Last week, Henderson verbally agreed to join his former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard at Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia. Revered in history as fearless warriors, they fought alongside T E Lawrence in the Arab Revolt of 1917 and he mentioned them in his epic memoir, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. READ: Saudi 'surveillance city': Would you sell your data to 'The Line'? For more information about some of them have a look at thefun stuffpage. The Howeitat or Huwaitat (Arabic: al-uwayt, Northwest Arabian dialect: l-wt) are a large Judhami tribe that inhabits areas of present-day southern Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula and Sharqia governate in Egypt, the Negev, and northwestern Saudi Arabia. According toALQST, a Saudi court sentenced three Huwaitat men to death on October 2 on the grounds of refusing eviction. Thank you to all our guests who have taken the time to write reviews on tripadvisor and who have kept us in the top 5 from 2011-2017. A $10bn King Abdullah financial district in Riyadh, intended as a special zone, has sputtered since its inception in 2006, weathering construction delays and confusion over its purpose, even after government attempts at a relaunch in 2016. The utopian city of NEOM is the brainchild of Mohammed bin Salman, the 37-year-old Saudi Crown Prince and de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. With an artificial moon and flying taxis, Neom has been billed as humanitys next chapter. The men are part of a greater movement to protect the Bedouin communities in the area from the massive development planned for the area. The three convicted men reportedly organized exchanges with government commissions seeking to stop their evictions and published videos online condemning the Saudi government for the misery his family and all the other displaced residents were facing as a result of the decision to evict them.. Shadli Ahmed Mahmoud al-Huwaiti is the brother of Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, who was killed in his home in Al-Khariba, Tabuk province, in April 2020, by security forces. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. Saudi 'surveillance city': Would you sell your data to 'The Line'? "We can get you in London," Ms Alhwaiti said she was warned in the call. Follow Frances Martel onFacebookandTwitter. He also refused to vacate his home and rejected state compensation. The future has a new home, proclaims the website. The issue attracted international attention at the time because of the government killing ofAbdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, one of the most vocal opponents of the Neom displacements andShadli al-Huwaitis brother. Tribe members have faced abductions and arbitrary arrest at the hands of the Saudi security forces. We do not believe the actions in question meet this threshold, said the UN experts in areas including the right to adequate housing, freedom of opinion, arbitrary executions and torture. Its definitely not for the people already living there! On 23 January 2023, Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal upheld death sentences against three members of the Huwaitat tribe, Shadli, Ibrahim and Ataullah al-Huwaiti, in relation to their peaceful opposition to forced evictions and residents' displacement for the state-led Neom megacity project.This ruling is subject to appeal in the Supreme Court; if the Supreme Court also . 66% of non-resident Indians live in Gulf countries. Construction is ploughing ahead despite the challenges of the pandemic and the historic drop in the price of oil, Saudis primary export. Yet part of the site is the home of the Huwaitat tribe, who have spanned Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Sinai peninsula for generations, tracing their lineage back before the founding of the Saudi state. According to state media, he was killed after refusing to surrender, and then opening fire on security forces. Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti had posted videos on social media opposing the displacement of locals to make way for the Neom project. Yet no strongman has ever attempted a vanity project quite like Neom, the vast new settlement Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, plans to put on a Belgium-size but heretofore lightly developed stretch of northwestern Saudi Arabia, just south of Jordan and just east of Egypts Sinai Peninsula, across the Gulf of Aqaba. ALQST, an independent group monitoring human rights in Saudi Arabia, reported that Shadli, Attaullah and Ibrahim al-Howeitat of the Howeitat tribe from the northern Tabuk province were sentenced to death earlier this month at a Saudi criminal court. All rights reserved. The abu Tayi subclan of the tribe were supporters of the Hashemite cause during the Arab Revolt, in which they formed an important part of Faisal's forces; Auda abu Tayi was able to muster a force of Bedouin tribesmen willing to march on Aqaba under the banner of Prince Feisal bin Hussein. "We have to make it work.". A resident of the town of