Image in US irritates Saudis

Khaled Al Maeena spends hours every day creating "calm mail out of hate mail," he says. Since Sept. 11, the editor of Saudi Arabia's leading English-language daily has been answering e-mails from Americans venting their anger about the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.

In his replies, Mr. Al Maeena stresses Saudi respect for the US, ties between the two nations, and the fact that "we don't hate you." Al Maeena gets largely gracious answers, but admits that he's deeply frustrated by the way Americans see Saudi Arabia these days.

There is a deep discomfort here with US criticism of Saudi Arabia and unease about where the US "war on terror" will lead. While there are strong incentives for both countries to maintain close ties, anger and resentment here could strain Saudi support for the US counterterror drive, particularly if it extends beyond Afghanistan.

"Since Sept. 11, there is all this anti-Saudi bias in the US," complains Khlood Al Sheikh, a student at Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz University, as she sits in a cafe at a posh new mall. "What makes it worse is that Americans are so convinced they are right."

Saudis like Ms. Al Sheik speak of their disquiet about the US bombing of Afghani-stan, a poor Muslim country. But they express even greater concern about what is happening within US borders - harassment of Muslims, the targeting of Arab-Americans by law enforcement, and a general failure to distinguish between terrorists and Muslims.

The Saudi government has repeatedly rebuked the US media for its depiction of Saudi Arabia as a tacit supporter of extremist Islamic groups and, by extension, terrorism. "Some foreign newspapers have said that the Holy Koran is the cause of crimes ... God forbid," Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, told a gathering of provincial governors in November, before going on to condemn these "ferocious campaigns."

The Saudi-US bond dates back to the development of oil reserves during the 1930s. American firms built the Saudi oil industry, creating close economic ties that were reinforced by concerns about common enemies such as the Soviet Union, and Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Today, Saudi Arabia is an important military base for US troops. It is also America's second-largest supplier of oil, after Canada, and the leading Middle East importer of US goods. A drive down the main thoroughfares of Jeddah, the country's economic hub, evokes strip malls in the American Southwest: McDonald's, KFC, Baskin Robbins, and Chili's are among the dozens of US companies whose neon signs light up the night.

Culturally, though, the relationship is a very one-sided affair. Until Sept. 11, Saudis came in droves to visit, study, and live in the US. Though many of them feel a strong affinity for America, very few Americans can say the same about Saudi Arabia. The country remains tightly closed to outsiders who can only imagine what it's like based on reports of camels, oil, human rights abuses - and now, terrorism.

During the Saudi foreign minister's visit to Washington last week, the White House stressed that it was happy with Saudi cooperation. But the September attacks have created tensions between the two governments.

US officials say much of Al Qaeda's funding comes from Saudi-based charities and individuals. Unnamed administration sources have complained in the media about lackluster Saudi assistance in the US counterterror campaign.

The charges have angered Saudis who question US statements that 15 of the 19 hijackers involved in Sept. 11 were Saudi. Prince Nayef, the interior minister, told The New York Times that "until now, we have no evidence that assures us that [the 15 Saudis] are related to Sept. 11."

The attempt to distance themselves from Sept. 11 and the prickliness about American criticism may be rooted in what Sandra Mackey, author of "Saudis, Inside the Hidden Kingdom," describes as an intense cultural sensitivity to how the outside world perceives Saudi Arabia.

But there are also more concrete concerns that underlie the Saudi reaction. The ruling family relies on deeply conservative Muslims in the center of the country for its core support. Like Saudis in the southern part of the country, which was home to the 15 men implicated in Sept. 11, many of these people believe that the presence of US forces on Saudi soil - infidels in the home of Islam's holiest shrines - is a blasphemy.

US support for Israel, especially during the past year in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, is another source of anger. Now, even moderate Saudis who are familiar with and admire the US are becoming critical of its actions.

While Saudi Arabia isn't a democracy and its leaders do not have to bow to public opinion, members of the royal family have justified their rule by claiming the family is acutely sensitive to the needs of its people. In practice, it balances between public sentiment and a very real need to maintain smooth US ties and a US military presence.

"The Saudi royal family remembers that its survival relies to a large degree on its relationship with the US," explains William Quandt, professor of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia. "They live in a pretty dangerous neighborhood. If they didn't have some kind of patron on security issues, it's hard to imagine over the long haul that they'd have an easy time surviving. [The Gulf War] was a pretty good example of that."

That reliance breeds resentment. Layla, a 30-something employee at a European firm, says that the US has too much power. "People are really aware that the US can do what it wants here," says Layla, who didn't want her real name used. "Many people think that the trouble with the economy right now is because the government is trying to make the US happy. Why is the price of oil so low? During a war, you expect the price of oil to go up!"

Layla, a US college graduate, says her greatest concern is harassment of Saudis and Muslims in the US. Saudi media has devoted considerable newsprint to US hate crimes against Muslims and to the return of Saudi students who no longer feel comfortable continuing their studies in the US.

