Yemen's Houthi Movement And Salafi Jihadis Denounce Saudi Arabia's Festival As 'Desecration Of Sanctities,' A 'Distraction' From War In Gaza: Liberation Of Saudi Arabia Must Precede Liberation Of Jerusalem

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On November 16, 2024, the Saudi Tourism Authority launched a new season of the Riyadh Season festival, an annual hub for cultural, sports, and entertainment events - one of the liberal reforms introduced by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman.

The festival, which is one of the world's largest winter entertainment events, includes fashion shows, music concerts, and dance performances by pop icons through February 2025, has sparked controversy. Online trending topics in November 2024 include those calling some performances offensive to Islam's holy sites.

Maintaining the calendar of events of the winter entertainment festival amid the war in Gaza and southern Lebanon, comments spiked after a show by American actress and singer Jennifer Lopez. She performed on a stage with a cube-shaped display resembling the Kaaba in Mecca. This angered Salafi jihadis as well as Iran-backed parties.

Yemen's Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement considered the festival to be an attempt to distract Muslims from the ongoing conflict in Gaza and an attack on Muslim sanctities. The group even launched a coordinated campaign on X (formerly Twitter) aimed, the group said, at exposing the "Zionized regime in Saudi Arabia."

Salafi jihadis from Gaza, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, and even Canada, condemned what they called the Saudi royal family's move to spread polytheism in the Arabian Peninsula, a show of unmatched greed to spread corruption, which will lead Saudi Arabia to its total demise.

Below are samples of such commentary.

Houthis: "Genocidal War In Gaza And Entertainment In Riyadh"

On November 16, 2024, the Houthis' official website carried an article condemning the timing and purpose of the Riyadh Season festival, now in its second season since the war in the Gaza Strip started. The article read in part: "The Saudi regime has been keen on adopting a policy to distract the Saudi society. Such policy is common in some Arab and Islamic countries as well. The goal is to turn people's attention away from what is happening in Palestine, amid the Zionist enemy's 14-month war of genocide against the people of Gaza and Palestine, using the deadliest American weapons and bombs."[1]

Houthi Author: The Riyadh Season "Manifests A Lack Of Awareness Of The Tragic Reality Of The Islamic Nation"

On November 18, the Houthis' official website carried another article titled, "During the Riyadh Festival…The Holy Sites Are Being Desecrated," condemning the timing of the event - when Gaza continues to suffer horrific aggression, the article states.

It asserted that the recurring entertainment season in Saudi Arabia continues to spark significant resentment and anger: "Bringing in dancers and artists to perform at entertainment parties at a time when people are suffering from the scourge of wars and crimes, shows a stark contrast between the bitter reality experienced by the Palestinians, and the manifestations of celebration that lack sensitivity and human compassion," wrote the author, Fatimah Abdulilah Al-Shami.

The author continued: "These lavish events expose a sharp contradiction that manifests a lack of awareness of the tragic reality that the Islamic nation is experiencing, and addresses issues that are considered essential to the core of Islamic and human identity."[2]

Houthis Orchestrate Anti-Saudi Campaign On X Aimed At "Exposing Zionized Saudi Regime"

In an attempt to stoke further animosity toward Saudi Arabia, the Houthi movement and its official media continued their criticism of the Saudi ruling family over the Riyadh Season festival. On November 19, the Houthis launched a hashtag marking the launch of an anti-Saudi campaign on X (formerly Twitter) dubbed: "They Defiantly Disobeyed," condemning Saudi rulers, particularly Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, for leading a campaign aimed at "raising a Zionized generation" in Saudi Arabia, transforming the culture of the rising generation, and conducting the "largest coup against Arab and Islamic values and morals."[3]

Bin Salman Is A "Corrupt Zionist" And An "Enemy Of Allah"

In the 24 hours following the campaign, social media users took to X, posting content criticizing Saudi Arabia for leading "the battle of desecration of sanctities," at a time the Iran-aligned "free" fighters are leading a fierce battle to defend the Islamic nation's holiness. Other users urged Muslims to liberate the land of the Holy Mosques from "Satan Bin Salman," to protect Muslims against the "debauchery of the Jews and Christians."

