CDHR's Blog

مالا يقال عن مطالبة تركي الفيصل إيران بالتوقف عن إثارة الفتنة الطائفية بين مواطني دول الخليج

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:58:00 +0000

تحليل مركز الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان في السعودية – واشنطن

طالب الأمير تركي الفيصل إيران بالتوقف عن إثارة الفتنة الطائفية بين مواطني دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي في كلمة ألقاها يوم الثلاثا الماضي أمام مؤتمر "الأمن الوطني والأمن الإقليمي لمجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية".

إن تصريحات الفيصل ربما لا تخلو من الصحة فإيران - وكغيرها من الدول - قد تسعى لاستغلال كل الظروف المواتية لزيادة نفوذها أو تحقيق مكاسب سياسية أو استراتيجية أو دينية. ولكن السؤال الأهم هو ما الأسباب التي أدت إلى نجاح إيران في تحريض بعض مواطني دول الخليج ضد حكوماتهم؟

إن على دول الخليج إن أرادت وقف إيران أو غيرها من التأثير على مواطنيها مراجعة سياساتها الطائفية والمساواة بين المواطنين في جميع المجالات بغض النظر عن انتماءاتهم الدينية.

إن على تركي الفيصل وغيره التركيز على إيجاد حلول جذرية لمعاناة المواطنين الناجمة عن سياسات حكام الخليج الطائفية بدلا من إضاعة الوقت في توجيه أصابع اللوم إلى أطراف خارجية.

إن السياسات الطائفية في دول الخليج هي التي مهدت الطريق أمام إيران لاستغلال الورقة الطائفية والتأثير على من يعتقدون أن بإمكان إيران الدفاع عنهم ومساعدتهم في الحصول على حقوقهم الشرعية.

Unity Among Gulf Monocracies Doomed to Fail

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:10:00 +0000

By Ali Alyami

Threatened by developing domestic and regional challenges, the six autocratic Arab monarchs of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) huddled in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Dec. 19 and 20, 2011, to strategize against internal and external threats to their regimes. Their fears were voiced by King Abdullah warning that “the security of Saudi Arabia and its Arab neighbors [meaning the ruling dynasties] was being targeted.” He implored the monarchs of the smaller Gulf States to ‘move beyond the stage of cooperation and into the stage of unity in a single entity’, which translates to a formal union dominated by the Saudi ruling family.

Prior to the Riyadh meeting and King Abdullah’s call for unity, the GCC had invited the two remaining autocratic Arab kings of Morocco and Jordan to join the GCC even though they are geographically distant from the Gulf. Indigenous analysts of Gulf dynamics and critics of the ruling dynasties speculated that the intent behind this move was to form a united front among these autocracies against the spread of the pro-democracy Arab Uprising. The GCC’s membership invitation has been shelved due to unfavorable public reaction, especially in the social media since public criticism of the ruling families is impermissible.

King Abdullah’s call for a united Arab Gulf States ‘in a single entity’, ostensibly to protect all GCC members from internal and external threats is destined to fail. Gulf Arab analysts attribute such failure to the fact that the primary objective of establishing a “single entity” is perceived by the smaller states’ rulers as an attempt to consolidate Saudi hegemony over the Gulf States and thus strengthen the Saudis’ bargaining position regionally, particularly regarding future settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. However, there are more compelling reasons why the “single entity’ proposal would fail.

Prominent among the reasons for the likely failure of the Saudi proposal is the historical mistrust of the Saudi royals among the ruling dynasties of the smaller and weaker Gulf States. Based on their historical experience, the overlords of these smaller Gulf Arab States consider the Saudi royals to be condescending, too rigid, heavy-handed, and confrontational. In addition, the rulers of the smaller States see the Saudi policies as a menace to their “live and let live” strategies, not only within their heterogeneous societies, but also with Iran, with whom they share borders and beneficial relations. The recent transition of power from the ailing and aging Saudi King Abdullah to two well-known pugnacious Princes, Naif and Salman, is more likely to lessen instead of increase cooperation, let alone create unity among the autocracies of the Gulf.

Furthermore, the ruling dynasties of the smaller Gulf States can afford to reject the ambitious Saudi plan to form a “single entity’ which they know would be dominated by the Saudi ruling family and its Wahhabi ideology. In the early 1990s, the West began to shift its military presence from Saudi Arabia to the smaller Gulf States; as time passed, the West found these rulers more responsive to Western needs than the Saudis. The gradual shift of Western dependence from the Saudi ruling family to the rulers of the smaller States has diminished Saudi influence in the region and has rendered obsolete the smaller Gulf States’ need for Saudi protection.

The efforts by the Saudis to recruit the kings of Morocco and Jordan to the GCC cartel in order to fend off the spread of the Arab Uprising to the Gulf have been unsuccessful. This and their apparent failure to unite the Gulf Arab States rulers “in a single entity” under their control are more likely to increase the Saudi rulers’ reliance on domestic oppression and intense use of religion to promote their self-interest. However, pursuing these policies will increase the Saudi people’s discontent, which will to domestic strife and regional isolation, eventually hastening the fall of the Saudi monarchy to the very forces they are trying to escape.

Amnesty TV - How to not get punished for being a woman - YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:36:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p6dri_OQMI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

“Arabs dream of building democracy as 2012 begins”

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:14:00 +0000

CDHR’s Commentary: The most positive and empowering outcome of the Arab Revolt thus far is the fact that people are no longer afraid of the sword. The assessment in the article below (see link) is accurate and anyone who still doubts the Arab people's awaking and political maturity needs to listen to what the people quoted in this article are saying: New regimes will not survive if they don't learn from what happened to their corrupt and tyrannical predecessors. The majority of the Arab masses of today are very different from their parents and grandparents. It will take them time to weed through centuries of enforced marginalization and its concomitant sense of worthlessness.

The marginalized peoples of the oil rich and tyrannically ruled Gulf Arab States are no less aspiring than the rest of the Arab people. In fact, most of them suffer from harsher policies than the Arabs who took to the streets and overthrow their despots. The autocratic ruling monarchs of the Gulf States, their descendants and commanded media ought to read the glaring writing on the walls, rethink their outdated policies, perceptions, practices and start transferring power to the people before it's too late for them and the well-being of their restless populations. They have to understand that the people's demand for freedom is irreversible regardless of intimidation, bribery and the use of religion as a tool to justify oppression, segregation, discrimination and exploitation.

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidANA20111231T193807ZCOY09/lok193813111231/Arabs_dream_of_building_democracy_as_2012_begins?&zawyaemailmarketing

Various YouTube clips

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:29:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mj9DQlLzMA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqxwtzxbXiU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_IrmEOBFyQ&feature=related

The Tehran Theocratic Mullahs’ Loathing for “The Great Satan” and Its Saudi “Puppets”

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:40:00 +0000

The Tehran Theocratic Mullahs’ Loathing for “The Great Satan” and Its Saudi “Puppets”

By Ali Alyami

There is nothing that the theocratic Mullahs in Tehran would rather do than tarnish the absolute Saudi monarchy’s image and render insignificant its leadership among Muslims and within the international community. It is a well-known fact that these last two tyrannical Muslim regimes are competing for Arab and Muslim leadership in the hope of securing global recognition and legitimacy for their draconian rule at home. In addition, the cruel Iranian regime will stop at nothing to drive a bigger wedge between the absolute Saudi monarchs and their most important protecting ally, the US. However, plotting to attack the Saudi embassy in Washington and kill its hundreds of personnel including King Abdullah’s yes-man ambassador will back fire in a way even the vicious Iranian regime is not suicidal enough to undertake.

The similarities between the autocratic and theocratic regime in Tehran and their counterparts in Riyadh are well known. They are anti-democracy, anti-women, anti-non-Muslims, anti-human rights and share a common objective of ridding Arab and Muslim countries of Western influence so they can continue to oppress their people in the name of God and Shariah law. Both foster, export and finance extremist and terrorist groups in order to spread their influence and extract concessions from Western governments as the Saudis did with Britain regarding Arms Sales’ bribery in 2008. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/15/bae.armstrade).

Knowing that Tehran’s despots and their counterparts in Riyadh are brimming with hate for the US and Israel as well as for each other, it should not be surprising, albeit unlikely in this case, that someone in Tehran would attempt to hire assassins to hit a small Saudi target, especially in the West. The theocrats in Tehran are vying for a leading role among Muslims; and bullying their Saudi competitors along with their US ally would enhance the image of the Iranian regime among many Muslims regardless of religious differences.

Like the Saudi royals (recall King Abdullah's urging President Obama to "cut the head of the snake”), the tyrannical regime in Tehran wants to drag the US and/or Israel into a prolonged war in an Arab or Muslim country so it can convince the rest of the mostly poverty stricken and marginalized Muslims of the “Crusaders’ war” against Islam and Muslims.

Even harsh critics of Arab and Muslim ruling hooligans’ politics and practices would find the Justice Department’s alleged Iranian escapade to be unconvincing, especially at a time when the Iranian regime knows misbehaving could generate a crippling military response by a combination of regional and international coalitions. The Tehran theocrats are vicious, but not suicidal.

Islamists Have Nothing to Offer, But Religious Totalitarianism

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:36:00 +0000

Islamists Have Nothing to Offer, But Religious Totalitarianism

CDHR’s Commentary: While there is legitimate apprehension circulating in the Middle East and around the world regarding Muslim parties wining preliminary elections in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, one has to listen to what the heads of these parties say. They are promising an end to corruption, poverty and oppression. These are the reasons that drove millions of people to the streets to risk their lives to rid their countries of oppressive despots who have subjugated them for decades. These Muslim parties’ fates will be the same as the ones they are replacing if they do not keep their commitments to the new generation of Arabs whose worldly aspirations and needs overcame their crippling fear of their states’ cruel police and security apparatus. It seems that many Western analysts and experts are overlooking an extraordinary factor when they write about or discuss the Arab Uprising even when facts on the ground contradict their abysmal forecasts.
All an astute observer has to do is to look at the freedom and justice seekers (men and women) facing states’ tanks and bullets in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. They are willing to pay the ultimate price to end centuries of religious and political totalitarianism. This new generation of Arabs who are tortured, shot at, killed, starved and incarcerated will not stop at anything less than liberation from the yoke of oppression imposed by the men and institutions that have
coercively dominated their lives and livelihoods for decades and
centuries. For the first time in their tumultuous history, the Arab
people are looking inward instead of blaming outsiders for their systems’ gargantuan failures to meet their basic worldly needs. Unlike the Islamists, the new generation of Arabs yearning for freedom did not have platforms to air their grievances until now. They discovered that freedom is not free and decided to create platforms from which they can make their voices heard and their needs met. Tahrir (liberation) Squares are the new platforms where they can force whoever wins elections and rules think twice before going against their demands for better
governance that works for them instead of enslaving them.
What the Arab masses, rich and poor, are fighting and dying for is
above and beyond what the Islamists are capable of offering:
liberation from all forms of dictatorship, especially
oppressive religious taboos and the imposition of stifling doctrines. One can learn a lesson from the Iranian masses’ support for the Islamists Revolution in 1979, until they discovered the Mullahs for who they really are: Power seeking hooligans. The Arabs, especially liberals, youth, women and minorities, in Tunis and Egypt are already engaging the Islamists politically and in some cases physically over their political future.
At the end of the day, the freedom fighters will win, especially if
they receive genuine support from the West which has thus far taken very cautious measures in selective places and continues to support
tyrannical systems in places like Saudi Arabia and other small but
wealthy Gulf states which finance Islamists and anti-democracy groups in Arab and Muslim countries and the international community,
especially the West.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/egypt-election-runoffs_n_1129135.html

