“For years, I’ve had my family for iftar on the first day, as well as good friends of the family. For some time, as the grandchildren got older and traveled to pursue their degrees abroad, the gatherings became smaller. In recent years, they came back and I had them all under my roof and what a joy it was. Though it’s not a rare occasion in our household, Ramadan is special and my heart soars seeing how all my children and grandchildren are together again. This year is different and is extremely difficult, I finally have everyone here in Saudi and now with the coronavirus pandemic, it’s painful not having them over.”
–Um Mohammed, a resident of Jeddah, quoted in Arab News about how Ramadan this year is different under Coronavirus restrictions. [arabnews.com]
“It pains me to welcome the glorious month of Ramadan under circumstances that forbid us from prayers in mosques.”
–King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, lamented the need for social distancing during the holy month. [Reuters]
“Commentary in Saudi Arabia exposes the folly of official American messaging on COVID-19, which focuses on pinning the blame for the pandemic on China. American criticism of Beijing rings hollow given the obvious failure of the U.S. government to marshal an effective pandemic response within its own borders.”
-Andrew Leber, writing in warontherocks.com, on Saudi media’s coverage of China and the United States and their respective governmental response to the spread of the Coronavirus. [warontherocks.com]
“The decisive first sighting of the young Moon could be on Thursday, April 23, 2020, since the young Moon will have moved every so slightly away from the Sun by the time of sunset. However, it’s still going to be very close to the Sun, and since it will also only 1% lit, it could be too difficult to find.”
-Jamie Carter, writing in Forbes, discusses the science behind sighting of the new moon that signals the start of the month of Ramadan. [Forbes]
“Saudi Arabia is facing exceptional circumstances, which might warrant a blank check to protect the economy from permanent damage. Debt sustainability will not be determined by this year’s deficit, which could balloon if policy enters a crisis-management mode, but by how fiscally disciplined the government will be when normalcy resumes.”
-Ziad Daoud, Bloomberg economist. [bloomberg.com]
“I express my great gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and to the Saudi people for their great generosity by donating $500 million, in response to plan to combat the Coronavirus, hoping the rest of the G20 members follow King Salman’s step.”
-Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization’s Director-General. [arabnews.com]
“My inspiration for this piece was based on the unprecedented and unparalleled moment it dawned on me that, for the first time in my life, I would not be able to visit Al-Haram (Grand Mosque). It made me realize what an honor, privilege and blessing it was to be able to do that.”
-Nabila Abuljadayel, Saudi artist, depicted an empty Grande Mosque with a solo worker in her latest painting. [arabnews.com]
“Saudi Arabia acted, not reacted, to the pandemic…The Kingdom already provides free healthcare for all its citizens, which is an important element in a strong healthcare infrastructure, necessary to weather this pandemic. Moreover, the gender gap in the sector is minimal, ensuring that everyone has equal access to proper health care.”
-Dr. Reem bint Mansour Al-Saud, member of the Kingdom’s permanent delegation to the UN in New York, in an interview with Arab News. [arabnews.com]
“For the first time since the Great Depression both advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies are in recession. For this year, growth in advanced economies is projected at -6.1 percent. Emerging market and developing economies with normal growth levels well above advanced economies are also projected to have negative growth rates of -1.0 percent in 2020, and -2.2 percent if you exclude China.”
-Gita Gopinath, outlining the IMF’s World Economic Outlook for April 2020. [IMF]
