Excerpts: Saudi financial support to Palestinian intifada. Arafat key to
peace.Saudi favorable views of US 2 May 2003
+++ARAB NEWS 2 May '03:"Intifada Support" Saudi Press Agency
FULL TEXT:
RIYADH, 2 May 2003 - The Saudi Committee for Support of Al-Quds Intifada is
executing 27 programs and projects to help the Palestinian people. More than
SR685 ($183) million was spent on them, according to a report of the
committee. The report, which was released here yesterday, said Interior
Minister Prince Naif, who is the general supervisor of the committee,
endorsed financial assistance worth SR232.8 ($62.1) million for 35,422
people. An amount of SR115 ($30.7) million was also allocated to the
Palestinian family support program.
[IMRA: 3 programs total $275.5 million. There are also other
such programs.]
+++ARAB NEWS 2 May '03:"Egypt Says Arafat Still Key to ME Peace" Agencies
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"sidelining Arafat could threaten a new US-led initiative to bring
peace"
"The United States has said it is ready to work with Abbas [Mazen]."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
EXCERPTS:
CAIRO, 2 May 2003 ...Mubarak said in remarks published yesterday that
sidelining Palestinian President Yasser Arafat could threaten a new US-led
initiative to bring peace to the Middle East. Mubarak also said ... Mahmoud
Abbas should secure domestic support before traveling abroad to discuss
implementing a plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace released by the United
States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations on Wednesday.
The United States has said it is ready to work with Abbas, having refused to
deal with Arafat and called for a new Palestinian leadership "not
compromised by terror". Mubarak said anybody who ignored Arafat, ... would
be making a mistake because of his status as Palestinian leader. ...
The US Ambassador to Cairo, David Welch, told Egyptian Foreign Minister
Ahmed Maher yesterday that Washington expected Egypt ...to help implement
the peace plan ... . Washington has said Abbas, who took office on
Wednesday, would be invited at some point to meet ... Bush but that an
invitation would not be extended to Arafat.
... Abbas has said he will not visit any foreign capitals ... until Israel
allowed Arafat to travel freely ...
+++ARAB NEWS 2 May '03:"Strangers in Their Own Homeland" Namir Alireza, Arab
News Staff
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
" 'Not once have I been mistreated or racially harassed or abused' "
" 'Here, it's not what you know, it's who you know ... . People have
no respect for creativity, no respect for
original thought.' "
" 'These students who go and study abroad don't have a welcome sign
waiting for them when they
return.' "
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------
EXCERPTS:
JEDDAH, 2 May 2003 - Many young Saudis who were being educated in the United
States were forced to return to the Kingdom as a result of the Sept. 11,
2001 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 suicide-hijackers were Saudi.
In a series of candid interviews with Arab News, a number of them talked
about how they feel about being back ... .
Sultan Al-Angari is in his early 20s and studying at the Institute of
Business Administration (IBA) in Jeddah. He wants to return to the US,
hoping to continue where he left off in his education ... . He has to study
one more year at the University of San Francisco before he gets his BA ... .
He said his main reason for wanting to return, despite the difficult
circumstances, is that the level of education is far better in the United
States.
. . .
... he plans to return to Saudi Arabia as soon as he qualifies.
"I am against the idea of living away from your own country," ... .
Sultan's description of the American people as a whole was positive ... .
"Not once have I been mistreated or racially harassed or abused in any way,"
he recalled. "They were very kind and accepting toward me. If the equivalent
of what happened in New York on Sept. 11 had happened here, I don't believe
that our people would have shown the same self-restraint and patience toward
the Western expatriates living here that the American people have shown
toward the Arabs and Muslims living there."
One young man, who wanted to be called Yousuf, complained of an inability to
relate to Saudi people.
"Here, it's not what you know, it's who you know," he said. "People have no
respect for creativity, no respect for original thought."
Yousuf studied in the US for years and was hoping to gain some work
experience there before returning to Saudi Arabia and working for his
family. All that changed after Sept. 11.
"Everything here is segregated - men from women, rich from poor, and
foreigners from locals. This is a land of segregation. The majority of
people try to justify this, but I feel that we should focus on integration,
not segregation."
Yousuf said there was a contradiction in the behavior of many Saudis. "When
people are outside the country, they go wild. When they are inside, they go
to the other extreme."
"I am very angry at my people," he added. "They have this terrible habit of
blaming the world for their own faults."
Another young Saudi who was also studying in the US before the Sept. 11
attacks, and who would only give his name as Faisal, added a note of
caution.
"Let's not forget that the young Saudis who came back were forced to come
back," he said. "Most of them are in a state of culture shock. These
students who go and study abroad don't have a welcome sign waiting for them
when they return."
Dr. Joseph Lerner, Co-Director IMRA
| 
