The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia will commence on June 14. This means that Ramadan – which falls this year between May 17, 2018 and June 14, 2018 – coincides with the period of intensive practice ahead of the games and with pre-tournament friendly matches. Furthermore, the first...
After 65 years of enmity between North and South Korea and of severe North Korea-U.S. tension, both conflicts appear to be moving towards resolution. At the historic April 27, 2018 summit between North Korean President Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the two l...
A video showing the first Saudi women to receive their driver's license was posted on YouTube by the Saudi Center for Government Communication on June 5, a few weeks before the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia was due to be lifted. The video shows several women driving and ho...
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On May 31, 2018, Al-Malahem, the media arm of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a new issue of its M...
In an article in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that was published two days after the Arab League summit in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Saudi writer Mish'al Al-Sudairy argued that these conferences are pointless because over the years they have produced almost nothing....
Lebanon's May 6, 2018 parliamentary election – held nine years after the previous election and under a new electoral law, which, according to many, benefited Hizbullah – resulted in an electoral achievement for this organization and its allies, who gained about 70 out of 128 seat...
Among the Saudi intellectuals, journalists and writers who have recently been expressing open support for Israel,[1] the voice of intellectual 'Abd Al-Hamid Al-Hakim was especially prominent. Al-Hakim, until recently the director of the Middle East Center for Strategic and L...
Introduction:
The mounting tension between Israel and Iran, which came to a head with Iran's firing of missiles at Israel from Syrian territory and Israel's counterattack on Iranian sites in that country, sparked a debate in Saudi Arabia regarding which side Saudis should supp...
The attempts of European countries, specifically France, Germany and Britain, to safeguard the nuclear agreement with Iran were met with criticism in the Saudi press. Articles in Saudi newspapers accused these countries of being even more eager to maintain the agreement than Iran...
In an article laced with invective, and titled "You Have No Shame, Do you? Soon, You Will Raise U.S./Israel Flags In Mecca/Medina… Jerusalem Is A Common Homeland For Us All!", the editor-in-chief of AKP mouthpiece Yeni Safak, Ibrahim Karagul accused UAE Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed ...
On May 15, 2018, the day after the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Saudi journalist Amal 'Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Hazzani called on Arabs and Palestinians to come to terms with reality and to take advantage of the event to renew negotiations with Israel. In an article in the Lo...
U.S. President Donald Trump's May 8, 2018 announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) and its reinstatement of the harsh sanctions against Iran won broad support from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. Saudi Arabia officially stated that it welcomed...
Saudi-Palestinian relations have been extremely strained recently, due, inter alia, to reports of active Saudi involvement in formulating and promoting U.S. President Donald Trump's "Deal of the Century," and apparently also due to increasing media reports that Saudi-Israeli rela...
Deputy Secretary-General of the Iraqi Hizbullah Al-Nujaba Movement, Sheikh Yusouf Al-Nasseri, discussed recent statements attributed to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and said that anyone who denies the doctrine of the Mahdi "is an impure heretic who should be killed." Sp...
In a January 12, 2018 article in the English-language daily Saudi Gazette, columnist Nefeen Abbas rebukes women who oppose their husband taking a second wife. Men, she says, unlike women, get bored with the monotony of married life, and if not allowed to take another wife they ar...
Saudi scholar Sheikh Saad ibn Abdullah Al-Humayd, said that although we have no proof of the authenticity of "The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion," the films produced by Hollywood and "the feverish competition meant to preoccupy people with the arts, with sports, with theater, an...
In his March 18, 2018 column in the London-based Saudi Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily, journalist Hussein Shubakshi wrote about the situation of the Jews who had lived in the Arab countries. He noted that they suffered discrimination and prejudice, despite the fact that they were "pilla...
On April 14, 2018, about a week after the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad carried out a chemical attack on the town of Douma near Damascus that killed dozens, the U.S., U.K. and France launched a joint military strike on regime bases and facilities associated with its ...
In recent weeks, there have been indications of a possible shift in Saudi Arabia's policy vis-à-vis Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and recognition of his regime. These indications have prompted various predictions regarding the possibility of normalization of Saudi-Syrian relat...
U.S. President Donald Trump's statement that the Syrian regime will pay a "big price" for its April 7, 2018 chemical attack on Douma, which left dozens dead, as well as the American, British and French preparations for a military strike in Syria, sparked an intense debate in Saud...
