Christmas Celebrations in Saudi Arabia Are More Open, Bright Trees Are Now For Sale
Sydney Turnbull, an American citizen who has lived in Saudi Arabia for the past seven years, told Arab News that in the past Christmas was celebrated strictly and privately.
"You hear stories about people smuggling Christmas trees and celebrating, there's no decorations or colorful lights outside like in the United States," he said.
But all that has changed in recent years. Christmas trinkets began to be sold freely and displayed in shop windows and souvenir products. "This year is the most common Christmas display," Turnbull said.
Cafes and restaurants turn into winter wonderland. Jeweled snowman, decorations and ornaments for sale. Starbucks offers holiday drinks in Christmas and New Year's themed cups.
“I gaped when I saw Bateel (a local cafe and restaurant) now offering reservations. Yesterday, I received an email from a top restaurant in Riyadh offering a New Year's Eve celebration. This would never have happened a few years ago," said Thurnbull.
Enrico Catania, a 35-year-old Jeddah resident of Italy, told Arab News that this year's celebrations will be a little different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there are travel restrictions. Catania will spend Christmas with friends as usual, but won't be seeing family.
Many expats openly celebrate holidays in Saudi Arabia. "My Saudi colleagues even gave me a Christmas present, a very kind and thoughtful gesture, just another example of how warm and welcoming the people are," Thurnbull said.
Ashwag Bamhafooz, a Saudi housewife from Jeddah, admitted that she was invited to celebrate Christmas with her husband's friends from the Philippines. “My mother's family, although they are Lebanese Sunnis, celebrate Christmas and give each other gifts,” Bamahfooz said.
"I feel it's okay to celebrate Christmas and New Year like we celebrate the Hijri year," he said. He added he was pleased with the Kingdom's move towards greater tolerance of other religions.
However, Muneerah Al-Nujaiman, an English teacher at Putri Nourah University expressed a different opinion. He told Arab News that many Saudis seem to have misunderstood the idea of tolerance. “I strongly believe in cultural tolerance, which means allowing Christians to celebrate their own religious beliefs in Saudi Arabia. However, I don't celebrate it myself because it doesn't reflect my religious or cultural identity,” said Al-Nujaiman.
"Religious acceptance means we don't fight them or prevent them from celebrating their holidays, because when I was in their country they used to give us the freedom to pray and worship, but acceptance doesn't mean celebration," he said.