The Riyadh International Book Fair (RIBF) is an annual book fair in Saudi Arabia. It lasts 11 days and regularly attracts over a half million visitors. The fair is used to showcase Saudi government policy, and it has been a locus of political power struggles with the government. Hundreds of publishers sell pre-approved books, and some black-market books. Writers take part in literary events. Invited speakers and the public discuss intellectual and social issues. Disagreements sometimes go beyond the bounds of debate, with speakers being shouted down and surrounded by protestors, and arrests of speakers and protestors; physical assaults are rare but not unknown. Contrary to some claims, it is not the largest fair in the MENA region.
The fair is a focus for political conflict in Saudi Arabia, though some local media sources deny there is political debate. (author with close ties to Saudi-government-controlled media, not an independent source) The fair is organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information, and has been regulated by the religious police; the two have clashed at the fair, and religious police have been limited to more advisory roles. Some Saudi clerics issued a fatwa criticizing the book fair during the 2012 fair. Journalist Jamal Khashoggi said of the intellectual climate: "It's like McCarthyism in the 1950s".
The fair has been both praised and criticized domestically for providing books and cultural activities which are hard to come by in Saudi Arabia, and criticized internationally for selling antisemitic and misogynistic books. Parts of the fair are gender-segregated.
Activities The fair aims to provide freer access to literature, and a large selection is available, including some books banned or not usually sold in Saudi Arabia. Protests about material at the fair are common. While authorities pre-censor the books, they have sometimes confiscated previously-approved books during the fair. Publishers say that they will be banned from the Saudi market if they speak openly about books being banned. The book fair has become a topic of political controversy, praised for providing access to useful books and supporting culture and society, and criticized for insufficient, excessive, or inappropriate censorship. The traditional rarity of public events in Saudi Arabia, and the children's activities, help make it popular with the general public.
Apart from book sales, the fair also hosts writers, poets and intellectuals, who meet with the public. They sign books, take part in public discussion panels, and give public lectures. Authors give public readings of their works, without public discussion of the readings.
There have been some gender-based restrictions on admission: some times have been men-only, others "families-only", meaning that single men may not enter. From 2008 to 2011 inclusive, there were four men-only evenings; the other times were open "for all", meaning only mixed-gender family groups (there were no women-only times). In 2012, there were no segregated admission times, and men and families would be allowed to attend simultaneously for the first time. In practice, most schoolgroups attend in the mornings, and most of the evening visitors are men; women and families are common all day.
Separately, there are gender-based restrictions on activities within the fair. Book-signings and discussion panels generally have gender-segregated spaces. According to local media, men have been prevented from getting their books signed by female authors. "If the author is a woman [male] people have to have their book signed through a third party so as to prevent her direct contact with the public", the head of the Haiʾa at the fair explained in 2009. Female panelists participate in panels by intercom, which a panelist from outside Saudi Arabia found disconcerting. Women listen to lectures from a balcony, when not giving them. The book fair has been criticized for supporting gender mixing. In the children's areas, only women and children are allowed; men are strictly excluded.
The fair has been patrolled by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haiʾa, religious police), who enforce gender segregation and advise on dress. Men have been prevented from entering if their hair is too long. Some of the men who have interrupted events have claimed to be members of the religious police.
A book competition awards prizes of 100,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (roughly US$26,000, ). Until 2016, winners were selected by the Ministry of Information, but in 2016 a group of King Saud University professors were made responsible.
Temporary television studios are set up within the fair, and interview authors, and there are many roaming reporters and camera teams, but personal cameras were banned, .
Political context
The Riyadh bookfair is a focus of political conflict: its events are easier to understand in their political context. Power in Saudi Arabia is held by the monarch (, effectively the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman), but traditionally also by the royal family, religious clerics, and the overlapping security services and business community, who have traditionally been allied. These alliances are not holding as they once did, because the monarchy is centralizing power and weakening other power bases.
The general public and the media (including newspapers and book publishers) hold little formal power, but their potential power has been a matter of official concern. Since the 1920s, the monarchy had repeatedly promised democratic reforms and constitutional monarchy; however, in the 2010s, it affirmed absolute monarchy.