Saudi scholar Sheikh Saad ibn Abdullah Al-Humayd said that although we have no proof of the authenticity of "The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion," the films produced by Hollywood and "the feverish competition meant to preoccupy people with the arts, with sports, with theater, and...
On April 3, 2018, Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a missile at, and struck, a Saudi oil tanker in international waters west of the Yemeni port city of Al-Hudaydah. In its report on the incident, the pro-"resistance" Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV called the attack vengeance for Saudi ...
Houthi leader Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, president of "the Revolutionary Committee of Yemen," warned the British, the Europeans, and the Americans: "Stop your support of Saudi Arabia so that it will stop bombing us. If you continue, we will continue to shell Aramco and other vital f...
In its March 18, 2018 editorial, the Saudi government daily Al-Riyadh wrote that, in light of the atrocities perpetrated by the Syrian regime against its people, as currently exemplified by the massacre in eastern Ghouta, and given the helplessness of the international community ...
Speaking on Russia Today on March 26, Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal said that Iran, and not U.S. President Trump, was "causing trouble in the region," and that it was Russia's responsibility to "highlight the atrocious acts that the Iranian government perpetrates against its own p...
On March 25, 2018, when UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths was visiting Yemen and two days before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres were set to meet in New York, Houthi forces in Yemen fired seven ballistic missiles at Saudi...
U.S. President Donald Trump's removal of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his appointment of CIA director Mike Pompeo to replace him have garnered positive reactions in the Saudi press. In its March 14, 2018 editorial, the Saudi daily 'Okaz stressed the great importance ...
On January 22, 2018, close to International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27, 2018), Dr. Mohammad Al-'Issa, secretary-general of the Saudi-based Muslim World League (MWL), sent a letter to Sara Bloomfield, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., in...
Qatar's emir, Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani receives senior Hamas officials Isma'il Haniyeh and Khaled Mash'al (Source: Aawsat.com)
Since May 2017, Qatar has been waging a multifront battle with the Arab quartet. The camps are clear-cut: In Qatar's corner, there are Hamas, the Mu...
Recently, there have been signs that Saudi support for the Syrian opposition is eroding. Examples of this include Saudi Arabia's support, in 2017, for the de-escalation agreements signed under the sponsorship of the Syrian regime's main ally, Russia. Also, in November 2017, Saudi...
Saudi cleric Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan said that even though a Muslim might possess "some of the despicable and nasty traits of the Jews," one must not taunt or curse them for this. Describing these traits, Al-Fawzan said that the Jews are "the most envious of people and the m...
Saudi journalist Mohamed Al-Suhaimi said that he was in favor of silencing the microphones in the mosques, saying that the "terrifying" sound of the adhan call to prayer "coming from all directions" bothers people in prayer, scares children, and causes anxiety. "The group of peop...
As the Islamic State caliphate disintegrates, and it is not known for sure whether its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is alive, dead, or deep underground like Osama bin Laden after 9/11 – or possibly in a Syrian hospital in "critical" condition, as was widely reported this week – th...
Saudi Imam Abdulwahab Al-Omari said, in a Friday sermon, that Allah turned the Jews into apes and pigs, and that on Judgment Day, they would be the soldiers of the Antichrist. According to Al-Omari, Jesus would descend before Judgment Day, accept the shari'a, and pursue the Antic...
Recently, after the popular uprising in Iran died down, and following U.S. President Donald Trump's waiving of the nuclear sanctions against Iran, the Saudi press published a number of articles harshly criticizing the Western policy vis-à-vis Iran.[1] The articles expressed disap...
As part of the boycott declared on Qatar some six months ago by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt,[1] these countries drew up three lists of organizations and people who they say have ties to terror and are supported by Qatar. One of the organizations included on the third...
In his May 21, 2017 column in the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily, Saudi journalist Mish'al Al-Sudairy criticized the Palestinian leaders and stated that for many years they had missed numerous diplomatic opportunities to resolve the conflict with Israel, and that they had a...
On the eve of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, two Saudi writers – the editor of the Saudi Al-Jazirah daily, and a columnist for the Saudi Al-Watan daily – published articles addressed to the American president. The articles congratulated Trump on making Saudi...
