MovieChat Forums > The Kingdom (2007) Discussion > I dont understand Saudi Arabia.

I dont understand Saudi Arabia.

posted 15 years ago by reade-1
13 replies | jump to latest

I’ll admit it, I don’t understand Saudi Arabia. But then how could I? I’d like to visit, but as an American I can’t get a tourist visa to enter, the Saudi government does not issue them. Even if I could get a work visa I still couldn’t visit Mecca, it’s off limits to all non muslims under pain of death.

Let’s turn the situation around. Just imagine if the American government didn’t issue tourist visas or student visas to Arabs. But as an American I could visit Saudi Arabia and even Mecca.

Now let’s say that I’m talking to a Saudi, he’s never been to America (can’t get in) and doesn’t understand the USA. Should I consider him stupid? Should I say, “You dumb Arab, America is nothing like you think it is. It’s a great place. Just take my word for it.”

Saudis are always telling me how great their country is. If that’s true I’d like to come and see it for myself. I'd like to see Saudi Arabia with my own eyes. Why can’t I?

[–] najdier 15 years ago

It has taken me years to understand that Arab and Anglo-Saxon minds work differently. The cultures of America and Arabia are very different, or as I call them, incompatible. The best your country and mine can do is to find common goals and work as partners to realize those goals because, frankly, we can never be real friends. But I always bear your country and people sincere good will and wish you no harm...well, maybe not the crazy extremist right winger warmongers. Fox News is available over here as well, you see.
GMT+3, no DST

[–] noobzilla 14 years ago

I agree with your sentiments about differences in cultures, but why can we not be friends ? does either religious beliefs promote not befriending the other ? I know mine does not..

foxnews does not promote war.. actually its perhaps the only news outlet that has not forgotten how terrible war is.. the other news outlets have done a horrific job of advertising what you think against foxnews.. portraying them as right wing extremists and warmongers..

people like myself know war. we remember WWI , we remember how close the world came to a hitler regime , which would (and did for a time..) include your mid eastern countries.. we remember communism and the atrocities.. we remember death camps , we remember the hundreds of thousands of american lives given to make sure those things did not progress..

If walking tall, carrying a big stick and acting like a referee means that war wont happen, or even if it will be less atrocious, then give me my stick.

Aemricans are overwhelmingly a peaceful peoples.. but we do not have short term memories.. we dont take lightly standing by when our own or our friends are being kicked around or killed. We did not occupy germany or japan with full blown military rule after the war.. we did not conquer the land for our own (as did the USSR..) Middle eastern countries , England, African nations ALL benefit today because we were there to kick out the evils.. As other evils arise we should and will do the same..

Having said this, I again reiterate my statement that we CAN be friends.. even with our cultural , political , and religious differences..From this americans point of view war's purpose is to end war. A difficult concept admittedly.

-- 'you're a good man, sister.' Humphrey Bogart

[–] najdier 14 years ago

If your interpretation of friendship is the absence of mutual animosity and ill will coupled with a measure of trust then yes, the two cultures can be friends. But that friendship must remain at a certain distance if members of either culture don't want to lose part of their identity. I have met many Americans during my visits to your country and over here. I have rarely come out with any negative impressions about your people. But I don't see myself living amongst you or in any Western culture, for that matter. The cultural distance and the effort needed to maintain one's identity would be considerable. I'm also dismayed at how disparate our views on my region's affairs are. My faith in the American people was shaken to the core because of the crime against humanity that has taken place in Iraq. I couldn't believe it when an intellectually impaired man was given command of the largest armed forces in the world. He and his blasted neo-conservatives commandeered those forces and used them in the most criminal and arrogant way to destroy another country under the pretext that that country was a threat to America, all the while riding a wave of national grief and anger over a terrible crime that had taken place on national soil. The voices of reason were drowned out by the drums of war being beaten everywhere. I, like many of the citizens of this region, knew the falsehood of the claims being used to justify invading and destroying Iraq. I was watching live when George W Bush uttered the word "Crusade" to describe his misadventure in my region. He certainly looked honest and I knew that a medieval king was speaking, not a modern elected leader.
I fear that the next time a half-wit makes it to the White House he, or she will attempt to send your armed forces on another fool's errand in my part of the world. When that time comes, can my people count on the American people to say "not again" and prevent that from happening? I still don't understand why GWB and many of his senior cabinet members aren't behind bars. But I guess we simply think differently, you and I. From what I hear it seems the Iraq war is being portrayed as a success in your part of the world.

