RIYADH, 30 April — The visit of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, to the US has raised the Kingdom’s profile, since he forcefully articulated the Saudi and Arab points of view on the Middle East issues.
Graham Fuller, senior political consultant at the Rand Corporation in Washington, D.C., said this at a roundtable discussion on “The current situation in the Middle East” here yesterday organized by John Burgess, counselor for public affairs at the US Embassy.
Fuller, a specialist on Arab affairs and author of several books on the Middle East, said that as a result of Prince Abdullah’s visit, “Saudi Arabia is emerging as the most important voice of the Arab world.”
Fuller said the crown prince was only the third VIP visitor to the Bush ranch after Mexico’s President Vicente Fox and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Turning to the current situation in the Middle East, Fuller said there should be a shift in US policy from regarding terrorism as the main issue to the ending of Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
Asked about the definition of terrorism, Fuller said there is no agreed definition of the term, “since no nation likes to define it, as it can be used to serve its interests.” However, a generic definition could be recourse to “deliberate attacks against civilians”. In this context, he referred to state terrorism by Israel against Palestinians.
He said Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, despite their enormous resources and investments in the US, were unable to use their economic clout in creating a pro-Arab lobby. In this context, he referred to the AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee), whose vehement support for Israel had reached a point where “even some of the average American Jews are not feeling comfortable. They are aware of the fact that it is damaging US image and credibility abroad.”
Asked about the voice of the Arabs in the US media, John Burgess said that their message could get across much more effectively if they targeted the American audience. He was referring to the recent statement of Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar ibn Sultan, comparing Yasser Arafat to George Washington.
Sarah Peter, press officer at the US Embassy, said Saudi Arabia has been “under the microscope” of the special-interest groups in the US, since it was established that 15 of the alleged 19 hijackers reportedly came from the Kingdom. They are closely monitoring the Saudi media and play up whatever story lends itself to media manipulation, she added.
