Category Archives: Saudi Arabia

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy

Gulf Prisoners of Conscience: AlKhawaja of Bahrain, al-Bejadi of Arabia, and Al Hypocritical West………….

    

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““Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a prominent Bahraini human rights activist who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a military court, is now in a critical stage of a hunger strike which has gone on for 64 days. Foreign doctors who have been to see him have said he is at serious risk of death if he continues. The Bahraini government has rejected increasing international pressure to release him, and has limited outside access. His plight has begun to draw attention to the failure of reform in Bahrain, including an unusual White House statement yesterday. If he dies, it could mark a significant breaking point for the regime’s efforts to rehabilitate its tarnished reputation — and could accelerate the disturbing trend toward militant radicalization in the opposition. Hunger striking has become a distinctive phenomenon in the current round of Arab protest movements. It has a long history, marking many of the major emancipatory struggles throughout the world from British suffragettes to Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers. It has recently emerged as a particularly important form of protest against tyrannical states. From Palestine, to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, prisoners of conscience have used the last thing they control — their bodies — as a tool of dissent. Palestinian Hana Shalabi was released by the Israelis after a 43-day hunger strike, while Mohamed Albajadi in Saudi Arabia is on his 33rd day. Al-Khawaja’s hunger strike, by dovetailing on the back of a revolutionary tide, and supported by a digitally wired and outspoken family, has elevated his protest beyond his prison walls……………” Foreign Policy

If Al-Khawaja of Bahrain and al-Bejadi of the Arabian Peninsula, with their brave acts of self-sacrifice, are trying to shame the Western powers they will not succeed. Western governments have proven their total hypocrisy and shamelessness this past year, from Washington through London and Paris to Berlin. They opposed the Arab uprisings until the fall of the despots in Tunisia and Egypt, then they rode the bandwagon. They were friends of Qaddafi until his country was split by revolt. They supported the despot in Yemen and, along with the Saudis, contrived to keep his hapless regime in power without him. They continue to support the murderous regime in Bahrain, ignoring its despotic and gangster nature.
The only Arab people the Western powers seem to profess to really like are the Syrians. They have shown eagerness to help get rid of the dictator of Damascus, but only him among all Arab despots. Now if you think a reactionary opportunistic politician like Joe Lieberman is looking for the interests of the Syrian people, I still have that one-eyed lame camel for sale.
Cheers
mhg


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Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Congress, US Foreign Policy

Allawi and Omar Suleiman and the Princes: Seeking GOP Help in Washington againt Obama………..

    

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“In a surprise move that could cast doubt on the nomination, Allawi attacked McGurk as being “biased” and “unfit” for the position, warning that members of his Sunni-dominated Iraqiya bloc could boycott the new American envoy. Allawi, whose Iraqiya bloc is entangled in a turbulent crisis with Al-Maliki, said he had sent a letter to the US Congress urging the American legislators to bloc McGurk’s nomination on the basis that he was backing the Iraqi Shia leader. Allawi previously led the Iraqi National Accord in his US exile, a group which played a key role in making the case for invading Iraq in 2003 and toppling the Sunni-dominated regime led by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein…………”

Allawi is the Saudis’ second most favorite man in Iraq. Okay, he is the favorite Shi’a of the Saudi princes and even the Wahhabi mufti might accept him in he has to. Hence, no doubt his opposition is coordinated with the House of Saud, who are also undoubtedly pissed at McGurck for the same reasons.
Allawi is playing the Netanyahu game: he is trying to provoke the U.S. Congress to act against the President of the United States. Only Allawi, being a Ba’athist, is playing dirtier, addressing the Congress directly to block a president’s nominee.
Come to think of it, Allawi to the Saudis is like Omar Suleiman of Egypt to the Saudis. They are/were both the favorite candidates of the princes to rule in Iraq and Egypt. In Iraq the plot to reinstate the former Ba’ath Party failed because of the divisions within Iraq, and it looks like it will also fail in Egypt.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab League, Baghdad Summit, GCC, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy

Baghdad’s Syrian Summit: an Absurd Qatari Message, Poised Saudi Tanks but no Huthis…………..