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[–] noobzilla 14 years ago

I agree with your assesments to a great degree..

The iraq war is not considered a success by most peoples of the US, in my opinion.. it may however be considered that way by military persons, but not by the peoples.. In my mind there is no success in war.. I am what is considered a conservative in my country.. conservatism was created on the basis of strong faiths in religious beliefs, aka, God, marriage, family, living a clean life and doing good deeds.. the democratic party for the past 20-30 years has done an awesome job twisting that definition into exactly what it is not... bullying, arrogance, not caring about the peoples, etc.. MOST true conservatives know the truth. Our media outlets for the past 30-40 years have been run by liberals who believe everyone is the same, nobody deserves more than anyone else no matter how much harder one may way to gain prosperity. They also believe laziness should be rewarded with handouts, government programs, etc. Actually its nearly the exact opposite as they have told us for decades.

Your feelings towards GWB are the same most americans have towards bin laden, and extremists who want to force their religion on other lands.. I respect your opinions, I appreciate your words, and I wish you and yours best wishes.

-- 'you're a good man, sister.' Humphrey Bogart

[–] najdier 14 years ago

Thank you, sir and the same to you. For what it's worth, OBL is held in no better regard by sane people here than he is in your country. One dosen't have to like OBL to dislike GWB. To my mind, both men will share the same pit in Hell.

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[–] t-basham-613-338353 14 years ago

Please, najdier, don't think for a second that this american doesn't agree with you. Dumbya and Cheney are war criminals. I was all for going into Afghanistan, and finding bin-Laden, but all Dumbya did was overthrow the Taliban. Talk about 'not finishing the job'. Then he turns around, and says he's invading Iraq, to which I replied: "WTF FOR?!?" Iraq had no WMDs, nothing to do with 9/11, and even LESS to do with Al-Qaeda. In fact, if Hussein caught Al-Qaeda terrorists in his country, he killed them. All Dumbya did was waste human life, and american resources with this $1.5 trillion (unnecessary) war. Calling him a 'half-wit' is an insult to half-wits.

One--among many of the stupid--reasons he invaded Iraq was because they were more of a threat to Israel, than to america. Hussein supported Hamas; not Al-Qaeda.

Want some more reasons?
1. He wanted control of that oil (obviously).
2. He had to prove his daddy wrong in that he thought he COULD overthrow Hussein w/o creating a vacuum of power in the most unstable region of the world.
3. He had to prove he had a bigger d*ck than his daddy.

Unfortunately, americans probably will elect another quarter-wit like him, and most likely in 2012.:(

[–] najdier 14 years ago

Thank you for enlightening me there. Your comment agrees with my suspicions that GWB had the Iraq invasion in mind long before he became president. 9/11 or not, Afghanistan or not, GWB must have been determined to go into Iraq come hell or high water. And he had to pay no political price for it. He got elected in 2004 and served two terms. It will be a long time before the dustbin of History catches up with him.

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[–] Ironman54 14 years ago

I pray you're not of age to vote....educate yourself a little before running down the POTUS and spreading falsehoods on 'the internets'. We certainly don't need mini ambassadors like yourself.BTW, GW Bush or Dick Cheney would make you look even dumber than you already have revealed yourself to be on these pages,
without working up a sweat. You don't have a clue...seriously. If you're still in school try a little bit of independent research and stay away from the loony political web sites. If you're an adult, free of learning disabilities, well then frankly, theres no excuse for your stupidity. Ever wonder WHY GWB or Cheney weren't 'prosecuted' ??
Because, not even the Democratic Party is willing to stoop so low to win an election. No doubt they benefited by the lunacy of you and your ilk but none of them would dare discredit themselves or the office of the Presidency to score an election.
1. 'For the oil'... are you really this ignorant ? Really ? Checked the price of gas lately ?
2. Ever hear of 'The United Nations' ?? Know it's function ?
3. Know anything about GW I ??
4. Do you know about the 'cease fire' agreement and what the agreed upon terms where ?

