https://arab.news/mp4wh
JEDDAH: The Royal Commission for AlUla will restore several historic mud-brick buildings into a boutique hotel using contemporary engineering methods, to further expand the accommodation and cultural offerings in the area.
Dar Tantora by The House Hotel will offer 30 rooms, pool, spa, restaurant and cafe. The rooms will be adorned with traditional decor, furniture and artistic accents, incorporating elements that capture the area’s intangible heritage.
Local artisans received specialized training to participate in the restoration endeavors.
John Northen, vice president-head of hotels and resorts at the RCU, said: “Dar Tantora by The House Hotel will allow guests to live the rich heritage of the AlUla Old Town historical village.”
“Steeped in the past yet embracing progress, this hotel encapsulates RCU’s vision for a diverse range of accommodations as we continue to deliver on our plans for more than 5,000 keys by 2030.”
The project reflects the commission’s efforts to revive AlUla Old Town with tourism as the engine of development and job creation. A Sustainability Charter is assigned to govern each project’s economic, social and environmental impacts.
For delivering on this vision, AlUla Old Town was recognized by the UN World Tourism Organisation as a “Best Tourism Village” in 2022.
“We take immense pride in operating Dar Tantora by The House Hotel, a location that seamlessly weaves AlUla Old Town’s cultural legacy with the comfort of modern luxury,” said Marloes Knippenberg, CEO of Kerten Hospitality.
“Our dedication to delivering exceptional guest experiences resonates with RCU’s objective of creating harmonious communities, and we eagerly look forward to playing a significant role in the region’s development,” Knippenberg added.
RIYADH: On Eid, the Kingdom offers several festivals across the regions, locals prepare a traditional feast of delicacies while some flock to malls for last-minute Eid shopping.
However, that was not the case about 60 years ago. Eid back then was more simple and different from today, which often leaves the elderly longing for the good old days.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Saudis had pre-Eid traditions, leaving them busy in the days leading up to Eid. “Two to three days before Eid, children gathered around an area called the Palm Wall, waiting for Al-Hawwamah, which is a basket filled with dried chickpeas and alsaew sweets,” said Ibrahim Al-Balood, a previous resident of Ash Shubramiyah, located near Ash Shu’ara, a heritage village in the Riyadh province.
The Al-Hawwamah sweet basket is also called Hagag, and is part of the pre-Eid tradition in the Najd and Hejaz regions of the Kingdom. The sweet basket, prepared by housewives, includes important alsaew sweets — almonds coated with a thin layer of sugar in different colors.
“As a young girl, part of our pre-Eid tradition was our mothers sewing our Eid dresses in early Ramadan, combing and adding Al-Mashat aromatic herbs to our hair,” said another ex-resident of Ash Shu’ara, Sarah Al-Dowayan, who now lives in Dammam. The Mashat are red herbs, resembling henna. They are mixed with hair oil, and were used by women and young girls before Eid and other special occasions.
The social atmosphere then was dominated by love and familiarity, topped with smiles and laughter. The point of these gatherings was to partake in Eid celebrations, and it was not required of everyone to bring something to join the celebration.
Ibrahim Al-Balood, Former resident of Ash Shubramiyah
“We would go around knocking on every door asking for Eidiah, and we would say ‘give me my Eidiah, see how my new dress is sewn from iron’,” said Al-Dowayan. “The part of the traditional Eid carol where it says ‘my dress is sewn from iron’ is meant to show that our Eid dresses are well sewn and made from good fabrics that can never be ruined, and that for our mothers’ hard work, we deserve Eidiah,” she added.
Eid is announced when the first sighting of the crescent moon is observed by local religious authorities in the Kingdom. The announcement reaches Muslims all over the world. In the 1950s and 1960s, portable radios were used for special announcements, including Eid, though the devices were rarely found in Saudi households.
“We had a portable radio then, but there was a time when it stopped working, and we were waiting for the Eid announcement,” said Battal Al-Mutairi, who lives in the Qassim region.