    

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“Arab leaders on Thursday urged a swift and peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria at a landmark summit in Baghdad, with Iraq’s premier warning that arming rival camps there would lead to a “proxy war.” Nuri al-Maliki’s remarks highlighted the split in the Arab League, with hardliners Qatar and Saudi Arabia calling for Assad to step down and for rebels opposing his regime to be supplied with weapons, while others including Iraq are pushing for political reconciliation. Qatar and Saudi Arabia were among Gulf countries that largely snubbed the summit, with the two countries only sending envoys to the first Arab meet to be held in the Iraqi capital in more than 20 years. Doha said its decision was a “message” to Iraq………..”

Possibly the Iraqis and the real situation on the ground in Syria may have pushed the Arab League to come out against foreign intervention. The Syrian opposition, no matter how much of the population it represents, seems unable to coordinate let alone unify. The nominal leaders of the SNC are now purely symbolic ambassadors of anti-regime forces. It is the various armed groups that call the shots inside Syria and they are even more divided than ever.
Baghdad also represented its own message to the summit: where else are the consequences of Western intervention and liberation more dramatic than in Iraq? Then the leaders meeting in Western-liberated Iraq also had “Western-liberated” Libya in mind, where small battles rage every day between militias in different cities of the country. They know that Libya was liberated by NATO, not by the rebels nor by Qatar or the UAE who between them don’t have enough citizens to from a medium-sized army.
As for Qatar sending a “message to Iraq”: with all respect, some of our GCC regimes are silly, nearly absurd, in fact ridiculous (and I am not talking about Bahrain only although that regime is the mot ridiculous). Qatar probably has a couple of hundred thousand citizens (and a lot more temporary foreign laborers), and yet it is sending ‘messages’ right and left. The only country that the Qatar potentates have to truly fear is Saudi Arabia which tried at least once (late 1990s) to overthrow its current emir through yet another coup. Qatar probably needs to send a “message” toward Riyadh, if anywhere. Brotherly, or is it sisterly, Saudi Wahhabi tanks are as close to Doha as they were to Manama a year ago. They may have been defeated by the Huthis in Yemen, but the road to Doha is smooth with no ragtag Huthis to stop them.
Cheers
mhg


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Internet, Jihadis, Kuwait, Persian Gulf, Religion, Salafi, Saudi Arabia, WTF

Ring of Fire on the Persian Gulf: Salafi Six-Pack and Burning an Iranian Allah………..

    

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                           Partying Wahhabis set Allah on Fire

          Ring of Fire
“Love is a burning thing
And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of fire

I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire………..“ Johnny Cash (not a Salafi)


Someone in Kuwait allegedly tweeted what was considered insults against the prophet Mohammed (I haven’t read them). He allegedly did it on Twitter, on the world wide web, not within any country’s borders. He was arrested and a high official announced to a fundamentalist tribal mob facing him that “He is a scum and is under arrest“.
Local Wahhabi types, mainly Salafis and Muslim Brothers and members of certain border tribes were not satisfied, they knew there was some political mileage to be gained from this. They staged a public rally where Wahhabi politicians and the usual climbers called for the man to be executed forthwith. (I bet most of them haven’t even read what this tweeter allegedly tweeted). Then they called for more restrictions on the freedom of expression (especially expressions that don’t fit the Wahhabi line). After that they decided they might as well put the occasion to some more use and spent some time insulting and attacking the country’s Shi’as. After that they got in a Taliban mood and burned the Iranian flag.
Nobody could explain what the Iranian flag has to do with the incident, but apparently these guys love to party with a bonfire. What is a rally or beach party without a nice bonfire? It’s a good thing these Salafis aren’t fond of beer, at least not in public (I don’t know what they do in private but several wives ought o keep them busy). With some beer it would have gotten out of hand. Salafi Six-Pack ain’t no Joe Six-Pack, not a good idea at all, can’t hold their liquor.

