Saudi Arabia invites forigeners to concentration camps!!

Kudos to SCT for undertaking this brave initiative..Much appreciated!

Now back to the forigen tourism in Saudi Arabia, I can see in which direction this will lead in power struggle with the Muttawa's and religious hard liners being bred at public education institutes for 50 years. Forigen tourism in Saudi Arabia is leading no further than a bunch of forginers admitting themselves voluntarily into Islamic concentration camps. Perhaps the unrecurited sucide bombers will get a job at blowing SAPTCO busses.

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Ya Hala!’
Wednesday, 06 December 2006
Mutawwas Get Training on Tolerance, Communication Skills
By Shahid Ali Khan

Source: The Saudi Gazette

RIYADH MEMBERS of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice are being given training in religious tolerance, communication skills and how to behave with people of different cultures and faiths.

Isn't that against the basic doctrine of muttawas?? I mean muttawa's were set up to bring moral policing on Muslims and dicipline to "infidels" from their practices. So how will it go now??? Instead of muttawa hitting the uncovered face lady with a stick, they would go and ask politely, "Mam please cover your face, your infidel practices are offending us"

The orientation course by the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) is part of the national tourism promotion campaign under a larger program dubbed as “Ya Hala!” or “Welcome,” said Dr. Abdullah S. Al-Weshail, Director-General of National Human Resource Development Project for Tourism.

Under this pioneering project around 80 high-ranking mutawwas were given a three-day training in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, Al-Weshail told The Saudi Gazette in an exclusive interview. Based on the feedback and a proper assessment, SCT is planning to launch a three-year intensive training program for mutawwas and officials of the Ministry of Interior, including police and security personnel, customs and immigration officials. Saudi taxi drivers will also be included in the orientation course to promote tourism.

Ok I can understand and appreciate the involement of customs, law enforcement and social servicemen but what the heck..!! muttawa's again??? Aren't they are rigrious religio-moral police and this kind of training is only going to conflict with basic doctrines of wahabism..What a pity to the officals of this "contradict kingdom". Aren't the muttawa's supposed to trained in religious tolerance when they graduate from Immam University?? Oops the Immam University works on wahabi principles so the only good infidel is a deal infidel whose head has be chopped off my notrious Jihad joe..

The basic aim of this human resource development program is to prepare for the potential influx of non-Muslim tourists once the sector is fully opened for foreign tourists, Al-Weshail said.
Presently, workers in government agencies are being readied to tackle the intra-city tourism and properly interact with tourists visiting from Gulf and Arab countries.
“Proper understanding of different cultures and faiths is very important for tourism promotion in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Ohh so seems like this understand should only be inflicted when oil revenues aren't enough anymore to feed clans and tribes of bedouins. So they go take a lesson on tolerance and start tourism. Hope Saudi's would have given these tolerance lessons before Immam University graduates went on their jihad spree . Sorry too late now.. Offcourse there won't be any lesson in Jewish culture either.

The SCT’s HR Development program is divided into three major areas such as nationalization of occupation in the tourism sector, awareness program and inviting investment from Saudis and foreign investors in training programs, Al-Weshail said.

Every where, tourism is a multinational industry designed to cater visitor from all over the world according to their nature. But here in a Saudized tourism industry, I can see which directions this will lead to.

“Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector will open around 1.5 million jobs during the next 20 years. It requires a huge investment for opening training institutes, colleges and universities to produce qualified graduates to work in the hospitality industry,” he said.

Well the usual business here. 1.5 million is not at all optimistic provided that in next 20 years, Saudi job seekers in that industry will be something like 4 million. And Saudi universities satisfying labour market needs is a bearucratic dream waiting to be fullfilled in next 99 years.

SCT has been training public and private sector staff involved directly or indirectly in the tourism sector. Around 100 police and security personnel have undergone a training program at King Fahd Security College in Riyadh. “The SCT is planning to train around 40,000 security personnel during the coming years,” Al-Weshail said.

The training program for mutawwas was designed in close cooperation with the SCT, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), he said.

What is the point of Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice when "infidels" will be roaming over the "holy land" freely and muttawa's not being able to do anything about it for the basic purpose of that commison was to keep the 'infidels" in check..

Dr. Al-Weshail clarified that the planned training program for mutawwas was not because of some cases, which received negative media coverage.

Ohh comeon, we all know the proficieny of those "muttawas" and their deeds make news on daily basis. I would be surprised and infact call it negative coverage if I get to read an outrageous headline like "Muttawa's distribute Christman presents at expatriate compound".

“It would be totally baseless to link the SCT training program to those incidents,” he said. The members in the Commission are recruited after undergoing a number of training programs “and they are qualified personnel,” he said.

Denials don't change facts. SCT is simply afraid that their multi-million efforts might get wasted in confrontation with aggressive muttawa's. But in the end, kudos to SCT for not only thinking about this initiative but also undertaking it.

Muttawa camp in Bani Malek - Jeddah