Khuraibat, he had become the face of the tribes criticism of their forced eviction, voicing complaints in videos posted to social media, and appearing in others videos. According to Al Jazeera, a prominent Huwaitat activist was . But like many dreams of utopia, it has already become a dystopian nightmare for those caught in its glare. If you trace the genealogy back we descend from Fatima the daughter of the prophet Mohammed (pbuh). According to Al Jazeera, a prominent Huwaitat activist was arrested and imprisoned in 2020 in relation to the tribe's refusal to relocate. Discover the transformative power of smart cities. Well believe it when we see it. Al-Hwaiti hails from the powerful al-Huwaitat tribe who are based in three countries: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Sinai in Egypt. A Saudi response to the abuse has been to deny Abdulrahim's killing and placate the tribe . The name can be spelled in many different ways when transliterating from Arabic to English. Its being built on our blood: the true cost of Saudi Arabias $500bn megacity, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Three of the convicted men received the death penalty, while the other three received sentences ranging 27 to 50 years. [2] However, according to Kamal Salibi, their presence in the area may date from the 18th century, when tribes of the northern Arabian desert were being pushed northwards by expansion of the Wahhabite-associated bedouin of central Arabia; by the late 18th century the Howeitat were already laying claim to areas around Aqaba and northwards;[3] they also laid claim to land in Egypt. This version of events was vigorously denied by Ms Alhwaiti, who insisted that Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti did not have any firearms. On 13 April, a man named Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti posted videos online alerting the world that Saudi security forces were trying to evict him and other members of the Huwaitat tribe from their historic homeland in the far north-west of the country to clear the way for a new development called Neom. Saudis have said those who leave voluntarily are compensated, but human rights groups charge that the government has dealt harshly with some who have protested. Specifically, the Huwaitat tribe has inhabited the Neom area for generations. The price tag: $500 billion. 9 Feb Three members of the Huwaitat tribe, Shadli, Ibrahim, and Ataullah al-Huwaiti, were sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on January 23, 2023, for peacefully opposing forced evictions and the displacement of residents for the state-led Neom megacity project. The al-Huwaitat have resided in the region for more than 800 . In March, 104 prisoners were executed, including 81 on a single day, ALQST says. Saudi authorities are allegedly illegally displacing Huwaitat tribe members from their homes in three villages, often without adequate compensation, and violently cracking down on those who peacefully oppose or resist eviction. Other than the Huwaitat Tribe, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been successful in internally displacing other communities: in 2017, UN experts protested the demolition of a 400-year-old neighbourhood in . [6] On 13 April 2020 a Howeitat man named Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti posted videos online announcing that Saudi security forces were trying to evict him and other members of the tribe from their historic homeland to make way for the development of Neom. For the Huwaitat tribe, Neom is being built on our blood, on our bones, says Alia Hayel Aboutiyah al-Huwaiti, an outspoken activist and member of the tribe living in London. Peoples health and well-being will be prioritized over transportation and infrastructure, unlike traditional cities. Neoms signature architectural feature, however, is The Line, an astonishing structure that would be roughly 100 miles long, 1,600 feet tall and 650 feet wide and house 9 million people. Last year the Saudi Leaks website reported that the Saudi Arabian military had imposed a strict siege on the tribe in a bid to expel its members from their lands after they turned down the government's "unfair financial compensation". My 'sub-group' is abu-Rabia. Alya Abutayah Alhwaiti told the BBC the threats were made in a phone call and on Twitter after she raised international awareness about a Saudi government plan to evict members of her tribe to make way for a 21st Century high-tech city on the shores of the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has handed a 50-year prison term and a 50-year travel ban to two members of the Huwaitat, a large nomadic Bedouin tribe which lives on both sides of the Saudi-Jordanian border. When the state has done this before, it was accompanied by human rights violations.. Government committees were set up to order acquisitions and to list and measure land plots without. According to Alia al-Huwaiti, an activist for Huwaitat tribe who currently living in London, the Neom project has destroyed the history and the roots of Huwaitat tribe has been living in