Bhutto’s Assassination sends a Shrilling Message

Director’s Comment: The assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, is a great tragedy for Pakistan, for pro-democracy Muslims, and especially for Muslim women worldwide. With all of her shortcomings, Bhutto was pro-democracy and adamantly opposed to any tolerance of extremists. Due to the nature of her beliefs and her firm stance on democracy, Bhutto had become very close to the West. She was a shining symbol for Muslim women in general, but especially in places like Saudi Arabia, where women have no rights under the Saudi-Wahhabi Shariah law. From all reports, it is evident that Bhutto's assassination was very well-orchestrated. The media and other analytical consultants in the United States and the West rushed into exonerating Musharraf's government from having a hand in Bhutto's murder. This habitual rush to judgment overlooks very basic facts and possibilities. The political pundits argue that Musharraf had nothing to gain from Bhutto's death. Firstly, this argument lacks an understanding of the ways in which dictators have historically disposed of their opponents. Dictators rarely spare any efforts at eliminating possible threats or opponents to their regimes, regardless of who gets hurt, even if this puts the well-being of the entire country and its people at risk. In addition, Musharraf, either on his own or with encouragement from friendly Muslim governments, may have concluded his position would drastically be weakened if Bhutto won election in a big way. Moreover, Musharraf may have wanted to get back at the West, specifically the United States and England, for having pressured him to allow Bhutto to come back and challenge him in popular elections. Finally, other Muslim dictators may have encouraged Musharraf to get rid of Bhutto because of fears that her victory would encourage pro-democracy advocates, especially women in their countries to demand their rights.

When Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October of 2007, she was met with open hearts and arms by many Pakistanis who, over time, had become disillusioned by Musharraf’s military rule. Furthermore, when Bhutto started campaigning, she discovered that her popularity among Pakistanis exceeded even her greatest expectations. She made a colossal mistake by calling on Musharraf to step aside in order to pave the way for a government under her Pakistan Peoples Party. Musharraf resented her move and more so, resented the West for having forced him to let Bhutto return. Musharraf was not the only party threatened by Bhutto’s popularity. The Saudi royal family, who had been hosting former Prime Minister and Bhutto’s competitor, Nawaz Sharif (ousted in a military coup by Musharraf eight years prior) was scared that Bhutto would win the election. Her ascendance to Pakistan’s high office would weaken the Saudi-Wahhabi strong religious, political and economic influence in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia. The Saudis summoned Musharraf in November of 2007 and talked him into allowing former Prime Minister Sharif to return to and run for the top job in Pakistan against Bhutto, whom the Saudis loathe. Three days after Musharraf’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Sharif was on his way to Pakistan. This is a very suspicious turn of events, because when Sharif showed up in Pakistan in October he was rebuffed by Musharraf and sent back to Saudi Arabia in the same plane that carried him to Pakistan.

The repercussions of Bhutto’s assassination could be catastrophic for pro-democracy Arabs and Muslims and for millions of aspiring Muslim women worldwide. Arab and Muslim dictators will continue to murder their pro-democracy opponents (enemies) as well as liberals and seculars, whom they fear more than terrorists and extremists. Sadly and dangerously, the West cooperates with these dictators, whose legitimacy and ability to stay in power depend on the presence and continuity of the same extremists they claim to be fighting against. Read More

Defeat the Wahhabi Ideology

Director’s Comment: At the heart of Muslim religious extremism and intolerance is the Saudi literally interpreted and piercingly implemented version of the Quran, Shariah, Islamic arbitrary law, and Hadith, the Prophet’s conversation or tradition. The Saudi-Wahhabi population represents less than one percent of Muslims worldwide, which is a miniscule percentage. This number would be religiously irrelevant if it were not for the fact that Islam was founded in the Western Hijaz region, which was annexed by the Saudi-Wahhabi death Squads (the Ikhwan, or Brothers) in 1926. The first thing the Saudi-Wahhabi invaders took part in when they entered Mecca was the destruction of Christians, Jews, Pagans and even Prophet Mohammed’s sanctuary. From that point on, the Saudi-Wahhabi alliance became the sole interpreter, writer, printer and translator of the Muslim holy books to hundreds of languages. After this, the books and other intolerant literature are shipped and distributed free of charge to Muslim communities around the world. The original Quran was written in Arabic only, yet the overwhelming majority of Muslims do not speak Arabic, so they rely on the Saudi-Wahhabi ideologues’ interpretations and instructions.

The largest non-Arabic speaking Muslim country is Indonesia, whose former President, Mr. Abdulrahman Wahid, became the most prominent advocate for defeating the Saudi-Wahhabi-Salafi dangerous ideology. He calls on “Muslims and non-Muslims to unite and defeat the Wahhabi ideology.” While this is one step in the right direction, the way to defeat Saudi-Wahhabi deadly dogma is by creating an international representative Muslim Council to govern the Muslim holy shrines in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, and challenge the Wahhabi monopoly over the interpretation of the Quran, Shariah and Hadith. The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (CDHR), located in Washington D.C., is embarking on a comprehensive research project to explore the possibility of the establishment of a Muslim Council to share the governance of the Muslim holy shrines in Saudi Arabia, and to engage in debate about the interpretation of the Quran, the Shariah and the Hadith, as well as the role they should play in the daily lives of Muslims in the 21st century. Read More

