Mick Hartley

What's happening in Saudi Arabia nowadays? No Arab Spring, that's for sure. Life continues. The seasons come and the seasons go.

So what's making the news?

The festival of Eid al-Adha approaches, when all good Muslims must sacrifice a goat. Naturally the price of goats goes up beforehand. So:

A number of Saudi citizens have started shopping early for sacrificial goats after Eid Al-Fitr when prices are down before they shoot up during Eid Al-Adha, a local daily reported.

As a precautionary measure, some citizens began buying little goats to raise them at home and use them to sacrifice during Eid Al-Adha. Citizens say that they will not wait for the prices to slowly increase and reach a level where they cannot afford them anymore.

Some citizens interviewed said that the rising living costs and prices of commodities had reached a level where middle-income people could not afford paying for a sacrificial goat anymore…

Saudi citizen Abdullah Al-Fahmi said that the Ministry of Commerce should monitor the prices. He said that there was a large number of goats in the market, and yet the prices were rising unacceptably.

He said that the only reason behind it were greedy businessmen, who should be punished.

"I decided to buy goats early to avoid the price increase later. I expected the prices to decline this year, but there is no sign of this," Al-Fahmi commented.

Ali Al-Ghamdi said that his favorite brand of goats cost SR800 in normal times and could reach SR1,400 during Haj. He said he found it logical to buy it now and keep it in the backyard until Haj.

It's not just the price of goats. Camel prices have risen as well. According to Shariah law the blood money paid to the family of a murdered man should be the equivalent of 100 camels (50 for a woman). So:

Royal consent has been given to raise the diyyah (blood money) limit for murder to SR400,000 and accidental killings to SR300,000, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said the adjustments were requested by the Supreme Court in light of the hikes in the price of camels….

Blood money values, currently set at SR110,000 for murder and SR100,000 for accidental killings, have been static for the last 29 years. Murdered women are paid half of the amount….

Judge Yasser Al-Balawi said he expected the changes in blood money levels to reduce crime in the Kingdom. It is also predicted that car insurance companies will increase their premiums in response.

And finally, exciting career opportunities for women:

There are good job prospects for Saudi women in the dates industry, especially in the areas of packing and wrapping, according to chairperson of Harfa cooperative society Princess Noura.

“We hope the increase in the dates trade will create more jobs for women,” the princess said, adding that many Saudi families in Qassim are working in the industry, either individually or as company employees.

“We intend to develop this industry and help Saudi women to do their work in a more professional manner,” Princess Noura said during a visit to the Buraidah Dates Festival on Tuesday….

[AN photo by Muhammad Al-Harbi]

“I would say women are experts in the field of packing and wrapping dates as they have been doing this job for quite a long time,” she explained.