The World needs Islamic guidance” Says the King

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:35:00 +0000

The World needs Islamic guidance” Says the King

CDHR’s Commentary: In a speech read on his behalf at an influential Muslim scholars' conference in November 2011, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia sounded self-assured that “Only Islam’s mercy, light and guidance can provide people with a way forward in life and toward the Hereafter.” The King went on to implore all Muslims to convince non-Muslims to come to and embrace the Muslim faith [i.e., the Saudi brand of Islam, Wahhabi doctrine] because he inexplicably believes that non-Muslims are in need of redemption and “Islam, with its comprehensive divine values and a balanced view of life, is alone capable of rescuing humankind from its current behavioral predicament…”
The King reminded Muslims that it’s their obligation to convert non-Muslims to Islam, “The Muslim Ummah [community] has a responsibility to call people to Islam through its Da’wa [Call] work around the globe.” Perhaps King Abdullah is not cognizant of the fact that he is presiding over one of the most religiously oppressed and least politically free countries on earth. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, home to its two holiest shrines, the Quran is its constitution and the Shariah is its law. In other words, Saudi Arabia is ruled in accordance with Islamic teachings, laws and commands, as interpreted by the Kingdom's Hambali/Wahhabi “religious” men.
King Abdullah’s well-timed and pointed plea to the 1.5 billion Muslims during their holiest occasion, the annual pilgrimage rituals, and its far-reaching implications never made it to Western news outlets, despite the fact that the West is his target. One would think that King Abdullah is asking Muslims to perform the impossible given the current slaughtering of Muslims by other Muslims, but he is not. Millions of people around the world are economically hurting, vulnerable and looking for solutions from any source, specially the divine ones.
It is not accidental that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, particularly in Western societies where the overwhelming majority of the populations see Islam as a belief, not as a domineering value system that controls every aspect of its adherents’ lives, perceptions and relations with non-Muslims. The majority of Muslims have been brainwashed into believing that the rule of law, freedom of choice and individual liberty are antithesis to divine laws, therefore blasphemous.
King Abdullah's call on Muslims to spread Islam and its Shariah law must not be taken lightly. He is the “Custodian” of Islam’s two holiest shrines in Mecca and Madina to which most of the world’s 1.5 billion poverty stricken, oppressed and indoctrinated Muslims look for guidance, instructions and money. It would be naïve and myopic to think that the King’s call would fall on deaf ears as many in the West seem to think. After all, he is the absolute ruler of the most religiously and financially influential country in Arab and Muslim lands and beyond.
Prominent Muslim scholars from the prestigious Al-Azhar University and others have described the Saudi brand of Islam, Wahhabism, as enemy number one of Islam and Muslims. The former President of Indonesia Abdulrahman Wahid, a world renowned Muslim scholar himself, called on the international community to unite and defeat the Wahhabi doctrine because it poses a deadly threat to democracies and harmony among people. The West should listen and prevent Islamist ideology from taking root in Western societies, where it will result in social strife, divisions and conflict as is the case in many Arab and Muslim countries and communities.

Read article
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=20111101111499

“What Do Saudi Women Want?"

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:30:00 +0000

“What Do Saudi Women Want?"

CDHR’s Comment: Saudi women want the most basic rights: recognition as full human beings, full citizenship, financial independence and the right to move freely. With gargantuan respect and admiration for Ms. Eman Al Nafjan’s intelligence, courage and struggle, I beg to differ with some of her insinuations that the majority of Saudi women prefers to live under what amounts to a modern slavery system. I agree with Ms. Al Nafjan that many women (and men) in the motherland remain nostalgic for their past and fearful of what’s denied to them. I disagree that the majority of the severely disenfranchised population, especially women, would not appreciate something better than living under institutionalized discriminatory and intimidating policies, harshly enforced by a system whose hegemonic survival depends on dividing, conquering and ensuring the population's dependence on handouts and omnipresent fear of God, whipping sticks and the sword. Like any people, if Saudi women and men have free choices based on facts and knowledge of better alternatives, the overwhelming majority is more likely to denounce every aspect of their rasping culture, distorted religious teachings and suffocating social and political arrangements.
The Saudi people can learn, think for themselves and distinguish between the good, the bad and everything in between. They can change and in due time embrace values that are the antithesis of what they have been programmed into believing are supreme to all other values, especially those of the “infidels," which most educated Saudi men and women strive to attain. This is evidenced by traveling Saudis, most of whom cannot wait to board a plane and strip off their suffocating and unsightly attire and to slip into the outfits people they have been told are dirty, unethical sinners and hell-bound blasphemous unbelievers.
I agree with Ms. Al Nafjan and millions of Saudis and other Muslims that religion has been used as a tool of oppression, discrimination, segregation and intolerance against those who think out of the box, as well as non-Muslims and Muslim minorities. This is why many Muslims are not only questioning the authenticity of their faith, but severely criticizing it and many are leaving it altogether. The quandary is not that Saudi women and men cannot labor for, embrace and appreciate independence, self-reliance and liberation from the yoke of political, social, sexual and religious totalitarianism, it’s the system under which they are forced to live and coercively obey. All the people need is freedom of choices to venture into the unknown, explore their untapped potential and put them in good use for themselves and for their influential country.
What needs to be done to alter for the people of the motherland, including those who rule, is a re-interpretation of Muslim textbooks, leaving religion to the individual, transforming all institutions to meet people’s needs now and installing an accountable and transparent mechanism whereby the people are in charge of their country’s safety, prosperity and destiny. This will take time to blossom, but the time to start is now before violence becomes the only hope for people to realize their dreams and become the authors of their fate.
Finally and based on first hand experiences, I found Saudi women to be the most resilient people I have ever met, worked with, befriended and watched since I was a child in the oppressed southern region of the vast land of Arabia. Sadly and inexplicably, the theocratic and autocratic iron-fisted ruling men are not taking notice of the people's aspirations and based on their history and state of mind they are not likely going to change until they have no choice. By then it will be too late for everyone.

Read more: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/what_do_saudi_women_want

What Do Saudi Women Want?
It's not as simple as driving, voting, and property.
BY EMAN AL NAFJAN | DECEMBER 2011

What do Saudi women want? I wish I could give you an easy answer. But Saudi Arabia is a diverse land -- spread out across a vast territory almost a fourth the size of the United States and divided by religious sects and among some 45 tribes. Divining the Saudi people's demands, never mind those of Saudi women, is no simple task.
By law, every Saudi woman has a male guardian. At birth, the guardianship is given to her father and then upon marriage to her husband. If a woman is a widow, her guardianship is given to her son -- meaning that she would need her own son's permission for the majority of her interactions with the government, including the right to travel abroad. Legal recourse is difficult to obtain, especially because abuse is only recognized when it's physical abuse. Even then, the Saudi justice system is patriarchal, bordering on the misogynistic. For example, to this day the Justice Ministry has not issued a law banning child marriage, leaving the decision at the discretion of the girl's father.
You would think that women living under these conditions would long for liberty, independence, and civil rights. Many do -- as this year's driving campaign makes clear. However, it's just not that simple. Millions of others are still not sure they are ready for change. Some explain their indecision as a fear that they might have to assume responsibilities they are incapable of undertaking. One fellow Saudi tells me that she sees what women have to put up with abroad: "I see how American women have to run around the city running errands, and I don't want to open that door. As long as women driving is banned, no one will have these expectations for me," she says.
In fact, Saudi Arabia may be even more conservative than most outsiders think. There are some who are not only passively happy with the status quo but also loud in their resistance to any form of change. In 2009, a Jeddah woman named Rawdah Al-Yousif, in collaboration with members of the royal family, organized a campaign to strengthen the guardianship system. It was called "My Guardian Knows What's Best for Me." They urged the king not to give in to local activists and international human rights organizations regarding the guardianship system. Another campaign gathered thousands of signatures from both men and women calling for the extension of gender segregation laws to hospitals -- the same segregation laws that have led to Saudi women only making up 15 percent of the national workforce and an unemployment rate for women so high that the government won't release the numbers. The only public places where these laws are not enforced are malls and hospitals. Yet there are Saudis who would like to see segregation even there.
None of this is a surprise, considering what is being taught in the public school system. In religion classes, students learn that the Saudi interpretation of Islam supersedes any worldly concepts of human rights. Women have the most to lose, yet these ideas are so ingrained that I defy you to find a report of a Saudi mother complaining about what her children are being taught.
Women in most countries may take their aspirations for freedom for granted, but for many of us, it is brand new. An exasperated expatriate in Riyadh once expressed to me how frustrated she was with the requirement to wear an abaya everywhere. She wondered: How do you all put up with having to cover your faces for your whole adult lives? What she didn't realize was that many Saudi women look at her and wonder: How can she walk around without an abaya? How is it that she doesn't feel exposed and naked?
Yet I am happy to say that I am one of many women hungry for self-determination -- women who have realized that though liberty and rights come with responsibility, it also gives them and their daughters the autonomy to pursue their happiness.
And yes, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Saudi women who are fighting for their rights -- and the well-covered driving campaign is just one of many battles, from fighting for the right to manage their own businesses to being allowed to freely leave and enter the country without their guardian's permission. Even something as simple as recognizing women lawyers in our judicial system could be transformational. And that, of course, is why it is so hard.

Crown Prince Nayef—the Next Saudi King?

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:27:00 +0000

Source URL: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/crown-prince-nayef-next-saudi-king_604268.html

Crown Prince Nayef—the Next Saudi King?
Ali H. Alyami
November 1, 2011 9:20 AM

A shadow has darkened prospects for democratic reform in Saudi Arabia with the announcement that the most envied, loathed, and feared man in the country is now heir to the throne. Unless the present king, the elderly and ailing Abdullah, outlives him, the newly named Crown Prince Nayef – himself in his late 70s – is likely to preside over an even more repressive kingdom than Saudi Arabia already is today.
Unpopular domestically, regionally, and globally, Nayef is known for his heavy-handedness, his unequivocal support for the religious establishment, his objection to judicial and political reforms, his opposition to the rights of women and minorities, and his control of the entire Saudi security apparatus.
Despite all this, and because of the challenges facing the Saudi regime at home and abroad, King Abdullah and some senior members of the ruling family deem Nayef to be the right man to rule Saudi Arabia next. President Obama, too, issued a positively laudatory statement—“I congratulate King Abdullah and the Saudi people on the selection of Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz as crown prince. We in the United States know and respect him for his strong commitment to combating terrorism and supporting regional peace and security”—even though Prince Nayef is reported to have refused to cooperate with the FBI after the 9/11 attacks on the United States and still insists that those attacks were caused by a Zionist conspiracy. Needless to say, Nayef has never declared his support for the Arab Peace Initiative with Israel.
For the West and other major oil-consuming countries, stability in Saudi Arabia, still the largest oil exporter, supersedes all other considerations, regardless of the price and who must pay. Any major disruption in oil production and shipment from Arabia could create global economic havoc with unmanageable consequences. This situation will continue until a reasonably priced alternative to oil is available.
What is being myopically overlooked, however, not out of ignorance but out of disconcerting necessity, is that Nayef’s ascent to the throne could expedite the very instability in Saudi Arabia that so many are hoping to avoid. If he becomes king, Nayef will preside over a fast-changing and restless society that is less fearful of authority than in the past. Nonstop, lively exchanges on social media show that the Saudi people expect the worst under his reign. The majority of the Saudi people, like other Arabs and people everywhere, yearn for an alternative to their oppressive regime and its outmoded, unresponsive, and dysfunctional institutions. It’s estimated that between 60 and 70 percent of the Saudi population is less than 30 years of age and that over 40 percent of men and women in the 20-24 age group are unemployed. This is a ticking time bomb. Government handouts will not silence these people for long.
Even if Nayef is sufficiently ruthless to guarantee his family’s safety, keep its unruly members in line, and maintain stability for a time by sheer force, he may still be the least suitable man to rule Saudi Arabia in a period of escalating demands for change. These demands come from a generation that is disconnected from the world Nayef and his aging brothers were born into and live in still. Nayef will strengthen the Wahhabi religious establishment to intimidate the populace and keep them in check, as he has always done. A more theocratic and dangerous Saudi Arabia is inevitable under Nayef. It will be partly the fruit of the West’s appetite for Saudi money and oil.
Ali H. Alyami is executive director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia.

