What's Going On in Saudi Arabia?

Fox

Sun, Nov 05 2017, 8:27 pm

So last January, there was a very small explosion on social media when Al Jazirah (the Saudi newspaper controlled by the royal family -- not the Qutar-based TV news station) ran an article by Muhammad Aal Al-Sheikh. While the article was obviously not complimentary to Israel or Jewish interests in general, it contained some pretty shocking stuff:

Quote:

"Palestinians need to understand is that the Arabs of today are not the Arabs of yesterday, and that the Palestinian cause has lost ground among Arabs.”

The Palestinian cause,

Quote:

“is no longer a top priority for them, because civil wars are literally pulverizing four Arab countries, and because fighting the ‘Islamic’ terrorism is the foremost concern that causes all Arabs, without exception, to lose sleep. It is folly to ask someone to sacrifice [tending to] his own problems and national interests in order to help [you solve] your own problems…”

“All I can say to my Palestinian brethren is that stubbornness, contrariness and betting on the [support of] the Arab masses are a hopeless effort, and that ultimately you are the only ones who will pay the price of this stubbornness and contrariness,”

Whoosh! I don't think JStreet would be that harsh!

Then there's a series of events, none of which is remarkable by itself, but which, added together are kind of surprising: Trump was allowed to fly from Saudi Arabia directly to Israel. Women will be allowed to drive and attend events at sports arenas. UAE officials apologize to Israeli judo athletes for handshake snub -- not something that would have happened without Saudi approval. Aramco IPO is planned. More entertainment and various conferences are held. Today, the arrest of 11 members of the House of Saud was announced on various charges of corruption, etc.

Apparently all of this is attributable to the rise of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old heir to the throne. He's apparently a bit precocious, having sat in on cabinet meetings since the age of 12. He's also unique in that he was educated in Saudi Arabia instead of Britain or the U.S. He's described himself as wanted to launch a "Thatcher revolution" in Saudia Arabia.

He also sees Iran as the primary threat to stability in the region.

So what do we think, ladies? Kind of interesting?

Fox

Sun, Nov 05 2017, 8:55 pm

youngishbear wrote:

I think Muslims are developing a Reform denomination.

Lol! So here's the curious part, at least to my thinking:

A lot of the younger members of the House of Saud were educated in the U.S./Britain, and they lead double lives that would make all of our heads swim. When in Europe, Asia, the U.S., etc., they are fully immersed in Western culture. Fashionable Western clothing; English; no dietary or alcohol restrictions -- the works. They literally change into abayahs, thobes, and burkas on the plane before landing back in Saudi Arabia.

Mohammad bin Salman is very much part of that generation and knows what is going on, but he was educated in Saudi Arabia and doesn't seem ostensibly to live a double life. Part of me thinks that he is savvy enough to realize that the House of Saud cannot survive if the younger generation isn't on board -- thus he is attempting to relax things a little at home. He was apparently behind stripping the religious police of a great deal of power. But part of me wonders if this is simply a way to drag everyone home and keep them under his control.

youngishbear

Sun, Nov 05 2017, 9:04 pm

Fox wrote:

You mean lulling everyone into a false sense of progress (to consolidate his reign), and then dragging his country backwards with reactionary policies?

Wait. That just happened here, in 2016. Feeling beat up

etky

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 3:59 am

Let's not forget the Saudi-instigated resignation of their puppet, Lebanese PM Sa'ad Hariri, a few days ago, as a move designed to shake things up in Lebanon where Saudi rivals Hizbollah/Iran have been in constant ascendance.
Things are happening inside Saudi Arabia and there have also been unexpected developments in foreign policy, like the rift with Qatar over it's involvement with Iranian sponsored terror, this past summer.