During a debate on Al-Hurra TV (U.S.) that aired on November 9, 2018, Saudi journalist Muhammad Al-Osaimi said that Iran is the "obvious and real enemy" of the Arab states. He criticized the Arab countries for not recognizing Israel's existence even though the entire world - the ...
On October 16, Al-Jazeera TV aired a simulation of Jamal Al-Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The simulation is based on information leaked by Turkish sources, and it shows Al-Khashoggi being grabbed by two attackers, who injected him in the neck with...
On November 11, 2018, The Washington Post published an article by Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, chairman of the Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee in Yemen, attacking Saudi Arabia for its actions in the context of the war in Yemen. The article also attacked the U.S., arguing that t...
Now that Saudi Arabia has acknowledged its responsibility for the Khashoggi murder, it is time to clarify Turkey's role and responsibility in the affair, from the perspective of the battle between Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia's Muhammad Bin Salman for the leader...
The tension between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which has been ongoing for 18 months, intensified even further following the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.[1] Known for his criticism of the Saudi authorities and support for the Muslim Brotherhood (which Saudi...
Since the murder in early October of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and with the daily publication of foreign media reports on Saudi involvement in the affair, many articles are appearing in the Saudi media expressing rage at what they called a hostile media campaign against t...
A Saudi TV debate dealt with the question whether people suffering from psychological problems should go to a psychiatric clinic or to someone who would recite Quranic verses over them. Psychiatrist Dr. Jamal Al-Tuwairqi said that Freud, who, he claimed, "went to New York and fou...
In contrast to the scathing criticism directed at Saudi Arabia by Western media and by Saudi Arabia's Arab rivals, headed by Qatar, following the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the kingdom's Arab allies, as well as Arab bodies and organizations, have come t...
In an address at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian preacher Sheikh Abu Mus'ab Al-Hadra criticized Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman for having the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi carried out in the Saudi consulate. After spending infinite funds on weapons and forei...
In the last 24 hours, Saudi Arabia has sharped its tone towards the U.S., in response to recent statements by U.S. officials, among them President Donald Trump, that Saudi Arabia will be punished if it proves to be responsible for the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Al-Kh...
Following the September 22, 2018 shooting in Iran's Ahwaz region, Muhammad Ahl Al-Sheikh, a columnist for the Saudi government daily Al-Jazirah, described the shooting as a "legitimate resistance operation" by the Arab minority that is oppressed by the Iranian regime, and express...
Saudi-Kuwaiti singer Shams Bandar said that she accepts Jews, Christians, and people with no religion. Responding to criticism of a tweet blessing Jews on a holiday, she said sarcastically: "So burn them. Bring Hitler back. Bring ovens… We have modern ovens that burn faster." Whe...
Abdullah Al-Mutlaq of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars said that polygamy was "sometimes a necessity and sometimes a crime" and that if a man marries multiple wives, he must treat them equally. Speaking on an October 3 fatwa show on Saudi Arabia's TV Channel 1, Al-Mutlaq said...
The disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, and was never seen leaving it, is a trending topic in the Arabic press, particularly the Saudi press. Khashoggi, whom some Turkish elements surmise was murdered ...
In 2014, Saudi cleric and author Sheikh Muhammad Al-Arifi gave an address in which he cited the antisemitic hadith "The Prophecy of the Rock and the Tree," and said that the Jews were cowardly by nature, as could be seen throughout history - in the days of the Prophet Muhammad, i...
In an article he published following the September 22, 2018 attack on the military parade held by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Ahvaz, Saudi journalist Hussein Shubakshi attacked the resistance axis – Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas – which, he said, wages ...
On October 7, 2017, on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the 1973 war between Israel and the Arabs, the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published an article by its former editor, 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, in which he praised then Egyptian President Anwar Sad...
In an article published August 9, 2018 in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Saudi author and researcher Fahd Al-Shkairan claims that Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden derived inspiration for his ideological and military activities from Iran's Islamic Revolution, and t...