ما لا يقال عن أهمية اعتصام 21 محرم للمطالبة باطلاق سراح المعتقلين

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:53:00 +0000

تحليل مركز الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان في السعودية – واشنطن

بداية يحي مركز الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان في السعودية ومقره العاصمة الأميركية واشنطن الدعوة التي أطلقها أهالي المعتقلين للاعتصام السلمي يوم الجمعة القادم من أجل المطالبة بإطلاق سراح المعتقلين. إن هذه الدعوة خطوة مهمة تستحق الدعم من جميع شرائح المجتمع في السعودية كما أنها دليل واضح على مدى الوعي والنضوج الفكري الذي يتمتع به منظموا هذا الاعتصام وسعة ثقافتهم القانونية وعمق معرفتهم بحقوقهم الشرعية ورغبتهم في المحافظة على سمعة بلادهم فقضية المعتقلين قضية إنسانية في المقام الأول ويتعاطف معها غالبية أفراد الشعب السعودي.

لقد أكد المنظمون على سلمية الاعتصام وعلى أنهم ضد العنف والفوضى وأن اعتصامهم يأتي فقط من أجل المطالبة بالافراج عن المعتقلين القابعين في السجون منذ سنوات طويلة بدون محاكمات.

كما أوضحوا أنهم لم يقرروا الاعتصام إلا بعد فشل جميع محاولاتهم في جذب اهتمام المسؤولين لقضية المعتقلين، فقد جاء في بيانهم الثالث المنشور على صفحة الاعتصام بموقع "فيس بوك": "فقد سعينا من خلال القنوات الرسمية في التظلم لذوينا وكتبنا للمسؤولين واتصلنا بالعلماء وقدمنا المعاريض الفردية والجماعية ولم نلاقي إلا الإهمال. وبعد ذلك قررنا التوجه لمكتب وزير الداخلية فتعرضنا للقمع واعتقل البعض ولا يزال معتقلا لحد الآن".

إن من الحكمة أن تستجيب السلطات السعودية لمطالب المعتصمين بتطبيق نصوص القانون على المعتقلين وعدم استخدام العنف لقمع المعتصمين كما حدث في شهر مارس الماضي عندما تجمع أهالي المعتقلين أمام وزارة الداخلية، فالعنف لن يؤدي إلا إلى زيادة غضب الشعب واجباره على اللجوء إلى العنف لتحقيق مطالبه.

والسؤال الذي يطرح نفسه هو: إلى متى تستمر السلطات السعودية في تطبيق سياسة الاعتقالات التعسفية على كل من ينتقد ممارسات النظام ويدعو إلى الإصلاح بدعوى الحفاظ على الأمن واستقرار البلاد؟

ما لا يقال عن مستقبل السعودية تحت حكم سلمان ونايف

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:42:00 +0000

تحليل مركز الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان في السعودية – واشنطن

إن تعيين الأمير نايف لولاية العهد في السعودية وتعيين شقيقه الأمير سلمان وزيرا للدفاع دليل واضح على أن الجناح السديري المتشدد الذي يقوده الأميران قد تمكن من حكم البلاد مرة أخرى. وبالنظر إلى تاريخ الأميرين وتوجهاتهما فإن من المتوقع أن مستقبل السعودية تحت سيطرتهما لا يبشر بخير ولا يوحي ببارقة أمل في الإصلاح. ولا نبالغ إن توقعنا أن الشعب السعودي سيعاني القمع وسيذوق الويلات تحت حكم الأميرين لأنهما من أشد المعارضين للتغيير وأكثر من يدعمون التيار الديني المتشدد داخل وخارج السعودية.

يشترك الأميران – كما ذكرنا - في رفضهما القاطع لأي إصلاح من شأنه إشراك الشعب في تقرير مصيره وسن القوانين وتنفيذها ونقل البلاد إلى الإزدهار والتقدم وسيادة القانون وإرساء الحقوق والحريات وحمايتها ومحاسبة الفاسدين والمساواة بين جميع فئات المجتمع. كما أن الأميرين من أشد المتمسكين ببقاء الوضع على ما هو عليه باستخدام الدين كأداة للبقاء في الحكم وبدعم رجال الدين ومنحهم الصلاحيات الكاملة والحصانة اللازمة لقمع الشعب. بالإضافة إلى ذلك فقد اشتهرا بانتهاج سياسة القبضة الأمنية لإسكات جميع الأصوات المطالبة بالإصلاح والتغيير سواء بتهديدهم وأخذ التعهدات عليهم أو بإيداعهم السجون دون اعتبار لما يجري في العالم العربي من ثورات ضد الأنظمة الدكتاتورية والسياسات والقوانين التعسفية وتفشي الفساد في جميع القطاعات وخاصة في مؤسسات الدولة.

إن من أبرز الأمثلة التي تؤكد استعداد الأمير نايف لقمع الشعب والوقوف في وجه المطالب الحقوقية مهما كلف الأمر هو تصريحه لمجموعة من الإصلاحيين المطالبين بملكية دستورية عند لقائه بهم في عام 2003 الذي قال فيه "إن ما أخذناه بالسيف نحميه بالسيف". وهذا يعني أنه يعتبر الدولة ملكا خاصا بالعائلة الحاكمة تتصرف فيه كما تشاء. ولا يخفى على أحد طريقة توظيف نايف لرجال الدين ورجال الأمن - الذين من المفترض أن يكونوا في خدمة المواطنين وتأمين سلامتهم - في ترويع الشعب والقضاء على آماله.

ومن تصريحاته المشهورة في دعم التيار الديني الذي يمقته الشعب قوله "إن الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر ركن سادس من أركان الإسلام".

ولا تقتصر سياسة نايف الأمنية على قمع المواطنين السعوديين فحسب بل تمتد إلى كل من يطالب بالعدالة الاجتماعية والحقوق الشرعية خارج السعودية كما حدث في البحرين بإرسال قوات درع الجزيرة التي يقف الأمير نايف خلف إنشائها من أجل التأكيد على منع أي حكم ديمقراطي في الجزيرة العربية، وكما يظهر من دفاعه واستضافته للحكام المطرودين كحسني مبارك وزين العابدين، وعلي عبد الله صالح.

ولا يختلف الأمير سلمان كثيرا عن نايف في تأييده للتيار الديني وتبنيه النهج الأمني لقمع المطالبين بالإصلاح مهما كلف الأمر فقد اشتهر بدفاعه المستميت عن الوهابية التي يعتبرها الإسلام الحقيقي. كما يؤكد تصريحه أثناء زيارته للقوات الجوية مؤخرا بأن "استقرار المجتمع يعتمد على قوة القوات المسلحة" إصراره على الإبقاء على سياسة القمع وعدم الالتفات إلى المطالب الشرعية للشعب.

والسؤال الذي يطرح نفسه هو: ما الذي يمنع الأسرة الحاكمة في السعودية من الاستفادة من دروس التاريخ والحاضر التي تؤكد أن إرادة الشعوب لا يمكن قهرها وأن النظم الدكتاتورية مصيرها إلى زوال وأن الاستجابة لمطالب الشعب هي ما يحقق الأمن والاستقرار؟

Women Driving Will End Virginity in Saudi Arabia

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:01:00 +0000

CDHR’s Analysis: The most offensive new charade to justify barring women from driving was recently issued by the religious wing of the Saudi ruling regime. It stated that, “Within 10 years of the ban being lifted… there would be ‘no more virgins’ in the Islamic kingdom." To augment its tradition of denigrating Saudi women, the religious establishment’s report went on to say that allowing women to drive will "provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce." This accusatory and repugnant declaration by the Saudi government’s religious establishment is designed to debase Saudi women, maintain men’s domination over every aspect of their lives and turn people against each other as they do in turning the majority Sunni Muslims against their brothers and sisters, the Shi’a minority. All is done because God and Islam demand it, according to the Saudi High Religious Council.

Prior to and during the early days of the establishment of Islam some 15 centuries ago, women in the vast and inhospitable Arabian deserts were free to travel, work with men on farms, herd and graze animals, harvest and sell their goods in communal markets and most of them barely covered most of their bodies. Incomprehensibly, 15 centuries later Saudi women are not allowed to travel, seek jobs, go to schools, obtain life-saving medication or give birth to babies in hospitals without male (male-guardian) permission. They are prohibited from mingling with men (publicly or in the work place), they cannot choose their spouses, practice law in courts or vote in the nation's cosmetic municipal elections. They are the only people on this planet that are barred from driving despite the fact that many Saudi women are doctors, scientists, brain surgeons, professors, businesswomen and pilots. However, there are limits to how much any people can endure.

Saudi women are fighting back on all fronts, especially for their most basic right: freedom of movement. In recent years, many Saudi women have been challenging the system’s nebulous policies and futile reasoning for denying them the right to drive. Their demands to drive draw domestic and international attention and support, and consequently severe reprisal by their insecure government, including imprisonments, intimidation and threats to some of them, their families and their supporters. The regime, through its religious establishment, is resorting to the most abhorrent and insulting reasons to perpetuate its repression of women as the articles below indicates.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8930168/Allowing-women-drivers-in-Saudi-Arabia-will-be-end-of-virginity.html

http://www.m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/szxtNjvURSWh4ynPFTn5TxA/view.m?id=15&gid=commentisfree/2011/dec/06/saudi-study-women-drivers&cat=commentisfree

“What Do Saudi Women Want? “

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:04:00 +0000

CDHR’s Comment: Saudi women want the most basic rights: recognition as full human beings, full citizenship, financial independence and the right to move freely. With gargantuan respect and admiration for Ms. Eman Al Nafjan’s intelligence, courage and struggle, I beg to differ with some of her insinuations that the majority of Saudi women prefers to live under what amounts to a modern slavery system. I agree with Ms. Al Nafjan that many women (and men) in the motherland remain nostalgic for their past and fearful of what’s denied to them. I disagree that the majority of the severely disenfranchised population, especially women, would not appreciate something better than living under institutionalized discriminatory and intimidating policies, harshly enforced by a system whose hegemonic survival depends on dividing, conquering and ensuring the population's dependence on handouts and omnipresent fear of God, whipping sticks and the sword. Like any people, if Saudi women and men have free choices based on facts and knowledge of better alternatives, the overwhelming majority is more likely to denounce every aspect of their rasping culture, distorted religious teachings and suffocating social and political arrangements.

The Saudi people can learn, think for themselves and distinguish between the good, the bad and everything in between. They can change and in due time embrace values that are the antithesis of what they have been programmed into believing are supreme to all other values, especially those of the “infidels," which most educated Saudi men and women strive to attain. This is evidenced by traveling Saudis, most of whom cannot wait to board a plane and strip off their suffocating and unsightly attire and to slip into the outfits of people they have been told are dirty, unethical sinners and hell-bound, blasphemous unbelievers.

