Is Saudi Arabia behind an orchestrated "outrage" over Danish comix?

[BurtWorm]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/5/13149/60748

There have been several derogatory or potentially inflammatory usages of Mohammed (PBUH) in American entertainment vehicles, perhaps the most famous being South Park. And last but not least, there is an actual sculpture of Mohammed (PBUH) on the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC.

The point I'm trying to make here is that Mohammed (PBUH) has been depicted, painted or made appearances in animated cartoons on many, many occasions and yet there's been no rioting, storming of embassies and CNN coverage. The question becomes, not why were the Danish cartoons offensive or inappropriate, but why is there such a strong reaction now?

Denmark has a long history of multi-cultural tolerance, including their famous solidarity stand with Jewish citizens during World War 2. The newspaper Jyllands-Posten itself was surprised by the strong reaction to their cartoons and even apologized publically for any offense they may have caused. And for 2 months, there was hardly a peep from any Muslim group outside a small protest in Denmark itself and somewhat larger protests in Pakistan.

So what triggered this? Well it takes a blog to explain it. What CNN and the other traditional media failed to tell you is that the thousand gallons of fuel added to the fire of outrage came from none other than our old pals Saudi Arabia.

[BurtWorm]

1. More

...

The most recent Hajj occurred during the first half of January 2006, precisely when the "outrage" over the Danish cartoons began in earnest. There were a number of stampedes, called "tragedies" in the press, during the Hajj which killed several hundred pilgrims. I say "tragedies" in quotation marks because there have been similar "tragedies" during the Hajj and each time, the Saudi government promises to improve security and facilitation of movement to avoid these. Over 251 pilgrims were killed during the 2004 Hajj alone in the same area as the one that killed 350 pilgrims in 2006. These were not unavoidable accidents, they were the results of poor planning by the Saudi government.

And while the deaths of these pilgrims was a mere blip on the traditional western media's radar, it was a huge story in the Muslim world. Most of the pilgrims who were killed came from poorer countries such as Pakistan, where the Hajj is a very big story. Even the most objective news stories were suddenly casting Saudi Arabia in a very bad light and they decided to do something about it.

Their plan was to go on a major offensive against the Danish cartoons. The 350 pilgrims were killed on January 12 and soon after, Saudi newspapers (which are all controlled by the state) began running up to 4 articles per day condemning the Danish cartoons. The Saudi government asked for a formal apology from Denmark. When that was not forthcoming, they began calling for world-wide protests. After two weeks of this, the Libyans decided to close their embassy in Denmark. Then there was an attack on the Danish embassy in Indonesia. And that was followed by attacks on the embassies in Syria and then Lebanon.

...

[BurtWorm]

2. Juan Cole doesn't buy the "orchestration" charge.

http://www.juancole.com/2006/02/fact-file-on-reaction-to-danish.html

Monday, February 06, 2006

Fact File on Reaction to Danish Caricatures

It is being alleged in some quarters that the controversy over the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad is somehow artificial or whipped up months later by the Saudis. This is not true. The controversy began in Denmark itself among the 180,000 Danish Muslims. It was taken up by the ambassadors of Muslim states in Copenhagen. Then the Egyptian foreign minister began making a big deal of it, as did Islamist parties in Turkey and Pakistan. The crisis has unfolded along precisely the sort of networks one would have expected, and become intertwined with all the post-colonial crises of the region, from the foreign military occupation of Iraq to the new instability in Syria and Lebanon.

Below is a press record on the controversy, drawn from the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, a translation service of the CIA that is later released under various commercial auspices, including BBC World Monitoring and World News Connection....

[PATRICK]

3. You add it all up

the fixed fanatical responses, the simple spark, the CIA influence, the money influence, the Sunni/Shiite undeclared war, the oil rivalry, cartoonists trying to make their name, the cultural chaos between moderate and fanatic, right and left, Europe and the ME, etc. Do you really have to designate who or which is directly responsible? It is something many could deny or take credit for but which in fact all participate thinking to attain their own ends. Like the shooting of Ferdinand, none of the parts matter, just the whole excited rush to engage in violence of language and action- by the usual suspects- those who would profit most for any reason from it.

