« Loving a Monster | Main | Additions to the Blogroll »
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Behind the Wahhabi Curtain
I went to an American school for two years in the late 90s. During the summer breaks, I would have to go back to Saudi Arabia. In that dreary, uncouth azaan-blaring and soul-crushing society, the only activity that I looked forward to was going to my dad's office.
You see, there were a couple of computers in the library, close to his office, that were connected to the Internet. I would sit there for almost the entire 8-hour day and visit some of my favorite sites. One of them was the Jewish World Review. I read the usual suspects: Jonah Goldberg, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams and one intellectually sexy lady. Unlike my religious teachings, their writings made sense to me.
Unfortunately, upon trying to visit that site, I got a screen which showed this message: "For the protection of you and your family, this website has been blocked."
After a few minutes I realized that any URL with the word "jew" or "yahood" was banned. So, I went over to Town Hall to get my Jewish fix. Oh yes, I was a bad Muslim.
Today, I got a pleasant surprise when folks came over from Michelle Malkin's blog to congratulate me. Many thanks to See-Dubya for the link. I find it surreal that one of my favorite writers may get to read what I have written!
More posts about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 03:53 PM in Life, USA | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451baae69e200d834d9e76d53ef
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Behind the Wahhabi Curtain:
Comments
I read these comments a few months ago when I first learned of your plight and just re-read them now. They are fascinating all over again.
It's one thing to read stories in the newspapers. Sure, they sound horrible, but they're also so sanitized. I don't need them to be sanitized.
I love learning about things that are so very different from all of my experiences. I'm always profoundly grateful that I was born in the US and I also would love to travel to Saudi Arabia and see it for myself.
There's always this little tiny voice inside me that says no, it can't possibly be really like this.
But I know it really is so.
Thanks for the stories.
Posted by: lunarpuff | Jan 10, 2007 1:32:05 AM
