Young Saudis Fear of the Cleric Fatwa and Sawha Fundamentalism

They are enemies yet share common problems, youth and the Internet and the outside world. In Saudi Arabia, 70% of its population are under 30 yrs. In Iran, the figure is 30%. The youth are tied to Western Internet products like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and others that circumvent what their government's consider to be the norm and proper. In Iran, the Green Revolution was crushed ruthlessly, yet, the problem persists in this modern world.

In Saudi Arabia, the old men are like dinosaurs from another age, yet, they retain an unreasonable amount of power and have called the "youth" problem, "ideological deviations and delusions". It is the objective of the fundamentalist Islamists in Saudi Arabia to limit contacts of its youth to the outside world using the Internet. When 23 yr. old Hamza Kashgari used Twitter to tweet some opinions of the Prophet Muhammad (they were harmless to most sane people) Saudi officials at the rant of their clerics arrested him and tossed him jail where he awaits for a trial since February. These tweets only number a few.

What does this resemble in these Islamic countries where clerics have such power- the old Communism system, where big brother is watching and you will get beat or arrested for saying things not considered "pro-government". Islamic countries where this occurs is nothing but a communist system under the veil of "the true Allah".

Young Saudis are now very careful and paranoid what they say in public, tweet and how they surf the Internet because their "holy ones" state that the Internet is an incubator of delusion and evil, BUT, that is not all. The clerics want to ban: salons, cafes, books and all audio and video material. To prevent further corruption, they want to intensify holy training to Saudi youth. Young Saudis even cafes, where they once freely spoke, whisper because of the fear a "spy" may hear or photograph them with cell phones.

Saudi young people are not afraid to question about the Saudi system and King Abdullah is quite aware of the issue, after all, most rich families send their kids off to the US and Europe to school. It is there they see how real freedom works without fear, without religion forcing itself on you. Then, they return and compare and are angry. They ask, why can't we be free like the Americans or Europeans? They may not voice it now, but they are thinking of it.

The Saudi royal family knows that a clash is coming between the political and religious arms of their system. When Saudi women demanded to be able to drive, and a woman was arrested and the clerics ordered her to be lashed, the King stepped in and stopped it. The Sahwa is their Islamic movement and are allowed to control the Saudi school system.

Both Iran and Saudi Arabia governmental systems and their youth are on a collision course.