The 1979 Qatif Uprising, also known as the Muharram Intifada was a period of unprecedented civil unrest that occurred in Qatif and Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia, in late November 1979. The unrest resulted in 20–24 people killed in what was described as a sectarian outburst of violence between the Shi'a minority and Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia and the beginning of the modern phase of the Qatif conflict.
Background
Status of Shiites in Saudi Arabia
Following the conquest and annexation of Al-Hasa and Qatif into the Emirate of Riyadh in 1913 by Ibn Saud, Shiites in the region experienced state oppression. Unlike most of Saudi Arabia, Qatif and much of the Eastern Province has a Shiite majority. Despite that, the region is of key importance to the Saudi government due to it possessing the bulk of Saudi oil reserves as well as the main Saudi refinery and export terminal of Ras Tanura, which is situated close to Qatif.
Although it possesses the bulk of the oil which funds the Saudi state, the region had traditionally been neglected by central government and left to be a regular community with developmental priority being given to Sunni majority areas, with the region particularly lagging in respect to healthcare. When American jets landed in Dhahran King Abdulaziz Air Base for manoeuvres, the Shiites organized a massive demonstration. The demonstrators spent the evening of 11 November 1979 shouting slogans against the royal family and the Americans.
Increased community tensions in leadup to the uprising
With the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Shiites in the region felt encouraged to try to secure equal treatment as that given to Sunnis. Shiites in Saudi Arabia were very receptive to Ruhollah Khomeini and his attacks on the Saudi royal family on the grounds that Islam and hereditary kingship are not compatible. As a result, 1979 saw a marked increase in the mobilization of the Shiite community in Saudi Arabia, with demonstrations often being centered on Shiite festivals. The celebration of these festivals, including that of the Day of Ashura, was banned.
Although the Shiite minority was looked down upon by the Saudi Community, this traditionally was rarely in the form of direct violence against the community. In the lead-up to the uprising, due in part to unease about growing discontent within the community, the Saudi security services began to engage in more direct oppression, such as through mass detentions of individuals without trial for many months, serving to increase tension between the Shiite community and the Saudi security apparatus.
Establishment of the OIR
The OIR emerged as a force on the eve of the attempted Qatif Uprising in 1979. In the ensuing violence many OIR members and supporters were arrested. The OIR itself claimed that 60 of its members died, 800 were wounded, and that 1,200 were arrested. Following the failed uprising Saffar, along with much of the leadership of the OIR, went into exile in Iran, along with Western Europe and North America. Within Iran, most of the exiles tended to congregate in Tehran, where the Saudis constituted the bulk of the students at the Hawza of the Imam of the Age.
Events
November 25
In August, Shiite community leaders in Qatif announced that they would publicly celebrate the Day of Ashura festival, despite the fact that celebration of Shiite festivals was banned. Despite government threats to disperse protests, on 25 November 4,000 Shiite in Safwa took to the streets to publicly celebrate the Day of Ashura.
November 28
Encouraged by the march in Safwa, protests spread to other parts of the Qatif area, and on the evening of 28 November thousands took to the streets of Saihat, close to Dammam. Protesters shouted anti-regime slogans demanding the abdication of the King, and the protesters advanced on a nearby group of National guardsmen. The violent confrontation with Saudi security forces was led by the protesters and by Hussein Mansur al-Qalaf, a recent graduate from Aramco's Industrial Training Center.
The Saudi National Guardsmen initially controlled the crowd through the use of clubs and electric prods, which angered the crowd and was met by protesters throwing stones and wielding bars and wooden canes as weapons, with some of the Shiites holding sharp weaponry. The National Guardsmen then opened fire with rubber bullets on the crowd, wounding, amongst others, the 19-year-old Hussein Mansur al-Qalaf.