In a February 4, 2017 article in the official Saudi daily Al-Watan, Hala Al-Qahtani wrote that the Jews are eternally plotting to bankrupt the world and weaken its societies in order to facilitate their takeover of it and realize, at any cost, their dream of establishing a Jewish...
On May 1, 2017 in Doha, a week before he stepped down as Hamas political bureau head, Khaled Mash'al announced the release of Hamas's new policy document.[1] This document has been very harshly criticized by the Palestinian Authority and Fatah, which rejected it and expressed sus...
In his column in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, senior political analyst Khalid Al-Dakhil presented his impressions from and comments on an interview he had conducted with Hamas political bureau head Khaled Mash'al several days before the latter's retirement and ahead of ...
On the occasion of Syria's Independence Day, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad received messages of congratulation from several world leaders, most notably UN Secretary-General António Guterres.[1]According to Syria's official news agency SANA, Guterres's cable did not mention the...
In recent months Saudi media, and Saudis on social media, have been in an uproar over Saudi cleric Saeed bin Farwah, his controversial sermons, and the Saudi authorities' responses to them. In the first of these sermons, delivered June 19, 2015, bin Farwah had attacked Nasser Al-...
Official Russia reacted to the decision by the Trump administration to attack the Syrian regime's Shayrat airbase, from where the chemical weapons attack on the Syrian village of Khan Sheikhoun was launched. Russia predictably condemned the attack as a violation of internatio...
Following the April 3, 2017 metro bombing in St. Petersburg, Russia, in which 14 people were killed, leading Saudi journalist Sa'id Al-Surayhi, who writes for the Saudi daily 'Okaz, penned an op-ed for the paper calling on the Arabs to condemn the attack regardless of Russia's in...
In an article titled "A Critical Look at the Past Is an Absolute Must," posted on Alarabiya's English-language website, Saudi columnist Mohammed Al-Shaikh wrote that the current rise of the radical right in the West is a reaction to violent Islamic extremism that espouses the val...
The beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump in the U.S. generated optimism in Saudi Arabia about the new American administration. This was especially the case in light of the previous presidency, that of Barack Obama, during which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia grew apart, and the...
In a recent article titled "Talk to Me in Arabic" in the English-language daily Saudi Gazette, columnist Ibrahim Badawood lamented the fact that many Saudis who have studied abroad or who work for multinational companies, as well as children who attend international schools in th...
In February 2017, prominent Saudi journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, the former editor of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat and former director of Alarabiya TV, published two articles calling to take a firm position vis-à-vis Iran and even form an "Arab NATO" to confront the alliance Iran has ...
In a January 25, 2017 article in the London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, prominent Saudi journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, the daily's former editor and the former director of Al-Arabiya TV, discussed the issue of the U.S. moving its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusa...
In his January 2, 2017 column in the official Saudi daily Al-Jazirah, titled "The Palestinians Have No [Choice] But Peace," journalist Muhammad Aal Al-Sheikh criticized Palestinian factions that advocate armed resistance, such as Hamas and radical left-wing factions, on the groun...
In his December 27, 2016, column in the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh, titled "Muslim Minorities in the West – Have They Done Their Duty?" 'Imad Al-'Abad called on Muslims living in the West to inculcate in their children loyalty to the countries in which they had chosen to make their ho...
Following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, Saudi columnists commented on the smooth transfer of power that took place in the U.S. despite the sharp differences of opinion between the two presidents, in accordance with the American constitution and democratic tradi...
In an article titled "Who We Are" in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Saudi businessman and media personality Hossein Shobokshi wrote that, while in Western countries people have a sense of collective national identity, in Arab societies tribal and sectarian loyalt...
Every so often, the issue of Iran's Ahwaz region, home to an oppressed Arab minority that seeks independence, comes up in the Arab press. On December 3, 2016, an international conference on Ahwaz was held in Tunisia by the Euro Arab Center for Studies, in conjunction with the Ara...
As the years-long public debate over the Saudi ban on women driving continues, many in the kingdom, including Saudi officials and columnists in Saudi daily newspapers, are calling for it to be rescinded. This report will review some of these calls:
Shura Council Memb...
In a June 25, 2016 interview with the liberal Arab website Elaph, Dr. Najat Al-Sa'eed, a Saudi communications lecturer at Zayed University in Dubai, said that Islam is the only monotheistic religion that has not adapted to the modern age, and that this was not the fault of I...