Following the death, on August 25, 2018, of Republican U.S. senator John McCain, Khalid Al-Suleiman eulogized him in his column in the Saudi government daily 'Okaz. Titled "The Last of the Honorable American Politicians," the column describes McCain as a serious and wise politici...
Against the backdrop of the Canada-Saudi Arabia tension following the arrest in Saudi Arabia of human rights activists,[1] on August 8, 2018, Muhammad Al-Sa'ed, who writes in the Saudi daily 'Okaz, published an article harshly critical of Canada. He wrote that, following Hillary ...
MEMRI's Director of Reform in the Muslim World Mansour Al-Hadj discussed the recent arrests of human rights activists in Saudi Arabia. Al-Hadj said that the lack of political reform under Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has disappointed those who were hopeful abou...
On August 6, 2018, the Saudi-based Twitter account Infographic_ksa tweeted an image of an Air Canada aircraft that appeared to be heading towards the CN Tower in Toronto – in an apparent hint at the September 11, 2001 attacks – accompanied by the text in English: "Sticking one's ...
Against the backdrop of the political crisis between Saudi Arabia and Canada, commentators on the Saudi 24 network launched an attack on Canada's human rights record, especially with regard to Canada's indigenous people. They "are being dispersed and killed," said Saudi jour...
On July 25, 2018, the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked two Saudi tankers in the strait of Bab El-Mandeb in the Red Sea. In response to the attack, Saudi Arabia announced it was suspending shipments of oil via the strait "until maritime transit through Bab El-Mandeb is...
Recently, there has been a discussion in Saudi Arabia about appointing women to roles connected to the religious establishment, such as in issuing fatwas and serving as religious judges (qadis).
In a Ramadan edition of his television program on Saudi Al-Majd TV, 'Abdallah Al-M...
In an opinion piece published July 23, 2018 in the Saudi English-language daily Arab News, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Khalid bin Salman, called on the international community to adopt a unified and comprehensive strategy to confront the destabilizing behavior...
In an article published July 15, 2018 in the Saudi government daily Al-Yawm, Saudi journalist Sukina Meshekhis called on the Arab countries to take bold steps, including certain concessions, in order to advance peace with Israel. She wrote that peace is a supreme human aim for wh...
It has recently been reported that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to slap oil sanctions on Iran beginning in November of this year. To this end, on June 30, 2018 he asked Saudi King Salman Bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz to increase his country's oil production so as to prevent any shortage...
In a June 13, 2018 interview with Saudi MBC TV, Saudi journalist Mishal Al-Sudairy recounted the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, from Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, who allied himself with Hitler in WWII, through his successor Ahmad Al-Shukeiri, who "lived his entire l...
In a June 13 TV interview, Saudi journalist Mishal Al-Sudairy recounted the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, from Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, who allied himself with Hitler in WWII, through his successor Ahmad Al-Shukeiri, who "lived his entire life in five-star hote...
Shiite Iraqi cleric Yassin Al-Musawi said in a recent TV interview that Saudi Arabia, which it called "our kindhearted neighboring country... that meek and calm kingdom that wants only what's best for us," sends us suicide bombers on a daily basis. "One day they send us ISIS, ano...
Muhammad Al-Arab, head of the Paris-based "Peace Without Limits" NGO, criticized Hamas, which he said has brought famine upon its people in Gaza and has become Iran's "hired gun." "Whenever Iran is in trouble, Hamas instigates incidents, in order to relieve the pressure [on Iran]...
In advance of the June 24, 2018 implementation of Saudi King Salman bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz's historic decree permitting women in the kingdom to drive, the Saudi Al-Watan daily published, on June 18, an infographic by the Saudi Department of Transportation featuring answers to question...
The decree issued by Saudi King Salman bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz nine months ago lifting the ban on women drivers in the kingdom will go into effect on June 24, 2018. In the lead-up to the historic date, Wafa Al-Rashid, a columnist for the Saudi 'Okaz daily, attacked the demeaning and pa...