We were actually on firmer 'legal' ground invading Iraq than we were Afghanistan.Not to compare Saddam to Hitler but ever think how the history books would read today had we intervened and took out Hitler before he mobilized his forces ?
Ever wondered what OBLs plans were for post 9/11 ?
In hind sight maybe the Iraq strategy didn't work out as planned (I still think its too early to say) but the response by many Iraqis has more to do with this than GWB and Co. Its not my responsibility to educate you. You have that responsibility. But, before you go posting traitorous bs here and who knows where else, you do owe it to yourself and your country to educate yourself.
Notice how this person you're communicating with does not criticize a single thing about his/her country/leaders ? Ever wonder why ?

[–] t-basham-613-338353 14 years ago

Dumbya asked Madeleine Albright during the transition what his chances would be of justifying an invasion of Iraq. He was spoiling for that war long before 9/11. He was PLANNING the invasion, during his campaign in 2000.

Yeah, I notice the gas prices aren't as high as they were DURING his presidency. Do you remember $4/gal.?

Even Alan Greenspan said: "We need to get Hussein's finger off the pulse of that oil."

Dick Cheney said in 1993 that overthrowing Hussein would cause a vacuum of power in the most unstable region of the world. Wonder what changed his mind? Check it out; it's on YouTube.

And if we're going to go into the business of overthrowing brutal dictators, tell me why we're not in Sudan, or the Congo? Oh, wait a minute! I can tell you why we're not in the Congo! Pat Robertson sends his machinery in there to mine their gold for them, and we don't want to interfere with the work of a 'man of god'.

And don't ever call me stupid again, you bastard! I'm 46 years old, with a college degree, and an I.Q. of 129. I could BURY both Dumbya and Cheney in ANY philosophical, religious, etc., debate, especially since all their 'intelligence' is based on some superstitious belief in a god neither of them can prove exists!!!
Didn't Dumbya say God told him to invade Iraq. What *beep* god does he believe in that promotes the mass slaughter of one race of people by another?

[–] Ro-bust 14 years ago

ownage

[–] jetaime22 15 years ago

there are some tourist groups going now !!

http://www.samallaghi.com/index.php?tool=page&do=browse&id=tours

if you're serious about going, you can definitely google some more groups. i think there are 5 that are allowed in !

an article on saudi expanding tourism

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-13/saudi-tourism-revenue-to-increase-4-8-in-2010-on-more-visitors.html

[–] TheKingOfYorkshire 14 years ago

Maybe if both countries weren't so obsessed with the idiotic idea of 'god' things would be rather different.

[–] ScottNichols 10 years ago

Having lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, I was very interested in seeing this movie. I just finished it tonight. It's very realistic--very authentically produced. Good job Peter Berg and crew.

I can tell you that the Saudis do not issue tourist visas. They experimented with it for a short time in early 2014, but suspended the program and have stated that they will not issue any more tourist visas. They have work, business, and dependent visas. Basically, if you don't have business or immediate family there, you ain't gonna be allowed to enter the country.

There's not much to do there, anyway--no bars, nightclubs, movie theaters, and no dating. That's right, dating is illegal. Women can't drive, and they cover up completely in black, even during their 6-month summer seasons. I've been there when the temperature hit 136 degrees F and didn't fall below 111 degrees F overnight. Liquor in any form is illegal, as is any pork product. Also, Christians are prohibited from practicing their faith publicly there--and NO open celebration of Christmas. It's all enforced, too. They have something called the religious police, or mutawa, who roam the streets enforcing the strict Sharia law.

I was living in Jubail in the Kingdom in 1996 when the Khobar Towers was bombed. I was also in-Kingdom on 9/11. A few days after, a Canadian friend and I were threatened by a Saudi driver at a traffic light.

Most of the Saudi citizens I encountered there were decent, though, and a few were quite hospitable.

Oh, one more thing...you have to have a visa from the Saudi government to LEAVE the country as well. Yes, you have to get their permission to leave once you've entered. And it's not always simply a matter of paperwork. At the conclusion of one of my contracts there I was detained for five days in Riyadh when they refused to issue my exit visa.

Still want to go?

Actors do not have a job...they have a blast!

I dont understand Saudi Arabia.

I dont understand Saudi Arabia.