While many writers in the Saudi and Gulf media reacted to the election of Donald Trump for U.S. president with mixed emotions, expressing hopes for cooperation with him but also concern because of his hostile statements regarding Muslims,[1] Turki Al-Dakhil, the general manager ...
Following the election of Michel 'Aoun as Lebanon's new president and the appointment of Sa'd Al-Hariri to form a new government, Saudi journalist Khalaf Al-Harbi wrote in his daily column in the Saudi government daily 'Okaz that Saudi Arabia must not support the Al-Hariri govern...
Dr. 'Ali Sa'd Al-Moussa, a columnist for the Saudi daily Al-Watan, wrote on August 22, 2016 that the blood-soaked conflicts and struggles raging across the Arab world have nothing to do with Israel, and that blaming Israel for them is shallow. Al-Moussa wrote with nostalgia ...
On
September 28, 2016, the U.S. Congress passed the Justice Against Sponsors of
Terrorism Act (JASTA), which enables U.S. citizens affected by terrorism to
file lawsuits against countries found to be involved in those actions. Thus,
U.S. citizens affected by 9/11 will be able...
In an article in the daily 'Okaz, Saudi journalist and writer Khalaf Al-Harbi called on the Saudi government to lift the ban on women driving. He stated that it is not a sin for women to drive but rather a natural and normal right, and that the ban keeps Saudi Arabia from advanci...
On September 28, 2016, the U.S. Congress passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), after it was vetoed by President Obama. The Act states, inter alia, that "a U.S. national may file a civil action against a foreign state for physical injury, death, or damage a...
On September 25, 2016, the Saudi English-language daily Saudi Gazette published an unusual editorial, urging the Palestinian Authority (PA) not to dismiss out of hand the invitation extended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas to a...
On September 13, 2016, The New York Times published an op-ed by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif titled "Let Us Rid the World of Wahhabism."[1] In it, Zarif harshly attacked Wahhabism, the branch of Sunni Islam espoused by the Saudi regime, calling it a "...
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei's September 5, 2016 message for the annual Hajj pilgrimage was
particularly anti-Saudi in tone; in it, he called on the countries in the
region, and on all Muslim countries, to recognize the true nature of the Saudi
rulers, and described th...
On
August 2, 2016, in his column in the Saudi daily Al-Watan, Sattam
Al-Muqrin criticized clerics who fear to speak out against suicide attacks,
which he states are prohibited by Islamic law. According to Al-Muqrin,
terrorist organizations use Islamic texts to brainwash young...
Violence against women is common in Saudi
Arabia, [1] and
is another expression of the severe oppression they suffer, which also includes
the ban on women driving, the requirement for the approval and escort of a male
guardian for nearly every move they make, the high rate of...
Over the past month, the Saudi press has featured a number of highly unusual articles harshly critical of the antisemitic discourse in Arab and Muslim society, and calling to avoid its generalizations regarding the Jews. The articles argued that Koranic passages against the Jews ...
In an article published August 11, 2016 in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, the daily's former editor 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed wrote that the atrocities committed by ISIS and others in the name of Islam are the product of extremist ideas that are spread in mosques,...
On the evening of July 4, 2016, one day before Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, a suicide bomber carried out an attack outside the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The attack shocked the Muslim world because the Prophet's Mosque...
On June 2, 2016, Muhammad Al-Sa'id, a columnist for the official Saudi daily 'Okaz, published an article titled "Ayatollah Obama - A Tehran Love Story," in which he attacked President Obama for supporting revolutionary Iran and striving to focus U.S. foreign policy on the f...
Introduction
In December 2011, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states approved the of initiative Saudi King Abdallah bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz to set up a Gulf Union, and progress from the stage of cooperation to the stage of full-fledged union as a single entity. Th...
Introduction U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's November 3, 2013 visit to Saudi Arabia will take place amidst considerable tension between the two countries. The Arab Spring has given rise to more than a few disagreements between the two countries over the policy of the admini...
The prohibition against women driving has been a matter of public debate in Saudi Arabia for years.[1] The ban is based on a fatwa issued in October 1990 by the Senior Cleric's Council – the kingdom's top religious body – which stated that women were not allowed to drive and that...
The Arab Spring revolutions, which brought the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) to power in Egypt and Tunisia, forced the Saudi authorities to contend with the growing power of the MB and its supporters within Saudi Arabia and outside it. The Saudi press responded to the challenge with an...
