Chitchat What happened in Saudi Arabia in the last 3 days ?

[scroobal]

I feel badly short changed now knowing that I missed out on the world's most expensive piece of ART. I had taken a deliberate detour and visited the Louvre at AD shortly after it was opened as I was on my journey of understanding the Gulf. The building has an extremely low profile as in physically low to be part of the Gulf waters. It was beautiful and the roof is a masterpiece. Every thing about the building was architecturally splendid though it was much much smaller than buildings associated with the arts.

The collection however housed in 12 separate collections themed by time and some ad -hoc theme such as religion was really poor. The 12th Collection on modern art is laughable. The first 3 collections was decent but I struggle to see Egyptian and Tang in the same collection together but this was because it was lack of numbers that they approached this sort of theme arrangement. In essence too few exhibits.

Had a good laugh when I spotted Whistler's Mother on the wall. I am not sure if the Arabs know about this and Rowan Atkinson.

Though it was never revealed publicly but I was told that exhibits with their platform would automatically collapsed inwards in times of threat or a raid.

There was also a coin collection display where so much of time, effort and clearly money was spent on illuminating it in a showcase in a darkened room but the narrative could not be read as there was no light. In fact reading the description was an issue thru-out. Had the sense that whoever did the coin display must have made a fortune.

It has now gone from acquired by MBS to acquired by Abu Dhabi to acquired by KSA for Abu Dhabi as a "state gift" (in contradiction to the statement in the Abu Dhabi press and earlier KSA denials).

We also urge you to provide insight and guidance to your Muslim grassroots umaah as I have been told they are in a great state of confusion, despair and anxiety that the most powerful member of the nation of the Guardian of the Two Mosques has flagrantly flaunted strict Sunni laws on iconography let alone one of Isa for half a billion dollars whilst Sunni neighbours to the south are overcome by starvation and cholera due to their blockade. And revealed in the same week they gave Jerusalem away too!

We are confident your powers of persuasion will have a transformative effect on their lay understanding of such matters of statecraft and soft diplomacy.

https://www.ft.com/content/6a2839ca-dc3a-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482

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Kindly explain the significance of the orb to them whilst you are at it:

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[scroobal]

Looks like the flying abayas prediction was not far fetched after all.

Meanwhile....

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MbS has also commissioned some California architects to build a massive folly for King Salman on the Red Sea. Such anticorruption. So much reform. Malibus on the Red Sea:

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http://www.malibu-architects.com/portfolio-view/resort-architect-discoverycove/

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/...rt-female-performer-country-s-history-n827306

 

[scroobal]

Coming quite evident that US has lost it place or losing its place as the honest broker. France and Macron has stepped in while May is busy with Brexit. Is its going to be renaissance for French companies with the likes of Total, SNCF, RATP, Dassault, Nexter etc. Qatar and Iran has inked some sweet deals with the French.

Looks like Trump was never a Capitalist in the first place, it just him and his money.

 

[scroobal]

I am confused when it comes to the garb. I have seen women from Malaysian and Singapore Malays based in Gulf countries dressed completely in GCC garb including their young daughters while the locals do not require their kids who are not even in their teens to do so. They are normally dressed in western clothes except on festive occasions. I realise they are Malays from SEA when I spot the husbands who don the usual western clothes and speak Malay.

I largely agree with your comments about how Iranian culture in relation to the headscarf differs from the Arabs however there are variations of practice that stem from cultural rather than strictly spiritual requirements.

The Khaliji/GCC culture typical means that the womenfolk wear the abaya and shelah (typically referred to as the hijab) - the Saudis are an exception as the women go one step further and wear the niqab. These are cultural manifestations of a tribal nature - not religious. Kuwait is the anomaly as half of the women cover and the other half don't at all.

Typical GCC cultural garb for women:

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Saudi women typically identifiable look:

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The Khalijis who travel more easily than the Iranians then would get off the plane in locations outside the GCC and change into western stye clothes - some will keep their heads covered (in vogue is the look of Sheikha Mozza for a while - see pic ) or some just go uncovered completely.

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Those that are more religious minded (and typically are already married with kids) would cover their hair in colourful variants.