The September 26, 2017 decree by the Saudi King granting women permission to drive is to take effect on June 24, 2018, and the various Saudi authorities have been taking measures in preparation for implementing it, such as issuing a Saudi driver's license to women who already hav...
Senior Iranian official Mohammad-Javad Larijani referred to the U.S. 9/11 Commission Report, and said that in some cases, Al-Qaeda members travelling from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan and elsewhere were allowed to pass through Iran without having their passports stamped. Larijani,...
On December 6, 2019, at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida, Saudi Royal Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a student naval flight officer at Naval Aviation Schools Command who had been at the base for two years, carried out a shooting attack in a classroom, killing ...
Recently, there has been controversy in the Saudi media about the meaning of feminism and its place in Saudi society. The argument reached its peak following the release in early November 2019 of a promotional video by the "Presidency of State Security" – a body comprising all th...
The killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in Idlib, Syria, announced by U.S. President Trump on October 27, 2019, was met with approval and praise from some Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.[1] However, most of the articles on this topic in these cou...
In its official responses to the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, Saudi Arabia fully supported the U.S. and its policy, while stressing the strong alliance between the two countries. This was expressed, inter alia, in a conversation between Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad...
Following the September 14, 2019 Iranian attack on two major Aramco facilities in Saudi Arabia, Syrian writer Ali Nasrallah wrote in his September 19 column in the Syrian government Al-Thawra daily that if the Arab coalition headed by Saudi Arabia did not end its military operati...
Following the September 14, 2019 Iranian attack on the oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, many Saudi officials called on the international community to take active measures against Iran's regional policy and play a role in defending the world's energy supply.[1] Similar calls w...
Following the September 14, 2019 attacks on the Aramco oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, Saudis who were near the attack sites posted images and videos of the aftermath, including images of missiles found by the sites and of the large fires that had broken out. These images were po...
Following the September 14, 2019 Iranian attack on the Saudi oil facilities, which was carried out by the Houthi militia and shut down half the kingdom's daily oil production,[1] the Houthis threatened further attacks on the same facilities, and warned “foreigners and companies” ...
On September 14, 2019, two major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia – Khurais, the second-largest oil field in the country, and Abqaiq, the world's largest crude oil stabilization plant – were attacked using 10 drones armed with special munitions. The attack, for which the Hout...
Following the military escalation between Israel and Hizbullah in the last two weeks – which included the August 25, 2019 Israeli drone attack on the Dahia, Hizbullah's stronghold in Beirut; threats of retaliation by Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, and Hizbull...
Saudi Arabia recently published its new school textbooks for the 2019 school year. Following the publication of the books Dr. Suhaila Zain Al-'Abidin Hamad, a researcher of Islam and the daughter of Sheikh Zain Al-'Abidin Hamad (d. 1975), a former imam and preacher at the Prophet...
Several columnists in the Saudi Al-Madina daily have recently written against the phenomenon of homosexuality in the world in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular, noting that Islam forbids it and treats it as an offense punishable by death. They wrote that this practice...
Following the recent Israeli attack on Iranian operatives in Syria who were planning an attack against it, and two other attacks attributed to Israel, against Hizbullah in Lebanon and Al-Hashd Al-Sha'bi in Iraq, senior Saudi journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, formerly the edito...
In an August 1, 2019 article in the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily, Saudi journalist Mishal Al-Sudairy considered why fundamentalist Arabs and Muslims accuse Western countries of racism even though they are home to millions of Arabs and Muslims who enjoy full human rights a...
On June 30, 2019, Senior Saudi journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed wrote an article in response to the June 27, 2019 storming of the Bahraini embassy in Baghdad. The embassy compound was stormed by a crowd protesting Bahrain's hosting of the "Peace to Prosperity" workshop, which ...
On July 22, 2019, Muhammad Sa'ud, a Saudi Twitter activist known for his sympathy for Israel and his support for establishing diplomatic relations with it, visited Israel as part of a delegation of Arab journalists. While touring Jerusalem's Old City and Al-Aqsa, he was att...
