of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh
4.Prince Turki Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia speaks on Saudi issues in Washington
5. Family members of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz perform final prayers at his grave at Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh
6. Prince Abdulrahman, brother of Saudi Crown prince Sultan, arrives at Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh
7.A man stands next to graves of Saudi royal family in Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh
8.The ody of Saudi Crown Prince, Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud is lowered from an ambulance at al-Oud Cementry for burial in Riyadh
9. Saudi Arabia's Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah kisses FS Percious Memory, an Arabian filly, during the Middle East Championships horse show
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