Despite It’s Obsession with Security

Director’s Comment: Despite the Saudi government’s extraordinary expenditure on its layers of extravagantly armed domestic security personnel and unprecedented fortification of its borders, the instability of Saudi Arabia and its absolute royal family are probably at their worst ever. Since the bombing of foreign compounds in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and other parts of the country in 2003 and subsequent years, 45 violent attempts against the royal family, its infrastructures and its extremist religious establishment have been foiled by the Saudi security apparatus with the help of foreign governments each year. One of the most destabilizing attempts was foiled in Nov. 2007. 208 men were about to carry out a devastating operation before they were discovered and rounded up from all regions in the country. According to the Saudi Interior Ministry, they received flying training in and outside of the country, smuggled rockets and other sophisticated equipment from abroad and planned to assassinate senior princes and religious personalities as well as inflict massive damage to oil facilities. Had a plot of this magnitude succeeded, even partially, it would have caused a dangerous political vacuum and possible disintegration of the country since there is no national identity other than forced unity under the banner of the royal family. The outcome would have left the US with no choice but to intervene militarily to protect the oil facilities and flow of oil without which the global economy would collapse. A similar, albeit less ambitious, attempt was foiled on Dec. 14, 2007 when 28 men were discovered before they executed a plot to attack targets in Muslim holy sites during the holist days in the Muslim calendar, the Hajj, pilgrimage.

In spite of these serious attempts, the Saudi government keeps telling its people and the world that the country is stable and that it is only a matter of time before the anti-royal family forces in the country are eliminated. Obviously the US and others don’t agree, and this is why US ships are patrolling the Arab side of the Persian Gulf to protect the oil facilities and the flow of oil. It is assumed that this topic will occupy a great portion of President Bush’s visit to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14. Read More

When Self-Imposed Censorship is Not Enforced

Director’s Comment: The Saudi population is amongst the most self-regulated on earth. This is due to a crippling fear of being punished for doing something a member of the thousands of princes and princesses may consider offensive or insensitive to the royal supremacy. There are no codified civil laws, rules, or regulations in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi people operate in the dark because they do not know what to expect or what borders they can and cannot cross. Depending on the moods of those who enforce the rules, decisions are made on the spot by princes and their hand-picked extremist religious judges, security men, and terrorist-like religious police. This reality permeates every aspect of the Saudi society, infrastructure, judicial system, and media outlets. Most Saudi journalists, professors, authors, narrators, analysts, and commentators are among the best and sharpest in the world, yet they live and work under constant fear of being severely penalized if they transcend the border of what is narrowly defined and permissible by their absolute government, the royal family.

It is an irrefutable fact that some primitive (cosmetic) media stifling rules have been relaxed during the past four years in Saudi Arabia. However, Saudi print and visual journalists can only write about the real issues indirectly and metaphorically. They dare not mention the failures of any member of the royal family, as the princes control the media, national income and its dispensations, security, education, mosques, transportation, the judicial system, political decision-making, and every important ministerial and governorship position in the country. This reality makes it impossible for the media to discuss, highlight, expose, or critique any issue in depth that does not involve a member of the royal family.

The Saudi media has a lot to talk about. All forms of civil society are banned by the Saudi government, and severe gender segregation in public places is fiercely enforced by the government’s religious police. The Saudi people are among the most deprived of crucial social norms and elements such as amphitheaters, co-ed restaurants, sports arenas, theaters, classrooms, bars, music halls and acting stages. Free public debates are taboos, as are intellectual freedoms. This socially dry, isolating and insulating environment was recently punctured by the creation of blogs. Young Saudis, like their regional and global counterparts, have begun to use the new internet medium to communicate with each other and discuss legitimate social and political issues.

One such blogger is the courageous Fouad Farhan of Jeddah, a major liberal and cosmopolitan city in the Hijaz region. He broke free from the self-regulated pattern which most Saudi journalists have no choice but to embrace if they want to avoid imprisonment, the loss of their jobs, and stigmatization. Mr. Farhan writes about what the Saudi government and its religious establishment label as corrupting and un-Islamic infidel values such as liberty, codified civil laws, accountability, and transparency, among other issues. Since these topics are un-Islamic, they are considered security risks and against God’s will and the beliefs of Wali Elimr, the king. Mr. Farhan was seized by the dreaded agents (Mubahith) of Prince Naif’s Ministry of Interior on December 10, 2007, ostensibly for reasons other than his demands for better governance.

In order to avoid domestic and international condemnation, such as that which occurred in the case of the gang raped bint Al-Qatief in December, Prince Naïf did not close blogging activities. However, he also failed to accuse Mr. Farhan of any crime. The question is, why was Mr. Farhan arrested? If his arrest was due to his writings, which most Saudis seem to suspect, then this is proof that the reform King Abdullah and his hired propagandists in the West brag about is a farce. Why is it a crime for the new generation of young citizens to discuss issues that shape and affect every aspect of their daily lives, as well as the future of their society and country? Read More

Majority Supports Saudi Women’s Rights

Director’s Comment: According to a recent Gallup Survey, the majority of Saudi men and women who were interviewed support Saudi women’s rights to drive, have equal salary for equal jobs, and hold high positions in government. There is no doubt that there will be substantial opposition to any changes in the present male-dominant society in Saudi Arabia, but that is to be expected in countries where one segment of society has control over every domain, professional or otherwise. Why is the Saudi government neglecting to grant women their civil, natural and human rights to have equal opportunities as full citizens, regardless of opposition by some religious and traditional men? The reason is that the only legitimacy the Saudi royal family possesses comes from the extremist Wahhabi religious establishment and the small percentage of aging traditionalist men. In reality, the Saudi royal family is willing to sacrifice the rights and dignity of half of its citizens, women, for the support of religious extremists and the dying generation of Saudi men. This is not only morally wrong but pragmatically dangerous because women are the most vocal group in Saudi Arabia. They are calling for change in educational, political, economic, social and religious institutions. Sooner or later, Saudi women will attain formidable power that could lead to the end of despotism and religious extremism. Read More

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www.cdhr.info/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/[list]/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism.

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

newsletter@PROTECTED

Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail