Graffitists in Jeddah face SR1,000 fine

March 27, 2014

Jeddah, Mar 27: The Jeddah Municipality is considering a decision to impose fines of anywhere between SR500 and SR1,000 on people who spray-paint profanities and indecent drawings on the city’s walls in both popular and remote neighborhoods, Abdulaziz Al-Ghamdi, municipality spokesman said.

Municipality maintenance teams have embarked on repainting several walls and public utilities in neighborhoods, including Bagdadia, Sabeel, Saheefah and Karantina.

“About 50 percent of these areas are in need of repainting,” he said. He appealed to youth to stop this illegal practice and encouraged them to put their creativity to better use.

“There are specialized clubs and art centers in the city for youth to hone their skills,” he said. “The drawings and slogans on these walls are often offensive and culturally unacceptable.”

Several fine arts, sociology and psychology professors told Arab News that the youth resort to this type of practice because they have too much free time and energy.

“Writing on walls and public utilities indicates an emotional void,” said Jaber Al-Mutlak, a social worker at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Makkah. “Such acts are an expression of resentment, disappointment and failure, either on the personal front or the social front.”

This type of energy, however, can be put to good use through the Education Ministry, he said. Competitions with awards and prizes, for instance, would attract many young talents. There are youth hostels under the General Presidency for Youth Welfare that offer artistic outlets across the country.

“Teens and adults in their twenties most often practice these types of hobbies,” said Abdul Mannan Malabar, a psychology professor and guidance counselor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. “They intentionally and deliberately compromise the outer appearance of public utilities. Some of these youngsters suffer severe psychological, behavioral and social disorders and find difficulty expressing themselves.”

Parents and educational institutions must pay much more attention to this age bracket in order to transform this negative phenomenon into conducive creativity, he suggested.

“Wall-graffitiing is a practice that originated in the USA among the working class,” said Saudi artist Zuhair Toulah. “Yet today, the attitudes and conceptions surrounding this kind of art vary from country to country.”

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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