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RIYADH: The Saudi community is facing various challenges that threaten the values and principles by which it was raised, challenges that must be addressed and responded to by authorities and social institutions.
Dangerous and threatening challenges include racial discrimination, which has begun to increasingly influence youth and shows on social networks.
Al-Jawhara Al-Ghamdi, a legal researcher with the Human Rights Commission, says racial discrimination is a serious social disease that is incompatible with human dignity and principles of justice and equality.
She says Islam promotes the concept of dignity, regardless of skin color, gender, religion, language and race, and quoted verses from the Qur'an that point to tHE destruction of communities that fuel sectarian strife and division among people.
Al-Ghamdi says the issue is serious and “we must work to combat and eliminate such challenges through promoting more awareness of human rights culture in society.”
She says that while there must be an official and formal system that criminalizes racial discrimination, educational institutions should also create more understanding of the ills of racism in their curricula.
Bassam Fatini, a media professional, says the absence of a clear system that holds individuals accountable for racial discrimination is a major problem, and such discrimination will continue to be exhibited “if no real solutions are put in place today.”
He says racism is becoming more evident across social media forums, and complaints made should be dealt with immediately through legal action and treated as defamation.
Iman Al-Shatri says society needs to closely examine the root causes of racial discrimination through more dialogue in order to find sustainable solutions to the issue, while Majed Al-Faisal, a writer and academic, says the issue should not be complicated and confusing, given the clear guidelines in the Qur'an and the Sunnah against all forms of discrimination.