Hussein Shobokshi These days the Saudi's are celebrating their national day. Eighty three years since the founding of this country on the hands of the late king Abdul Aziz, celebrating the national day and declaring it an official holiday is relatively a very recent phenomenon and development. King Abdullah took a very important step to end the debate whether it was religiously acceptable to declare a national holiday or not and went with the wider opinion which said that it was. Saudis began accepting the idea. Celebrations are now a very common scene on the streets of every city, with youths in particular, going out of their way in expressing their joy. The business community has smartly joined and gradually turned the occasion into a season like Ramadan and back-to-school. Creating a national spirit and a national soul was the missing link with Saudis. They had a country but there were yearning for a nation. The pride which is expressed on this important day by Saudis needs to be sustained always by enhancing the rule of law and protecting the rights of the citizens. It is a long journey that this country is traveling toward. Saudi Arabia has intelligently avoided a lot of the traps and pit holes which other countries in the region fell into by adapting a unique governing policy. With its position in the Middle East at an all time high and an important political and economical might that must be taken very seriously, the country is ambitious to take advantage of its wealth and develop a very modern infrastructure plan for the future to meet the demands of growth.
As Saudis celebrate this National Day, they also hope that this country opens up and embraces more of the world with confidence. It is a state of mind which it has earned over the years and has proved itself through some very testing times. Now that the Saudis have been “able” to celebrate their National Day, they can dream for more.
