Category Archives: Saudi Arabia

Arab Media, censorship, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Media Way: How to Keep Journalists Out of Prison, Keep RSF and Fox Happy………

      

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I read last week that Saudi royal celebrity Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal is delaying the start of his new Arabic television news network (Al-Arab). It was supposed to start broadcasting this year, but has been postponed at least until sometime in 2014. Like that other Saudi semi-official network, Alarabiya, it will be stationed outside the kingdom. Only state television and radio can operate inside Saudi Arabia. Al-Waleed has picked Bahrain to house his new network: news and tear gas go together these days. But don’t expect his network to cover the nearly three years old Bahrain popular uprising that continues just outside its future studios. Al-Waleed also famously owns part of News Corp, which makes him part owner of Fox News and Sarah Palin and the Cheneys. Fox is also the most Islamophobic U.S. network; perhaps Islamo-phobic but apparently not so Wahhabi-phobic.
Saudi princes and their kin and retainers control all the “Saudi” media inside and outside the kingdom. They have also bought and control much of the media in the eastern part of the Arab world, including Lebanon and the Gulf, as well as almost all Arab media that operate from Europe. The controlled media is now like petro-money, their main tool of regional and even international policy.
Saudi daily newspaper Asharq Alawsat, different editions of which are published in Riyadh and London, is often described by Western media and pundits as “pan-Arab” or ‘independent” or “independent pan-Arab”. It is none of the above: it is owned by Saudi Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, hardly independent or pan-Arab. Saudi daily Al-Hayat, different editions of which are published in Riyadh and London, is also often described in the West as “independent” or “pan-Arab” or both. It also is none of the above: it is owned by former deputy defense minister Prince Khaled Bin Sultan al-Saud, hardly independent or pan-Arab. Alarabiya network is owned and operated (from Dubai) by an in-law of the Saudi royal family.
Ever wonder why you never read about a Saudi journalist being arrested in the kingdom? Unlike most Middle East countries, unlike Egypt and Iran and Iraq and Tunisia where journalists often spend time in prison? That is because of the system of pre-emptive censorship (they call it self-censorship): all media publications are approved before publication. Anything that is not considered kosher or halal by the regime is never printed: that way nobody goes to prison. Not that it is likely that anything controversial will ever be published anyway by the cowed writers and journalists. All local media are owned by the princes, their in-laws, or their retainers and partners among the business elites. They are all basically state-owned and state-controlled media.
That explains why Saudi Arabia often gets better ratings from NGOs like Reporters Without Borders, RSF, than other Middle East countries. You see: nobody is “allowed” to go to prison for what they publish because nobody is allowed to publish anything that might land them in prison. Who said conformity is not always good?

Cheers
mhg

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Iran, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy

Zero on the Left: An Impotent Influential Shura Council Appointed by King and Princes………

      

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“An enthusiastic crowd all but crushed chief negotiator Mohammad Zarif upon his return to Tehran, after a deal had been reached with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. The foreign minister deserved a gold medal for his diplomatic skills, the Iranian newspaper Arman Daily wrote enthusiastically, noting that the world had come a step closer to global peace “without Iran having to abandon its principles.” The deal evoked a completely different reaction in Saudi Arabia and Israel. Abdullah al-Askar, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the influential Shura Council, spoke darkly of what he called Iran’s “evil agenda.”………………”

Chairman of the ‘Foreign affairs Committee’ indeed! I’d say this was a joke, if Wahhabis had a sense of humor.
Der Spiegel calls it “influential”. Nobody would seriously say this appointed advisory council, the Shura, is influential. It was appointed to rubber stamp some limited bureaucratic decisions of the princes. Der Spiegel would never call such an appointed impotent group influential if it were in another country.
Influential? In Arabic they say it is a “صفر على الشمال: a zero on the left side of a number”, meaning it is meaningless, null and void.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Saudi Arabia, Syria, WMD

Syrian Activists on WMD: If at First You do not Succeed………

      

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Syrian Activists and Saudi media on WMD: “If at First You don’t succeed, try again and……….”