I agree with Ms. Al Nafjan and millions of Saudis and other Muslims that religion has been used as a tool of oppression, discrimination, segregation and intolerance against those who think out of the box, as well as non-Muslims and Muslim minorities. This is why many Muslims are not only questioning the authenticity of their faith, but severely criticizing it and many are leaving it altogether. The quandary is not that Saudi women and men cannot labor for, embrace and appreciate independence, self-reliance and liberation from the yoke of political, social, sexual and religious totalitarianism, it’s the system under which they are forced to live and coercively obey. All the people need is freedom of choices to venture into the unknown, explore their untapped potential and put them in good use for themselves and for their influential country.

What needs to be done to alter things positively for the people of the motherland, including those who rule, is a re-interpretation of Muslim textbooks, leaving religion to the individual, transforming all institutions to meet people’s needs now and installing an accountable and transparent mechanism whereby the people are in charge of their country’s safety, prosperity and destiny. This will take time to blossom, but the time to start is now before violence becomes the only hope for people to realize their dreams and become the authors of their fate.

Finally and based on first hand experiences, I found Saudi women to be the most resilient people I have ever met, worked with, befriended and watched since I was a child in the oppressed southern region of the vast land of Arabia. Sadly and inexplicably, the theocratic and autocratic iron-fisted ruling men are not taking notice of the people's aspirations and based on their history and state of mind they are not likely going to change until they have no choice. By then it will be too late for everyone. Read more: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/what_do_saudi_women_want

To a Saudi Prince (in Arabic)

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:08:00 +0000

إلى أمير سعودي

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/26984

كتابات مناهضة للعائلة المالكة السعودية في القطيف (أ ف ب)

أسعد أبو خليل

أستاذ العلوم السياسيّة في جامعة كاليفورنيا (موقعه على الإنترنت

أنتَ لست وسيماً ولست ذكيّاً ولست عارفاً ولست حكيماً ولست ظريفاً ولست لطيفاً. أنت عكس كل ما سمعتَ عن شخصك عبر السنوات والعقود. لم تتبوّاً منصباً واحداً في كرة القدم أو في وزارات الدولة عن جدارة أو كفاءة. لم يبتسم لك رجل أو امرأة إلا قسراً أو طمعاً أو تملّقاً. لم يتسنّ لك يوماً أن ترى نفسك على حقيقتك في مرآة: الحاشية تقف بينك وبين المرآة. أنت محاط بجيش من المتملّقين (جلّهم من اللبنانيّين من عبدة الدولار) الذين لا ينفكّون عن مداعبة غرورك ومجاملتك والانحناء أمامك. لديك فرصة لتنظر فيها إلى حقيقة نفسك، فانتهزها.

أنت لست تقيّاً ولا ورعاً ولا وطنيّاً ولا عروبيّاً ولا إنسانيّاً. أنت تلقّيت كمية هائلة من القصائد والمدائح، من الشرق ومن الغرب (لا يقلّ الغربي عن الشرقي في تملّقه لآل سعود)، وذلك كان خدعة لك. لم تدرك حجم النكبة التي حلت بالأمة نتيجة سيادتك السياسيّة ودورك المُخرب وضخّك للفتنة. لست ناجحاً ولا مثابراً ولا ماهراً ولا بارعاً. كل ما قيل فيك قيل بثمن باهظ وعلى حساب الناس وكراماتهم. نادراً ما تقرأ كلاماً صريحاً عن آل سعود بالعربيّة أو الإنكليزيّة أو الفرنسيّة. بعضهم يعترف في المقدّمة من الكتاب، كما فعلت ناتانا ديلونغ باس في كتابها عن «الإسلام الوهّابي»، الصادر عن دار جامعة أكسفور للنشر، بأنّه (أو أنّها) تلقّى معونة ماليّة في إعداد الكتاب من هذا الأمير أو ذاك في آل سعود. لماذا تخيفكم الحقيقة يا أمراء آل سعود؟ لماذا تهربون مذعورين من المواجهة والمكاشفة والمصارحة؟ لماذا تدعون نفاقاً إلى الديموقراطيّة في سوريا (وهي أقلّ ما يستحقّ الشعب السوري جرّاء معاناته تحت حكم آل الأسد)، وانتم ألد أعداء الديموقراطيّة؟ أنتم يا أمراء آل سعود: لو كنتم محبوبين من الناس، هل كنتم ستنفقون الملايين والمليارات في اقتناء الصحف والمطبوعات كي تبتاعوا ثناءً ومديحاً ونفاقاً؟ هل كنتم ستستأجرون الأبواق اللبنانيّة (التي كانت في الماضي مُستأجرة من صدّام حسين ومعمّر القذّافي وياسر عرفات) التي تواظب على تبجيلكم؟ كانت شعبيّة عبد الناصر مجانيّة: لم تكلّفه قرشاً، أما أنتم فتنفقون المليارات ولا تزالون مكروهين رغم إنفاقكم الهائل. قل هي أشياء لا تُشترى لمن كان من صنفكم. هل تقرأون عن أخبار تعرّض أمراء آل سعود في وسط بيروت، للضرب على يد الناس العاديّين؟ كان الناس هناك يتسابقون لتسديد اللكمات والرفسات ضد هذا الأمير وذاك. لو زال نفطكم ومالكم لطاردكم الناس بالنعال في كل البلدان العربيّة. لو زال نفطكم، لما وجدتم من يؤويكم من غضب الناس. الدنيا، يا آل سعود، هي غير ما يصوّر لكم سمير عطا الله وجهاد الخازن وعماد الدين أديب وفؤاد مطر (هذا الذي هجر التملّق للنظام الناصري كي يتملّق للنظام الصدّامي قبل أن يتملّق لكم).

يا أميراً سعوديّاً: لا تصدّقهم. أنت ثقيل الدم في رقصة العرضة. لو أنّ وديع الصافي رقص الباليه، لكان ألطف على العين من مشهد رقصكم. رقصة العرضة: تعبير عن رجوليّة بائدة ومُتخلّفة. تعبير عن عزلكم للمرأة. هي مقبولة في مخادعكم ومطابخكم فقط. وليس هناك من ثقافة في مهرجان «الجنادريّة» ولو جذبتم إليه «مثقّفين» بالأجرة. ومشاهد عواطفكم مع بعضكم البعض لا تثير فينا إلا الاشمئزاز. الحقّ الحقّ نقول لكم: لا نكترث لأخبار زواج سطّام، وطلاق مقرن ووفاة سلطان. هذه أخبار لا تعنينا في شيء وإن جعلتموها بمالكم أخباراً جليلة للأمّة.

قد تنتمي أنت، يا أميراً من أمراء آل سعود، إلى الجيل الأوّل من أبناء عبد العزيز. أنت لم تدرس التاريخ أو الجغرافيا: ذهبتَ إلى «مدرسة الأمراء» وتلقّيتَ من العلوم والآداب... لا شيء. أنت من جيل الأمراء الأوائل الذين قدّموا ملوكاً لآل سعود منذ وفاة الملك المؤسّس. لكن، متى كانت الكفاءة شرطاً لتبوّء المنصب الرفيع؟ لو كنتَ ذهبت إلى مدرسة عاديّة، غير «مدرسة الأمراء» حيث يحقّ للتلميذ ضرب المعلّم، وحيث القيلولة تستغرق أكثر من ساعات الدراسة، لعرفتَ أنّ لقب الإمارة لم يأتِ إلا من رضى المُستعمر البريطاني، كما كانت الإمبراطوريّة العثمانيّة تغدق الألقاب على عملائها ووكلائها وجلاديها في الولايات. أنت يا أمير آل سعود تنتمي إلى جيل كانت فيه الكفاءة نقيضاً للرجولة، والرجعيّة صنواً للتديّن، والنفاق تعريفاً للسياسة. هذا هو حكمكم يا آل سعود.

هل فكّرت يوماً في مصيرك لو تبخّرت أموالك وفقدت نفطك وثروتك؟ من يبقى معك من جيش المنافقين والتابعين والمُصفّقين؟ لو حدث ذلك لك، لهبّت أبواقك من اللبنانيّين (وغيرهم من المشرقيّين العرب) المنتشرين في مضاربك الإعلاميّة، ولتذكّروا أنهم ليبيراليّون عن حق، ولطالبوا بتحرير المرأة والرجل في مملكة القهر الوهابيّة. لو تبخّرت ثرواتك، لما وجدت نديماً حولك ولا متملّقاً ولا ساقياً. عندها فقط، لكشّر اللبنانيّون من حولك عن عنصريّتهم الكريهة ضد أهل الخليج (والتي يجهدون لإخفائها أمامك طمعاً بدولارك). عندها فقط، يضيق بك جلدك وتحاول الفرار إلى الخارج، إلى مكان لا يتبيّن وجهك فيه أحد. عندها فقط تبتعد عن أرض الجزيرة التي سطوتَم عليها بالسيف والجهاد الزائف، وأبقيتم احتلالكم وسيطرتكم بفعل الدعم الغربي الاستعماري. لو أعطيتَ الأمان لشعبك وللشعب العربي برمّته، لسمعت ما لا يسرّك. لو أتيح لهم، لأسمعوكم يا آل سعود ما لم يقله الحطيئة. لسمعتَ أيّها الأمير أنّك مكروه مكروه في كل العالم العربي. حتى الذين يتلقّون منك الأموال، وحتى الذين يتسكّعون على أعتاب مضاربك يضمرون لك البغضاء. كيف لا نكرهك يا أميراً في آل سعود؟ بأي حق أصبحت وكيلاً عن الشعب العربي: تتحدّث باسمه وتضع المبادرات الذليلة مع العدوّ باسمه، وتجعل من نفسك إلهاً عليه؟ بأي حق؟ وبأي حق تصبح الكعبة ملكاً لك، تعرضها كما يعرض بعض الأمراء مُقتنياته من السيارات النفيسة؟

أنت، يا أميراً من آل سعود، لا تستحق أن تتبوأ أي منصب في الدولة. لو تحدّثنا عن الجيل الأوّل من الأمراء لقلنا إنّ واحداً منكم لم يتقن اللغة الرسميّة في المملكة ولم يكتسب أياً من العلوم والآداب. بعضكم كان منهمكاً في مشاغل: الملك فهد، قضى شباباً وكهولة على موائد القمار وفي ملاهي الجنس في أوروبا. الملك فيصل كان أسيراً لهوسه بالخطر الشيوعي الذي بالصدفة تزامن مع الهوس الأميركي (السيّد والسائد). الملك فيصل كان يبيعنا تمنيات بالصلاة في القدس، فيما كان يتلقّى السلاح الإسرائيلي للاستعمال ضد الجيش المصري في اليمن. هذا جزء من تاريخكم غير المكتوب، يا آل سعود. الملك عبد الله تغزّل بمعاني الرجولة على طريقة فتى عربي في قبيلة قبل قرون خلت، وما استطاع يوماً قراءة جملة صحيحة في العربيّة. هناك أبنية شُيّدت في السعوديّة لإيواء مطلّقاته. مَن مِن أمراء آل سعود يستطيع أن يكتب جملة مفيدة أو يعبّر عن فكرة دون تدخّل الحاشية؟ ومَن مِن أمراء آل سعود يستطيع أن يقرأ جملة عربيّة واحدة دون تلعثم وأخطاء؟ وتصرّون على تمثيل العرب وقيادتهم والتحدّث باسمهم؟ وتصرّون على ادّعاء تجسيد العروبة، وأنتم الذين حاربوا كل تجليات في الفكر والممارسة العروبيّة عبر العقود، لكنّكم أصبحتم عروبيّين فجأة عندما بدأتم بمخطط إقناع العرب بأنّ إيران لا إسرائيل هي العدوّ.

