Editor's Note:
The Saudi-U.S. Relations Information Service would like
to thank Arab News
for permission to share these op-ed items on important
issues that concern the Saudi-U.S. relationship with you.
Terrorism: Trial by Media Will
Not Do
Dr. Sulaiman Al-Juraid � Special to
Arab News
RIYADH, 10 August 2003 � While it is true that some
Saudi nationals were among the terrorists of Sept. 11, it
is a far cry from saying that the Saudi government or the
Saudi people were somehow involved or condoned such a
diabolical crime. If we accept this kind of logic, then we
would conclude that the U.S. government and the American
people were somehow involved in terrorism because John
Walker, an American citizen, was caught with the Taliban
in Afghanistan.
Another charge leveled at Saudi Arabia in connection
with terrorism is that the country�s educational system
breeds terrorism. But if this is true, then the U.S.
educational system breeds racism and bigotry as the Ku
Klux Klan amply demonstrates in its hatred of non-whites.
The Israeli expert used by some influential American
circles to buttress their arguments about Saudi Arabia�s
connection to terrorism by pointing to our educational
system should look closer at home.
| In a recent survey, it was found
that 31 percent of Israel�s elementary students
attend religious schools � a number unparalleled
by any other country in the world. In fact some
terrorism experts described the Sept. 11
terrorists as �adults with education and skill,
not hopeless young zealots...they mingled in
secular society, even drinking forbidden alcohol,
hardly typical of Islamic militants.� |
In fact some terrorism
experts described the Sept. 11 terrorists as
�adults with education and skill, not hopeless
young zealots...
|
Terrorism expert, Ehud Sprinzak, went further by
stating that these terrorists owed their allegiance, not
to Islam or any religious belief, but to Osama bin Laden.
As he put it, �Perhaps...loyalty to Osama bin Laden is
even more powerful than the religious and nationalist
fanaticism that has been behind other suicide attacks�.
Timothy McVeigh who was responsible for the Oklahoma
City bombing and the Unabomber, responsible for many
terrorist acts in the U.S., were American citizens but in
neither case did anyone jump to the conclusion that the
two represented the American people or the American
government and none of their families or relatives were
accused of the crimes the two had committed.
This is a fair way of looking at things and no
individual or nation should be tried and convicted by
innuendo and guilt by association through selected leaks
to the mass media by individuals who may have hidden
agendas and who do not give the accused the chance to
defend himself by facing his accusers.
I lived for many years in the U.S. and I know that the
American people are fair-minded and, if they are presented
with the facts, they will pass a fair judgment.
This brings me to the recently published report by the
U.S. Congress on the causes of the 9/11 terrorist acts in
the US, a heinous crime which Saudi Arabia and its people
condemned in the strongest terms because Saudi Arabia
itself had been the target of terrorism in the past.
The latest example was the terrorist bombing in Riyadh
on May 12, 2003. Yet the Congressional report left out 28
pages that pertained to the role of Saudi Arabia on the
pretext that US national security demanded it. But as
Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, stated
publicly �Saudi Arabia has nothing to hide� and he
demanded that the deleted portions concerning the role of
Saudi Arabia be published so that the American people and
the whole world would know the facts and so judge for
themselves. Congress gets its information from the likes
of Dore Gold, the former Israeli Likud ambassador, hardly
an objective observer in this regard, and from Sen.
Charles Schumer of New York, a well known supporter of
Israel and a biased critic of Saudi Arabia. Innuendoes and
trial by the mass media without presenting facts is a form
of blackmail if not a form of terrorism.
� Dr. Sulaiman Al-Juraid is Member of the Shoura
Council.
The Civilization Bridge That Never Was
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi � [email protected]
A Saudi concerned with the state of our relations with
the West in general and the United States in particular
asked me: �Who is responsible for the mess? Us or
them?�
| The truth is that we are all
responsible. In decades of easy communication and
transport, both sides missed many opportunities to
build that elusive bridge between our
civilizations. Yes, there was a bad blood between
us � religious crusades, colonization and all.
Yes, there is Israel and the West�s
responsibility for its creation, expansion, and
oppression of our Palestinian brethren. But most
of this is now history. |
In decades of easy
communication and transport, both sides missed
many opportunities to build that elusive bridge
between our civilizations.
|
New generations of good and decent people came and went
without being introduced to each others. If they had been,
they would certainly discover that what we have in common
is much more than what makes us different. After all, we
are the same species, living in the same boat, facing the
same challenges to our environment, interests and future.
The real question then becomes: Why no one went first
to say hello, I am Mohammad or John, this is my identity,
culture and interests. What about you?
Is it fear of the unknown? Is it the need to feel
superior to others, especially the different others? Or is
it that the people in the middle whose exclusive
religious, political and social authority is threatened if
the �we against them� mindset is to become �we are
all equal and same�?
I believe all those reasons are important, but the most
important one is the failure of our thinkers and media,
education and social institution in their most crucial
task of bringing people of different civilizations and
heritage together to work on common problems, dreams and
interests. Instead, they worked in isolation or in
competition to advance limited national aspirations.
While the world is increasingly becoming one village,
the people who are freer to move and cooperate today are
inadequately equipped to make the best of such freedom and
material cooperation. They don�t know much about each
others� cultural environments, and they don�t
appreciate the benefit of mixing different backgrounds for
the advancement of human identity.
What can we do to change this? I would say: Go direct!
With the miracle of the Internet and cheap, reliable
communication and transportation we are able to speak to
and learn about one another without biased and
agenda-laden mediators. After years of communicating with
friends all over the Earth, I have found this to be the
best bridge of understanding and friendship.
|
