SAUDI ARABIA HAS NOT STOPPED THE DECEIT
(Article by Guy Bechor, Yediot Ahronot, 3 June 2004, p. B7)
Translated by Israel Government Press Office

A wave of terrorist attacks with arrests and pursuits in their wake, in the
Saudi kingdom, gives the impression that the struggle there against Islamic
terrorism and its export to the entire world, has finally begun. It will be
recalled that the leadership of Al Qaeda is originally Saudi, as is the
fanatic Wahabi-Hanbali ideology, which is disseminated with the help of
Saudi money.

But a deeper check shows that the Saudis are fooling the world and that the
danger of this extremist state is growing. The social order in Saudi Arabia
has - for some time - been built on a pact between the pro-western
monarchy - which is responsible for security, foreign affairs and oil - and
the clerical establishment which rules in the country, in accordance with
the Wahabi school, a fanatical school that interprets the Quran simply and
sees modern life and the West as heresy. In keeping with the clergy's
responsibility for internal affairs, especially education, a very religious,
fanatical, conservative and obscurantist generation - that is hostile to the
West and, occasionally, to the pro-western royal house - has sprung up in
the kingdom. This generation, which gave birth to Al Qaeda, is liable to
lead the world to further troubles.

The West knew about this pact but ignored it as long as they were not harmed
by it. The situation changed after the September 2001 attacks, and even
then the Saudis promised to take care of their "export" of terrorism. But
they did nothing. The clergy incites the population against the West and
globalization. The younger generation is fluent with the Quran but not in
English or computers. The daring and violence of some of the clergy - to
whom the religious establishment doesn't seem radical enough - has grown
over time. But the power of this establishment is still intact.

It's doubtful as to whether there has been a major change even in direct
Saudi involvement in the financing of terrorism. The Saudis have always
"bought" terrorism, and as long as it is not perpetrated on their territory,
they continue to do so today. There is evidence that Saudi Arabia is still
engaged in direct and indirect funding for Palestinian organizations,
including Hamas. But the Saudi royal family cannot "buy" Al-Qaeda's
terrorism, which is directed primarily against it, and this is a source of
great embarrassment. Even the Arab media operating under Saudi financing
continues to incite the street against the US, Israel and the West.

Washington is therefore obligated - for the sake of its own interests and
those of the rest of the world - to crack the Saudi nut, even to the level
of diplomatic and economic sanctions, but it is difficult for them to do so
in light of the fact that the Saudis control the world's oil taps. In the
future it might even consider taking direct control of the Saudi oil fields.

As long as education remains controlled by radical clerics, as long as
textbooks, curricula and the Sharia law are not removed altogether, the
Saudi regime has not accomplished anything. Their ambassador in Washington,
Bandar ibn Sultan rolls his eyes, as though we are still talking about a
friend of the West, whereas his country continues to be a navigator for
terror and revisionism. Washington must make it clear to the Saudi ruling
family that the time has come for it to act, first and foremost with a
change in its country's social structure. If it will not do so, this may be
the US's and global stability's most dangerous enemy, which must be acted
against accordingly.