Jordan and Qatar recently upgraded the level of diplomatic representation by exchanging ambassadors, two years after recalling their respective ambassadors from each other's capitals. On July 16, 2019 Jordan appointed Zaid Al-Louzi, a veteran diplomat and secretary-general of Jor...
In his July 5, 2019 column in the Saudi daily Al-Jazirah, journalist Muhammad Aal Al-Sheikh addressed the waning of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's power in his country, manifested in his candidate's failure to win the municipal elections in Istanbul and in the increasin...
In a series of tweets, Saudi intellectual, writer, and journalist Turki Al-Hamad criticized the Palestinians following their boycott of the recent Prosperity to Peace economic workshop in Bahrain that focused on the economic dimensions of the U.S.-led Middle East peace plan known...
In a June 29, 2019 article in the Saudi English-language daily Arab News, the daily's chief editor, Faisal J. 'Abbas, wrote that the Palestinians' boycotting of the U.S.-led Peace to Prosperity economic workshop in Bahrain had been a "strategic mistake." He stated that, in contra...
The issue of normalizing relations with Israel is occasionally debated in the Saudi media, especially in light of the threat posed to both countries by Iran. Recently, this debate resurfaced on Twitter, after Saudi journalist Sukina Al-Meshekhis set up a poll on her page asking h...
The Trump administration's Middle East peace initiative, known as the "Deal of the Century", which has yet to be officially announced, as well as the "Peace to Prosperity" economic workshop, scheduled to be held in Bahrain on June 25-26, 2019 and aimed at garnering "support for p...
In the last two years, the Saudi media has published no few expressions of support for Israel and for normalizing relations with it. The Iranian threat, and its tangible manifestations in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, have caused Saudis to view Israel as non-threatening and perhaps even...
In his May 15, 2019 column in the Saudi English-language Arab News, Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri, a political analyst and researcher of international relations, called for international action against Iran in response to the May 13 sabotage of Saudi oil tankers off the UAE coas...
Reports about the immanent publication of the American Middle East peace plan known as the "Deal of the Century" have sparked much debate in the Arab press. Most of the articles attacked the Trump administration and called to reject the deal out of hand. A conspicuous exception w...
In his April 16, 2019 column in the Dubai-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, Turki Muhammad Al-Sudairi pointed to discrepancies between the stated positions of some Western countries, chiefly the U.S., on various regional issues and the policy they pursue in practice. Focusing first on ...
The latest round of fighting between Israel and Gaza sparked many reactions from Saudis on Twitter. Noteworthy among these responses were tweets, including by prominent intellectuals and journalists, that sided with Israel and hoped for its safety and victory, while attacking Ham...
On April 30, 2019, one day before Israel's Holocaust Day, the Saudi English-language daily Arab News published an op-ed titled "Remember the Holocaust So Its Horrors Are Not Repeated," by Dr. Ellen R. Wald, a historian and consultant on geopolitics and the energy industry who wri...
In a March 22, 2019 joint press conference in Beirut with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo said that "Lebanon and the Lebanese people face a choice: Bravely move forward as an independent and proud nation or allow the dark ambiti...
Saudi cleric Adel Al-Kalbani, the former imam at Great Mosque of Mecca, said in a March 22, 2019 interview on MBC TV (Saudi Arabia) that he recently changed his mind regarding Shi'ite Muslims and that he no longer considers them to be heretics. He also said that if the Christchur...
In a March 26, 2019 interview with the American website Al-Monitor, Lolwah Al-Khater, spokeswoman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, denied claims that the Qatari regime supports the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and Hamas. She stated that Qatar's contacts with Hamas began only after the...
Hamas's violent repression of the social and economic protests against it, that broke out on March 14, 2019 across the Gaza Strip, has been harshly criticized both in Palestinian society and outside of it;[1] criticism was particularly harsh in the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia...
In his March 3, 2019 column in the leading London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Saudi journalist and businessman Hussein Shobakshi condemned the deeply rooted hatred of Jews in Islamic culture, in which the term "Jew" is strongly derogatory. Shobakshi mused on why the Musl...