Introduction
Violence towards women is a common and expanding phenomenon in Saudi Arabia and an issue that greatly preoccupies Saudi society. According to the executive manager of the National Family Protection Program, three out of 10 Saudi women are subjected to domestic vi...
Introduction
On January 11, 2013, for the first time in the history of Saudi Arabia – where women have no right to drive and are still required by law to obtain the escort and approval of a male guardian for almost every step that they take[1] – King 'Abdallah bin 'Abd Al-'Azi...
Introduction On March 23, 2013, as the Sunni-Shi'ite struggle in Lebanon reached a peak, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced his resignation and brought down the Hizbullah-dominated government that had been formed in June 2011 under the sponsorship of this organizatio...
Introduction
The topic of gender and women's status in Saudi Arabia is complex and fascinating, and poses a difficult task for researchers. Saudi society, being a traditional, conservative and closed society, does not enable easy access to those seeking to reveal its secrets. ...
Introduction Dr. Turki Al-Hamad, a liberal Saudi journalist and writer known for his criticism of extremist Islam, was arrested recently for some statements he made via Twitter on December 22, 2012. Dr. Al-Hamad wrote: "A new Nazism has arrived in the Arab world, named Islamism. ...
Introduction The use of social networking sites has become very common in the Arab world, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Studies conducted in this country have revealed that 38% of the population use social networks, more than in any other Arab country, and that Saudis lead the li...
Introduction On July 8, 2012, Saudi security forces the Shi'ite city of 'Awamiya (in Al-Qatif governorate in the country's Eastern Province) arrested senior Shi'ite cleric Nimr Bakr Al-Nimr. As on several occasions in the past, he was arrested for sedition after directing hars...
Introduction In a September 25, 2011 speech at the Saudi Shura Council, King 'Abdullah bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz surprised his audience by announcing that, from 2013, women would be allowed to serve as members of this council, and that they would also be allowed to vote and to run in th...
Introduction Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Russia have increased in recent months over the events in Syria, with the two countries taking opposite sides in the conflict. Saudi Arabia, alongside Qatar, has led the camp calling to oust the Assad regime and arm the Syrian oppos...
Introduction Recently, the Saudi government press, as well as Arab media and social networks, reported on student demonstrations in several Saudi universities in protest of poor learning conditions. Initially, the Saudi press reported on a demonstration held by female students at...
Introduction In light of the popular uprisings in the Arab world, especially in the Gulf, the past year has seen a considerable escalation of the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which have been in conflict for many years. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are following with con...
Introduction Among other manifestations, tensions between the Gulf states and Iran were reflected through cartoons. The Gulf, and especially Saudi, press, including its London-based newspapers, published numerous cartoons condemning Iran and depicting it as interfering in Middle...
Introduction
For over a month, Shi'ites in Bahrain have been staging demonstrations to demand the ouster of the regime and the implementation of reforms in the country. On March 14, 2011, a senior Saudi official reported that under the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) joint defe...
Introduction The wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab world has now reached Saudi Arabia. For several weeks, various elements in the kingdom have been preparing for a day of demonstrations against the regime, set for March 11, 2011, which they are calling the "Hunain Revolution."...
Introduction Sheikh 'Abd Al-Muhsin Al-'Obikan, an advisor at the Saudi Justice Ministry, recently issued a fatwa allowing the breastfeeding of adults. The fatwa is aimed at enabling an unrelated man and woman to be secluded in the same room, a situation which Islam considers fo...
Saudi Arabia greeted the U.N. Security Council's most recent round of sanctions against Tehran with a certain degree of satisfaction. Saudi analysts opined that the sanctions were a sign of the failure of Iranian diplomacy; some went so far as to suggest that the sanctions marke...
Introduction Islamic affairs researcher Sheikh Ahmad bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz ibn Baz, who is a columnist for the Saudi daily Al-Watan and son of the former Saudi mufti, conservative Wahhabi Sheikh 'Abd Al-'Aziz ibn Baz (1912-1999), recently gave some interviews to the Saudi media in ...
In early November 2009, following several years of fighting between the Houthis and the Yemeni government, Saudi Arabia launched a military offensive against Houthis rebels in northern Yemen in retaliation for their infiltration of its territory. In the course of this offensive,...