يا أميراً في آل سعود. ماذا قدّمتم لنا في السعوديّة وفي العالم العربي؟ هل عشتم حياة العربي العادي، أو حتى علمتم بها؟ يا أميراً في آل سعود، هل وطئت قدماك يوماً مخيّماً فلسطينيّاً؟ هل أمسكت بيد طفل جريح من ضحايا قذائف وصواريخ، أهديتموها لحزب الكتائب اللبنانيّة أثناء الحرب الأهليّة؟ هل رأيت يوماً مفتاح بيت لعائلة فلسطينيّة هُجرت منه عنوة في 1948؟ أنت لم تزر مخيّماً واحداً لشعب فلسطين، لكنّك كنت تجول دوريّاً في مخيمات اللاجئين الأفغان بأمر من سيّدك الأميركي. هل رأيت ناراً عربيّة وحاولت أن تخمدها؟ على العكس: أنت لا ترى ناراً عربيّة إلا تزيدها اشتعالاً. هل تركت ناراً في اليمن ولم تنفخ في نارها وتحرّض بعض اليمنيّين (وتسلّحهم) ضد البعض الآخر؟ هل رأيت ناراً إسرائيليّة إلا تجاهلتها بالكامل إرضاءً لسيّدك الأميركي؟ حتى النيران التي اشتعلت في المسجد الأقصى وأنت البارز في «شعار الواعظين»، على قول أحمد شوقي، عندما يحلو لك ذلك كسباً وتكسّباً لمشروعيّة تُستجدى، لم تحرّك فيك ساكناً ولم تدفعك إلى التحرّك. بلى، تحرّكت. الملك فيصل أمر فوراً بعقد المؤتمرات والحلقات وإلقاء الخطب الحماسيّة وإصدار الفتاوى الفارغة وتجميع القوى الرجعيّة. بلى تحرّكت يومها، يا أميراً في آل سعود.

الأمير السعودي عاش حياتاً منقوصة. مَن مِن أمراء آل سعود حمل طفلته ودار بها؟ مَن منهم قدّم وردة لزوجته؟ مَن منكم شاهد شروق الشمس صاحياً؟ من منكم كتب قصيدة لم تُكتب له؟ من منكم كتب خطبة لم تُكتب له؟ مَن منكم حمل كتاباً؟ من منكم مشى في حديقة أو استقلّ باصاً عموميّاً في عاصمة أجنبيّة؟ مَن منكم سافر، ولم يترك وراءه سوء السمعة والفضائح؟ مَن منكم قطف ثمرة بنفسه أو قشّر فاكهة بنفسه؟ من منكم قدّم ولو دموعاً لضحيّة فلسطينيّة؟ من منكم لم يقع في نفاق المملكة الفاقع: العيش في خضمّ «موبقات وآثام وخطايا» من المنظار الوهّابي، فيما يبشّرون بتزمّت العقيدة التي على أساسها تحالف آل سعود مع عبد الوهاب. من منكم يا أمراء آل سعود احترم امرأة في حياته ولم يتعامل معها كسلعة؟

إن كل الصور النمطيّة عن العربي في الغرب تستعين بقصص وفضائح من أمراء آل سعود في الغرب. هؤلاء الذين لم نسمع أنّ أحداً منهم دخل مكتبة أو متحفاً أو معرضاً. أمراء آل سعود كانوا مخيّمين في السبعينات في نادي «بلاي بوي» بلندن. هؤلاء من المواظبين على مواخير الغرب والشرق وحاناتهما والملاهي. الأمراء والأميرات من آل سعود لا يدخلون في الصحافة العالميّة، إلا من باب ضرب الخادمات وتعذيبهم، بالإضافة إلى أخبار المخمورين. أمراء سعود هم من أبشع ما في العالم العربي. لو أنّ العالم العربي يتحرّر من سطوة مالهم، لعلم القاصي والداني بأخبار كبائرهم وقبائحهم. لو أنّ أمراء سعود يجولون في العالم العربي ويتحدّثون إلى العامّة بلا حاشية ولا مال، لعرفوا بمدى احتقار الناس، كلّ الناس، لهم.

يا أميراً من آل سعود، في كل القضايا التي مرّت على العالم العربي والإسلامي، لم تحرّككم قضيّة كبيرة إلا قضيّة «المجاهدين» في أفغانستان. هؤلاء المتزمّتون المتطرّفون الظلاميّون سلبوا ألبابكم وأموالكم. لم تتحرّك فيكم النخوة كما تحرّكت في تلك القضيّة الظالمة التي أنتجت طالبان والقاعدة، وأنهت حكماً ساوى بين الجنسين. لعلّ المساواة بين الجنسين هي التي استثارت غرائزكم وحميّتكم. كان ياسر عرفات في التسعينات يعطي متحسّراً تقديرات تفوق الستة عشر مليار دولار لحجم المساهمة السعوديّة في الجهاد الأفغاني. لم تقعوا على قضيّة رجعيّة إلا تبنّيتموها واعتنقتموها ونشرتموها. حاربتم اليسار والشيوعيّة والعلمانيّة والتنوير والنسويّة والحريّة، في كل مكان في العالم. حتى في إيطاليا، رميتم أموالكم على الحزب اليميني الرجعي في السبعينات، بأمر من أميركا كي تمنعوا وصول الشيوعيّين إلى الحكم. ماذا يجمع بينكم وبين الشعب العربي؟ حتى اللغة ليست جامعة: النطق بالعربيّة يعصى على الملك السعودي وعلى عدد وفير من الأمراء: هؤلاء الذين تخرّجوا من «مدرسة الأمراء».

أجيال تتعاقب من آل سعود ونكباتنا تتثاقل. البعض من الجيل الثاني تعلّم ـــــ يُقال. الأمير تركي الفيصل أمضى سنوات في جامعة جورجتاون، ولم يحصل على شهادة (لكن عمله في الاستخبارات السعوديّة عبر السنوات، بالإضافة إلى ماله، أدّى بالجامعة ـــــ الضعيفة أمام المال النفطي والعربي، يُسأل عن ذلك الطالب غير النجيب، سعد الحريري، الذي قُبل بقدرة قادرة، لدراسة إدارة الأعمال في الجامعة ــ لمنحه شهادة) إلا بعد أكثر من عقد من الزمن، وبعد خروجه من الجامعة خائباً وبدون شهادة جدارة. لكن بعض الأمراء، مثل بندر أو خالد بن سلطان أو أمراء وشيوخ آخرين في دول مجلس التعاون، يحصلون على شهادات من كليّات عسكريّة في الغرب. اكتشف هذه الخدعة المكشوفة الملك حسين الأردني. علم الأمراء أنّ «ساندهرست» في بريطانيا تعدّ برنامجاً خاصّاً و«مكثّفاً» وسريعاً وسطحيّاً وباهظ الكلفة لأمراء العرب، ومن دون علوم أو حساب أو وجع رأس، ولا امتحانات. الفائز فيها من يتبرّع بسخاء بأموال النفط. (تظهر ضحالة تلك الشهادات في أداء خالد بن سلطان العسكري ـــــ أذلّ الحوثيّون الجيش السعودي برمّته). شهر أو شهران ويعود الأمير حاملاً شهادة غير حقيقيّة. لكن الغرب ضالع في تآمر فرض حكم الأمراء والشيوخ والملوك والسلاطين فوق صدورنا.

الجيل الثاني والثالث من آل سعود أسوأ من الجيل الأوّل على علاته. الجيل الأوّل عاصر بعضاً من شظف العيش. الجيلان الثاني والثالث عاشا ونشآ في عالم غير عادي من الملذّات (المُحرّمة على الشعب) والرفاهية والفخامة والثراء الفاحش والظلم. هؤلاء ماذا يعرفون عن حياة الناس؟ الجيل الأول اقتنى العبيد والجواري (وبعضهم أنجب منهم، مثل الأمير سلطان بن عبد العزيز). والجيلان الثاني والثالث اقتنيا عبيداً وجواري، بعد تحرّر العبيد في المملكة، وإن تحت مسمّيات مختلفة. يقوم حكم آل سعود على سلّم من التراتبية العنصريّة والطبقيّة: الرجل الأبيض يحتلّ دائماً موقع الصدارة في سلّمهم الوظيفي. العرب والمسلمون هم في أسفل السلّم. الجيلان الثاني والثالث عاشا في الغرب، وقّلدا نمط الاستغراق في الملذّات الذي كرّسه سعود وفهد وعبد الله وسائر الأمراء. الجيلان الثاني والثالث يعانيان غروراً وصلفاً وعنجهيّة نبتت في عصر السيطرة السعوديّة على العالم العربي.

الجيلان الثاني والثالث من آل سعود لم يواجها ثورة جمال عبد الناصر في العلاقات العربيّة. لم يشهد أمراء الجيلين كيف كان الخطاب العربي يخضع للفصل القاطع بين المعسكر الرجعي والتقدّمي (طبعاً، فشل المعسكر التقدّمي وانتهى بإقامة أنظمة قمعيّة حرمت شعوبها الحريّة ولم تسترجع فلسطين، لا بل خسرت المزيد من الأراضي العربيّة). الجيل الأوّل عاش مرارة تلقّي الضربات من النظام الناصري ومن أصوات القوميّة العربيّة واليسار الهادرين في العالم العربي. استطاع الخطاب الناصري التأثير حتى على بعض أمراء آل سعود. لجأ الأمير طلال والأمير بدر إلى مصر، ودانا حكم آل سعود ودعما النظام الناصري. لم تغفر العائلة لهما تلك المعصية، وحُرما الوزارة مدى الحياة. الأمير طلال يريد لنا أن ننسى تلك الحقبة، وقد أعاد كتابة تاريخه في «شهادة على العصر» على «الجزيرة».

الجيلان الثاني والثالث من أمراء آل سعود يظنّان أنّهما وصلا إلى الرقيّ لأنّ البعض فيهما يستطيع أن يطلب خمره في البارات الغربيّة بلغة أجنبيّة. البعض منهم يظن أنّه يستحق الملك. البعض منهم، مثل بندر وتركي، ضاق ذرعاً بصبر الأبناء والسنين. لا يريد أن ينتظر دوره عندما يموت كل أبناء المؤسّس كي يصل إلى الملك. يريد الملك الآن. والجيل الثاني يرى أنّه أدرى بمصالح المملكة، لأنه قفز فوق بعض الموانع التاريخيّة والدينيّة. هؤلاء الذين باتوا يجتمعون مع زعماء إسرائيل ذهاباً وإياباً. يريد الجيل الثاني أن يثبت حسن نياته نحو أميركا، لعلّها تنصّب واحدهم بصورة عاجلة ملكاً. يريد أمراء الجيل الثاني (على طريقة أبناء زايد) إثبات ولائهم لأميركا وإسرائيل عبر تخطّي سياسات الآباء والأجداد، على انصياعها للمُستعمِر. يريد هؤلاء التقرّب من إسرائيل وعرض الحميميّة معها في العلن.

يا أميراً من آل سعود: لن يتحرّر العالم العربي بوجودكم. لن يهنأ للشعب العربي بال بوجودكم. لا نريد إصلاحكم أو هدايتكم أو رشدكم. أنتم تستعصون على الإصلاح وعلى الإرشاد وعلى الهدي. بالعكس، الإصلاح والتقدّم والتنوير مستحيلة معكم. أنتم ـــــ اكتشفنا في ردّة الفعل على سقوط حسني مبارك ـــــ حلفاء إسرائيل في مقاومة الحريّة والديموقراطيّة في كل العالم العربي. يا أمراء آل سعود: ماذا أنجزتم؟ متى كان قراركم مستقلاً؟ هل حافظتم على وعد السيادة؟ هل بمستطاعكم رفض المشيئة الأميركيّة الإسرائيليّة في أمر؟ لو طلبوا منكم نقل الكعبة إلى تل أبيب، لفعلتم صاغرين.

