...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...seeks to modernize its ultraconservative image.
But despite the exhibition of works long rejected as un-Islamic by Saudi authorities, some publishers say they continue to practice a form of self-censorship while the new boundaries remain unclear.
Since Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists. As crown prince, Moe has quietly jettisoned his country's policy of trying to impose its religion on the rest of the world...
was appointed crown prince in 2017, the kingdom has undergone economic, religious and social reforms. Changes have included allowing women to drive, the reopening of cinemas and mixed-gender music concerts.
But reforms have been accompanied by a widening crackdown on dissent, which has seen women’s rights activists, holy mans and journalists detained.
Mahmoud al-Qadoumi, a long-time Jordanian resident of Riyadh, said the selection at the 10-day book fair, which ended earlier this week, was "bold and unprecedented."
"There are books on Sufism and atheism, which is contrary to what has been the case for many years," he says.
He points to a science book he had purchased on the origins of the universe that made no reference to divine creation.