(PS: Oddly, the Iranian flag has the word “Allah” designed in calligraphy at the center. These Salafi and MB and Wahhabi types are not supposed to burn anything with the name of Allah on it. They tell everybody that you can go to hell for doing that. I hope they are right this time; that way they can all go to hell. One of my most ardent wishes my come true after all.)


Cheers
mhg


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Middle East Women, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Dual Obsessions: Americans and Gas Prices, Saudis and Foreign Housemaid Prices………

    

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“No, no es amor, lo que tu sientes, se llama obsecion,
una ilusion en tu pensamiento, que te hace hacer cosas, asi
funciona el corazon…………“  Obsession (Aventura)



“The chairman of the National Recruitment Committee of the Saudi Council of Chambers expects the recruitment of housemaids from foreign countries to cost between SR15,000 and SR17,000 when the new recruitment companies start working, Al-Hayat newspaper reported yesterday. Saad Al-Baddah said this figure would include the cost of recruitment and travel, but not the salaries, which would be fixed later. Al-Baddah said the Saudi Recruitment Company, which was established by a number of investors, would commence operations in June. “Procedures of its establishment are currently being completed,” he said. Al-Baddah said the company had received a number of applications for recruitment due to the current market for housemaids. “The company, however, will not commit to any of these requests until it starts operations,” he explained. He said so far, there were no new developments in the stoppage of recruitment of housemaids from Indonesia and the Philippines, but he expected recruitment from these two Southeast Asian countries………...”

People are really the same all over the world. They may dress differently, talk differently, even eat differently, but when it comes to basics they are all the same. Take the American gasoline obsession and the Saudi (and Gulfie) obsession with cheap housemaids. There are  lot of similarities there.
Saudi Arabia has been having serious trouble recruiting Asian or African housemaids to come and work in the kingdom. There have been many reported cases of abuse, and some of these countries have at times cut off the ‘traffic’ (the pun was just too good to miss). Several of these women have been executed by beheading, others are on death row. The government had sent official missions around looking for new and cheap sources of housemaids. With the emphasis on cheap. Now it looks like they have agreed to raise the wages. A serious shortage of maids would be the last straw for the people: they may decide that they will join the rest of the Arab world in rebellion after all.
This is no different from the dilemma of the American government with the price of gasoline (benzene). A per-gallon price of gasoline over $5 may doom Mr. Obama to a one-term presidency. I know, I know, the Republicans are ‘influential’ in keeping gasoline prices high, but that is just politics. Yet the USA depends on foreign oil just as the Saudis depend on foreign housemaids. Actually, Americans dependence on foreign oil is less, it is not as total a dependence as the Saudi (or Gulf) dependence on Asian and African housemaids.
Just as Obama may lose the election if the price of gas exceeds $5, the Saudi king may lose his election if the price of housemaids exceeds so many riyals.  Still, I don’t believe that Hillary Clinton’s visit to Riyadh is for doing the ‘umrah‘ pilgrimage. I doubt that it has to do with gasoline prices either but I can be wrong.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab League, Bahrain, Culture, GCC, Iraq, Saudi Arabia

Gulf Hypocrisy: on the Arab Identity of Iraq and the GCC……………

    

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On the eve of the Baghdad Arab summit, much of Gulf media have taken to questioning the identity of the new Iraq. Actually that is something they have been doing since 2006. They talk of Iraq being under a dual occupation (meaning American and Iranian). They talk of such an Iranian influence that the Arab identity of Iraq is in question. Even the lousy Salafists have joined this chorus. So, I sat and went over some statistics, not all 100% accurate but at least reasonable “ballpark” figures. Just to see in what country is the “Arab” identity threatened:

