Article

2003-08-05 Arabia

Saudi Arabia To Establish A National Dialogue Center

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Posted by Fred Pruitt 2003-08-05 00:44|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 National Dialogue Center? That'll be down the street from the Society of Friends meeting house, right?

Posted by Steve White 2003-8-5 1:52:43 AM|| 2003-8-5 1:52:43 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Nice speech, ahem.

One rather large tidbit that makes little or no sense:
âOur Saudi people do not accept any alternative for moderateness that denies fanaticism as well as deviation from the righteous path.â
Denies? Huh? Anyone else find this back-asswards, assuming he's being positive? Allows or Permits or Encourages or Engenders or Promotes or... would make sense, if he's agin' it. This implies the opposite, that he be for it. Poor translation?

WTF?

Posted by Â·com 2003-8-5 2:22:24 AM|| 2003-8-5 2:22:24 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 CNBC did a puff piece on Prince Alaweed (sp.) and they showed him at one of these meeting houses. They pretend it's like a New England townhall meeting and everything, but we can only presume what would in actuality be said to the illegitimate royals before the Islamic Police (TM) get involved...

Posted by Brian 2003-8-5 2:38:06 AM|| 2003-8-5 2:38:06 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Brian - Funny word pic: NE Townhall Meeting - by Dinks in Dresses, heh. The Royals have their own "police" force - and it wouldn't be the Islamic kind, bro! The National Emergency Forces belong to the Royals as their plaything. Local cops fall all over themselves, of course, to participate, but they're for show.

In the Dhahran area, when even the most minor princeling came around, there would be cops in their cars & jeeps, blue lights a' flashing, at every intersection of every major road - for hours on end - and even more screwing up traffic by driving 20-30 kmh slower than the "norm" - just in case His Inbredness wished to go somewhere.

The relgious guys are "mutawas" and their job is to fuck with the populace, especially infidels, to keep everyone in an imaginary Islamic line - kinda like religious Stasi cuz they encourage everyone to report others. I watched one of these goofs use his little "swagger stick" to hit a big blonde woman on the backs of her legs, once in Al Shula Mall (Al Khobar) back in '92, cuz the abaya she was wearing was too short to cover them. She must've been 6'2" - so I doubt there was one long enough to fit her in the whole Kingdom. Anyway, he whacked her 3-4 times and she spun around and headed for him like a freight train. A bunch of Saudis squeezed between them to protect him from her. I think she would've strangled the little dink, otherwise. The Expats there, myself included, almost had heart attacks laughing ourselves sick. One of the funniest things I have ever seen. Mutawas, ya gotta luv 'em - no one else does.

Posted by Â·com 2003-8-5 3:59:31 AM|| 2003-8-5 3:59:31 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 "National Dialogue Center for Maintenance of the Status Quoâ
Somebody on the editorial staff screwed-up.

âOur Saudi people do not accept any alternative for moderateness that denies fanaticism as well as deviation from the righteous path.â

I see no ambiquitiy here.

Posted by raptor 2003-8-5 7:31:59 AM|| 2003-8-5 7:31:59 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Oh great, a companion to the Zayed Center for Coordination and Followup. Now there are TWO Saudi "institutes" publishing antisemitic tracts.

I guess the demand over there is so high they need two, though.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2003-8-5 9:28:15 AM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2003-8-5 9:28:15 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Sample "conversation":
"Y'know, maybe you shouldn't insist that everybody believe the same things you do."

"AIEEEE! DIE INFIDEL DOG!"

Posted by mojo 2003-8-5 2:49:51 PM|| 2003-8-5 2:49:51 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Should be"

National Monologue Center and Echo Chamberâ¢

Posted by Alaska Paul 2003-8-5 3:18:19 PM|| 2003-8-5 3:18:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 I'm not sure how to interpret this. When despots completely run out of ideas, they sometimes do stuff like this, i.e. Gorbachev's glasnost. Measures like this are like a pinhole, inviting challengers to rush in and fill the vacuum of power and ideas. Unlike East Europe, there's no Vlaclav Havel or Lech Walesa to take control. Unlike Russia, there's not even a mafia -- as predatory and criminal as they are, at least they are apolitical and are capitalists at heart. The only folks capable of organizing and running a government in SA after the fall of the princes are the Islamists. Ultimately, I think that they'll dominate any "center for dialogue." They'll set up clacques and drown out everyone else's voice. Then the Saudis will either have to shut the center down or let the movement grow. The first path leads to cries of oppression and more legitimacy for the Islamists. The second path leads to surrender.

In some ways, the Saudis are in the same situation with regards to the Islamists as the Weimar government of the early 30's was in relation to the Nazis. Weimar wanted the many of the same things as the Nazis (end of Versailles, restitution of lost territories), they just weren't as willing to use violent means to get them. Both Weimar and the Saudis thought they could put the genie back in the bottle any time. The Weimar politicians failed. The Saudis will fail.

Posted by 11A5S 2003-8-5 6:39:22 PM|| 2003-8-5 6:39:22 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 "Good morning, and welcome to Whitewash Institute..."

Posted by tu3031 2003-8-5 8:18:55 PM|| 2003-8-5 8:18:55 PM|| Front Page Top

05:45 LXD
02:23 R. McLeod
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23:29 BJD (The Dignified Rant)
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21:39 Frank G
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