Royal family There has been a power struggle between the monarchy and the royal family. Royals often hold official posts, in government or academia. Some of the authors and public intellectuals at the fair are thus members of the royal family (for instance, Al-Zahrani is the name of the third royal family, and the name of a law professor who became involved in two clashes with clergy at the book fair). The large royal family has recently lost political power. Royal officials have been replaced by officials beholden to the crown prince. In 2018, members of the royal family and business community were placed under house arrest, required to sign over assets to the government, and restricted in their movements; there are reports some were physically abused, which the government denies (torture is illegal in Saudi Arabia). Subsequently, the stipends paid to members of the royal family were secretly increased.
Clerical officials There has also been a power struggle between the monarchy and clerical officials. Clerical officials control education and the judiciary (though the monarch may issue pardons). Clerical officials traditionally censored journalists and publications, through control of the Ministry of Interior (sic). The Ministry of Interior also formerly had oversight of religious police, but lost it in the early 2010s. In 2017, the internal security forces and the powerful prosecution service were transferred from the control of the ministry to the direct control of the monarchy. The powers of the clerical officials at the book fair have been increasingly restricted; for instance, the religious police have lost the power to enforce rules, retaining only the power to report violations, and government-controlled media report that members of the religious police disrupting book fair events in the 2010s were arrested.
Media
Editors-in-chief in Saudi Arabia are appointed only with government approval, and work to guidelines on how stories are to be covered. Newspapers are post-censored; the government can blacklist any journalist in Saudi Arabia, preventing them from working anywhere in the country, and it can have online articles taken down. Journalists have also been arrested, kept in solitary confinement, and tortured, often for unclear reasons. Journalists often attend the fair as book authors. One journalist attributed a clash with the religious police (Haiʾa) at the fair to her newspaper columns; she had criticized the Haiʾa, as Haiʾa-affiliated power over censorship weakened. Books and entire publishing houses are also censored; anyone wanting mass access to the Saudi Arabian market needs the approval of the censors.
The book fair programme is set by the monarchy, which uses it to showcase its policies; the monarchy also pre-censors the books to be legally sold. The event is regulated by the religious police, who have set admission rules, post-censored and confiscated books, and shut down events.
Censorship at the book fair, as elsewhere, has become less religious and more political in its goals, as it has been transferred from clerical to monarchic control. Social liberals have at times defended the freedom of speech of social conservatives, who now face heavier censorship at the fair and elsewhere. Informal media also face stronger restrictions; people have been jailed and tortured for blog posts and tweets. Blogs, social media, and satellite TV hinder censorship; books banned from the book fair are discussed online, and available to many through illegal downloads.
The Saudi government has spent millions on influencing foreign media coverage, especially in the wake of Jamal Khashoggi's 2018 death. Efforts have focussed on improving its international image, attracting tourists, and promoting tourist attractions.
Public opinion
Visitors to the fair (both the public and the writers and intellectuals) seek to evade censorship, buy and sell books, including blackmarket books, and take part in discussions. They come into conflict with both the monarchy and the religious police, as well as one another.
Traditionally, the monarchy has presented itself as a progressive force, prevented from moving quickly with liberalizing reforms by the strong conservatism of the population; by implication, if the country were to become democratic, then it would become much more radically conservative. This view has been challenged domestically. It has also been suggested that the monarchy seeks to hinder a unified Saudi political movement by playing up tribalism and sectarian religious differences, and by associating demonstrations, civil disobedience and criticism with foreign actors.
From 2003 to 2005 there were petitions for human rights and a constitutional monarchy. During the Arab Spring, the 2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests, these were renewed, with public appeals and petitions for democracy. Calls for reform were driven by corruption, official impunity, detention without trial, high unemployment, and royal excesses. Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, who make up ~30% of the population (official census figures, ) have limited rights and are disenfranchised, an additional potential source of unrest.
There was also significant activism on guardianship rules, women's franchise, the right to drive, and the rights of political prisoners. A 2013 petition called for women to be permitted to drive (a position which a Gallup poll found that the majority of Saudi men and women supported in 2007, contradicting a 2006 government poll finding 89% of women opposed it). Some petitions, like a 2016 one to abolish the male guardianship system, were supported by clerics and social liberals.