In Iraq, almost 100% of the population speak Arabic as a first (or strong fluent second) language. That includes Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians, and others.
In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, at least one third of the population does not speak Arabic (these are imported laborers and housemaids imported from South and Southeast Asia and Africa).
In Bahrain, more than 40% of the population does not speak Arabic (these include laborers, housemaids and security mercenaries imported by the regime).
In Qatar, something like 80% are foreigners, mostly non-Arabs. That means that more than a majority of the population does not speak Arabic. In London, a Qatari academic has taken to writing articles lamenting the loss of the Arab identity of Iraq.
In the United Arab Emirates, something like 80% (probably more) of the population are imported foreign laborers and housemaids. These people speak no Arabic. About two weeks ago one UAE academic wrote in al-Quds al-Arabi about the “occupation” of Iraq by Americans and Iranians. Has he looked at his own country? The UAE has American, British, French and until recently Canadian military bases. Hell, they’d offer bases to Monaco and Bruni if these principalities would only accept.
Oman may have the least population ‘imbalance’, but I am not sure of the figure, yet. (This is a quickie posting)
End of the story, for now.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab League, Arab Politics, Baghdad Summit, Iraq, Salafi, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy

Imperiled Hegemony: the Baghdad Summit and Saudi Arabia’s Iraqi Dilemma……….

    

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“Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, an ethnic Kurd and the chief architect of the Baghdad summit, beamed Monday as he counted down the hours to what he bills as a historic moment: Iraq reclaiming its place in the Arab world after years of isolation during the U.S.-led military occupation and its spinoff sectarian war. For the past several summits, Zebari weathered the snubs and slights of Arab rulers, who openly questioned the legitimacy and sovereignty of the Iraqi government because it’s dominated by Iranian-backed Shiite Muslims and Kurds, and was formed in the shadow of Western occupiers. Now, however, the U.S. military is gone, and many of those skeptical Arab leaders have either been overthrown or forced into humbling reforms after the Arab Spring uprisings of last year. With the Arab League so heavily invested in the outcomes of revolts in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia and — most urgently — Syria, member countries are expected to use the conference to discuss their limited options for containing the regional crises now spilling across borders………”

Iraq has always been a dilemma for the al-Saud, an unwelcome presence in the Arab fold. The Baathist regime under Saddam Hussein flirted with the Saudis for eight years as it fended off Iranian counterattacks. The Saudis and the GCC financed and armed Saddam’s regime for eight years of war, as did the West. Yet the Saudis have always been wary of Iraq since before the Republic was established in 1958, actually since long before then. There are several reasons why the al-Saud do not welcome return of Iraq to the Arab fold:


  • Iraq is (potentially) a powerful rival for regional political dominance between the Jordan River and the Iranian border and southward. It is the most populous and potentially richest country in the Arab east. The total Saudi population is less than one half that of Iraq (taking into account that more than one third of the Saudi population are temporary foreign laborers and housemaids). For almost thirty years Iraq was preoccupied with Baathist-provoked wars. The Saudis have had unrivaled domination of the lower tier of the eastern Arab world during that time. That period might also be coming to an end, if the Iraqis can liquidate their Arab al-Qaeda terrorist guests and reconcile with each other politically. Reports indicate that Salafi terrorists are still infiltrating into Iraq from the Gulf GCC states and possibly Jordan, intent on murder. The Salafi terrorists’ assigned role is partly to keep Iraq off balance and too preoccupied with internal security to be involved in the region.
  • Iraq’s petroleum sector has been neglected for thirty years. It is beginning to revive, but will take some time to reach its potential. Iraqi reports now claim they are the second largest producers, overtaking Iran. Other reports also indicate that Iraqi reserves may have exceeded what Iran has. There is some speculation that eventually Iraqi reserves may exceed those of Saudi Arabia. Remember, Saudi output has been going full blast at 8-11 mb/d for decades, while Iraqi and Iranian output (and exploration) were hampered by wars and Western economic blockades. It is hard to give up the position of the biggest fish in the smaller Gulf pond. 
  • Politically the al-Saud never liked Iraq, but they like that country much less now that it has a Shi’a-dominated government. The Shi’a religious monuments and shrines in southern (and other parts of) Iraq have been targets of Saudi Wahhabi raiders since Ottoman days. The Wahhabi rulers of the Saudi Salafi theocracy may have distrusted and hated the previous Baathist rulers of Iraq, but they have nothing but ill will for the new ruling classes of Iraq. They, and some other GCC Gulf potentates, have behaved as if an entitlement was taken away from them, the entitlement that a Sunni Arab elite should continue to rule over 80+% of the rest of Iraqis (mainly Shi’a Arabs and Kurds and Turkmans). In other word, they would like Iraq to be like Bahrain.


