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As a result of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, discussions about human rights and censorship on the Arabian Peninsula were held in many places. In October 2023, the World Cup was awarded to Saudi Arabia for 2034: This provoked a new wave of criticism and discussion.

As students from Kassel, we have now taken this as an opportunity to focus on literary censorship in Saudi Arabia: We want to draw attention to the situation there years before the World Cup actually takes place.

Through detailed individual research and recourse to the reporting of the news platform „The New Arab“ from 2014, we were able to add almost 150 titles to the Kasseler Liste: All these are affected by censorship in Saudi Arabia or have been in the recent past.

The limits on the freedom of speech affect not only political writings, such as some titles by the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered by the Saudi Arabian government in 2018. Religious texts such as the Christian Bible and classic titles of world literature such as „One Thousand and One Nights“ are also banned in Saudi Arabia. Books relating to LGBTQ+ issues are also largely banned. Moreover, criticism of the government or the royal family is prohibited, such as Raif Badawi’s „1000 Lashes.“

The lack of transparency and the arbitrariness of censorship on the part of the Saudi Arabian government proved to be particularly problematic for our research. The government does not publicly disclose which books are actually banned, nor does it consistently stand by its judgments. For example, even state-approved works have been confiscated by the Islamic religious police after publication and thus ultimately censored.

The reasons for bans are rarely made public. Review processes are often deliberately prolonged in order to effectively drive authors into a kind of self-censorship.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has begun to allow some previously banned works to be published again. Is this a step towards liberalism and freedom of expression? Hardly. The Saudi state continues to censor social media across the board and there is no or only limited freedom of the press. Therefore, this relaxation of censorship is probably not related to a fundamental rethink. Instead, the move can more likely be explained as an attempt to gain political and commercial benefit from the (Western) attention generated by future global sporting events.

It remains to be seen whether this apparent manipulation of the public will be successful. However, it is already worth taking a critical look.

Die Kasseler Liste, February 2024