Saudi Arabia’s Day of Rage?

Finally, after dark, it came. A thunderous rage descended over the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh last night, an unstoppable force marching across the city. Yet it was not the “rage” some online protesters had been predicting on Facebook pages and Twitter.

There was no storm of protest here yesterday. The only disturbance was in the skies as lightning flashed, thunder rolled and rain drenched city streets after nightfall. Saudi Arabia’s nascent protest movement was nowhere to be found. Mohammad Al-Qahtani, of the Civil and Political Rights Association, blamed the huge police presence on the streets.

“How could you even think of protesting”, he asked. “You could not even move for all the police.”

The police and security services took up positions overnight. By morning, as I toured the city, there were hundreds of them, manning checkpoints, searching cars and checking identification.

They ringed a mosque on the outskirts of the city where a tiny protest had erupted the week before. Helicopters buzzed overhead. The scene was reported to be the same in Jeddah and in cities in the Eastern province.

Inside mosques across the country, imams delivered the message to the masses: Islam prohibits demonstrations and Saudi Arabia cannot follow the dictates of Western democracies.

The message emanating from the mosques and the heavy police presence were the climax of a week’s worth of warnings and messages from those who hold power in the country. It began last weekend with announcements from senior clerics, then the Interior Ministry.

Later, came a news conference with the Foreign Minister. Saudi Arabians do not protest, was the theme. Despite the wave of uprisings sweeping the regions, this nation deals with differences differently, they said. Protests will not be tolerated.

The onslaught of announcements, clerical missives and stern admonitions suggested the authorities were nervous about the prospect of unrest. My detention last week in the city of Hofuf, paired with the arrest (and subsequent release) of another BBC journalist in the Eastern province a few days ago signaled a determination to prevent the reporting of any demonstration, no matter how small.

Still, the minority Shia population dared to defy the government. Yesterday, as they have for the last three weeks, small numbers of Shia gathered in towns and cities in the east to call for the release of those they deem political prisoners. The government labels the prisoners terrorists.

On Thursday night, for the first time, the protests became violent as police opened fire. There are conflicting accounts, but it appears three people were injured, including one policeman.

By the end of the day in Riyadh, Mohammad Al-Qahtani looked weary and resigned. He walked into the lobby of a downtown hotel wearing faded jeans and a grey sweatshirt from his American alma mater, Indiana University.

Al-Qahtani says his years in the United States fueled his drive to bring reforms to Saudi Arabia. Like many others, he is frustrated by the lack of political freedom in his country.

But as yesterday made clear, almost no one in Riyadh, even those who want change, seems willing to rise up and rush out to the streets. Though he was not behind the calls to protest, the outcome left Al-Qahtani and other reformists pondering what to do next.

“Today certainly was a disappointment,” he said, though he claimed he was not surprised. “We need to work on our society more to correct the passivity that they have.”

Al-Qahtani is still trying to figure out how to do that. He speaks of broadening awareness of the need for reform, reaching out to people. He even suggested calling for more protests in support of creating a constitutional monarchy to limit the powers of the King.

Whether it was a passive acceptance of the status quo, fear, or perhaps genuine support for the King and the government here, Saudis bucked the trend in a region roiled by change. For now, in this country, everything is staying the same.