A few days ago, the Tunisian government fired its religious affairs minister over his unruly remarks against Saudi Arabia. Similarly, a few days earlier, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Iyad Madani, (who is a former Saudi minister) had to tender his resignation following some remarks or a light-hearted joke about the Egyptian president.
These two individuals are the latest victims of the highly sensitive relations between the Arab governments, which cannot tolerate an innocent joke or personal commentary.
Tunisian Religious Affair Minister Abdeljalil Ben Salem may have remained in the government for over three months but he is a learned man with huge experience in his field. His attack on Saudi Arabia came at a time when the Kingdom is waging an ideological and political war against Iran and its allies.
The same goes for the Saudi minister, Iyad Madani, who has significant experience in the government work. He is an expert in state relations and headed the OIC, which is an important organization.
His light-hearted joke he made in front of several officials was recorded on camera. The timing didn’t help him either; especially as the Muslim Brotherhood used his joke in their favor at a time when the Egyptian government was countering a strong propaganda war.
This incident occurred at a time when the Kingdom is making all-out efforts to garner support to crack down on the Houthis in Yemen for their missile attack aimed at Makkah.
Saudi Arabia was in a strong need for the understanding of all member states in the OIC and Madani’s joke could have jeopardized Saudi relations with other countries.
The Tunisian minister’s comment, however, wasn’t a joke but reflected a hostile ideological position. And as a minister of religious affairs, it could not be described as a slip of tongue. He has also had made statements about the rise of his Islamic party at the expense of others. This makes it easy to believe that he is like those people, who want to incite people against a particular ideology or people.
He took a position against Saudi Arabia in the public. Therefore, the Tunisian government had to take a firm and decisive action.
A Tunisian official stated that the minister himself is responsible for his remarks. Why do these veteran politicians override diplomatic rules?
However, most of the statements, which caused crises or could have caused problems, were not gossips or were not caught on hidden cameras or microphones.
• Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a veteran and internationally acclaimed columnist. He is the former general manager of Al Arabiya news channel and former editor in chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.
* Originally published in Asharq Al-Awsat
These two individuals are the latest victims of the highly sensitive relations between the Arab governments, which cannot tolerate an innocent joke or personal commentary.
Tunisian Religious Affair Minister Abdeljalil Ben Salem may have remained in the government for over three months but he is a learned man with huge experience in his field. His attack on Saudi Arabia came at a time when the Kingdom is waging an ideological and political war against Iran and its allies.
The same goes for the Saudi minister, Iyad Madani, who has significant experience in the government work. He is an expert in state relations and headed the OIC, which is an important organization.
His light-hearted joke he made in front of several officials was recorded on camera. The timing didn’t help him either; especially as the Muslim Brotherhood used his joke in their favor at a time when the Egyptian government was countering a strong propaganda war.
This incident occurred at a time when the Kingdom is making all-out efforts to garner support to crack down on the Houthis in Yemen for their missile attack aimed at Makkah.
Saudi Arabia was in a strong need for the understanding of all member states in the OIC and Madani’s joke could have jeopardized Saudi relations with other countries.
The Tunisian minister’s comment, however, wasn’t a joke but reflected a hostile ideological position. And as a minister of religious affairs, it could not be described as a slip of tongue. He has also had made statements about the rise of his Islamic party at the expense of others. This makes it easy to believe that he is like those people, who want to incite people against a particular ideology or people.
He took a position against Saudi Arabia in the public. Therefore, the Tunisian government had to take a firm and decisive action.
A Tunisian official stated that the minister himself is responsible for his remarks. Why do these veteran politicians override diplomatic rules?
However, most of the statements, which caused crises or could have caused problems, were not gossips or were not caught on hidden cameras or microphones.
• Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a veteran and internationally acclaimed columnist. He is the former general manager of Al Arabiya news channel and former editor in chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.
* Originally published in Asharq Al-Awsat