Prior to the ease created by faster means of communication, it was common for camel riders to travel around the Kingdom to inform people of Eid timings, but due to travel distances, some towns ended up celebrating Eid on different days. In some areas, locals would sight the crescent themselves and celebrate Eid.
“Once, we decided to celebrate Eid after fasting the 30th day of Ramadan, and in the middle of our fast, a group of camel riders wearing clean, white thobes approached us, announcing that today is Eid.”
It was common then for camel riders to travel around the Kingdom to inform people of Eid timings, but due to travel distances, some towns ended up celebrating Eid on different days.
In some areas, locals would sight the crescent themselves and celebrate Eid. “Among the events I recall from my childhood is a time when we didn’t know today was Eid until the late afternoon. A day before, a woman from our town with sharp eyesight said she saw the crescent moon,” said Al-Balood. “But the imams of the town refused to take her testimony, and it turned out she was right, as locals from other towns came to inform us that today is Eid.”
After performing Eid prayer, local men would gather in a common area in their towns and bring together traditional Saudi dishes, some of which were made especially for the day.
“We would all put down the food we brought under the shade of the tamarix tree. Then everyone would start moving the dishes around to help others sitting by the edge to get a taste of everything,” said Al-Balood.
“The social atmosphere then was dominated by love and familiarity, topped with smiles and laughter. The point of these gatherings was to partake in Eid celebrations, and it was not required of everyone to bring something to join the celebration.”
Al-Balood’s nephew Abdullah told Arab News: “The Eid tradition of people gathering and bringing their food helped those who were in need who had limited means in life.”
He added: “And now we gather, bringing our food, and keeping the old tradition alive in the hope of emulating the past.”
Women had their own gatherings on Eid, where they would bring traditional Eid dishes including jareesh, a traditional meal made with crushed wheat and cooked with milk. Margoog, a traditional dish made of lamb and vegetable stew, and seasoned with various spices and dried limes, was another highlight.
“Women in Shu’ara would make manthora for Eid. The dish is made of white corn that is first fermented for a day, dried up, beaten, and then a few spices are added alongside whatever vegetables are available,” said Al-Dowayan.
Women would also reserve parts of a town street on Eid to freely dance, sing and show off their Eid dresses. “As we danced in celebration of Eid in the reserved streets for women, men would try to sneak a look at us, probably trying to find their future bride,” said Al-Dowayan.
RIYADH: The Saudi General Entertainment Authority will run a nationwide tour of entertainment events from May to September, it was announced on Saturday. The Kingdom Tour will be organized in partnership with the Music Commission, the Theater and Performing Arts Commission, the Quality of Life Program, and Visit Saudi.
GEA Chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said that May’s lineup will include concerts from Saudi and Arab stars, as well as theater performances performed by Saudi youth.
Performers include Saudi stars Mohammed Abdu, Rabah Saqr, Khalid Abdulrahman, Ayed, Zena Emaad, and Syrian legend Assala, Qatari singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi, and Yemen’s Aseel Abu Bakr.
The event will be organized in partnership with the Music Commission, the Theater and Performing Arts Commission, the Quality of Life Program, and Visit Saudi.
The tour will also include a number of Arabic plays of various genres, including “Al-Tayyara,” “Thatul Laikat,” “Misfer the CEO,” “Shaqqat London,” “Hatta La Yatir Al-Dukkan,” “Room 13,” “World War VI,” “Hadi Valentine,” “Memo,” “Qabel Lil-Nasher,” “Al-Mohtaramin,” and “To the Moon.” Famous Arab actors including Ahmed Helmy, Bayoumi Fouad, Ahmed Al-Aounan, Hoda Hussein, and Tareq Al-Ali.
Further details of the tour are available online here: https://enjoy.sa/media/oy0lkv3j/kingdom-tour.pdf.
RIYADH: Donations totalling more than SR757 million ($202 million) have been received by the National Campaign for Charitable Work in its third edition during Ramadan, according to the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence, which supervises the work of the platform.
The campaign kicked off with two donations totalling SR70 million from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, chairman of SDAIA.
Over 67 million donations have so far been made, benefitting more than 4.8 million beneficiaries in around 23 charitable fields, including educational, social, housing, religious, health and nutritional fields.