يا أميراً من آل سعود، ضاق عالمنا العربي بكم. كان الملك فهد يقضي أشهراً في قصره بإسبانيا، لماذا لا تذهبون في نفي طوعي إلى قصوركم في أرجاء المعمورة؟ شروركم وفتنكم لا تتوقّف. دعونا نحلم ونرقص ونحبّ ونفرح ونبكِ ونناضل ونقاوم ونرفض من دونكم ومن دون الأنظمة التي فرضتموها علينا (لا يتحدّث إعلام آل سعود عن الدعم المالي السعودي لنظام السلالة الأسديّة). دعونا نلج في قرن جديد: الضغط السعودي يحول دون تقدّمنا وتطوّرنا. لا يمنعنا آل سعود من التقدّم فقط، بل يرتبطون بحلف مع إسرائيل كي يحافظوا على نظام الطغيان الإقليمي.

يسير الأمير السعودي في قافلة طويلة من السيارات والطائرات المذهّبة. يتنقّل بين قصر وآخر. تبقى قضايا الشعوب في خلفيّة الصورة. يسمع بالانتفاضات العربيّة، فينثر الأموال على شعوب الممالك كي تستكين. بين كلّ عربي وكلّ أمير سعودي تراث من النقمة والبغضاء. ليس الأمر شخصيّاً، لكنّه شخصيّ بالمعنى العام. كلّ حريص على القضايا الثلاث: فلسطين والعدالة الاجتماعيّة والتحرّر الوطني، لا بدّ أن يعادي آل سعود. يشتري الأمير السعودي الوقت بالدولارات. حسم أمره: الانتفاضات العربيّة يجب أن تُقمع، إلا في أمكنة يمكن فيها إبدال أنظمة غير موالية بأخرى مُوالية. لكن البوعزيزي اشتعل. أما آبار النفط فلم تشتعل بعد. ليس بعد.

* أستاذ العلوم السياسيّة في جامعة كاليفورنيا (موقعه على الإنترنت:

Crown Prince Nayef—the Next Saudi King?

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:21:00 +0000

9:20 AM, NOV 1, 2011 • BY ALI H. ALYAMI

A shadow has darkened prospects for democratic reform in Saudi Arabia with the announcement that the most envied, loathed, and feared man in the country is now heir to the throne. Unless the present king, the elderly and ailing Abdullah, outlives him, the newly named Crown Prince Nayef – himself in his late 70s – is likely to preside over an even more repressive kingdom than Saudi Arabia already is today.

Unpopular domestically, regionally, and globally, Nayef is known for his heavy-handedness, his unequivocal support for the religious establishment, his objection to judicial and political reforms, his opposition to the rights of women and minorities, and his control of the entire Saudi security apparatus.

Despite all this, and because of the challenges facing the Saudi regime at home and abroad, King Abdullah and some senior members of the ruling family deem Nayef to be the right man to rule Saudi Arabia next. President Obama, too, issued a positively laudatory statement—“I congratulate King Abdullah and the Saudi people on the selection of Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz as crown prince. We in the United States know and respect him for his strong commitment to combating terrorism and supporting regional peace and security”—even though Prince Nayef is reported to have refused to cooperate with the FBI after the 9/11 attacks on the United States and still insists that those attacks were caused by a Zionist conspiracy. Needless to say, Nayef has never declared his support for the Arab Peace Initiative with Israel.

For the West and other major oil-consuming countries, stability in Saudi Arabia, still the largest oil exporter, supersedes all other considerations, regardless of the price and who must pay. Any major disruption in oil production and shipment from Arabia could create global economic havoc with unmanageable consequences. This situation will continue until a reasonably priced alternative to oil is available.

What is being myopically overlooked, however, not out of ignorance but out of disconcerting necessity, is that Nayef’s ascent to the throne could expedite the very instability in Saudi Arabia that so many are hoping to avoid. If he becomes king, Nayef will preside over a fast-changing and restless society that is less fearful of authority than in the past. Nonstop, lively exchanges on social media show that the Saudi people expect the worst under his reign. The majority of the Saudi people, like other Arabs and people everywhere, yearn for an alternative to their oppressive regime and its outmoded, unresponsive, and dysfunctional institutions. It’s estimated that between 60 and 70 percent of the Saudi population is less than 30 years of age and that over 40 percent of men and women in the 20-24 age group are unemployed. This is a ticking time bomb. Government handouts will not silence these people for long.

Even if Nayef is sufficiently ruthless to guarantee his family’s safety, keep its unruly members in line, and maintain stability for a time by sheer force, he may still be the least suitable man to rule Saudi Arabia in a period of escalating demands for change. These demands come from a generation that is disconnected from the world Nayef and his aging brothers were born into and live in still. Nayef will strengthen the Wahhabi religious establishment to intimidate the populace and keep them in check, as he has always done. A more theocratic and dangerous Saudi Arabia is inevitable under Nayef. It will be partly the fruit of the West’s appetite for Saudi money and oil.

Ali H. Alyami is executive director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/crown-prince-nayef-next-saudi-king_604268.html

You are invited to attend a timely conference on the connection between terrorism and religious oppression

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:51:00 +0000

The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia,

CDHR, is pleased to present:

“The Religious Freedom Imperative: The Antidote to Violent Extremism”

Nov. 15, 2011 (10 AM to 12 noon)

Rayburn Congressional Office Building, Room 2168

Lunch will be served

RSVP necessary

Contact Person: Ali Alyami

ali@cdhr.info; (202) 413-0084

ما لا يقال عن اعتقال ثلاثة شبان لتسليطهم الضوء على قضية الفقر في السعودية

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:57:00 +0000

تحليل مركز الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان في السعودية – واشنطن

اعتلقت السلطات السعودية في 16 من شهر اكتوبر الجاري فريق عمل برنامج "ملعوب علينا" بعد تسليطهم الضوء على قضية الفقر في السعودية. وقد أثار اعتقال الفريق استياء المراقبين ونشطاء حقوق الإنسان والمواطنين العاديين الذين رأو أن المخرج فراس بقنة وزملائه لا يستحقون الاعتقال بل يستحقون التكريم والإشادة. والسؤال الذي يطرح نفسه هو: ما هي الجريمة التي ارتكبها فريق عمل "ملعوب علينا" الذين حاولوا تنبيه السلطات والمسؤولين إلى تفشي ظاهرة الفقر في بلد يعتبر من أغنى دول العالم؟

إن الاعتقال التعسفي لأولئك الشباب المخلصين لوطنهم بسبب تطرقهم لقضية العدالة الاجتماعية دليل واضح على عدم رغبة السلطات في السعودية الاعتراف بمعاناة بعض شرائح المجتمع التي ترزح في فقر مدقع وتفتقر لأبسط مقومات الحياة.

إن اعتقال فراس وزملائه هو استمرار للنهج القمعي الذي تمارسه السلطات ضد من يهتمون بقضايا المهمشين ومن يطالبون بوضع حد للفساد.

وبدلا من أن تعترف السلطات بحق الفقراء من المواطنين في العيش الكريم الذي يعتبر من الحقوق الاساسية كما أوضحت حلقة الفقر في برنامج "ملعوب علينا" اعتبرت السلطة طرح الشباب للموضوع ومناقشته تشكيكا في عدالة الدولة وتدخلا في صلاحيات المسؤولين وربما تحريضا للرأي العام وهي التهمة التي أعتادت السلطات على توجيهها للنشطاء الحقوقيين والمطالبين بالإصلاح والعدالة الاجتماعية.

لقد تمادت السلطات السعودية في ظلمها للشعب وتجاوزت كل الحدود في عدم احترام مطالبه الشرعية فقد اكتظت السجون بالأبرياء من سجناء الرأي والضمير. إلى متى تستمر السلطات السعودية في محاربة من يطالبون بالاصلاح بصورة سلمية وبطريقة حضارية في الوقت الذي تثور فيه الشعوب العربية للتخلص من الظلم والفساد الذي يعاني منه الشعب السعودي؟

إن استمرار سياسة القمع ضد المواطنين التي طالت جميع شرائح المجتمع رجالا ونساء شبابا وشيوخا ليبراليين ومحافظين سنة وشيعة جعلت الشعب يزداد تمسكا بمطالبه المشروعة في الحرية والعدالة والمشاركة في تقرير مصيره.

إن كانت السلطات السعودية حريصة على وحدة الشعب وسلامته وعلى السير به نحو مستقبل زاهر تتوفر فيه العدالة والحرية وكرامة الانسان فإن الفرصة لاتزال سانحة للقيام بذلك، فالشعب لم يطالب حتى الآن برحيل النظام إنما بالعدالة والمساواة وبناء دولة المؤسسات التي يحكمها دستور يحدد الحقوق والواجبات ويحمي الحريات ويساوي بين المواطنين.

ما لا يقال عن انعدام المواطنة الحقيقية في السعودية

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:47:00 +0000

تحليل مركز الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان في السعودية – واشنطن

من الأفضل تعريف مفهوم المواطنة قبل الحديث عن انعدامها في السعودية:

المواطنة هي صفة المواطن الذي له حقوق وعليه واجبات تفرضها طبيعة انتمائه إلى وطن. ومن هذه الحقوق: حق التعليم، حق الرعاية الصحية، وتوفير فرص العمل، والحق في المشاركة في صناعة القرار وضمان تنفيذه ومحاسبة المسؤولين. ومن الواجبات: واجب الولاء للوطن - وليس للحاكم - والدفاع عنه، وواجب أداء العمل، وإتقانه. وبناء على ذلك فالمواطنة هي علاقة الفرد بدولته، علاقة يحددها دستور متفق عليه والقوانين المنبثقة عنه والتي تحمل وتضمن معنى المساواة بين المواطنين.

السؤال الذي يطرح نفسه الآن هو: هل يتوافق تعريف المواطنة في السعودية مع التعريف أعلاه؟

إن من يطلق عليهم مسمى "مواطنون" في السعودية لا يحظون بالعديد من حقوق المواطنة الحقيقية لانعدام المساواة بين المواطنين بسبب عدم وجود قوانين يشارك الجميع في صنعها وضمان تنفيذها. ويتضح من التسمية (سعودي) أن أنتماء المواطن ليس إلى وطن وإنما إلى الأسرة التي تحكم البلد.

وقد أدى غياب المواطنة بمفهومها الصحيح في السعودية إلى تزايد الفرقة بين أبناء الشعب الذي أصبح يستند إلى معايير أخرى كالطائفية والمناطقية والقبلية وغير ذلك الأمر الذي أدى إلى تفكك المجتمع.

واستغلت السلطات الحاكمة هذا التفكك وعملت على ترسيخ الانقسام بين أبناء الشعب للسيطرة عليه ولضمان الاستمرار في الحكم. وتكمن أهم معالم الفرقة بين أبناء الشعب في التمييز بين الجنسين وبين الطوائف الدينية وكذلك في التفرقة على أساس الانتماء العرقي وتفضيل المواطنين الذين ينحدرون من مناطق معينة على غيرهم من أبناء المناطق الأخرى.

وكشف بيان وزارة الداخلية الأخير بشأن أحداث العوامية طائفية بعض الكتاب الليبراليين الذين أيدوا البيان الطائفي ضد الأقلية الشيعية وشككوا في ولاء المتظاهرين الشيعة ووطنيتهم واتهموا كل مؤيد لمطالبهم بعدم الولاء للدولة.

لقد أعطى البيان الضوء الأخضر للطائفيين والمتطرفين لكي يتصدو لكل من يعارض سياسات الدولة التمييزية وكل من يطالب بالمساواة بين أبناء الشعب وبالعدالة وبالحرية الدينية وبحرية التعبير وبإطلاق سراح سجناء الرأي والضمير.