Others asked rhetorically how the Saudi regime benefits from its insistence on holding such events, other than serving "their masters: global Zionism and the Freemasonry in the war on Islam and Muslims." Also shared were posters and cartoons mocking Bin Salman and Saudi rulers' "deliberate" attack on Islam. One poster portrays Bin Salman cloaked in the Israeli flag, calling him a "corrupt Zionist" and "enemy of Allah."

Gaza-Based Cleric: Bin Salman Leading Saudi Arabia To Its Demise At Rocket Speed

On November 16, the Gaza-based Salafi cleric Majdi Al-Mughrabi attacked the Saudi regime on Telegram in two posts over "obscene" scenes of debauchery, calling the festival an "atheistic and mocking action, disdainful of the house of Allah" in Mecca. The first post attacked the regime for holding Riyadh Fashion Week; Al-Mughrabi accused "Bin Salman and his clique" of leading the country to absolute destruction at rocket speed.[4]

In his second post, Al-Mughrabi asserted that there were many rumors regarding the Jewish origins of the Saudi royal family: "The actions of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, which go against the religion of Allah, as well as his filthy fight against Allah's law and his impudent, arrogant, and determined defiance of His commands, force me to believe that he is a Jew, in origin and belief."[5]

Canada-Based Cleric: Polytheism Back As Faith Of The Land In Saudi Arabia

On November 18, Canada-based pro-Al-Qaeda cleric Tariq Abdulhaleem took to his Telegram channel, condemning Saudi Arabia for allowing "nude" American singer and actress Jennifer Lopez to perform in the Riyadh Season festival. He stated that "polytheism returned to be the official religion of the Arabian Peninsula!" The jihadi cleric accused Bin Salman of allowing polytheism to become the supreme faith of the land.[6]

ISIS Supporter Celebrates Saudi Youth Voicing Opinions During Festival

On November 18, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Bariqah News Agency shared a video on Telegram showing a Saudi young man protesting the Riyadh Season. The young protester cited Quranic verses that condemn immorality. The Telegram channel celebrated his words, discrediting the Saudi royal family: "A young Muslim man from the youth of the land of the Two Holy Mosques enters the den of the apostates to ask them to follow the commands of Allah Almighty, and to steer away from the sins that the infidels of Al Saud family and their rabbis are spreading."[7]

Tunisian-Born HTS Official: Event In Riyadh Is "Satanic Ritual"

On November 16, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Idrissi, a Tunisian-born and religious official in the Syrian jihadi group, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), posted commentary claiming that the performance around the Kaaba was not a coincidence, but rather "a satanic ritual to get closer to Satan and ask for his help and the assistance of his soldiers."

"Satan worshippers among world leaders, including Bin Salman, are preparing to welcome the Antichrist, and the expansion and rise of the state of occupation, which will be Satan's capital, is one of the major signs of the emergence of the Antichrist, whose soldiers on earth are racing against time to challenge nature, spread perversion, obscure consciousness, and spread atheism until he finds followers who are ready to worship him and follow him."

He further laments that Muslims endure the most difficult of times since the beginning of Islam, noting that Muslims today are "divided, unconscious, drowned in triviality, and imprisoned in large detention camps called homelands surrounded by armies and barbed wire," while free Muslims are persecuted, the elites are chasing five-star jihad, and the mujahideen are pursued by designations [as terrorists] and drones.[8]

"Liberating Jerusalem From The Jews Must Be Preceded By Liberating The Kaaba From The Filth Of The Al Saud Family"

Algerian journalist Faysal 'Uthman wrote on Telegram: "The pictures coming from Riyadh Season 2024 confirm that liberating Jerusalem from the Jews must be preceded by liberating the Kaaba from the filth of the Al Saud family."

He stated that what happens in nightclubs in the West is being displayed by the Al Saud family in broad daylight in Arab countries, adding that the Saudi regime's "greed for spreading vice is unmatched."[9]