Against the backdrop of Iranian President Hassan Rohani's recent visit to Baghdad, senior Saudi journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, head of the editorial board of the Alarabiya and Alhadath television channels, wrote that Iran is exerting intense pressures on Iraq in order ...
An article in the Saudi government daily Al-Watan, by the daily's columnist Muhammad Al-Sa'idi, claimed that the Jews deliberately promote the publication and circulation of antisemitic literature in Arab countries that describes them as secretly running the world. This, in order...
In his November 14, 2018 column in the Al-Riyadh daily, Saudi writer 'Abdallah Bin Bakhit wrote sarcastically that whoever wants to understand "the Jewish conspiracy against the world" must acknowledge the reasons for the Jews' success in the West and the reasons for the Arabs' b...
Historical Background Two months ago, the Saudi government began to build a fence along its border with Yemen in an attempt to separate the residents along both sides of the border. The border between the two countries was set out in the 2000 Jeddah border treaty, which included ...
In recent years, a debate has surfaced in the Saudi media over the use of flogging as a punishment administered by the Saudi Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Hundreds of Saudis are flogged every week for alleged "vice" crimes, such as harassing women,...
Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing country among the members of the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC) and, as such, it is the dominant force in that organization. Changes in the supply equation that could diminish its role and influence in the international oi...
The leadership of the Egyptian Christian Coptic community has recently begun to express in public positions and complaints in a way uncommon in the past. The leader of Egypt's Coptic community, Patriarch Shinoda III, who in his articles, interviews, and public statements used to...
IntroductionOligarchy is a government in which a small group exercises control, especially for corrupt and selfish purposes. In Saudi Arabia, the few are the royal princes who are descendents of the founder of the modern Saudi Kingdom, King Abd Al-Aziz bin Sa'ud who, upon his de...
The Arab League summit meeting held in Beirut at the end of March was characterized by two major events - one substantive and the other symbolic. The substantive event was the unanimous vote in favor of Crown Prince Abdallah's proposals for peace between Israel and the Arab coun...
Abdallah's Peace PlanCrown Prince Abdallah bin Abd Al-Aziz,[1] Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the Saudi National Guard, carried his peace initiative to Crawford, Texas, on April 25 after declining to meet with President Bush last year.[2] Most Arabic papers underscored t...
Full Withdrawal According to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Prince Abdallah demanded a full Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders. But, according to Henry Siegman, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, unnamed Saudi officials said Saudi Arabia would s...
IntroductionOn February 17, 2002, The New York Times published an article by columnist Thomas Friedman in which he reported about a conversation he had with Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah bin Abd Aziz Al-Saud. Prince Abdallah told Mr. Friedman that he had drafted a peace proposal wh...
On June 21, 2001 the US announced its decision to indict fourteen suspects of the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, in Daharan,Saudi-Arabia, in which 19 American soldiers were killed and approximately 400 people injured. The announcement was followed byanger against the US in Iran and ...
Saudi Islamic scholar and university lecturer Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Rays said in an October 30, 2019 interview on Diwan Al-Mullah Internet TV (Kuwait) that people should support their ruler even if he abuses his power, steals money, commits adultery, and drinks alcohol, because obedie...
On October 25, 2019, Saudi Arabia’s MBC TV aired a report about female construction workers. The report tells the story of three Saudi sisters who work in construction. According to the sisters they initially faced many obstacles from society but have now surmounted them and have...
Houthi Political Bureau member Muhammad Al-Bakhiti said in a September 29, 2019 interview on Al-Manar TV (Leabnon) that if the Saudi leadership does not cease its aggression against Yemen and lift the siege, the Houthis may, in the future, turn their campaign into an offensive ca...
Yemeni Minister of Health Nasser Ba'aom said in a September 28, 2019 interview on Yemen TV that the Yemeni government's only goal is to eliminate the Iranian "project" that is spreading in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. He warned that the "Shiite crescent" will become a "full m...