the coastal areas of Red Sea in Al-Khobar for 1,200 years. Thank you so much to everyone who helped us to get this website finished! We came from Saudi Arabia originally and moved North from there. Website is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-no derivatives 4.0 international license. Saving Gaia Demystifying the Energy Transition & ESG. The Al Huwaitat tribe has appealed to the UN to stop Saudi Arabia's forced displacement of people living in the area where it plans to build the megaproject. The centerpiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 economic plan is Neom, a planned futuristic megacity being constructed on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. Thank you to all the photographers who have stayed with us and graciously allowed us to use their pictures on our website. Residents and visitors to the site will probably be allowed to drink alcohol and enjoy fine dining in a futuristic version of paradise that is also set to include a vast data-gathering network, including drone and facial-recognition technology covering the entire city-state. UN Special Rapporteurs working on behalf of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dispute the veracity of the charges and sentencing, stating that the men were "arrested for resisting forced evictions", along with alleging torture of the detained.[8][9]. Due to their peaceful resistance to eviction from their homes, dozens of members of the Huwaitat tribe have been arrested, detained, and given lengthy prison sentences. The world needs full disclosure about the potential human costs of MBSs castles in the sand. The project is part of the crown princes flagship Vision 2030 project, intended to diversify the economy away from oil, which has sustained the kingdom since the early 20th century. They arrested anyone who said theyre against deportation, they dont want to leave, they want to remain [in] their homes, that they dont want money.. One former worker on the Neom project described a state of complete absence of being tethered to reality in the approach to the city; others mentioned that MBS had specifically mentioned cyberpunk as an aesthetic inspiration for one of the main tourism sectors. "Sometimes prisoners have been killed, either deliberately or by being singled out for medical and administrative neglect.". He said he did not know how much members of the tribe would be compensated, or when. "These recent rulings signal a new phase of flagrant human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, especially since the visit of US President Joe Biden in July. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); September 14, 2022 at 3:09 pm | Published in: The Silver Spirit cruise ship is pictured anchored off the Sindala island, one of two islands which form Saudi's planned NEOM megaproject on on 29 September 2020 [ANUJ CHOPRA/AFP/Getty Images]. C3448. Saudi Arabia's $500 billion planned high-tech city involves forced evictions of the Huwaitat tribe and vague promises of compensation. For hundreds of years, the tribe had occupied villages and towns, including a historical capital, Khuraybah, across the northwestern province of Tabuk. It will be one of 29 . Read about our approach to external linking. The Al Huwaitat tribe has appealed to the UN to stop Saudi Arabias forced displacement of people living in the area where it plans to build the megaproject. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. A road sign by a desert highway indicates the distance to the bay at Ras Hameed, Saudi Arabia, where Neom will be partly located. If you trace the genealogy back we descend from Fatima the daughter of the prophet Mohammed (pbuh). "You think you are safe there, but you are not.". The court claimed he had defamed the state in his writings, according to, The Department of Homeland Security has provided, Reporting and analysis from the Hill and the White House, Saudi Arabias new mega-city may be built on a foundation of tyranny, The ground is cracking under Netanyahus feet, Israels biggest security threat is Benjamin Netanyahu, What Ukraine can learn from the Israel model, 3 things we learned from new charges against Trump in documents case, The incredibly damaging timeline of the alleged Mar-a-Lago coverup, The rights current thing: claiming Trump probes are a distraction, not only vast sums but also his own prestige, D.C. Council voted on Tuesday to stop pulling police officers out of schools, Read our recent editorial on why D.C. needs SROs. All rights reserved. Its for tourists, people with money. Better humans, better society, it boasts extravagantly. The local al-Huwaitat tribe has accused the Saudi government of forcibly displacing them to build the city. Western intelligence agencies believe his murder was carried out on the prince's orders, which the Saudi government denies. It will cost an estimated $500 billion to complete. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Abdul Rahim Ahmad al Huwaiti was killed in a shootout with security forces, according to Saudi officials, who described him as a terrorist. But Ali Shihabi, a member of the Neom advisory board, told the Guardian that the displaced members of the tribe would be compensated. 