In an article below this:
"“Reforming Islam does not mean simply allowing women to drive or wear bikinis,” cautioned Middle East scholar Rasheed."
Pay attention folks, and do not be fooled. A oil prices plummet and alternatives to oil are created and used, Saudi wants you to believe they will not send terrorists kill you.
When Obama was President conservatives said Obama should not be so friendly with Saudi Arabia. Americans wanted to sue Saudi Arabia, but Obama stood against suing Saudi to blame them for 9-11.
Then Tweety visits and praises Saudis despite their horrible human rights record, and he sells Saudi $110B worth of weapons they may send off to the Sunni terrorists they support, and Americans are supposed to like the Saudis?
What kind of hypocrisy and racism are we showing here! Could Americans supporting Tweety be more obviously racist and epically stupid at the same time?
"Saudi Arabia wants to return to ‘moderate Islam.’ Skeptics say it’s a marketing ploy."
By Rick Noack October 25, 2017
"When Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced Tuesday that he wanted the kingdom to return to “moderate Islam,” not everyone was convinced.
On the face of it, the statement fueled hopes that the ultraconservative kingdom would finally give in to critics who have long demanded more liberties and tolerance, but others cautioned that it was not at all clear what a more “moderate Islam” would look like for Saudi Arabia. In fact, the declaration might have more to do with boosting the kingdom’s economy rather than reversing decades-old practices."
Is it possible to moderate such extreme beliefs held so long? Would you moderate your religious beliefs so easily, without any apparent motivation, religious insight, or revelation?
"In a subsequent interview with the Guardian, he unexpectedly blamed Saudi Arabia’s arch enemy Shiite Iran for the kingdom's turn toward Wahhabism, an ultraconservative branch of Islam, which is being promoted by Riyadh both domestically and abroad.
“What happened in the last 30 years is not Saudi Arabia. What happened in the region in the last 30 years is not the Middle East. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, people wanted to copy this model in different countries — one of them is Saudi Arabia. We didn’t know how to deal with it. And the problem spread all over the world. Now is the time to get rid of it,” said Mohammed, speaking to the Guardian."
So it is about IRAN!? The moderation is about IRAN?
"The Saudi state is deeply rooted in and has long been intimately entwined with Sunni Wahhabism. Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, the religious leader who founded the branch about three centuries ago, was a key ally of Muhammad ibn Saud, who is widely considered to be the founder of the Saudi state.
With the foundation of the modern Saudi state in the 20th century, Islam became the state religion with almost all clerics promoting the state-funded and government-supported ultraconservative Wahhabi branch. That same Islam was widely promoted in Muslim countries around the world, thanks to the Saudi state’s deep pockets."
So it makes no sense to me that Saudi will moderate because they want to moderate.
"This sudden royal criticism of the kingdom’s long-held religious practices provoked skepticism from critics of the Saudi leadership.
Madawi Al-Rasheed, a Middle East scholar at the London School of Economics, argued in an email that Saudi Arabia was not one of the many countries where moderate Islam turned ultraconservative, but was instead an exception. It is a “unique case of radical religion becoming the official religion of the state and its legitimacy narrative,” said Rasheed, who cautioned that the Saudi leadership imprisoned clerics who had attempted to “offer reinterpretations of Islamic text, for example how Islam and democracy are compatible.”"
More.
"“It is unclear how a moderate Islam in Saudi Arabia would look like, but I think what Mohammed bin Salman is trying to mainly achieve is to send out a PR message that he is a Western ally in the fight against terrorism and that he stands for a modern future,” said Sebastian Sons, an associate fellow with the German Council on Foreign Relations who focuses on Saudi Arabia."
Final point.
"“Reforming Islam does not mean simply allowing women to drive or wear bikinis,” cautioned Middle East scholar Rasheed."
"Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal"
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK NOV. 4, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-waleed-bin-talal.html
"LONDON — Saudi Arabia announced the arrest on Saturday night of the prominent billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, plus at least 10 other princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers."
More.
"The sweeping campaign of arrests appears to be the latest move to consolidate the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the favorite son and top adviser of King Salman."
More.
"Prince Alwaleed was giving interviews to the Western news media as recently as late last month about subjects like so-called crypto currencies and Saudi Arabia’s plans for a public offering of shares in its state oil company, Aramco.
He has also recently sparred publicly with President Donald J. Trump. The prince was part of a group of investors who bought control of the Plaza Hotel in New York from Mr. Trump, and he also bought an expensive yacht from him as well. But in a twitter message in 2015 the prince called Mr. Trump “a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America.”"
"Saudi Prince, Asserting Power, Brings Clerics to Heel"
By BEN HUBBARDNOV. 5, 2017
"BURAIDA, Saudi Arabia — For decades, Saudi Arabia’s religious establishment wielded tremendous power, with bearded enforcers policing public behavior, prominent sheikhs defining right and wrong, and religious associations using the kingdom’s oil wealth to promote their intolerant interpretation of Islam around the world.
Now, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is curbing their power as part of his drive to impose his control on the kingdom and press for a more open brand of Islam.
Before the arrests on Saturday of his fellow royals and former ministers on corruption allegations, Prince Mohammed had stripped the religious police of their arrest powers and expanded the space for women in public life, including promising them the right to drive.
Dozens of hard-line clerics have been detained, while others were designated to speak publicly about respect for other religions, a topic once anathema to the kingdom’s religious apparatus."
Is Tweety a part of this crack down? Does Tweety deserve any credit? I predict Tweety will say HE cause the moderation. lol