“Opposition activists again accused President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of using poison gas in Syria’s civil war on Thursday, and said victims had been discovered with swollen limbs and foaming at the mouth. The activists told Reuters two shells loaded with gas hit a rebel-held area in the town of Nabak, 68 km northeast of Damascus, on a major highway in the Qalamoun region. They reported seven casualties……….. They reported seven casualties. Separately, the Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union also accused Assad’s forces of using poison gas..………….”

After which Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Al-Yamama, leader of the Syrian opposition and putative future viceroy for Syria, will also declare refutable evidence of Syrian regime use of poisoned gas. The Islamic Heritage Revival Society, Jabhat Al-Nusra, the Saudi Religious Police, the Prime Minister of Bahrain, and the Ringling Brothers (and Barnum & Bailey) will also confirm the use of WMD in Syria. Alarabiya and Asharq Alawsat and Mad Magazine will now headline the gruesome incident. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich), head of the House Intelligence (this did not use to be an oxymoron) is considering a demand for action. The French and British governments will offer to confirm the use of poison gas.
 
Qalamoun is the site of an ongoing battle that will very likely lead to the ejection of the opposition groups from another strategic area. Remember, the claims of the use of WMD got louder and accelerated after regime forces defeated the opposition in Qusayr earlier this year.

Cheers
mhg

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Iran, Israel, Middle East Nuclear, nuclear Iran, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy

What Prince Bandar Would Say about the Geneva Nuclear Deal………

      

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This is what Saudi Prince Bandar wants the West to think of the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran.

P.S.: he was apparently incognito (no, not that one: in disguise) when he wrote this piece for Foreign Policy. Or so I think. He even threatens that his family, the Al Saud, will go nuclear if a deal is finalized, meaning he will be  a nuclear bomb from somewhere (Pakistan, North Korea,  UmmAl-Quwain, Jordan, WTF……..). But that is also exactly what the Al Saud and their vast media mouthpieces had threatened to do if there was NO deal in Geneva.

On the other hand, that is also what Ben Netanyahu has been saying for two decades, that he will go nuclear, even more nuclear than he has been for some four decades. Could he be the writer in disguise?

Cheers
mhg

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Corruption, Saudi Arabia

Corruption Index: from King Kim to King Oil and King Kong………….

      

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“The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world. The Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem. Hover on the map above to see how your country fares…………….”

According to the index, Saudi Arabia is less corrupt than Italy, Greece, Brazil, Argentina and a good chunk of the rest of Europe. All countries with popularly elected governments, beaten by a medieval absolute tribal monarchy owned by one family. Listed as the least corrupt in the Middle East and North Africa (except for Tunisia and Israel), the least corrupt between Japan and the Atlantic Ocean. I must have been underestimating the honesty of all these few thousand of Saudi princes. All these other countries must have more corrupt potentates. These princes and their retainers OWN the whole country, it is even named after their family. How much more corrupt can one get? North Korea is listed as near the bottom, among the most corrupt: it is, but they haven’t yet named the country after the ruling family. Not yet: King Kim would sound comic, more so than King Kong.
It is true: corruption on a small average-person level as well as money laundering is seriously frowned-upon in places like Saudi Arabia. Small bribery is punished, but spectacular bribery is welcomed for those who can afford to pay it. Corruption on a truly large scale, in terms of millions and billions (so where is Bandar these days?), is halal and kosher if one can swing it. Unfortunately not everybody can. Dommage.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Politics, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Sectarian, Wahhabi

How All Arabs Elected Celebrity Prince Al-Waleed as their Media Spokesman………

      

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“If the negotiations don’t succeed — and clearly, Alwaleed sees no chance of success — then what? Anti-proliferation by force? I asked him if he thought the Arab states would actually back an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, if this terrible option should come to pass. “Publicly, they would be against it,” he said. “Privately, they would love it.” What about at the level of the so-called Arab street? “The Sunnis will love it,” he said, referring to the dominant branch of Islam, to which most Arab Muslims adhere. “The Sunni Muslim is very much anti-Shiite, and very much anti-, anti-, anti-Iran,” he said. You’re sure they loathe Iran more than they loathe Israel?……………..”