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said in a September 22, 2019 interview on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that the international community's procrastination and lack of determination regarding Iran will only encourage Iran to carry out further acts of sabotage in the regi...
British-Palestinian journalist Abdel Bari Atwan said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel on September 20, 2019 that the September 14 Houthi drone attack on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil fields in Saudi Arabia has rocked the national, intelligence, military, and political pres...
In a September 16, 2019 press conference in Ankara, Turkey following talks with Iranian and Turkish leaders that included Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "In order to [enable] Saudi Arabia to prot...
On September 14, 2019, Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) hosted a debate about the drone strikes that took place earlier in the day against the Abqaiq and Khurais oil fields in Saudi Arabia. General (Ret.) Mamoun Abu Nowar of the Royal Jordanian Air Force said that the attack is unprece...
Saudi strategic expert Muhammad Al-Qabiban said in an August 29, 2019 interview on Al-Sumaria TV (Iraq) that Israel has the right to defend itself and its borders from Iranian "lackeys" like Hizbullah. He said that Iran's intervention has created anarchy in the region and he crit...
Saudi journalist Adnan Muhammad said in a July 23, 2019 show on Saudi 24 TV (Saudi Arabia) that Qatar cannot be discussed without mentioning its relationship to terrorism. He said that Qatar has played an important role in the Somali Al-Shabab movement, which is a branch of Al-Qa...
Houthi politician Sheikh Sultan Al-Samie, a member of the Supreme Political Council, said in a July 22, 2019 interview on Al-Thaqalayn TV (Lebanon) that the Houthis have a list of over 300 targets in several Gulf countries and that they will be using a new type of missile in the ...
Saudi journalist Ahmad Al-Farraj said in a July 24, 2019 interview on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that it is "politically naïve" to say that U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are crazy or unstable, or that there are "impending global dange...
Houthi Minister of Tourism Ahmad Al-Aly said in a July 3, 2019 interview on Mayadeen TV (Lebanon) that the Houthis have a list of 300 strategic targets in the UAE. He said that the Houthis will not "stand idly by" and that they will target the UAE in the same way that the UAE has...
England-based Iraqi academic Sabah Al-Khozai appeared in a June 16, 2019 show on Al-Jazeera TV (Qatar) and referred to Iran as a "Safavid regime." The Al-Jazeera anchor asked Al-Khozai to refrain from calling Iran a "Safavid regime" because it is "disrespectful" and because such ...
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former chief of intelligence, said in a June 14, 2019 interview on Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai/Saudi Arabia) that he believes that Iran had not originally supported Al-Qaeda, but that when Al-Qaeda disintegrated following the American invasion of A...
On May 21, 2019, Al-Jazeera TV (Qatar) aired a report about Houthi drone attacks against Saudi Arabia. According to the report, the Saudi-led coalition said that the most recent drone attack in Najran, Saudi Arabia targeted a vital facility used by civilians, while the Houthis cl...
The Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights, MI, a Shiite Islamic center, held a memorial service for the Shiites that were executed in Saudi Arabia in April following terror-related convictions. A video of the memorial was uploaded to the Institute's YouTube channel on ...
In a May 6, 2019 interview on Rotana Khalijiyah TV (Saudi Arabia), Saudi scholar Aed Al-Qarni apologized to "Saudi society" for having held extremist views and for having "violated the Quran and the Sunnah" and the nature of Islam. He said he was apologizing on behalf of the Isla...
Saudi cleric Adel Al-Kalbani, the former imam at Great Mosque of Mecca, said in a March 22, 2019 interview on MBC TV (Saudi Arabia) that he recently changed his mind regarding Shi'ite Muslims and that he no longer considers them to be heretics. He also said that if the Christchur...
Professor Jamal Harfoush, who is running for the Brazilian Federal Chamber of Deputies, uploaded a video to the Internet on December 18, 2017 in which he harshly criticized Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states for – according to Harfoush – supporting President Trump’s decision to mov...