Over 1.1 million Zakat Al-Fitr have been collected over the past two days, bringing the total donations of the Ehsan platform so far to more than SR3.9 billion.
• The campaign kicked off with two donations totaling SR70 million from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, chairman of SDAIA.
• Over 67 million donations have so far been made, benefitting more than 4.8 million beneficiaries in around 23 charitable fields, including educational, social, housing, religious, health and nutritional fields.
The campaign’s success can be attributed to the crown prince’s empowerment of Ehsan, as well as his commitment to the growth of the nonprofit sector, raising its efficiency and reliability standards under the umbrella of a solid digital structure that contributes to realizing the Saudi Vision 2030.
Ehsan has received continuous support from the leadership to enable its work in accordance with solid governance supervised by 12 government agencies. It also has a Shariah committee that ensures that the platform’s work is in compliance with the provisions of Islamic law.
The platform continues to receive donations from individuals, companies, banks, donors, and affluent people through the platform’s application and website https://ehsan.sa, in addition to the benefactors’ call center via the number 8001247000 and the designated bank accounts.
JEDDAH: More than 150 people from various nations reached the safety of Saudi Arabia on Saturday in the first announced evacuation of civilians from Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries entered a second week following a brief lull.
Foreign nations have said they are preparing for the potential evacuation of thousands more of their nationals, even though Sudan’s main airport remains closed.
As the Kingdom’s naval forces transported the civilians, including diplomats and international officials, across the Red Sea from Port Sudan to Jeddah, fighting resumed in Sudan’s capital Khartoum after a temporary truce saw gunfire momentarily die down on Friday, the first day of Eid Al-Fitr.
Fighting has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded while survivors cope with shortages of electricity and food.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry announced the “safe arrival” of 91 of its citizens along with nationals from Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso.
It added that diplomats and international officials were among those who arrived in the evacuation operation carried out by the Royal Saudi Navy with the support of various branches of the armed forces.
US President Joe Biden thanked the Kingdom, Djibouti and Ethiopia for facilitating the plan to get US personnel out of Khartoum.
“I thank Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia, which were critical to the success of our operation,” he said in a statement on Saturday, calling for a ceasefire to allow “unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan”.
The Saudi ministry said in a statement: “The Kingdom worked to provide all the basic needs of foreign nationals in preparation for their departure to their countries.
“The first evacuation vessel from Sudan has arrived, carrying 50 (Saudi) citizens and a number of nationals from friendly countries,” the official Al-Ekhbariyah television said.
The first boat docked at the Red Sea port of Jeddah where the four other ships carrying 108 people from 11 different countries was expected to arrive later from Sudan, the broadcaster said.
Al-Ekhbariyah carried footage of large vessels arriving in Jeddah’s port. It also released a video showing women and children carrying Saudi flags on board one of the ships.
Those who have arrived in Jeddah include the crew of a Saudi passenger plane that was hit by gunfire while preparing to take off from Khartoum at the start of the fighting on April 15, according to Saudi state TV.
A convoy of vehicles carried the evacuees to Port Sudan from where they boarded ships to Jeddah, according to the Saudi broadcaster.
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji received the first batch of citizens and foreign nationals, upon their arrival today at King Faisal Naval Base in the Western Fleet in Jeddah on board the His Majesty King Jubail ship.
He said the journey was long, starting from Khartoum, passing through a number of regions in Sudan until reaching Port Sudan, and was done in cooperation with government agencies in the Kingdom, praising the role of the Ministry of Defense that implemented the plan.
“We all celebrate the return of our sons and the sons of brotherly and friendly countries to the Kingdom Saudi Arabia, which coincided with the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr,” he said.
Those evacuated expressed their thanks and appreciation to the Saudi government and the concerned authorities in the Kingdom for their efforts to secure their transportation and facilitate their arrival procedures to the Kingdom.
Earlier on Saturday, the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry announced that Saudi Arabia will start arranging the evacuation of its citizens and several nationals from other “brotherly and friendly” countries from Sudan as clashes intensify despite an Eid truce.