3 April 2020 In January, the Government of Saudi Arabia announced plans to begin work on a project to build the "world's most advanced city." The project, called NEOM and led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, envisioned everything from flying cars to . The Paris Saint-Germain star "has rejected to negotiate" with Al Hilal and has "no intention" of opening discussions with the Saudi Professional League club, per world football insider Fabrizio . They developed into a partly settled tribe, combining farming in the fertile areas of al-Sharat with pastoralism, but early in the 20th century were rendered more or less nomadic by the activities of two rival shaikhs, Abtan ibn Jazi and Auda Abu Tayi, who concentrated on raiding, collection of tribute and camel-herding.[4]. Saudi officials have advertised Neom as being a project built on virgin land, disregarding the existence of the Huwaitat people. . [1] The Howeitat are unusual in claiming descent from a single ancestor, an Egyptian named Huwayt. Now comes news, via Saudi dissident groups based abroad, that death sentences meted out last year to three other members of the tribe on dubious terrorism charges have been upheld on appeal. Staff Writer Fri 28 Jul 2023. The murder of Jamal Khashoggi shook international investor confidence in the kingdom and cast a pall of suspicion over the prince, its de facto ruler. According to ALQST, the three members of the Huwaitat tribe were sentenced after being "forcibly evicted and displaced to make way for the Neom megaproject", which is planned for the northeast. A Bloomberg expose on the project published in July found that MBS is pouring lavish amounts of money into salaries for consultants and other experts but potentially not receiving much constructive feedback. In Vietnam, a one-party state, democracy activist Tran Van Bang was sentenced on Friday to eight years in prison and three years probation for writing 39 Facebook posts. Yet the funds required to see Neom realised will inevitably require oil wealth. The Howeitat have several branches, notably the Ibn Jazi, the Abu Tayi, the Anjaddat, and the Sulaymanniyin, in addition to a number of associated tribes. who are part of the Huwaitat tribe, were . Alya Alhwaiti, who is from the same tribe, circulated the videos. Saudi Arabian state media rarely reports on court decisions, and the cases that led to the young prince are kept quiet. For Cooper, Neom is less a shining vision of the future than a grim symbol of Saudi human rights violations, underscored by the treatment of the Huwaitat tribe. New York's Iconic Gym Moves Into Saudi Arabia. Watch: BBC editor's life in Russia since 2022 on piano. Categories: Native Arabian tribes in Tabuk (province) Arabian tribes in Egypt. Nazmi al-Nasr, the CEO of NEOM company speaks during the last day of the investment conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 25, 2018. Under international law, states that have not yet abolished the death penalty may only impose it for the most serious crimes, involving intentional killing, the experts said. The tribe. The country, which has zero tolerance for public dissent, has cracked down on people voicing concern and arrested an estimated 150 members of the community of 20,000. Howeitat, 43, became a prominent figure in Saudi for his vocal opposition to NEOM, and his refusal to give up his land. At the same time, the authorities have dramatically increased their use of the death penalty, carrying out 148 executions in 2022more than twice as many as in 2021and resuming executions for drug-related offences that do not involve violence. A home for dreamers and doers #DiscoverNEOM pic.twitter.com/8eNkEApsox. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser. "This project is our moon shot," confided a senior Saudi minister. The Huwaitat tribe's severe punishment is just one example. If it does not recover dramatically over time then it is hard to see how Riyadh is going to finance this project, which was originally budgeted at around $500bn (407bn). Members of the 20,000 strong community have been resisting Saudi attempts to force them out of the area designated for the $500 billion mega-project. [6] Alya Abutayah Alhwaiti, a Saudi human rights activist also of the Howeitat tribe, circulated the videos. But at the same time, not allowing the involvement of local actors or interests in these decision-making processes.. The authorities kept his body for weeks before handing it over to his family. In recent months the Saudi authorities allegedly arrested, harassed, hounded and even killed members of the tribe on being questioned for their plans and denied the sale of their land to the state. [6], Eight cousins of Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti have been arrested for protesting against the eviction order but Alya Abutayah Alhwaiti said that she and human rights activists in the west hoped to challenge the arrests.

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