During a class he taught at the Brixton Mosque in London, Saudi cleric Sheikh Muhammad Al-Malki said that many women, who thought they were being brave and powerful by preventing their husbands from marrying another Muslim woman, have contracted AIDS as a result of illicit relati...
On December 16, 2018, Rotana Khalijiyya TV (Saudi Arabia) aired a debate about normalization of relations with Israel. Saudi journalist Dahham Al-Enazi said that Iran and Turkey are bigger threats in the region, and that the Arab conflict with Israel is over borders while conflic...
During a debate on Al-Hurra TV (U.S.) that aired on November 9, 2018, Saudi journalist Muhammad Al-Osaimi said that Iran is the "obvious and real enemy" of the Arab states. He criticized the Arab countries for not recognizing Israel's existence even though the entire world - the ...
On October 16, Al-Jazeera TV aired a simulation of Jamal Al-Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The simulation is based on information leaked by Turkish sources, and it shows Al-Khashoggi being grabbed by two attackers, who injected him in the neck with...
A Saudi TV debate dealt with the question whether people suffering from psychological problems should go to a psychiatric clinic or to someone who would recite Quranic verses over them. Psychiatrist Dr. Jamal Al-Tuwairqi said that Freud, who, he claimed, "went to New York and fou...
In an address at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian preacher Sheikh Abu Mus'ab Al-Hadra criticized Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman for having the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi carried out in the Saudi consulate. After spending infinite funds on weapons and forei...
Saudi-Kuwaiti singer Shams Bandar said that she accepts Jews, Christians, and people with no religion. Responding to criticism of a tweet blessing Jews on a holiday, she said sarcastically: "So burn them. Bring Hitler back. Bring ovens… We have modern ovens that burn faster." Whe...
Abdullah Al-Mutlaq of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars said that polygamy was "sometimes a necessity and sometimes a crime" and that if a man marries multiple wives, he must treat them equally. Speaking on an October 3 fatwa show on Saudi Arabia's TV Channel 1, Al-Mutlaq said...
In 2014, Saudi cleric and author Sheikh Muhammad Al-Arifi gave an address in which he cited the antisemitic hadith "The Prophecy of the Rock and the Tree," and said that the Jews were cowardly by nature, as could be seen throughout history - in the days of the Prophet Muhammad, i...
MEMRI's Director of Reform in the Muslim World Mansour Al-Hadj discussed the recent arrests of human rights activists in Saudi Arabia. Al-Hadj said that the lack of political reform under Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has disappointed those who were hopeful abou...
Against the backdrop of the political crisis between Saudi Arabia and Canada, commentators on the Saudi 24 network launched an attack on Canada's human rights record, especially with regard to Canada's indigenous people. They "are being dispersed and killed," said Saudi jour...
In a June 13 TV interview, Saudi journalist Mishal Al-Sudairy recounted the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, from Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, who allied himself with Hitler in WWII, through his successor Ahmad Al-Shukeiri, who "lived his entire life in five-star hote...
Shiite Iraqi cleric Yassin Al-Musawi said in a recent TV interview that Saudi Arabia, which it called "our kindhearted neighboring country... that meek and calm kingdom that wants only what's best for us," sends us suicide bombers on a daily basis. "One day they send us ISIS, ano...
Muhammad Al-Arab, head of the Paris-based "Peace Without Limits" NGO, criticized Hamas, which he said has brought famine upon its people in Gaza and has become Iran's "hired gun." "Whenever Iran is in trouble, Hamas instigates incidents, in order to relieve the pressure [on Iran]...
Senior Iranian official Mohammad-Javad Larijani referred to the U.S. 9/11 Commission Report, and said that in some cases, Al-Qaeda members travelling from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan and elsewhere were allowed to pass through Iran without having their passports stamped. Larijani,...
Shiite Iraqi scholar Yousuf Al-Nasseri, Deputy Secretary-General of the Hizbullah Al-Nujaba movement, said that "our top priority is to topple the political regime in the 'Kingdom of Sands' in the Arab Peninsula – the Saud clan," which was "footing the bill for all the massacres ...