SIXTH COLUMN: The Arab Mind: Saudis Praised for Fighting Terror, But Incitement Continues

Saudis Praised for Fighting Terror, But Incitement Continues -- 02/08/2005, by Patrick Goodenough, CNSNews.com International Editor, February 08, 2005.

You cannot understand the Arab mind by using a Western frame of reference. Raphael Patai wrote a brilliant book entitled The Arab Mind, in which he demonstrated how the Arab mind works and how that relates to what comes out of the Arab mouth and what shows up in Arab behavior.

Opening the [Counter-Terrorism] conference attended by representatives of 50 countries, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz said Saudi Arabia "was one of the first countries to suffer from terrorism and warn of its dangers. It has dealt with it vigilantly on the local, regional and international levels."

Abdullah also called for the establishment of an international center to combat and preempt terror.

Doesn't that sound good to Western ears and brains?

The government portrays al-Qaeda and its sympathizers as "miscreants" and "delinquents" who have - in the words of Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdel-Aziz - "forsaken the tolerant teachings of Islam, feeding instead on alien ideas."

Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh al-Sheikh told the conference the kingdom had succeeded in changing the thinking of more than 250 Saudis who were sympathetic toward al-Qaeda, via an Internet-based program that offers counseling and a hotline.

"We have reached out to them and have succeeded in convincing more than 250 to change their ways," he said, adding that "dialogue" was continuing with hundreds of others.

Have you bought the bridge in Brooklyn or that offshore Florida real estate yet?

Dr. Patai demonstrated how the Arab mind works for show, and words are meant to replace actions as though actions have been taken. This conference was about as useful as a feel-good talk by a motivational speaker.

Here is what the Saudis are really doing, from the same article:

"During the past week leading up to and during the opening of the conference, Saudi government-controlled TV has continued to air programs and shows that incite their viewers to jihad and hatred of Christians and Jews," MEMRI said.

In one example, Saudi cleric Musa al-Qarni told the Iqra religious television network on Feb. 3: "I emphasize that the jihad that the Muslims are fighting in Iraq in order to repel the enemy aggressor, the Jews and the Christians, who are attacking land and honor - I emphasize that this jihad is legitimate jihad, jihad for Allah's sake, and it is considered defense of Muslim countries, their lands and their honor."

And, as for fundamental change of mind, heart, attitude, or whatever term you want:

Another Saudi cleric, Sheikh Sa'd al-Breik, referring during a Jan. 27 Saudi TV interview to suicide bombings, spoke in support of the "jihad to get rid of the occupier and to confront the enemy [in Iraq]. We pray to Allah that he grants them victory until the last of the foreign soldiers leaves their country."

And in an earlier Iqra interview, cleric 'Aed al-Qarni said: "I pray to Allah that he will make the enemies fall into their own trap and that he will destroy the Jews and their helpers from among the Christians and the Communists, and that he will turn them into the Muslims' spoils.

"I praise the jihad, the sacrifice, and the resistance against the occupiers in Iraq. We curse them all of them every night and pray that Allah will annihilate them, tear them apart, and grant us victory over them."

Late last month, the American human rights group Freedom House released a report charging that the Saudi government was involved in disseminating "hate propaganda" among American Muslims.

Having studied more than 200 pieces of literature produced or provided by various Saudi ministries and other bodies and available in mosques in the U.S., the organization concluded that they reflected a "totalitarian ideology of hatred that can incite to violence."