The Saudis have don’t yet have a full ambassador in Baghdad, although last year they accredited their Amman ambassador to also cover Iraq. He will lead the Saudi delegation instead of the king or one of the princes. Syria also got the same treatment whey it hosted the Arab summit three or so years ago. The Arab League is a toothless mechanism, has been so since 1970. Its only relevance is when Western powers dust it off and show that the Arab League supports their actions in the MENA region (as in Libya, and almost in Syria).
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Middle East Women, religious police, Salafi, Saudi Arabia, Wahhabi

Saudi Shura Council and Sexual Harassment: Frustrated Males Shopping for Shmagh without Satan……..

    

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“The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, also known as the Shura Council, will vote this month on a draft law that will set punishments in cases of sexual harassment. Council member Sadaqa Fadel said the law classifies sexual offenses into categories and assigns particular punishments to each category. Fadel told Saudi al-Eqtisadya newspaper that punishments range from warning flogging and imprisonment. The draft law came after Saudi Arabia, which has strict sex segregation rules, saw growing presence of women in various work places and after single men were allowed into shopping malls. Fadel said there will be monitors in malls and in workplaces to watch for cases of sexual harassment and that monitoring will be conducted in accordance with Shariah law. “Sexual harassment is a criminal offence whose perpetrator must be punished. The people who commit sexual offences are mostly men, but this does not mean that some women do not harass men, and this was taken into consideration in the new regulation,” Fadel said. He added that the new draft law requires employers to separate between men and women……………”

This consultative council is an unelected group of men appointed by the Saudi king to pretend that they form some kind of parliament. Last year or so the absolute king issued a fatwa extending the term of the current council until the king decides when to replace them. They pretend that they create legislation and pass bills, but they deal only with select issues suggested by some minions of the king and princes. They usually deal with banal issues like: who can enter a shopping mall between 5 and 8 pm or (possibly) whether the breasts of she-camels (nooq) and she-goats (skhool or ma’iz) should be covered in public (lest they excite and provoke the extremely frustrated male population).
Last week, the Saudi government issued a permit allowing single males (men) to enter shopping malls, but only for the purpose of shopping. Shopping as in for clothes, watches, underwear, shmagh, serwal mkassar, and other inanimate objects. Before that only women, children, and males accompanied by females were allowed into shopping malls. They were worried that the devil, Satan, will get in there and do what the devil usually does when men and women are within fifty meters of each other, according to Wahhabi Salafi doctrine. Apparently Satan has signed a pledge to stay away from the shopping malls during certain curfew hours.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Hezbollah, Iran, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy, Yemen

The Usual Suspects: Hezbollah and Hamas in Yemen and Casablanca………….

