Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, CDHR, Washington DC

December 26, 2017

Crown Prince Mohammed, Terrorism, Islam’s Compatibility With Secular Democracy, and Arab Men

CDHR’s Analysis And Commentaries

Prince Mohammed: A Giant in an Oasis of Pygmies?

CDHR Commentary: The next Saudi-designated king, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been copiously extoled by pliable media narrators, like Thomas Friedman and by a horde of others, including the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (TWI), and  recipients of Saudi largess, like the Arabia Foundation and Saudi American Public Relations Committee, as a giant in an oasis of pygmies. One of the phrases his exalters have used excessively is that he is a reformer, when in fact he is anything but.

What these image and policy glorifiers and favoritism seekers fail to tell their audiences is that Prince Mohammed was not chosen to “reform” the Saudi autocratic system, but to insure the country remains the property of his family, a conviction held by his father King Salman and the King’s late full-brothers Defense and Interior Ministers, Sultan and Naif. Known as the Sudairi brothers, they have vehemently opposed political reforms and embraced extremist Salafi ideology which have contributed to the country’s stagnation, isolation, intolerance and fanaticism. Read more: www.cdhr.info

Impact of Prince Mohammed’s Strategy on Saudi Society

CDHR Commentary: While commentators and analysts are intensely focusing on the motives behind Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s November 4, 2017, actions and predicting their outcome, very little has been said about their impact on Saudi society.

Citing eradication of corruption in his decision to round up and detain powerful members of his ruling family, ministers and businessmen, Prince Mohammed employed a well-calculated strategy to emasculate his critics, rally public support for himself, neutralize his potential royal rivals and assure investors of his determination to protect them against Saudi officials’ and businessmen’s devious business practices. Furthermore, accusing the arrested individuals of racketeering practices justified the seizure of a reported $800 billion of their assets, money he desperately needs to pay for his reform projects upon which his credibility and political survival depend. Read more: www.cdhr.info

“Is Islam Compatible With Secular Democracy?”

CDHR Commentary: Whether in Washington, London, Paris, The Hague or Barcelona, promoting democracy and rule of law in Saudi Arabia incurs hostile sarcasm. This is what this and many other pro-democracy and rule of law advocates encounter in public and private debates about terrorism, extremism, women’s and minorities’ rights and religious bigotry. The discussions focus on Islam’s incompatibility with democracy and rule of law; therefore, the interrogators insist, Islam is the source of violenc e, inequality, extremism and terrorism that is plaguing Muslims and posing “…a threat to Western liberal democracy.”  Read more: www.cdhr.info

The Scourge of Muslim Terrorism Continues

CDHR Commentary: The butchery of Sufi Muslims in Sinai, Egypt, public widespread protests against blasphemy in Pakistan, ISIS’s and Al-Qaeda’s unprecedented gains in Yemen (as a result of the Saudi invasion) are taking place at the same time as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was addressing representatives of forty-one aut ocratically ruled Sunni Muslim countries (Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC)) in the Saudi capital Riyadh on November 26, 2017. Prince Mohammed declared that the Alliance will eradicate extremists and terrorists from the surface of the earth. Read more: www.cdhr.info

Arab Men's Attitude Toward Women?

CDHR Commentary: Do Saudi, Jordanian and Egyptian and other Arab men share the same views of and attitude toward women? The interviews in this video demonstrate that Jordan is not what many think and say it is. This tiny country is considered an advanced Arab country due to its exposure to Western values and a high number of educated people. The ruling Hashemite family of Jordan, which also ruled the Hejaz region before the Saudi/Wahhabi clans kicked them out (with the help of the British in the 1920s), is also considered more modern and less religious than their counterparts in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. While this is true in some areas, women are still considered men’s property that can be used and eliminated if tradition and dark-age clerics' interpretations of Islam's redlines are crossed. Read more: www.cdhr.info

Your contributions to CDHR’s efforts to address tough issues, invoke thought-provoking discourse and suggest peaceful solutions are crucial. We need to continue our educational outreach worldwide. CDHR is a 501 (c) 3 tax exempt educational organization.

Please go to our website www.cdhr.info and click on donate.

Or send checks to this address:  

Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, CDHR

1629 K St. NW, Suite 300

Washington, DC 20006