The US government, Layla says, is being hypocritical when it condemns hate crimes against Muslims, but simultaneously targets Arabs for investigation on the basis of their ethnicity. She cites the thousands of men in Michigan who have been asked to report for voluntary interviews with law enforcement and the reports of Arab men being held without charges.

Al Maeena, the Arab News editor, echoes her charge that Americans are engaging in dangerous stereotyping. "People do not act in the plural - you don't say all Christians do this or that - but the media portrays us this way and demonizes Islam," he says, leaning forward in his leather office chair to make the point.

On the bulletin board opposite his desk, a poster features the British comedian Mr. Bean as a distinctly ridiculous Osama 'Bean' Laden. "What's bugging Saudis is that you've made a blanket judgment," he continues. "Just because 15 of 19 of [the Sept. 11 attackers] were Saudi doesn't mean we're all Jack the Ripper."

I think it is almaeena@arabnews.com

Here's his profile at "Arabview.com": Profile

Here's the text of one of his articles:

Yes, US & Israel are two sides of the same coin

Khaled Al Maeena, Editor-in-Chief Arab News. Senior columnist, Asharq Al-Awsat, Al Madina, Urdu News, Gulf News, ARAB NEWS

FOR a long time I believed that those Arabs who stated that America and Israel were two sides of the same coin were exaggerating. I really believed that as the violence in Occupied Palestine escalated there would be questions asked by the American public about the use of freely-supplied American weapons by the Zionist forces. I believed that there would eventually be a slight change of heart by the US Congress which has provided Israel with $92 billion of aid since 1967. I also believed that the pictures of Muhammad Al-Durra and of children being blown apart by US F-15s would in some way, however small, soften the hearts of the US lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

None of this happened. On the contrary, the Bush administration welcomed Ariel Sharon — the perpetrator of Sabra and Shatila massacres — with open arms in the White House. George W. Bush may not be that wise in international affairs but one thing he knows is that 2004 will come. He wants to be ready. And this is a great opportunity not to be missed. Some may get hot under the collar and accuse me of being naive, but I really believe that the US government’s main policy is to appease Tel Aviv.

In fact, members of the Congress are parrot-like, repeating to the American public that Israel is America’s only ally in the Middle East, and because it is committed to similar values, the relationship should be strengthened. Talks of relocating the US Embassy to Occupied Jerusalem have resurfaced among officials and in Congress it has got full support. The US media have also taken a lopsided view. The Palestinian victims of Israeli atrocities are portrayed as the attackers. The images of six- and seven-year-old Palestinian children being shot at by Israeli soldiers using M-14 American rifles are distorted. “He feared for his life, therefore he shot,” reported an American journalist. I wonder how a stone can penetrate an American tank? But what is disturbing is that the American public which prides itself as being the most democratic and advanced in the world, having inherited Washingtonian and Jeffersonian principles, has shown its total lack of decency in this respect.

A CNN survey of American public opinion toward the Palestinians and Israelis shows that 43 percent of Americans expressed support for Israel, while 11 percent of them expressed some sympathy with the Palestinians. It is a terrible shame, but more Americans have expressed support for a ban on ending whaling and the killing of sea turtles. To these people blood other than their own comes cheap. What then after all this can I say to those Arabs who attest very loudly to the US-Israeli design on Palestine? Are they believers in the conspiracy theory? Are they just venting their frustration by equating Israel’s policies and the apparent US go-ahead? What then?

To make a random check on the gravity of the situation I went through some of the news websites and what I found was shocking. I reproduce below some comments from these “democratic” citizens. I hope those Arabs who scoff at the idea of US and Israeli joint ventures in the area will take note:

1) Todd Homman from the USA: “I am ex-US military. I am very much pro-Israel because I believe that Jews are God’s chosen people and I am calling for the elimination of all Muslim ‘believers,’ not the converted Muslims! I would die to keep Israel free! My relatives who were in the US military spent time in Israel and helped set up many of Israel’s defenses. I too, like them, would serve to protect the Holy Father’s land! May God bless the people of Israel!”

2) Jerry from the USA: “If you guys would start a program where Americans could come to Israel and fight with the IDF, you would get a couple of million of us. Many of us have military training and could even bring our own weapons.”

3) Jason from the USA: “I know in my heart that, when it’s all said and done, Israel will prevail over the PLO terrorists.”

4) Larry from the USA: “I support Israel in its fight for its homeland. I am praying that Jehovah, the one true living God will give your enemy into your hands. I’ll do what I can here in the US to make sure this country supports the Jewish nation. May God bless and keep you. I am now totally convinced.”

Not to be outdone Holland, which after the United States is the most pro-Israel country, has many of its “cultured” citizens send support mail. Here is one from a Mr. Blieng: “God Bless Holland, Israel and the Jewish people, Shalom.”

Well, I guess that says it all.

— almaeena@arabnews.com

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