    

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Captain Renault: “Major Strasser’s been shot. Round up the usual suspects.“  Casablanca

“Washington believes Iran is working with Shi’ite Muslim rebels in northern Yemen and secessionists in the country’s south to expand its influence at the expense of Yemen’s Gulf neighbours, the U.S. envoy to Sanaa was quoted as saying on Sunday. The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat cited Gerald Feierstein, in an interview in London, as accusing Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas of helping their backers in Shi’ite Iran at the expense of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a bloc in which Sunni-led oil giant Saudi Arabia’s influence is dominant. “The Iranians want to build influence in Yemen… both internally and more broadly in the region by establishing a foothold in the Arabian Peninsula,” the paper quoted Feierstein as saying in remarks published in Arabic. “It’s something that’s naturally regarded as a security threat to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC states.” Feierstein told Reuters in an interview last month that there were signs of greater Iranian activity in Yemen, There is evidence that Hezbollah and Hamas support this Iranian effort ……….”

Also sprach the US ambassador quoted by Saudi semi-official daily al-Hayat (owned by Prince Khalid Bin Sultan).
Yemen is much more complex than the picture this ambassador paints. Al-Qaeda has become a major disruptive force across Yemen now, including the once secular south. That is what 20 years of union with the tribal north Yemen has done to the rest of the country. That and nearly twenty years of Saudi Wahhabi influence.
The fact is that the GCC (Saudi) plan that the West supported in Yemen does not meet the aspirations of most Yemeni people (excluding Tawakkol Karman). The killings by regime forces continue, except that Arab and Western media are not covering them anymore. The people want a regime change, but they had a reactionary status-quo GCC plan rammed down their throats. Clearly they are not accepting it.
There is some Iranian involvement and influence in parts of Yemen, just as there are Saudi influences in parts of Yemen. And there is American influence, especially in the skies. But it is not clear how Hamas and Hezbollah got together in Yemen. Hamas is Muslim Brotherhood Sunni, Hezbollah is Shi’a. Maybe the ambassador has some evidence he can’t share with the public. It is also quite likely he is just mouthing the same old manta the Yemen regime has been repeating for the past two or three years. The “foreign interference” mantra most Arab regimes repeat when they are in trouble in places like Bahrain and Syria and before them in Egypt and Libya.
Of course, this is not to say there is no Iranian interference, there probably is some of that (the theory of political vacuum and all that). But Hamas and Hezbollah? That sounds like a 2012 American presidential campaign slogan, produced by AIPAC.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, France, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

The Prince and Contemporary Cultural and Intellectual Movements ………….

    

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“Defense Minister Prince Salman recently launched an academic chair for historical studies at King Saud University in Riyadh during a ceremony attended by intellectuals and academics in this particular field. Following a seminar organized by Dr. Noura Al-Asheikh, dean of the College of Arts and Community Service, Princess Hussa bint Salman spoke about her father and his penchant for history. Dr. Dalal bint Mukhallad Al-Harbi is one who received support to publish her book titled ‘Famous Women from Najd,’ which was published by King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Research and Archives in 1998, on the occasion of the Kingdom’s centenary.” Princess Hussa said Prince Salman’s thoughts were not at all isolated from contemporary cultural and intellectual movements………..”

Nope, the prince’s thoughts are not at all isolated from contemporary cultural and intellectual movements. Nor are the thoughts of the Grand Muftis Al at all isolated from contemporary cultural and intellectual movements. In fact there are unsubstantiated and non-credible reports that the old cleric was at one point an existentialist, hanging around Les Deux Magots in the old days with Sartre and de Beauvoir. Occasionally dabbling in Hegelian thoughts, holding court over coffee and rich buttery croissants, ogling les jeunes filles……
Those were the days.

(FYI: Dr. Noura Al-Asheikh and the Mufti Al Al Shaikh, and that other Minister Al Al Shaikh, among other potentates, are descendants of Shaikh Mohammed Bin Abdulwahhab. He was the founder of the Wahhabi sect and a close ally of the al-Saud. No relation to Mohammed Abdelwahab, the late great Egyptian musician and singer who was never a Salafi.)

Cheers
mhg


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