A video of young men and women dancing and enjoying themselves at Saudi Arabia’s private beach party has gone viral. The alleged video shows partygoers dressed in swimsuits while a Lebanese flag around a DJ booth sways in the air. The incident has caused an uproar in Saudi Arabia.
The short clip went viral on Twitter as soon as it hit the internet where people are seeing dancing to music. Soon, an Arabic language hashtag “Lebanese strip down in Al Khobar” began trending on with thousand of netizens calling for strict legal action.
#لبنانيين_يتعرون_في_الخبر
Obligation to reside in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
With their systems and they must take into account the values of the Saudi society
And respect for his traditions and feelings pic.twitter.com/x9j5UNbQO5— أستاذ ? (@Saudi_2030_MBS) August 21, 2020
As reported by the New Arab, the gathering was hosted at Saudi’s Al-Khobar, which is the perfect destination for parties in the conservative kingdom. The coastal city boasts of several private resorts
that are open for foreign tourists but denies entry to Saudi nationals.
Critics bashing the alleged incident accused the partygoers of breaking Saudi law by “refusing to adhere to local values” and “insulting Islam” – the official religion of the kingdom. A few angry users even urged authorities to deport the expatriates.
“It is the duty of every expatriate who came to the kingdom in order to seek livelihood, work, or tourism, whatever his nationality is, to respect the people of the country and their customs and values,” one Twitter user wrote.
While the incident caused a massive uproar in Saudi Arabia, there were few anonymous accounts that defended them. Their key point was to encourage greater tolerance for other citizens in order to boost tourism which is a key component of Riyadh’s plan.
“What does it have to do with your values? You can see they’re at the beach, so it’s normal for them to dress that way. If you report regular people living their lives there won’t be any tourists coming to Saudi Arabia,” another person responded to the critics.
The ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia frowns upon men and women mixing with each other in public places. However, the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has been hailed across the world for relieving some of these restrictions to encourage the economy away from oil.
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