That other celebrity, that Kardashian celebrity chick could not have put it better than this celebrity prince. Or maybe she could. The Mufti Shaikh Al Al Shaikh himself could not have put it any better.
That is the problem with Western media: they like answers that they ‘like’ to hear. That is why they assume Wahhabi tribal Saudi princes speak for all Arabs, especially for all Sunni Arabs. That fits nicely with what they believe Arabs are, which most Arabs are not. Ask any Arab on the street (outside Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and their suburbs), ask from Baghdad to Cairo to Casablanca where the threat comes from, ask them what they think of Netanyahu (plus the Saudi princes) on one side and Rouhani on the other and the answer would shock any card-carrying AIPAC groupie member of the U.S. Congress (both chambers, both parties).
Saudi Arabia does not represent the Arabs, not even the Sunni Arabs, maybe just Wahhabi Arabs: it has only about 19 million citizens plus 9 million temporary foreign laborer and housemaids.
Al-Waleed is the prince who famously claimed that US support for Israel was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks and prompted Mayor Rudi Giuliani (NYC) to return his check. That was in 2011, and I suspect if the check was made out to Giuliani personally he would not have returned it).

Prince Al-Waleed is always listed on the Forbes Magazine list of the richest people in the world. Forbes lists the source of his wealth as “self-made”. That is exactly what the enemies of Ali Baba, the forty men of the famous cave, thought of the source of their wealth and they were actually right. A few months ago Al-Waleed was reportedly suing Forbes Magazine for publicly underestimating his wealth by a couple of billions (and thus insulting all Arabs by downgrading the wealth of their betters and looters).

Cheers
mhg

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AIPAC, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, United Nations International Organizations, US Foreign Policy

International Tantrums: From UN to UNESCO, When Governments Don’t Get Their Way……..

          

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“UNESCO has suspended the voting rights of the United States and Israel, two years after both countries stopped paying dues to the U.N.’s cultural arm in protest over its granting full membership to the Palestinians. The U.S. decision to cancel its funding in October 2011 was blamed on U.S. laws that prohibit funding to any U.N. agency that implies recognition of the Palestinians’ demands for their own state. Israel also pulled its funding, objecting to what it called unilateral attempts by the Palestinians to gain recognition of statehood…………….”

Ref. my Saturday posting on Saudi Arabia.
I pointed to my Saudi source that her government is not unique in that respect, in getting upset and walking out screaming when it doesn’t get its way. I suggested the Al Saud may have learned this from Western governments in recent years. I reminded her of past threats to stop funding the UN and the decision to stop funding UNESCO if it upsets Israel and hence AIPAC, which it apparently did when it granted the Palestinians member status. I especially reminded her of the UNESCO episode and how the Obama administration now regrets losing its vote and influence in that organization after withdrawing funding (which they now realize means Israel losing its influence as Susan Rice hinted).

I also reminded her of Western media and thinkers and pundits complaining that sometime the international organizations seem to take into account the rest of the world, all 5-6 billion of it, more than the Western governments that represent about 600 million. I reminded her of the famous French pop-philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy who said earlier this year that a “bunch of gangsters control the UN Security Council”, that was when China and Russia and others refused to vote for military action in Syria. She agreed with me that it is likely the princes have learned a lesson from that on how to have an international tantrum when they don’t get their way.

I forgot to tell her that the Obama administration withdrew its funding of UNESCO in 2011, only about one year before the 2012 general elections (elections in the USA not in Israel). At that time, it seemed like a good idea, electorally if not from a principled point of view.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Saudi Arabia, Syria

A Robber Prince with Chutzpah but Flawed Strategy…….

