Welcome to a medieval kingdom; where women are still struggling to obtain their basic rights, and where those sentenced to death are beheaded by the sword in public. Ironically, this kingdom promises the world an unprecedented modern city with a new way of life like fantasy movies.
The journalist Robert F. Worth, former director of the American New York Times office in Beirut wrote in the introduction of his unique report on the lie of Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s project, that it is a technology used for unhacked oppression.
Worth said that the project is “Utopian dreams promoted by bin Salman about the establishment of a new Saudi city with modern specifications and an advanced nature of life, which in reality are secret projects hidden behind expensive projects to conceal the misuse of digital dictatorship”, and he asked: Would anyone accept living in this city under continuous surveillance that is controlled by a murderous prince with bloodstained hands?
While the world seeks to use technological development to advance peoples’ lives and their well-being, the palace of government in Saudi Arabia has taken the matter in a completely different direction, as Saudi Arabia is one of the countries in the Arab region with the highest spendings on digital projects, but for another service to control the country.
Bin Salman’s projects represent electronic flies, control of communication platforms, blocking opposition websites, arresting activists, and other means of digital control over the country. The NEOM project can certainly be considered as a city of digital repression.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the country, released a short film in January that outlines his plans for “The Line” project; a city with a highly developed environment built on the northwest coast. The city will be a narrow urban strip 170 kilometers (106 miles) long, with no roads, no cars, no pollution.
Worth notes that the last part of the “The Line” video makes an amazing note: images of crowded urban highways and bridges reminiscent of the dystopian and terrifying film Koyaanisqatsi, meaning “life out of balance,” produced in 1982, which described modernity as a betrayal of the land.
According to the video, “The Line” project will save humanity from this nightmare, eliminate movement and pollution and preserve 95% of nature within its borders.
The author also points out that what the prince did not say is that there are actually thousands of people who live in harmony with nature in the same area: a tribal society that has existed for centuries and lived on those lands, and now this new project will take their lands.
One of the tribesmen in this area recorded videos protesting the forced evictions from the area. The tribal man who recorded this video was shot dead last year in a confrontation with the Saudi security forces.
According to Worth, anyone who spent time in existing cities of Saudi Arabia could sympathize with the desire to build new ones. The existing cities are covered in dust and gloom. Narrow-minded clerics preside in corrupt bureaucracies that are resistant to change. However, Saudi is already full of mega failed projects. Therefore, some Saudis responded to Mohammed bin Salman’s movie by writing harsh and bitter comments about the need to renew cities and neighborhoods in the country before throwing billions into any palaces, luxury properties, or other strange projects.
The film’s final words, in the form of a review of multicultural faces flashing across the screen, were largely unreasonable: “A home for all of us – welcome to The Line.”
The author concludes his report by saying: When I listened to the scene, I could not help but wonder about the woman who spoke these words. Would you even consider moving to a remote desert city, to be under surveillance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and for the wishes of a murderous prince? I think she did what many of those who worked for the Saudis did: She uttered what they wrote to her, received the check, and ran.
More : Saudi Crown Prince Forced to Complete NEOM
