The Media Line Saudi Bank Officials Get Flack for Shaking Their Bums

Liberals and Islamists have united in their indignation over a video of dancing Saudi bankers.

Some might call it ‘the Saudi boogie’. Others might dub it ‘capitalist pigs dancing on the bones of their victims’. Still others might refer to it as ‘undisciplined heathens defaming Wahabi Islam.’

Whatever the label, a short video of Saudi bank officials parading in circles, whirling their arms and shaking their bums to loud khaleeji music at a celebration in an expensive hotel in the capital Riyadh has led to a lively debate in the Saudi blogosphere.

The video, of mostly dancing young men from Saudi British Bank, an affiliate of HSBC, has upset two seemingly disparate sectors of Saudi society – Wahabi Islamists and liberal minded critics – united only in their indignation over the affront they feel the video represents.

"We live in a society that’s divided into two," wrote ^[1] Saudi blogger Abdul-Majeed, in a fiery post on an alleged double standard in which poor Saudi citizens are prohibited from activities such as public dancing while the rich are given free reign to boogie as they please. "Each section has its own prohibitions and freedoms, its own religion, culture, behavior and set of social norms… and each views the other as an enemy who should be treated with caution."

"If you are not rich or powerful enough to protect yourself from a raid then you cannot do something like that in public, or even in private," Ahmed Al-Omran, another Saudi blogger, told The Media Line.

"Why they can shake their bums freely in a fancy hotel like it’s 1999, but those who want to enjoy a concert of acoustic rock get raided by the Hay’a?" he wrote ^[2], referring to a Saudi religious police raid ^[3] of a guitar performance earlier this month. "It is this kind of hypocrisy and double standards that I can’t stand."

"They’re dancing and shaking on account of the people," read one comment on the video sharing site YouTube. "I’ll withdraw my money from them," read another. "They’ve failed."

But bitterness that the rich can dance while the poor can’t made up only half of the response to the video. While some critics claimed it was insensitive for bank officials to throw a dance party amidst a global recession, most seemed offended that Saudi officials would be seen publicly dancing, forbidden by the strict religious establishment which dominates Saudi Arabia.

"Satan is sitting among them," read one comment on the video sharing site YouTube.

"They’re committing one of the worst crimes, every day and every minute: riba," read another, referring to the practice of charging interest on loans, which is forbidden in Islam. "So other crimes they commit are not strange."

Al-Omran, an influential Saudi blogger, told The Media Line such reactions were to be expected.

"I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, but in a conservative setting a man dancing in that manner is not common or seen as appropriate," he explained. "People have been talking about it in forums and blogs."

"You don’t find many videos like this – people tend to be very careful," he continued. "I remember being at a party last year and I shot a video of a friend of mine. The next day the guy who was hosting the party called me to ask that I keep the video private, it could get him in hot water."

Silvio Saadi, a Saudi businessman and the CEO of Silver Grey, a local production company, said he had been surprised by the video.

"It was awkward for me to see a bank host something like this, especially SABB [Saudi British Bank], they are usually very formal," he added. "Why would they want people to stand up and dance?"

Saadi argued the reaction was reflective of years of pent up resentment towards to the role of the banking system in the lives of average Saudi citizens.

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