Introduction During the January 2010 London Conference on Afghanistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed to Saudi King 'Abdallah, asking him to participate in mediation efforts between the Afghan government and the Taliban. His appeal focused media attention on Saudi Arabia'...
Saudi Arabia has recently seen a revival in the field of cinema after years of inactivity in this domain. For the first time in 30 years, the authorities have permitted to screen a Saudi film in the country; several film festivals have been held; and demands have been heard to b...
Saudi Arabia has recently seen a rising tide of criticism over child bride marriages, especially following the marriage of a 12-year-old girl to her father's 80-year-old cousin who already had three wives.[1] The phenomenon of underage marriage, extensively covered in the Saudi...
Introduction In a MEMRI dispatch issued shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, we wrote the following: 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 the orga...
Introduction A few days before the Hajj (November 25-30, 2009), Iranian officials deliberately intensified statements calling on Shi'ites, and all Hajj pilgrims to Mecca, to conduct baraa - a kind of political protest against the infidels and apostates instituted by the founde...
Introduction On June 7, 2009, the March 14 Forces won the Lebanese parliamentary elections. Five months later, on November 9, 2009, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman endorsed a government that represents a victory for the opposition, which is celebrating its achievement of man...
The current clashes between the Saudi security forces and the Houthi rebels who have infiltrated Saudi Arabia from Yemen have intensified the steadily escalating conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which is part of the cold war in the Middle East between the pro-Saudi camp a...
Introduction Recently, Saudi women activists, led by Saudi Princess Jawaher bint Jalawi, launched a campaign called "My Guardian Knows What's Best For Me," calling for redefining the term "guardian" and for opposing calls by those with liberal views to improve the status of wom...
Introduction Beginning in mid-2009, the Iranian and Saudi media have been regularly exchanging accusations on a number of points of conflict: the escalation between the Yemen army and the Houthi rebels, [1] the intensified attacks in Iraq, Iran's involvement in Lebanon and the...
Introduction Reactions in the Arab media to the awarding of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to U.S. President Barack Obama were split into support and opposition. The supporters of the move stated that Obama deserved the prize for the spirit of reconciliation and moderate messages t...
On August 13, 2009, the Iraqi daily Al-Zaman cited a statement by Yousef Al-Matlabi, political advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, accusing Saudi Arabia of inciting violence in Iraq. As evidence, he noted the arrest in Iraq of several Saudi nationals who had recentl...
Currently, Iraqi-Saudi relations are at a nadir. While Iraq has time and again officially reiterated its desire to strengthen relations and resolve disagreements with Saudi Arabia, the Saudi response has been less than enthusiastic. The Saudis have repeatedly rejected Iraq's pr...
Introduction Since he took the throne on August 1, 2005, Saudi King 'Abdallah bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz has instituted far-reaching reforms that have changed the face of the Kingdom. The reforms included: Establishing a body to elect the king and crown prince from among the sons and g...
Introduction In advance of the Doha summit in late March, 2009, Egypt and Saudi Arabia made their participation conditional on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's not being invited. Saudi Arabia and Syria held several high-level meetings in an attempt to alleviate the tension...
Saudi Cleric Dr. Sa'd bin 'Abdallah Al-Breik spoke on Al-Qa'ida's role in 9/11 on Saudi Arabia's Channel 1 on August 16, 2004. The following are excerpts: We must not inflate (the importance) of Al-Qa'eda, to the point of claiming that it is the main and only perpetrator of this ...
Sheik 'Abd Al-Qader Shiba Al-Hammad spoke about Jews in history and how the Muslims should treat the enemy on the Saudi MBC station. Following are excerpts. From the day civil strife began in Islam, the Jews were behind it. There is no evil in the world that the Jews are not b...
Sheik Dr. Saleh bin Ghanem Al-Sidlan, a professor at Imam Mahmoud bin Sa'ud Islamic Memorial University, appeared on a religous ruling show on the Saudi-based religious station Iqra TV and responded to a question from a viewer about women's reward in heaven. The following are exc...
The following are excerpts from a Friday sermon at The Mosque of the Prophet in Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia. The sermon was broadcast by Saudi Arabia TV's Channel 2, and the preacher is Sheik Sallah Al-Bdeir: Sheik Bdeir: Oh Muslims, all these sinful calls, these deceiving slogans (f...
