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| Arabia |
| For terrorism to be defeated, Saudi reform is imperative: an Arab view |
| 2004-07-01 |
| By Khairallah M Khairallah Special to The Daily Star Friday, July 02, 2004 It is easy to talk about "nipping terrorism in the bud" in the Arab world, but it is far more difficult to act on it without first admitting to the ailments that societies in the region suffer from. Take for example Saudi Arabia, which was hit by a wave of terrorist acts recently. It is clear, whenever terrorists strike in Saudi Arabia, that there are elements in the society in league with the perpetrators. This means that security operations are not sufficient in themselves to put an end to the attacks. What is required is responding to why the society produces terrorists. Only when such issues are tackled can solutions be found. Short of that, talk of preventing terrorism will remain just that - talk - despite the considerable efforts of the Saudi authorities since May 2003, when a residential compound in Riyadh was bombed, and their most recent success: the killing of Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin and several associates. The only result of the Saudi regime’s belated efforts to fight its domestic adversaries was a realization of how deep the problem was, of how pervasive terrorism was in the kingdom, and of how much support terrorists have in a population that offers a haven to Al-Qaeda cells and others. To stand up to terrorism, it is necessary to recognize the problem and avoid issuing declarations like those that came from some Saudi officials after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. They attempted to deny that 15 of the 19 terrorists were Saudi nationals, declaring that there was a "plot" against the kingdom and that the rush to identify the perpetrators as Saudis was proof of that. The civilized world assumes each country must bear its responsibilities and not seek to hide behind excuses, whether religious or national, to avoid dealing with the root causes of terrorism. Every Arab wishes Saudi Arabia well; Saudi officials, therefore, should have no doubt as to the good intentions of those observing events in their country. Arabs believe that citizens of the region are in the same boat and that what befalls one country, whether positive or negative, befalls all the others. Therefore, we can only hope that the future Saudi response to the recent attacks in the kingdom will be quite different from the one following the killing of foreign oil workers in Yanbu in May, when the authorities said that "Israel and Zionism were 95 percent guilty" for the deaths. There is little doubt that Israel does not wish Arab countries well. This, however, is one thing and the problems of individual Arab states are quite another. For among the challenges besetting Saudi Arabia is the need for political reform at all levels, the restoration of women’s rights, the amendment of school curricula and the spreading of a new culture of tolerance. The kingdom’s present atmosphere, which touts the rejection of others and the denial of their existence, has impacted on the mindset of many generations of Saudis and made it easy, for example, for those who perpetrated the recent attack at a residential complex in Khobar to kill foreigners without even batting an eyelid - something that has been done to innocent civilians from New York to Casablanca. It is, therefore, highly advisable, before it is too late, for the Saudi authorities to embark on courageous reforms so that part of the public will not continue to believe that the reform effort does not concern it - condemning it to a spectator’s role in the unfolding battle between the regime and terrorists. In short the question is: reform or no reform? If the answer is positive, then reform must be real in every sense of the word. This must include measures that delve deep into school curricula, instead of insisting that only a tiny percent need changing. It must also mean changing how women are treated. The fire that raged at a girls’ school in Mecca last year ago was a good example of the sort of problems women, who make up half the Saudi population, face. Several students were burned in that fire because adherents of the Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil movement prevented firemen and civil defense workers from reaching the school "so they would not see the girls." No gallows were put up to punish those responsible for the deaths. All the government did was issue an administrative order placing girls’ schools under the control of a particular ministry. What Saudi Arabia needs now is a qualitative leap by the authorities in dealing with the kingdom’s woes. Short of that, it seems, things will go from bad to worse, and it is not clear that Muqrin’s death will change this in the long term. The fact that the Khobar attack came on the heels of the Yanbu incident indicated that the terrorists were increasingly targeting oil-related facilities - the economic lifeline of the kingdom. A similar logic seemed to underscore the beheading of an American engineer who was working in Saudi Arabia on behalf of an American defense contractor. Oil, however, is not merely a Saudi or an Arab or Islamic concern, it is one that is tightly linked to the stability of the global economy. With this in mind, we can expect serious repercussions if it appears that the Saudi regime, which sits on the largest oil reserves in the world, can no longer maintain stability within its own borders. Khairallah Khairallah is a Lebanese political analyst. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #2 Really great article, Mark. Why didn't Khairallah get the Nobel Prize instead of Iran's Shirin Ebadi? There is little doubt that Israel does not wish Arab countries well. This, however, is one thing and the problems of individual Arab states are quite another. For among the challenges besetting Saudi Arabia is the need for political reform at all levels, the restoration of women’s rights, the amendment of school curricula and the spreading of a new culture of tolerance. This needs to be tattooed across the forehead of every Saudi royal. It must also mean changing how women are treated. The fire that raged at a girls’ school in Mecca last year ago was a good example of the sort of problems women, who make up half the Saudi population, face. Several students were burned in that fire because adherents of the Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil movement prevented firemen and civil defense workers from reaching the school "so they would not see the girls." No gallows were put up to punish those responsible for the deaths. All the government did was issue an administrative order placing girls’ schools under the control of a particular ministry. More than any other single issue besides terrorism itself, this example goes to the exact core of what is so very wrong with Saudi Arabia's brand of Islam. Should they fail to reform it, I hope all of them die by the same sword that they cannot bring themselves to disavow. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-01 9:48:24 PM |
| #1 There is little doubt that Israel does not wish Arab countries well. That is what I call a presumptious assumption. I am sure that Israel would wish the Arab countries well. The Israelis just want to be left alone. Only many Arab countries project every problem that they face on Israel and threaten to destroy her. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-07-01 9:44:46 PM |