Saudi Gazette MAKKAH — The youth of this holy city have been left between a hard rock and a wall following the implementation of a ban on shisha cafés within the city. As a result of the prohibition, the youth of Makkah often drive lengthy distances to visit shisha cafés situated outside the city's boundaries, or beyond the Holy Haram. As an alternative, others rent rest houses where they gather with friends to smoke hookahs. Authorities in Makkah recently closed down shisha cafés within the Haram boundary following an intense campaign titled "No Smoking in Makkah." The move was taken to make Makkah a smoke-free zone. Many people, however, are hurting from the decision. Khalid Al-Husseini, a civil servant, said: "I've been frequenting shisha cafés for more than 10 years. I enjoy spending my leisure time there along with my friends. Now there are no more cafés or places where I can meet my friends," he said. "Since the authorities began sending teams to close down shisha cafés, we've been left with no place where we can relax and breathe except these undeveloped residential districts where we sit on pavements until dawn," Al-Husseini said. "This, naturally, leads to other problems. The police pass by us from time to time to watch what is going on. It's against the law to sit on pavements or streets after midnight. We then end up having to ask the officers to allow us to stay longer — there's a whole host of problems now," he added. "One person's calamity is another's gain" is an appropriate Arabic proverb to describe the way the owners of rest houses in Makkah are taking advantage of the situation. These rest houses are normally only rented out during holidays, but since they have come in demand, owners have been increasing prices. The ban has also led to a surge in the number of rest houses built by people who own undeveloped land on the city's outskirts. One of Al-Husseini's friends, Hilal Al-Tariqi, said: "I wish the authorities would look at the issue and consider setting up recreational facilities for the youth. Frankly speaking, the decision to close down shisha cafés has messed up our social lifes. We used to meet almost every day, but we can hardly meet now. Rest house owners have also begun to exploit the situation and have increased rents to exorbitant levels. The annual rent for each rest house is SR30,000, which is just too much." Musslih Al-Je'iad, on the other hand, supports the closure of shisha cafés since "Makkah is a sacred city which needs to be respected," he said. Al-Je'iad feels such cafés should not exist, adding that these tend to be frequented by the good and the bad, and that the youth who visit them end up falling into crime and other negative habits. At the same time, he called on the authorities to develop alternative venues where the youth can relax. Some youth who used to visit shisha cafés before the ban took effect believe that frequenting rest houses is better than visiting shisha cafés. They say that the cafés often attracted unsavory elements which often led to disputes, whereas in rest houses, they can control who visit and can shun undesirable individuals. Still, others maintain that the old shisha cafés presented a safer prospect as they were closer to their homes; they did not need to drive too far to get there. Besides, the rest houses are too expensive to rent, they claim. Dr. Osama Al-Bar, mayor of Makkah, justified the ban saying it is in line with the directives of the Governorate of Makkah to close down all shisha cafés and shops where tobacco is sold. He stressed that the city should be free from smoking due to its religious nature and status. He added that the owners of shisha cafés were given grace periods and that these have now come to an end.
