RIYADH: Christmas trees and glittery ornaments are for sale at a Saudi gift shop, a once unthinkable sight in the cradle of Islam where all public non-Muslim worship is banned.
In recent years, festive sales have gradually crept into the capital Riyadh, a sign of loosening social restrictions after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to steer the conservative Gulf kingdom towards an “open, moderate Islam”.
“I didn’t ever imagine I’d see this” in Saudi Arabia, a Riyadh resident told AFP at the shop selling trees, Santa Claus outfits as well as tinsel, baubles and other ornaments.
“I am surprised,” said the resident, declining to be identified.
Until barely three years ago, it was almost impossible to sell such items openly in Saudi Arabia.
For decades, Christmas sales were largely underground, and Christians from the Philippines, Lebanon and other countries celebrated behind closed doors or in expat enclaves.
“It was very difficult to find such” Christmas items in the kingdom, said Mary, a Lebanese expat based in Riyadh who preferred to be identified by her first name.
“Many of my friends used to buy them from Lebanon or Syria and sneak them into the country,” she said.
But in a sign of the changing times, the Riyadh shop manager, Omar, who declined to provide his surname, said his store sold not just Christmas items but also outfits for Halloween — widely seen by arch-conservatives as an American tradition.
Local officials say school textbooks, once well-known for denigrating Jews and other non-Muslims as “swines” and “apes”, are undergoing revision as part of Prince Mohammed’s campaign to combat extremism in education.
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