The other non-GCC Arabs are either split between those who already wear the hijab and those that don't because culturally the hijab is not enforced and their is no tribal culture requiring it. Similarly, khaliji men do not wear the thoub outside the GCC - friends are often bemused when they spot our local Malay/Muslims dressing like them in their white robes as they find it strange because it is not their cultural garb and is not typically worn outside of the GCC.

So it is too much of a generalisation to state that one rarely sees this happening amongst the Arabs. Just visit Harrods during the summer months and you can see no hesitation expressed by the ladies to show off.

One other point to note - the GCC nations despite being presudo-homogenous also carry a sizeable number of Khalijis who are of Persian descent - in both Dubai and Doha, the Al Fardans are one such family. They are Iranians who have settled in the GCC and over the course of time adapted the cultural norms language food etc. But within the society itself they are still "of Persian descent" and have no "tribal" affiliations. The women are also identified as the most beautiful in all of the GCC specifically.

 

[gatehousethetinkertailor]

I am confused when it comes to the garb. I have seen women from Malaysian and Singapore Malays based in Gulf countries dressed completely in GCC garb including their young daughters while the locals do not require their kids who are not even in their teens to do so. They are normally dressed in western clothes except on festive occasions. I realise they are Malays from SEA when I spot the husbands who don the usual western clothes and speak Malay.

It can be quite daunting and confusing especially when it comes to the womenfolk but the locals can instinctively one apart from another - the closest equivalent I can draw would be how singkies can tell a PRC.

I don't have a handy guide to distingushing Khaliji women garb but here is one for the men's thobe which is deemed to be largely accurate (this does not illustrate the significance of various colours of the gutra - to add further confusion there is also the issue of the tilt of the argle - the circular black ring placed on top - in KSA for example different tribes tilt differently):

As a general guide for women across the Muslim world (and not necessarily Arab world) this is quite illustrative.

What seems to be missed about the abaya in the GCC is that it really functions as a cloak as the girls may be wearing western clothes underneath or for additional comfort just a Khaleeji Jebba - like the aunties in the housing estates in Singapore used to wear, affectionately called the "maxi". As you've spent an opportunity fact-finding in the Gulf did you notice the super sexy outfits that are on display in the malls? They are not meant for the Western punters primarily but at the Khaleeji girls. At Khaliji weddings which are segregated, the girls take off their cloaks and deposit their phones (no videos or photos allowed) and then try to outdo one another because for those that are still single it is a catwalk for potential mothers-in-law to pick out prospective brides for their sons.

 

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[kingrant]

Another perspective to USA's declaration that Jerusalem is Israel's capital.


Sorry to interrupt a good thread....but thought I'll just link it to all things Arab instead of starting a new thread..

 

[gatehousethetinkertailor]

 

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[yinyang]

Arabs and Quds, wilting?

 

[gatehousethetinkertailor]

KSA has been plugging this on CNN in the US - Generation 2030 -



Note that "style sculptor" Razan Alazzouni is often emphasised as Saudi-born and raised rather than being Saudi by birth:

http://advertisementfeature.cnn.com/2017/generation2030/#/reimagine/razan-alazzouni/section-1

 

[gatehousethetinkertailor]

Meanwhile in Iran:

 

[gatehousethetinkertailor]

"Let me reiterate: Iran’s military capabilities comply with international law and are entirely defensive. Our defensive posture stems from sober geostrategic calculations, as well as moral and religious convictions. Our military doctrine is also based on historical experience: During the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein rained Soviet-made missiles on our cities, some of them carrying chemical components provided by the West. The world not only kept silent, but also no country would sell Iran weapons to enable us to at least deter the aggressor.

We learned our lesson. We have honed missiles as an effective means of deterrence. And our conscious decision to focus on precision rather than range has afforded us the capability to strike back with pinpoint accuracy. Nuclear weapons do not need to be precise — conventional warheads, however, do.

Our commitment to self-defense is not a slogan. We have deployed our missiles against only a few equally heinous adversaries: Saddam Hussein’s regime and its terrorist allies, and the so-called Islamic State. And our strikes came in response to their merciless killing of Iranians.

No Iranian administration will leave our people defenseless. The international community — and Europe in particular — should realize this and instead focus its efforts on tackling real threats to the world, like the wars engulfing the Middle East."

 

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