كان حريا بمن انتقدوا المتظاهرين وأتهموهم بالولاء لجهات خارجية بالبحث عن الأسباب الحقيقية التي دفعت المتظاهرين للتظاهر خاصة وأن المطالب التي رفعها المتظاهرون تصب في مصلحة الوطن وجميع أبناء الشعب.

إن أمام السلطات السعودية فرصة ثمينة لإثبات رغبتها في الإصلاح إن أرادت فعلا تجاوز الربيع العربي والحفاظ على استقرار حقيقي من خلال البدء فورا في إصلاحات جذرية وإشراك الشعب في حكم نفسه، فالعدل يقتضي التوزيع العادل للسلطة بين فئات المجتمع لتفادي الثورات التي قامت بسبب استئثار فئة معينة بالسلطة والثروة.

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:39:00 +0000

Unity Against Justice for Religious Minority

CDHR Commentary: While the Saudi ruling elites, public and media are quick to condemn the West and Israel, among others, for their intolerance and maltreatment of Arabs and Muslims, they treat their own Muslim minorities with disdain. It’s estimated that about one fourth of the Saudi population practices the Shi’a brand of Islam which the Saudi rulers and majority of society consider heretical; therefore its devotees are unworthy of respect and equality. Because of their religious orientation, the Saudi Muslim minority are marginalized, deprived of their country’s wealth, equal opportunities and social justice. Ironically, most of these minorities have lived in and owned (for centuries before the establishment of the Saudi state) the oil rich and strategic region of Saudi Arabia, the economic jugular of the country.

Like any ostracized group of people, the Saudi Shi’a have peacefully tried for decades to draw their government’s and compatriots’ attention to their plight, but to no avail. Not only that, but the more they ask to be treated equally by their autocratic monarchs, the more the system increases its oppression and depiction of this segment of its society as traitors, trouble makers and foreign agents. In addition to marginalizing the Shi’a minority, the regime’s habitual heavy-handedness in arresting and incarcerating peaceful protesters, religious leaders and human rights advocates led members of this disenfranchised group to resort to violence as occurred on October 3, 2011.

In response to governmental agents’ arbitrary arrest of two elderly men on October 2nd with the intent of holding them hostage until their sons who were wanted by the government came forward. Tragically, one of the innocent fathers had a heart attack while in Saudi police custody. In response to this unjustified arrest and many other such arbitrary governmental actions, a small number of the Shi’a took to the streets the next day and reportedly resorted to violence against the security forces.

Unfortunately, many segments of Saudi society including the Shura Council, religious scholars and some media outlets not only condemned the protesters, but “…urged the government to confront such troublemakers with an iron hand.” That so many segments of Saudi society would support their autocratic government continuing discriminatory policy against and oppression of their compatriots because of religious diversity demonstrates the hypocrisy and true nature of the Saudi system and its dangerous policy of dividing society along religious lines.

The question that should be asked is whether the Saudi government is targeting the Shi’a minority because they are heretics threatening the established order and national security or are there other motivations behind the government’s actions? One of the widely known Saudi-Wahhabi tools used to control the population is dividing society along religious, regional, gender and ethnic lines. However, since Iran’s rise to regional prominence during the last three decades and ongoing Revolt against Arab dictators, the Saud regime has become not only more anxious over its influence among Muslims and within the international community but over its very survival.

Having witnessed the West’s support for anti-authoritarian movements in the Arab World, the autocratic Saudi monarchy has become less trusting of Western governments’ commitment to protect it from internal and external threats as they have done for eighty years. In spite of this, the monarchy knows that the economically desperate West would do whatever it takes to prevent any disruption of the production and shipment of Saudi and other Gulf States’ oil, including military action against any forces that threaten the oil supply which the Saudi government has successfully linked to it survival. Is it possible that the Saudi government is provoking its Shi’a minority into committing violent actions which can then be blamed on Iran in the hope that the West will attack that quarrelsome country to pre-empt further instability in the Saudi oil fields, when in fact the Saudi objectives are to eliminate its primary competitor in the Gulf, to insure the continuity of the Saudi monarchy and to assure Saudi led Sunni dominance in the Muslim World?

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article512845.ece

Shoura members, scholars denounce Qatif riots

By ARAB NEWS

Published: Oct 6, 2011 23:07 Updated: Oct 6, 2011 23:07

JEDDAH: Saudi religious scholars and Shoura Council members have strongly denounced Monday’s Awamiya riots by a group of people in the Eastern Province city of Qatif, and urged the government to confront such troublemakers with an iron hand.

Suleiman Al-Zayedi, a member of the Shoura, urged the people of Awamiya not to engage in any activity that would undermine the Kingdom’s security and safety, incited by foreign forces.

“You should not work as tools of spiteful people and those who target our security, be they foreign individuals or organizations or governments,” Al-Zayedi said and urged citizens to prevent such riots.

“The reply for such excesses and violations should come from citizens before the government, because every citizen has a responsibility to protect their nation from harm,” he said and urged the government to punish the rioters in accordance with the Shariah law.

According to a Saudi Press Agency report, 14 people including 11 security officers were injured in the incident. Nine policemen were shot and wounded and two hurt by petrol bombs, the report said, adding that a man and two women were injured by gunfire.

The Interior Ministry said the troublemakers in Qatif were acting at the behest of a foreign country “which tried to undermine the nation’s security in a blatant act of interference.” The ministry urged the troublemakers in the city to prove their loyalty to the nation.

Majdi Hariri, another Shoura member, said such acts of sabotage would not affect the Kingdom’s national unity. “It indicates that foreign forces are trying to undermine the Kingdom’s security and unity,” he added. Sheikh Aazib Al-Misbal, chairman of the Islamic Affairs Committee at the Shoura, said the riots that took place in Awamiya were unacceptable and urged the government to take strong action against saboteurs.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and a professor at Umm Al-Qura University, condemned the Awamiya riots, describing them as “criminal and disruptive acts.” He said Islam prohibits the killing of innocent and peaceful people and destruction of private and public properties.

“What is the objective of these troublemakers and on whose interest they are acting?” the imam asked and called for greater efforts to promote Islamic values and tackle contradictions in Muslim societies.

A number of Islamic preachers, academics and ordinary people in Qatif have expressed their anguish over the Awamiya incident. “Those who took part in rioting do not represent Qatif people,” said Abdulhaleem Al-Kaidar, district chief (umda) of Tarout.

The Tehran Theocratic Mullahs’ Loathing for “The Great Satan” and Its Saudi “Puppets”

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:56:00 +0000

The Tehran Theocratic Mullahs’ Loathing for “The Great Satan” and Its Saudi “Puppets”

By Ali Alyami

There is nothing that the theocratic Mullahs in Tehran would rather do than tarnish the absolute Saudi monarchy’s image and render insignificant its leadership among Muslims and within the international community. It is a well-known fact that these last two tyrannical Muslim regimes are competing for Arab and Muslim leadership in the hope of securing global recognition and legitimacy for their draconian rule at home. In addition, the cruel Iranian regime will stop at nothing to drive a bigger wedge between the absolute Saudi monarchs and their most important protecting ally, the US. However, plotting to attack the Saudi embassy in Washington and kill its hundreds of personnel including King Abdullah’s yes-man ambassador will back fire in a way even the vicious Iranian regime is not suicidal enough to undertake.

The similarities between the autocratic and theocratic regime in Tehran and their counterparts in Riyadh are well known. They are anti-democracy, anti-women, anti-non-Muslims, anti-human rights and share a common objective of ridding Arab and Muslim countries of Western influence so they can continue to oppress their people in the name of God and Shariah law. Both foster, export and finance extremist and terrorist groups in order to spread their influence and extract concessions from Western governments as the Saudis did with Britain regarding Arms Sales’ bribery in 2008. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/15/bae.armstrade).

Knowing that Tehran’s despots and their counterparts in Riyadh are brimming with hate for the US and Israel as well as for each other, it should not be surprising, albeit unlikely in this case, that someone in Tehran would attempt to hire assassins to hit a small Saudi target, especially in the West. The theocrats in Tehran are vying for a leading role among Muslims; and bullying their Saudi competitors along with their US ally would enhance the image of the Iranian regime among many Muslims regardless of religious differences.

Like the Saudi royals (recall King Abdullah's urging President Obama to "cut the head of the snake”), the tyrannical regime in Tehran wants to drag the US and/or Israel into a prolonged war in an Arab or Muslim country so it can convince the rest of the mostly poverty stricken and marginalized Muslims of the “Crusaders’ war” against Islam and Muslims.

Even harsh critics of Arab and Muslim ruling hooligans’ politics and practices would find the Justice Department’s alleged Iranian escapade to be unconvincing, especially at a time when the Iranian regime knows misbehaving could generate a crippling military response by a combination of regional and international coalitions. The Tehran theocrats are vicious, but not suicidal.

ما لا يقال عن أحداث العوامية بالمنطقة الشرقية في السعودية

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:23:00 +0000

تحليل مركز الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان – واشنطن

في الثالث من شهر اكتوبر الجاري شهدت بلدة العوامية بمحافظة القطيف في المنطقة الشرقية احتجاجات واسعة وصلت إلى حد الاشتباك بين المحتجين ورجال الأمن. وتحظى المنطقة الشرقية الغنية بالنفط باهتمام عالمي لاعتماد أجزاء كبيرة من العالم على النفط الذي يتم انتاجه وتصديره من هناك. وهذه ليست هي المرة الأولى التي يحتج فيها المواطنون الشيعة الذين يعانون من الفقر والتهميش والإقصاء والحرمان من كل حقوقهم الشرعية بسبب معتقدهم الديني.

والسؤال الذي يطرح نفسه هو: ماهي العوامل التي دفعت أولئك الشباب إلى التظاهر واستخدام الأسلحة ضد رجال الأمن؟

إن ما يدفع المواطنين من أبناء الطائفة الشيعية إلى الاحتجاج والتظاهر ليس جهات خارجية كما تدعي السلطات السعودية وإنما معاناتهم من التمييز الديني ومن القمع الذي تمارسه السلطات ضدهم. وقد أكدت تقارير منظمات حقوق الإنسان حول العالم مرارا أن الأقلية الشيعية تتعرض للاضطهاد والتمييز والتضييق بسبب معتقدهم الديني وأن الكثير من رجال الدين الشيعة ونشطاء حقوق الإنسان يتعرضون للاعتقال باستمرار بسبب انتقادهم واعتراضهم على السياسات التي تنتهجها السلطات السعودية ضدهم ولمطالبتهم بالحرية الدينية وبالعدالة الاجتماعية والتنمية الاقتصادية والحق في العمل في مرافق الدولة وتقلد المناصب العليا.

لقد دأبت السلطات السعودية على اختلاق الأعذار الواهية للتهرب من مواجهة الواقع والتنصل من تحقيق مطالب الشعب. وكما هو متوقع أتهمت الحكومة السعودية المتظاهرين بالعمل لصالح جهات خارجية تسعى للمساس بأمن الوطن واستقراره.

إن رد السلطات السعودية على الأحداث لا يختلف عن رد سائر الأنظمة القمعية العربية التي اتهمت المتظاهرين بالخيانة والعمل لصالح جهات أجنبية بدلا من الاعتراف بصحة المطالب الحقوقية والشرعية التي ينادي بها الثوار.

إن من الأجدى الاستجابة لمطالب الشعب السعودي والاعتراف بمعاناة الأقلية الشيعية بصفة خاصة بدلا من لوم الآخرين، فقد ثبت فشل سياسة توجيه أصابع الاتهام لجهات خارجية التي استخدمتها كل الأنظمة الدكتاتورية العربية، كما فشلت سياسة القمع التي مارستها تلك الأنظمة ضد شعوبها.