In a statement, the Saudi foreign ministry said the evacuated people will be flown to Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces the start of the arrangement for the evacuation of Saudi citizens and several nationals of brotherly and friendly countries from the Republic of Sudan to the Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/x7gnAruGVQ
The decision comes “in the implementation of the directives” of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “to oversee the care and wellbeing of citizens of the Kingdom in the Republic of Sudan,” the foreign ministry said.
Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said his country carried out an emergency operation to evacuate Kuwaiti citizens stranded in Sudan.
Sheikh Salem confirmed that all citizens wishing to return to the country had arrived safely in Jeddah, and that work was currently underway to secure their transfer to Kuwait.
The minister praised the efforts of Kuwait’s Ambassador to Sudan Dr. Fahd Mashari Al-Dhafiri, all members of the embassy in Khartoum and also extended his sincere thanks and gratitude to the Saudi authorities for coordinating and providing all the facilities for the transfer and evacuation of citizens to Jeddah.
He also thanked the Sudanese authorities and everyone who contributed to securing the safety of Kuwaiti citizens and enabling them to communicate with their families to ensure their safe return to their country.
This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)
Saturday’s evacuations mark the first major civilian rescue since violence in Sudan broke out on April 15.
Eid this year in Sudan is being marked by fear, grief and hunger.Eid is meant to be spent “with sweets and pastries, with happy children, and people greeting relatives,” Khartoum resident Sami Al-Nour said. Instead, there has been “gunfire and the stench of blood all around us.”
The Sudanese army said it was coordinating efforts to evacuate diplomats from the United States, Britain, China and France out of the country on military airplanes, as fighting persisted in the capital, including at its main airport.
The military said that army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan had spoken to leaders of various countries requesting safe evacuations of their citizens and diplomats from Sudan.
Foreign countries have struggled in vain to repatriate their citizens, a task deemed far too risky as clashes between the Sudanese army and a rival powerful paramilitary group have raged in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas.
The main international airport near the center of the capital has been the target of heavy shelling as the paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, has tried to take control of the complex, complicating evacuation plans. With Sudan’s airspace closed, foreign countries have ordered their citizens to simply shelter in place until they can figure out evacuation plans.
The country has been roiled by bloody fighting for the past week that has killed over 400 people so far, according to the World Health Organization.
(With AFP and AP)
RIYADH: Creative and personalized gifts have replaced money in an envelope as social media has played a big part in changing the nature of presents and how they are given to loved ones at this time of year.
Nada Al-Tamim told Arab News: “I have two kids, so I like to engage them with Eid activities so they can always remember it as a fun occasion, and we gather to do DIY Eid gifts.
“These kinds of gifts are an excellent way to add a personal touch to your gift-giving while also being cost-effective. With creativity and effort, you can create unique and personalized gifts that your loved ones will cherish.”
Al-Tamim suggests making Eid-themed gifts with slime kits and playdough for children, while homemade presents like candles and soaps make excellent presents for adults.
She added: “Making candles and soaps at home is simple and only needs a few basic ingredients. I purchase my things from online stores like Etsy, which offers a variety of candle colors and molds with festive Eid themes.”
Homemade candles and soaps are eco-friendly and free from harmful chemicals, making them a healthier alternative to many products bought in stores.
Many businesses have mushroomed on social media in the past decade, offering custom-made gifts for both children and adults.
Saudi businesswoman Alanoud Mohammed has seen a surge in demand for Eid gifts and decided to create an Instagram account @mon_cadu that offers boxes of chocolates and little mirrors that are adorned with flowers and the recipient’s name.
She said: “My gifts are drawn from nature, which attracts the recipient with the harmony of flowers and organic elements. With the aid of various marketing strategies and the support of social media, Instagram, and TikTok, I was able to find my own following of clients.”
Hanan Al-Fawzan said that the gifts she offers @the.jo.gifts are decorated with rosaries, and customers can customize them with anything they like, such as money or chocolate, wrapped in eye-catching, vibrant wrappers.
She added: “Colors have always been important to me since they consistently draw attention and are distinctive. I was searching for something fresh that had never been done before.”