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The following is a reproduction of what I wrote here on October 23, 2006, when the blog was a few weeks old. That was the year a deliberate sectarian campaign was started in the Gulf region and spread beyond. It was at a time when no one could imagine the idea of an Arab Spring. That was the time when the deliberate policy of fanning the flames of sectarian hatred and division was unleashed by the semi-official Saudi media and some of their Gulf followers. The vast Saudi media and their Salafi fifth column have since ratcheted up the propaganda for sectarian divisions in the Gulf region, and even expanded it beyond to places like Lebanon and Egypt. They are now openly pitting Sunni against Shi'a, and they are pitting Muslim against Christian:

"
Rumors of a Tabloid Coup:
A Kuwaiti tabloid, alseyassah, claimed again Tuesday that 'reliable Iraqi and Arab sources (oxymoron?) have revealed to it that the United States and Gulf GCC countries are coordinating toward a military coup that would overthrow the elected Iraqi government. Al-Siyassah, close to some fringe elements in the country's political circles, is not known for its reliable reporting. The tabloid claims that the Ba'ath Party has been contacted through Arab governments and offered a role in the new Iraqi regime. The report claims that the coup will be a joint American-Iraqi effort that would lead to dissolving the parliament and suspending the constitution- and no more New Middle East, birth pangs and all. The paper claims that the governments of Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt have been consulted- not a very good way to keep such a secret plot....secret. Three generals a Sunni, a Shi'a, and a Kurd (cute) are slated to run the country.
This report has been repeated in the same newspaper in different forms over the past three months- it is noteworthy that few other media outlets have treated these reports seriously. Apparently the authorities in the four Arab countries do not take this report seriously enough to deny it- perhaps they are not good at dissembling.

The Saudi Drums of Sectarianism:
The tightly-controlled Saudi media continues to beat the drums of sectarian conflict in the Arab World. They are now talking as if Iraq is already a lost cause, taken over by Shi'ism and Kurds. They seem to be worried about holding the next line of defense, wherever that might be.
London-based Saudi daily Asharq alawsat reports in a column by an editor of Alarabiya TV, also Saudi-owned, about the dangers posed by the spread of Shi'ism in the Arab World. The report claims that even the Moslem Brotherhood, long wet nursed by the Saudis in the days when Nasser of Egypt was persecuting the fundamentalist group, has been infiltrated by Shi'ism. The report complains that some venerable Egyptisn media outlets have also been infiltrated by Shi'ism.
It is beginning to sound like The Invasion of The Body Snatchers all over again, the old b/w version. The writer argues that this proselytizing is dangerous and unacceptable for some vague reason. Interesting insight. Then again, if this is the case......what about Riyadh? Will we see Shi'a houses of worship as well as churches and synogagues in Riyadh soon? Will we still continue to see Wahabi mosques built in Europe and America, and new converts?

A high-ranking Saudi theologian and thinker, a paid official of the state (they all are), a Sheikh Dr. Salman al-Ouda (aka Soleiman or Shlomo) has warned of the spread of Shi'ism in mainly Sunni Arab countries.
(Sheikh Dr. Ouda the cheerful chap in the pic)
He has said that this is a dangerous phenomenon that is unacceptable (mass lobotomy may be in order here) and that it has spread through some dastardly sneaky methods, including possibly financial incentives. He also told Aljazeera that the American occupiers have used the Shi'as in Iraq to destroy the Sunnis, and that they, the Americans, are now trying to create conflict among the people. He also decried the spread of Shi'a mosques and Husseiniyah houses of worship in many countries like Syria and Palestine. The sheikh did not, however, claim that children's blood is being drunk in secret rites or that water wells are being poisoned- not yet.

Unrepentant Hamas and Iran Echo Each Other in the Wilderness:
Hamas Foreign Minister has finally settled all doubts about the possibility of peace. He repeated the hardline position of Iran's Ahmadinejad, that Israel is an alien body in the Middle East, claiming that it has 'no religious, cultural, or historical legitimacy'. He claimed that his group seeks a Palestine that will spread from the Mediterranean to the River Jordan- now all he needs is convince the 5-6 million Jews to vote for him. This statement will definitely not endear him to most of the world, but perhaps it will win him the next elections that are now looming. Or perhaps he sees the writing on the wall and has decided to go down fighting.
Ahmadinejad had delivered his newest anti-Israeli wisdom after a long silence while world attention was focused on Kim Jong Il. Perhaps he missed the limelight of his days in New York. But the Iranian president is a close second to Kim, and trying hard, literally coming in from the outside. Yesterday he claimed that his country has increased her nuclear 'capability' tenfold within the past year. His problem, and that of Iran, is that his country is not stuck somewhere on the northeastern edges of Asia. It is in the middle of the world's main supply of petroleum.

New News:
Israel has announced that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will visit Doha to attend a conference on democracy. This is quite a development in the Gulf region, and it is a sign of the times that it does not shock anyone. Perhaps Sheikh Dr. al-Ouda in nearby Riyadh (the pic above) will agree to see her.

Unrepentant Hamas and Iran Echo Each Other in the Wilderness:
Hamas Foreign Minister has finally settled all doubts about the possibility of peace. He repeated the hardline position of Iran's Ahmadinejad, that Israel is an alien body in the Middle East, claiming that it has 'no religious, cultural, or historical legitimacy'. He claimed that his group seeks a Palestine that will spread from the Mediterranean to the River Jordan- now all he needs is convince the 5-6 million Jews to vote for him. This statement will definitely not endear him to most of the world, but perhaps it will win him the next elections that are now looming. Or perhaps he sees the writing on the wall and has decided to go down fighting.
Ahmadinejad had delivered his newest anti-Israeli wisdom after a long silence while world attention was focused on Kim Jong Il. Perhaps he missed the limelight of his days in New York. But the Iranian president is a close second to Kim, and trying hard, literally coming in from the outside. Yesterday he claimed that his country has increased her nuclear 'capability' tenfold within the past year. His problem, and that of Iran, is that his country is not stuck somewhere on the northeastern edges of Asia. It is in the middle of the world's main supply of petroleum.

New News:
Israel has announced that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will visit Doha to attend a conference on democracy. This is quite a development in the Gulf region, and it is a sign of the times that it does not shock anyone. Perhaps Sheikh Dr. al-Ouda in nearby Riyadh (the pic above) will agree to see her. "

Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com