إن اتهام السلطات السعودية للمتظاهرين بالعمل لصالح جهات أجنبية كما جاء في بيان وزارة الداخلية هو دعوة للفتنة الطائفية وللتفرقة بين عناصر المجتمع. ولا يختلف اتهام السلطات للمحتجين بالعمل لجهات خارجية عن استخدامها للدين والعادات ضد المرأة ولعدم الاستجابة لمطالب الشعب في المشاركة في تقرير مصيره.

لقد اعتمدت العائلة الحاكمة في استمرارها في الحكم على تفرقة المجتمع وضرب بعضه ببعض في صراعات جانبية والتي رسخت العداوات بين طبقات المجتمع وحالت دون اتحاده للمطالبة بحقوقه المشروعة.

والأسئلة التي تطرح نفسها هي:

1- إلى متى تستمر السلطات السعودية في استخفافها بالشعب وفرض وصايتها عليه وكأنه لا يستحق أن يحصل على حقوقه كغيره من الشعوب.

2- وهل سيستفيد النظام السعودي من الثورات العربية ويبدأ بإجراء إصلاحات حقيقية قبل فوات الأوان؟

3- إلا يدفع تعنت السلطات السعودية ورفضها باستمرار الاستجابة للمطالب الشرعية في الحرية والعدالة والمساواة والشفافية وسيادة القانون ووقف الفساد، ألا يدفع ذلك الشعب إلى انتهاج العنف لتحقيق تلك المطالب؟

Saudi-Iranian Competing Autocracies

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:32:00 +0000

CDHR Comment: Despite their public pronouncements and overt disputes, the Saudi and Iranian autocracies share the same objectives: to prevent democracy from taking root in their and other Arab and Muslim countries. Their overriding goal is to severely undermine Western democratic influence, especially that of the US, in Arab and Muslim countries. They consider democracy a mortal threat to their oppressive rule. The Saudi and Iranian regimes compete over the hearts and minds of oppressed Muslims, including their own and use whatever they can to outdo each other by painting themselves as the protectors of Islam and Muslims worldwide.

The autocratic Saudi rulers accuse Iran of trying to annex the weak but wealthy Arab States around the Persian Gulf, of drawing the Iraqis to their side and of trying to overpower the Saudis’ Sunni allies in Lebanon as well as in Gaza, Yemen and Afghanistan, among other places. The Iranian theocrats accuse the Saudi monarchs of being American agents and of collaborating with the US against the Palestinians and Muslim interests. In his way home after addressing the UN General Assembly in late September 2011, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited two Sunni Arab states, Mauritania and Sudan. Standing next to Sudan’s President Hassan Al-Bashir, a well-known butcher of his countrymen, women and children, Ahmadinejad promised to stand firm against the US pressures and sanctions, a speech he repeats when visiting Arab and Muslim countries.

Al-Bashir declared, "We will work together to build a relationship based on cooperation and respect and mutual benefits, and we are looking forward to closer cooperation with Iran." In response the Iran delegation declared that Iran is “ready to transfer its experience in the science and manufacturing sectors, especially technical and engineering services, to improve Sudan's infrastructure." Presently, Iran is spending $200 million on different projects in Sudan.

The Saudis see Iran’s increasing influence among some Sunni Muslims as a threat to their dominance in the Greater Middle East. Petrified by the Arab Revolt’s spell over and Iran’s increasing influence in the region, the Saudis are forging alliances with other absolute Arab monarchs and strengthening their bilateral relations with Turkey and Pakistan, two nuclear Sunni Muslim states. These public maneuvers by the Saudi and Iranian despots do not reflect their true intentions and common objectives. They sit side by side at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Cooperate within OPEC and exchange high officials’ visits, in addition to thriving trade, art and cultural exchanges.

Fully cognizant of their unpopularity at home and fear of popular uprising, the Saudi and Iranian theocracies need as many external enemies to blame for their failures at home as they can garner. For this reason alone, they need to blame each other to justify their draconian practices at home and to strengthen their legitimacy regionally as much as they need extremists and terrorists to extract favorable global recognition and support. Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to Mauritania and Sudan (two Sunni Arab states) and Sudan President Hassan Al-Bashir’s support for Iran’s nuclear program are designed to show the Saudi royals that Iran can recruit Arab allies against the Saudi monarchy.

By design or by accident, the Saudi-Iranian feud is contaminating Arab and Muslim attitude toward Western democratic influence in Arab and Muslim countries and communities. Given Saudi and Iranian cooperation within major organizations such as OPEC and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and knowing the devious behavior and practices of these two most theocratic and autocratic regimes, this may not be accidental. Read more
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NzA0MTg0MDM2NQ

Terrorism Remains Mortal Threat 10 Years After 9/11/2001

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:31:00 +0000

CDHR Commentary: As evidenced by heightened domestic and global warnings of potential terror attacks on the eve of the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 (9/11), there is more to terrorism than killing Al-Qaeda’s founder/financier and its deadly senior architects, destroying their infrastructure, and disrupting their communication apparatus. Despite the fact that the US military’s intense and expensive campaign has inflicted quantifiable damage on Al-Qaeda’s personnel, infrastructure and morale since September 11, 2001, Jihadists, their supporters and Muslim autocratic and theocratic beneficiaries will continue to be lethal enemies unless they unequivocally understand that the price they must pay will exponentially outstrip any benefit they may realize.
As documented by a large number of Muslims and non-Muslims, the Saudi doctrine of Wahhabism is a major force behind Jihadists activities throughout the world. Prominent Muslim scholars, politicians, thinkers, writers, analysts, and historians agree that the Saudi-Wahhabi ideology is dangerous to Muslims and non-Muslims. They are imploring the international community to unite and defeat the Wahhabi doctrine. In a public conference in Cairo, Egypt (April 26, 2010) well-known Muslim scholars from the Al-Azhar University (Islam’s oldest and most reputable academic institution) and other researchers and experts in Muslim movements issued a scornful communiqué describing Wahhabism “as an idea and practice is the primary threat to Islam, Muslims and the international community.” (http://watan.com/10/news.html/35-news extra/21652-2010-04-26-20-24-39.html. In a powerful article in the Wall Street Journal in 2006, the revered former president of Indonesia (the most populated and tolerant Muslim state), Mr. Abdulrahman Wahid called on “Muslims and non-Muslims to unite and defeat Wahhabi ideology.” http://www.libforall.org/news-WSJ-right-islam-vs.-wrong-islam.html
One of the strongest condemnations of the Saudi doctrine came from neighboring Kuwait. A well-known and highly respected Kuwaiti writer, Dr. Salem Humaid, wrote an article titled “The Saudi-Wahhabi Ideology” which he described as “the most wicked and ugly thought on the surface of the earth.” (http://www.soqalshiyookh.com/home/news.php?action=view&id=904)
Closer to home, a former Saudi cleric extremist, Mansour Nogaidan, realized while in prison that the Wahhabi doctrine is the source of terrorism. He not only turned against what he was brainwashed into promoting, defending, and dying for, but actively sought to get rid of it. “The most recent government crackdown on terrorism suspects, in response to this month's {in 2003} car-bombing of a compound housing foreigners and Arabs in Riyadh, is missing the real target. The real problem is that Saudi Arabia is bogged down by deep-rooted Islamic extremism in most schools and mosques, which have become breeding grounds for terrorists. We cannot solve the terrorism problem as long as it is endemic to our educational and religious institutions.” http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E7D6143AF93BA15752C1A9659C8B63.
These glaring warnings and repeated appeals from prominent Muslims to the international community to defeat the pervasive Saudi-Wahhabi doctrine are a clear call for decisive responses. However, the West, which is the target of the Islamist threats, has yet to accept that it’s engaged in a war with an Islamist ideology dedicated to the destruction of Western Civilization. It’s not the intent of this writer to advocate a war with Muslims, but to underscore this threat and to highlight the need for policies and actions on the part of Western democracies to insure the eradication of the major root cause of terrorism, the Saudi-Wahhabi ideology. Occasional drone strikes and diplomatic appeasement will only lead the terrorists, their financiers and beneficiaries to believe that the West is weak and vulnerable, thus encouraging them to escalate their terror attacks.
The most effective and direct tactic to confront the root cause of terrorism as advocated by prominent and knowledgeable people who have experienced and understand the nature and underpinnings of Wahhabism is to eradicate it at its source. This effort will not only require the autocratic and theocratic Saudi elites to re-interpret the Quran and the Shariah law to reflect modern values-globalization, technological advancement, women’s rights, tolerance of other faiths, international declarations on human rights, freedom of choice and expressions-but must terminate the Saudi ideological influence worldwide. Saudi text books must be rewritten to reflect these contemporary interpretations and scientific advancement. In addition, Saudi religious, educational and judicial institutions must be transformed from the top down in order to stop the spread of the deadly Wahhabi ideology.
Some argue that King Abdullah has made changes to rein in extremist activities. King Abdullah has removed a few clerics and some inflammatory phrases from Saudi schools’ text books, eliminated some terrorists in Saudi Arabia and convened interfaith dialogues. While these activities are considered reforms by some, especially in the West, others see them as deceptive window dressing to silence foreign and domestic critics of the debauched Saudi state- imposed doctrine, Wahhabism.
In reality, under King Abdullah’s leadership, Islamist religious fervor has been heightened as a result of implicit and explicit Saudi accusations that the West is engaged in a war against Islam. He has strengthened the Saudi clerics by making it illegal to criticize them domestically and has united Muslim countries, including Iran and Turkey, through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation which consists of 57 states and is headquartered in Saudi Arabia. Spread of Wahhabism throughout the world has been exponentially intensified under King Abdullah more than under any of his predecessors

Customized and Misleading Elections

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Alyami) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:31:00 +0000

CDHR Comment: Under tremendous pressure from the first Bush Administration (http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/speeches/10.06.05.html), the Saudi autocratic ruling family came to the conclusion that some political gesticulation has to be conducted to appease its mounting global critics and silence its increasingly restless population, especially women and youth. The Saudi regime decided to erect well customized and tightly controlled municipal elections in late 2004 and early 2005. Obsessed with fear of raising their disenfranchised population’s hopes for concrete political reforms, the Saudi royals designed an elections’ paradigm that would give the illusions of political reforms, but in reality designed to strengthen the absolute established order.

A well structured strategy not only for the 2005 municipal elections, but for future use when the regime decides to hold follow up elections. The ploy called for direct elections of half of the candidates who meet government’s intense investigation and endorsement and the other half would be appointed by the government. Women and anyone under the age of 21 as well as all public employees, including military and security personnel, were not allowed to run for office or vote. The elected individuals’ duties had to be assigned by the government which did not happen until some nine months after the elections. The elected officials were told to play observers role, collect complaints and submit them to the higher-ups, effectively co-opting them into becoming part of the existing dysfunctional government agencies.

The next elections were supposed to have been held four years later, in 2009, and according to officials in the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs’ who is in charge of elections, women would be allowed to participate next time around. However, the king arbitrarily postponed the elections until 2011. No reason for the postponement was given and no one dare ask questions. On the September 25, 2011, four days before the second municipal elections were to be held, King Abdullah gave a speech where he decreed that women would be allowed to participate “in future elections” (the earliest might happen in 2015) and would be appointed to the powerless national Consultative Council according to the Shariah law and Muslim traditions. This means women would not be allowed to sit in the same room with men and may not have equal votes to that of men.

Given Saudi women unabashed demands for their rights, it may not be that easy for this king or his successor to exclude them form the next elections and get away with it peacefully. Saudi women are gaining strength in number, determination and support among men and even members of the ruling family. Read more

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=20110930109693