Ranya Al-Baz, a Saudi TV host was severely beaten by her husband, Muhammad Bakr Yunis. On April 29, 2004, she was interviewed by MBC's Mahmoud Sa'd. On August 1, 2004, Sa'd interviewed the abusive husband and aired again excerpts from Al-Baz's April interview. The following are e...
Sheik 'Abd Al-Muhsin bin Nasser Al-'Abiqan, legal advisor for the Saudi Justice Ministry spoke against terrorism on his weekly religious rulings show on the Saudi channel MBC TV. The following are excerpts: Sheik Al-'Abiqan: Not everyone who belongs to another religion is your en...
The religious channel Al-Majd TV hosted two Saudi university professors who discussed whether women should be allowed to work outside the home. The following are excertps: Moderator, Sa'ud Aal 'Abd Al-Latif: The pearls have been increasingly leaving their shells, but where do the...
The following are excerpts from a Friday sermon at the Al-Nabawi Mosque in Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia, delivered by Sheik Saleh Bdeir: Sheik Bdeir: Oh Muslims! The enemies of Islam, the Jews, Christians, atheists, and those from among the infidel Westernized who are enslaved by them...
Saudi prince Khaled Al-Faysal, governor of 'Asir Region in Saudi Arabia was interviewed by Al-Arabiya TV and talked about the ideological extremism that took control over Saudi Arabia's educational system. The following are excerpts: Prince Al-Faysal: This perverse ideology has s...
Sa'd bin 'Ali Al-Shaharani, a professor at Um Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia appeared on the Saudi-based channel, Iqra TV, and accused the US of terrorism. Following are excerpts: ...
Saudi liberal journalist Khaled Al-Dukhail was interviewed on Dubai TV about the third session of the Saudi national dialogue in which he participated. The dialogue, which is sponsored by Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah, was dedicated this time to women issues. Al-Dukhail was intervi...
Saudi preacher, Sa'ud Al-Shreim dedicated his Friday sermon at Al-Haram Mosque to women in the West and in Islam and to the differences between the genders. Following are excerpts: Sheik Al-Shreim: What (Western) countries did in reality, in order to liberate the woman was to tur...
In his weekly religious ruling show on Saudi TV, Sheik Saleh bin Ghanem Al-Sidlan blasted those responsible for recent terror attacks in Saudi Arabia. Following are excerpts: Sheik Sidlan: These ignorant people go out and kill both the infidels and the Muslims that are near them....
Liberal Saudi juornalist, Turki Hamad was interviewed on Dubai TV by another well known Saudi journalist, Daoud Al-Shiriyan. The interview revolved around the terror attacks in Saudi Arabia in recent months. Following are excerpts: Hamad: The (Saudi) state and the extremists belo...
On June 23, 2004, Channel 1 of Saudi TV aired a statement read by Crown Prince, Abdallah Bin Abd Al-Aziz on behalf King Fahd, in which he gave terrorists one last chance to surrender and repent. Following is an excerpt from his statement: Oh brothers and citizens, Allah says [in ...
Saudi Cleric, Dr. Muhammad Bin Suleiman Al-Mani'i, hosted a talk show on Channel 1 of Saudi TV and spoke out against killing Jews and Christians. Following are excerpts from his comments, aired on June 20, 2004: Islamic law in general prohibits any Muslim from raising a weapon a...
'Abdallah Bin Hadhban Al-Harathi interviewed Dr. Said bin Nasser Al-Ghamedi about women in the West and in Isalm during his weekly religious program on the Saudi- based channel, Iqra TV, . Following are excerpts from the discussion: 'Abdallah Bin Hadhban Al-Harathi: Why did (the ...
Prince Bandar Bin Sultan bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz, Saudi Ambassador to the US, was interviewed on Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai), in which he defended the American people and military in the wake of the Abu Ghureib abuses. Ambassador Bandar also claimed he preferred four more years for the actin...
Saudi Sheikh, Abdallah Al-Muslih, Chairman of the Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah of the Muslim World League and former dean of Islamic law in the Saudi city of Abha, discussed suicide bombings during his religious ruling program on the Saudi-based Islamic ...
May 27, 2004 Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) The Hizbullah television station, Al-Manar, hosted a discussion between Dr. Ghazi Rabab'a, Professor of Political Science at Jordan University, and Dr. Muhsen Al-‘Awaj from Saudi Arabia, Spokesman for the World Campaign for Resisting Aggression,...