[PATRICK]

4. But no, Mr. Cole

You can't subtract what is there either, namely the purpose and partial orchestration of "our" side.

[TomInTib]

5. All of this reminds me of the Black Panther coloring book fiasco.

FBI hoax in the late 60s and early 70s.

[Wordie]

6. Careful...the Saudi Royalty may be a target of the neocons, imho.

It is the Wahabis, imho, who may be stirring up passions over this. They are the extremists, and also a threat to the Royals. One could easily blame the Royals for not taking steps against the Wahabis sooner, but they are taking steps now, and in fact may be the west's best hope of restraining the influence of the religious extremists in Saudi Arabia. If the House of Saud were to fall, what we would see in it's place would be far worse, both for the Saudis and the rest of the world.

I read a while ago that they (Saudi Royals) are trying to wean their country away from the influence of the Wahabi clerics. In fact, they broadcast a program on Saudi national tv not long ago encouraging more moderate beliefs. They may have to go somewhat slowly in this effort due to the influence of the clerics on the citizenry. The Wahabi clerics hold tremendous power, which they do not want to lose.

There is also an effort by the Saudi government to reduce extremism in the school system. Many DUers will probably be surprised to read this:

Public Debate in Saudi Arabia on Extremism in the School System
January 4, 2005
memri

Recently, some senior Saudi education officials have called for a ban on the dissemination of extremist views in schools, and launched activities to increase teacher awareness of the issue. At the same time, education ministry officials, editors, columnists and TV critics insist that the Saudi government is not doing enough to eradicate extremism in the schools. The following are excerpts from discussions about the issue:


New Guidelines for the Educational System as School Begins

With the beginning of the Saudi school year in September 2004, senior Saudi officials called upon teachers not to disseminate extremist views among their pupils, and warned that any teacher found doing so would be fired.

On September 5, 2004, Crown Prince Abdallah bin Abd Al-'Aziz told senior education officials: "Watch your teachers. We want to serve the religion and the homeland, not terrorism..."(1)

..."Criminal deeds are the result of criminal thoughts... Teachers must understand the great difference between the teacher and the mufti. They must teach the pupils, in the best possible way, what is in the curricula, without issuing religious rulings and without deviating from the curriculum and force-feeding the pupils with issues that have nothing to do with them...

...On another occasion, Al-Rashid said that: "the Education Minister will in no way accept a teacher who holds misguided views that influence the younger generation,"(3) and that "any element implementing an extremist policy will be uprooted from the educational system."(4)

...Tabouk District Governor Prince Fahd bin Sultan said in a September 12, 2004 speech to members of the Tabouk Educational Council: "The teachers are responsible for preserving the way of thought of the young generation at the beginning of its crystallization... It is unacceptable for one of us to disseminate extremism, fanaticism, terrorism, and apostasy. We must not allow anyone who identifies with the group holding a dangerous and deviant view to among us... The weapon to which we must cling in fighting the deviant view is faultless adherence to faith, free of extremism." In his speech, he also called upon teachers to encourage the pupils to implement the principle of dialogue and to accept the view of the "other."(6)

http://www.freemuslims.org/news/article.php?article=298

We in the west understand very little of the inner political workings of the middle east and of Islam. Be wary of what you read.

[Kagemusha]

7. It's a two-stage crisis. Cole has it right about how it started,

but I find credible the claims that the Saudi Arabian, government-dominated press pushed this very, very hard after the Haj stampede deaths and acted as an accelerant on smoldering coals, causing a massive conflagration.

At any rate we clearly see that a lot of clerics wanted this outrage. I can completely understand why while vehemently disagreeing with the approach.

[CJCRANE]

8. Makes sense

that the neocons' kissing buddies would also learn neocon distraction techniques.

[Kagemusha]

9. Well honestly the entire state is founded on this stuff

If the Saudis didn't make a big show of being Defenders of the Faith they'd have to stand on their record of corruption, nepotism and allegiance to Western powers without any counterveiling force. That's not a recipe for survival. And having that whole issue to rally around is why they drove the Husseins (as in King Hussein of Jordan) out of the place in the early 20th century, if memory serves correctly. It provides them with a religious justification for being and cover for all the stuff I described above.

[phoebe]

10. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin alal - look him up - has many media ties

n/t