Understanding Saudi Arabia, is it a Friend or
Foe?
by Kamal
Nawash
24
May, 2006
Since it was discovered that 15
out of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudis, every aspect of
Saudi Arabia has come under scrutiny by members of the U.S.
government, advocacy organizations and members of the media.
Ironically, the increased scrutiny of Saudi Arabia has not brought
America any closer to understanding Saudi Arabia.
The confusion about Saudi Arabia is in part due to the credibility
of the parties who have made irreconcilable conclusions about
whether Saudi Arabia is an ally in the war on terror. On one hand,
President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former
Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz have argued that Saudi Arabia is a
strong ally in the war on terror and a great friend to the United
States. On the other hand, certain members of congress, various
think tanks and other non-profit organizations have argued
passionately that Saudi Arabia is no friend of the United States
and a major supporter of extremist ideologies and groups.
Most recently a Washington Post article written by Nina Shea of
the Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House revealed
language from Saudi text books that encourage an ideology of
hatred towards Christians, Jews and Muslims who don't follow the
Saudi version of Islam (Wahabism). Nina Shea argued that the
disturbing material found in Select Saudi text books "are shaping
the views of the next generation of Saudis and Muslims world wide.
Unchanged, they will only harden and deepen hatred, intolerance
and violence toward other faiths ad cultures."
So is the Saudi Arabian government a friend of the United States
or does Saudi Arabia propagate hate and intolerance among American
Muslims and Muslims world wide? The answer to both of these
questions is yes. The Saudi Arabian government is a great friend
to the United States and at the same time many in Saudi Arabia,
including some
who receive government funding propagate hate and intolerance
against anyone who does not share their Wahabi inspired
ideology. The answers to both these questions may seem
inconsistent and counter intuitive but these seemingly
inconsistent answers reflect the complexity of modern day Saudi
Arabia.
By now everyone has heard of the historic compact between the
Saudi Royal Family and the fanatical Wahabi religious
establishment. According to this agreement, the Saudi Royal family
deals exclusively with matters of state while the Wahabi religious
establishment deals with issues of morality which includes
substantial control over the education system and the substantive
interpretation of Islam. It is this division of power that
produces the two faces of Saudi Arabia.
As mentioned earlier, the Saudi government is a great friend to
the United States. Their assistance in the first and second Gulf
war was indispensable to the United States military. For the last
30 years they have implemented policies that supplied cheep energy
to the United States and the rest of the world. They support the
U.S. dollar by accepting only dollars for their oil and they have
underwritten American debt by investing in U.S. government bonds.
They also strengthen the U.S. economy by investing billions in the
U.S. private sector.
For many, it may come as a surprise to hear that the Saudi Royal
family is for the most part progressive and if they had their way
Saudi Arabia would be a much more tolerant country today. However,
to become more tolerant and progressive, Saudi Arabia requires
strong leadership that has not existed in that country for the
last 30 years.
For most of the 20th century, the Saudi royal family was
substantially stronger than the Wahabi religious
establishment. However, due to shortsighted policies and a lack of
leadership from the Saudi government, the Wahabi religious
establishment has gained
substantial influence in Saudi Arabia. Over the last 30 years,
radical Wahabis have become restless and unsatisfied with Saudi
Arabia's historical division of power. In response to the Wahabi's
increasingly assertive demands, the Saudi government adopted a
policy of appeasement. The decision to appease the Wahabis has
resulted in the legislation of internal social policy that is
based on the most extreme common denominator. As is clear, Saudi
Arabia's policy of appeasement has backfired and has resulted in
the propagation of a wicked, backward, violent and intolerant
interpretation of Islam the likes of which the Muslim world has
not experienced in 1400 years of history.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has become a victim of terrorism
with several bombings that killed hundreds of people. In response
to terrorism on its own soil, the Saudi government has finally
declared war on terrorism. It now appears that the Saudi
government realizes that the status quo cannot continue and are
taking baby steps to reform their policies by organizing tough
police actions and ideologically challenging the terrorists'
theological justification for violence. The Free Muslims Coalition
regularly monitors Saudi TV and while we have witnessed intolerant
rhetoric by radical Wahabi religious figures, we have also
witnessed a sharp increase in the number of religious and
government figures who aggressively advocate tolerance, respect
for other religions and attempt to discredit the ideology that
leads to extremism and terrorism.
Nevertheless, while we recognize that the Saudi Arabian government
has taken steps to fight extremism and terrorism, it is not yet
doing enough. Last year, the Free Muslim Coalition Against
Terrorism criticized the Saudi Islamic Academy, a Saudi funded
elementary school in Virginia, for using textbooks that taught
first grade students that Christianity and Judaism are false
religions. We were particularly outraged by that
text book because it was published after Saudi Arabia vetted its
curriculum for intolerant material. Despite our harsh criticism
of Saudi practices, we recognize that they are sincerely trying to
reform. However, for the sake of long term stability, Saudi Arabia
feels that change must be gradual. Truth be told, we recognize the
enormous challenges the Saudi government has in correcting more
than 30 years of unconditional appeasement.
In the mean time, neither the United States nor any other country
has to wait on Saudi Arabia to figure out how to reform 30 years
of shortsighted policies. The Free Muslim Coalition Against
Terrorism makes the following recommendations to protect the
United States and American Muslims from the propagation of
intolerant material from radical elements in Saudi Arabia:
1. THAT U.S government officials reach an unofficial secret
agreement with the Saudi government so that neither the Saudi
government nor individual Saudis may build Islamic schools or
mosques in the United States.
2. THAT the Saudi government immediately stop the distributing of
religious books to American Muslims and American Muslim
institutions.
3. THAT The Saudi government terminate the payment of salaries for
Imams and other religious figures in the United States.
4. THAT the Saudi government prevent Saudi charities and religious
organizations from sending books, building mosques, schools or
paying the salaries of Imams in the United States or otherwise
operate in the United States.
5. THAT the United States impress upon other nations to implement
the steps mentioned above.
In conclusion, the Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism
believes that the building of mosques, Islamic schools and
production of religious books must be financed exclusively by
American Muslims. By funding their own religious institutions,
American Muslims can
better protect themselves from the influences of radical groups
from abroad.
Moreover, the Free Muslims Coalition believes that placing
unofficial pressure on Saudi Arabia is in the best interest of the
Saudi government. The last few years has shown that the Saudi
government takes tough action only if their security is in
jeopardy or they can justify tough action by referring to the
pressure they are receiving from the rest of the world.
--------------------
Kamal Nawash is
the president of the Free Muslims Coalition Against Terrorism.
For more information, visit our website at
www.freemuslims.org
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