May 24, 2004 Channel 1, Saudi TV Saudi Sheikh Ahmad Bin Abd Al-Latif, Professor at Um Al-Qura University, appeared on a religious ruling program aired by Channel 1 of Saudi TV on May 24, 2004. During the show, a viewer asked whether prayers by imams in Saudi mosques for Allah to ...
The Saudi-based religious TV channel, Iqra TV, conducted an interview with Saudi Sheikh Said Al-Qahtani who discussed Jihad in Islam. Following are excerpts from his comments: Sheikh Al-Qahtani: Jihad, as it is defined by religious scholars, is investing effort and energy in supp...
Dr. Hanaa Mutlaq, Professor of Psychology at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia appeared on Channel 1 of Saudi TV and discussed the issue of education in Saudi Arabia. Following are excerpts from her comments: Dr. Mutlaq: Our problem is internal, our society is exploding from t...
Dr. Salem Al-'Aufi, the Secretary General of the King Fahd Center for Printing the Koran was interviewed on Channel 1 of Saudi TV, following Crown Prince Abdallah's claims that Zionism has been behind 95% of terror attacks in Saudi Arabia. Following are excerpts from his comments...
May 2, 2004 Saudi 1 TV In reaction to the May 1, 2004 terrorist shooting in the offices of an oil contractor in Yunbu', Saudi Arabia, in which seven, among them two Americans, were killed, Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah ibn Abd Al-'Aziz stated that "the Zionists" were to blame. The ...
The Saudi TV channel MBC invited the Legal Advisor to the Saudi Justice Ministry, Abd Al-Muhsein Bin Nasser Al-‘Abikan to appear on its religious ruling program. Al-Abikan was asked about Osama Bin Laden, the following is a translation of his answer: I advise brother Osama Bin La...
The Saudi-based Iqraa TV broadcast an interview with the Saudi journalist, Suheila Zein Al-'Abideen Hammad, who demanded that women be allowed to drive and be given other rights. Following are excerpts from the interview: Hammad: If we examine the issue of women driving from the...
Ahmad Al-Asraf, a Kuwaiti expert on Islamic charities, appeared on Al-Jazeera TV to discuss the connection between these charities and terrorism. Following is an excerpt from his comments: Ahmad Al-Asraf: The charities that operate especially in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia ? is there...
Sheikh Muhammad Al-Munajid appeared on the Saudi-based religious TV channel, Iqra, and spoke about Jihad and the US. Following are excerpts from his comments: Sheik Muhammad Al-Munajid: The issue is not one person, two, ten, or a hundred going out with their guns to support their...
Saudi Sheikh, Abdallah Al-Muslih, Chairman of the Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran, Sunnah of the Muslim World League, and former Dean of Islamic Law in the Saudi City of Abha discussed the differences between Islamic and Western cultures in his weekly religious ruling...
In his Friday sermon delivered at the Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca, Sheikh Sa'ud Al-Shreim criticized the democracy and reform plans the US has for the Middle East. Following are excerpts from his sermon: Sheikh Sa'ud Ibrahim Al-Shreim: The nation should know that the logic of all cr...
In his Friday sermon at Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca, Imam Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis discussed Jewish history and modern Jihad. Following are excerpts from the sermon that was broadcast live on Channel 1 of Saudi TV: Imam Al-Sudayyis: The history of the (Jewish) people is written in ...
The Saudi-based religious channel, Iqra TV, broadcast a poem that was read in the Al-Aqsa in our Hearts? Festival, in Jedda. Following is a verbatim translation of excerpts from that poem: Oh, man of the Arab homeland, if you evade the serpent's head - you will regret it. Who is ...
The Saudi-based religious channel, Iqra TV, interviewed Sheikh Said Al-Qahtani, who discussed Jihad and the terror attacks around the world. Following are excerpts from his comments: Sheikh Al-Qahtani: We did not occupy the US, with 8 million Muslims, using bombings. Had we been ...
The Saudi-based religious channel, Iqra TV, aired an interview with Saudi cleric, 'Awadh Al-Qarni. Following are excerpts from the interview Moderator: Why are you against anything that is American? Honestly. Sheikh Al-Qarni: Yes, yes, yes. The truth is that this position regardi...
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