Has the Kingdom really been targeted by the West, particularly the US and the UK? Is the violence that is spreading in the Kingdom a result of the attacks? Do countries that ban their citizens from traveling to the Kingdom want to embarrass us? Did British Airways cancel flights to the Kingdom in order to pressure the Saudi government?
Why do we always embrace conspiracy theories and believe that we are being targeted? Turkey refused to allow coalition forces on its soil and the refusal inconvenienced British and American forces and also put pressure on NATO. But Turkey was not targeted. France objected to America’s invasion of Iraq and threatened to use its veto if America sought UN approval for invasion. But France was not targeted. Syria objected to the war and opened its border with Iraq even after the war but Syria was not targeted.
We have heard nothing about bombings or violence in the cities of Turkey, France or Syria. We need to have a good objective look at ourselves. We need to analyze carefully the social, economic and political forces which we use to answer the question that we avoid answering: Why were most of the Sept. 11 attackers Saudis? Why do most lists of terrorists include Saudi names?
We must have the courage to see the truth and analyze our own weak points. Why have our young people seemingly turned against us? Why are so many of us so unhappy with the way things have developed here? It is time for us to look at ourselves and to discover and admit our shortcomings; we need to give Western governments the freedom to choose how they deal with Saudi violence. Maybe their explanation of Saudi violence is different from ours. Maybe they can see the danger to us better than we can. They may be right and we should look at all their viewpoints and decide which are valid and which are not. Can we accept and live with violence in our country? Do we need to surrender to such a phenomenon, saying, “We are the best”?
Reform has already begun in the Kingdom. It was obvious in the statement of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd three months ago when he opened the Shoura Council and said that more democratic procedures were planned. Government agencies will be called to account. Reform was also indicated in Crown Prince Abdullah’s document to the Arab League which outlined the importance of public participation in political affairs and the expansion of democracy. The problem that most Arab countries suffer from is a lack of democracy. Saudi Arabia, however, has put great efforts into establishing a national dialogue center.
The problem is, however, that we want to be nationalistic and stop thinking about our mistakes. It is so much easier to concentrate on Western conspiracies against us. We try to say that the West envies our luxuries and we tap into common anti-Western feelings. This is a ridiculous mistake. Being nationalistic means that we should be honest and open since true patriotism does not mean that we claim to be the best or that we alone know the truth.
We need to ask ourselves why the West is against us. Saudi Arabia has always carried out its international obligations and commitments. Oil was pumped during both the Afghan and Iraq wars and the oil price did not change. Saudi Arabia complied with the United Nations decision concerning the war on Iraq. Saudi Arabia has complied with United Nations decisions in all international matters. Then why are we always so quick to believe that the West is against us?
Arab News From the Local Press 25 August 2003
