Tomorrow is Saudi Arabia's Day of Rage. Or, it's supposed to be. The Interior Ministry has thrown the security forces a carte blanche for their dealing with demonstrations, and many Saudis remain pessimistic about the chance for successful protests. Prince Saud Al-Faisal warns everyone that the regime is ready to "cut off the fingers of those who try to interfere in our internal matters," echoing just about every anxiety-ridden despot (or junior-despot) in modern history who's attempted to construe domestic uprisings as a foreign project.

Unsurprisingly, the royal family has obtained a fatwa to support its ban on any demonstrations. Couple the guns and religion—to which the Saudis unquestionably cling—with the recent $32b in benefits and we might expect to see a very quiet rage in the hearts of Abdullah's subjects tomorrow.


"The Longing," by Nimah Niwwab:

Freedom.
How her spirit
Haunts,
Hooks,
Entices us all!

Freedom,
Will the time come
For my ideas to roam
Across this vast land’s deserts,
Through the caverns of the Empty Quarter?


For my voice to be sent forth,
Crying out in the stillness of a quiet people,
A voice among the voiceless?

For my thoughts, that hurl around
In a never-ending spiral,
To settle
Mature, grow and flourish
In a barren wasteland of shackled minds?

Will my spirit be set free—
To soar above the undulating palm fronds?
Will my essence and heart be unfettered,
Forever
Freed,
Of man-made Thou Shall Nots?