      

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“Last year, according to Saudi sources who’ve worked closely with Bandar, he told King Abdullah that he could solve the Syria situation in a matter of months. The previous intelligence chief, Abdullah’s half brother Prince Muqrin, had not been able to make much headway. But Bandar, as it turns out, has not been much of an improvement. “His job requires being able to work 18 hours a day and he cannot,” says a Saudi who has collaborated closely with Bandar. He is frustrated and angry and anxious to show off to the world his ability to achieve the seemingly impossible, as he did in the past. But as the same Saudi points out, “being angry is not good in the intelligence business.” And in today’s Middle East, chutzpah just isn’t enough……………”

Prince Bandar Bin Sultan (bin Bush bin Al Yamama) may have a complex. He probably thinks he is the smartest among the absolute Al Saud princes that own the country called Saudi Arabia. That doesn’t mean he is. Yet normally he will never be considered as a potential future king. He doesn’t have the requisite tribal blood connections that most of the other eligible princes have. I suspect this is the reason someone like his cousin Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is more into business than into competing for a future chance at the throne. That might explain why “he is frustrated and angry and anxious to show off to the world his ability to achieve……..“

Or he can always join the Peace Corps or Habitat for Humanity or some other worthy cause.
He can even volunteer for the Salvation Army and help outside Safeway or QFC during the Christmas season.
Cheers
mhg

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Saudi Arabia

Adding Insult to Fatal Injury in Taif……

      

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“A young Saudi Arabian boy has been spared execution for shooting dead an elderly relative after mistaking her for a monkey………. Sabq daily newspaper reported that the boy killed his relative, who was in her 60s, while she was collecting leaves from a tree to feed to her sheep. It is believed that he shot her from a distance after mistaking her for a monkey trying to damage one of the neighbourhood’s trees…………..”

I wonder how the Saudi equivalent of the NRA is spinning this one. It doesn’t say how old/young the poor boy is. The little unfortunate schmuck did add insult to fatal injury with his explanation.

Cheers
mhg

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Arabian Peninsula, Economics, GCC, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Labor Unrest: An Economic Gulf of Expats?……….

      

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“Two people were killed and 68 others injured in clashes between police and foreign workers following a visa crackdown in Saudi Arabia, the official news agency reported. Police arrested 561 people Saturday in the capital of Riyadh, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The arrests came after “unidentified” people barricaded themselves in narrow streets, where they threw stones at residents and vandalized shops and cars, according to a police statement posted on the news agency’s website. In the aftermath of Saturday’s clashes, a police spokesman urged workers without proper documents to surrender at a shelter in the capital until they could be deported…………..”

“Nearly 17,000 illegal foreigners, including women and children, have surrendered to Riyadh police until Monday evening………” Arab News

“Thousands of undocumented expatriates are desperately seeking to get arrested and deported, as a last resort to end their plight……….” Arab News

This can be a sign of more ominous events. All the Gulf GCC countries have huge foreign populations of laborers, housemaids, and others. The percentages of foreigners to the population range from about one third in Saudi Arabia to about 85% for the UAE and Qatar. Is this Saudi unrest a prelude to more unrest along the Gulf? It can be. When there is a majority of temporary foreigners leading a precarious life, their livelihood and stay in the country tied to often unstable employers, unrest is quite possible. Many are laid off or quit and are forced into becoming “illegal” and fending for themselves. There are tens of thousands of unemployed (also meaning illegal) expatriate laborers in the Persian Gulf states who earn a living in black markets and legally gray areas of the economy, including illegal activities like petty crimes, prostitution, smuggling, and drugs. What is even more ominous is that much of the domestic GCC economies are tied to temporary expatriate labor. The whole infrastructure and available housing and trade and supply network of the GCC states have been built based on larger populations than the native citizens can ever attain. If ‘enough’ of these expats depart, much of the domestic non-oil economies would collapse. Both the supply and demand for goods and services would implode.
I have suggested in the past, almost seriously, that the name of the Gulf be changed from the Persian-American Gulf to the Gulf of South Asia. Now I amend that to the more appropriate name of “Gulf of Expatriates”. Of course the scowling mullahs across the Gulf might object………..

Cheers
mhg

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