Article

2004-07-01 Arabia

For terrorism to be defeated, Saudi reform is imperative: an Arab view

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Posted by Mark Espinola 2004-07-01 5:29:38 PM|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 There is little doubt that Israel does not wish Arab countries well.

That is what I call a presumptious assumption. I am sure that Israel would wish the Arab countries well. The Israelis just want to be left alone. Only many Arab countries project every problem that they face on Israel and threaten to destroy her.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2004-07-01 9:44:46 PM|| 2004-07-01 9:44:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Really great article, Mark. Why didn't Khairallah get the Nobel Prize instead of Iran's Shirin Ebadi?

There is little doubt that Israel does not wish Arab countries well. This, however, is one thing and the problems of individual Arab states are quite another. For among the challenges besetting Saudi Arabia is the need for political reform at all levels, the restoration of womenâs rights, the amendment of school curricula and the spreading of a new culture of tolerance.

This needs to be tattooed across the forehead of every Saudi royal.

It must also mean changing how women are treated. The fire that raged at a girlsâ school in Mecca last year ago was a good example of the sort of problems women, who make up half the Saudi population, face. Several students were burned in that fire because adherents of the Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil movement prevented firemen and civil defense workers from reaching the school "so they would not see the girls." No gallows were put up to punish those responsible for the deaths. All the government did was issue an administrative order placing girlsâ schools under the control of a particular ministry.

More than any other single issue besides terrorism itself, this example goes to the exact core of what is so very wrong with Saudi Arabia's brand of Islam. Should they fail to reform it, I hope all of them die by the same sword that they cannot bring themselves to disavow.

Posted by Zenster 2004-07-01 9:48:24 PM|| 2004-07-01 9:48:24 PM|| Front Page Top

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