The Saudis' Fight Too 
- We're on the same side in the war on terror.
By Nawaf Obaid, The Washington Post, December 26, 2002

When Silence Is Not Golden
By Khaled Al-Maeena, Editor-in-Chief, Arab News, January 1, 2003

Inept But Entitled to Her Say
Editorial - The Washington Post, Wednesday, December 25, 2002

In Saudi We Have Balikbayans Too!
By Rasheed Abou-Alsamh, Arab News, January 3, 2003

PREP SCHOOL FOR BUSHES TAKES GIFT FROM SAUDI
"A Massachusetts prep school has accepted a donation from a Saudi Arabian prince whose $10 million offer to aid New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was spurned by then-Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who earned a sharp rebuke from Giuliani for remarks critical of U.S. policy in the Middle East, donated $500,000 to a scholarship fund at Phillips Academy in Andover established to honor former president George H.W. Bush, a 1942 graduate. President Bush is a 1964 graduate..."
Source: Boston Globe [Dec. 2, 2002]

KINGDOM ASSAILS ISRAEL FOR STEPPING UP ATROCITIES
"Saudi Arabia [Dec. 30] condemned Israel for stepping up murders and arrests of Palestinians and urged the United Nations to pressure Tel Aviv to respect international laws…" [Expired Link]

MILK FLOWS FROM DESERT AT A UNIQUE SAUDI FARM
"...With its 29,000 cows and costly technology, Al Safi, deep though it is in the Saudi desert, has been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest "integrated" dairy farm in the world. It grows the hay that the cows eat, turns their milk into crème caramel and strawberry laban, a yogurtlike drink, and delivers it all in Safi trucks to stores across the kingdom... ...The dairy is the product of a panic after the 1973 Arab oil embargo against Western nations made the Saudi royal family realize its own vulnerability to such tactics. Food was Saudi Arabia's Achilles' heel, so the king decreed that his kingdom should become self-sufficient in its food supply. The government gave Saudi farmers huge subsidies to import irrigation equipment and to grow grain. It also paid the freight for milk cows to be flown in from Europe and Canada. Al Safi, owned by Prince Abdullah al-Faisal, quickly became the biggest dairy in the country - and soon, the world..." Complete report...

SAUDIZATION IS A PRIORITY: AL-NAMLAH
"In the conference entitled: 'Toward a successful strategy for Saudization of jobs,' the minister urged the private sector to take over from the government the responsibility of employing Saudis…" [Expired Link]

GCC STATES CONFIDENT OF SMOOTH CUSTOMS UNION LAUNCH TODAY
"GCC leaders ended a two-day annual summit in Doha on Dec. 22 by announcing that the long-awaited customs union would be launched as scheduled on Jan. 1… …But the six member states have agreed to delay the implementation of certain parts of the union for up to three years…"  [Expired Link]

A JEDDAH 'FIRST' FOR WOMEN JOURNALISTS
"Seven women journalists representing the local media scored a first by attending a press conference together at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry [Jan. 1]…"  [Expired Link]

SAUDI AID TO DEVELOPING NATIONS TOTALS SR281B
"Saudi Arabia has assisted developing countries to the tune of over SR281 billion since the mid-1970s. The aid represents nearly four percent of the country's average GNP… …The figures do not include humanitarian assistance provided by the Kingdom…"  [Expired Link]

IT WAS AS GOOD AS 2001 BUT NOT 2000
"GCC oil producers basked under another financial euphoria in 2002 for the third year running as their economies recorded positive growth rates, their cash reserves remained strong and fiscal deficits were kept under control… …High oil prices and relative fiscal restraints allowed the GCC states to maintain strong cash reserves with the International Monetary Fund, exceeding $40 billion at the end of October…" Complete report…

THE SAUDIS' FIGHT TOO
We're on the same side in the war on terror.
By Nawaf Obaid
The Washington Post
Thursday, December 26, 2002

"Saudi-bashing has become Washington's most popular sport. More than six decades of partnership, strong trade relations and wide-ranging strategic cooperation are being trampled in an ugly blame game. Yes, the Saudis can improve their terror-fighting strategies. Yes, the kingdom has a long way to go to plug the cracks in the global terrorist financing network. But the same can be said of every nation -- none was prepared for 9/11, and all are stumbling forward, hampered by limited resources, bureaucratic inertia and difficulty understanding this new scourge. To single out the kingdom for criticism is unfair and counterproductive..." Complete Op-ed...

The year 2002 has come to a close. It was a year full of news. A great deal of it was of global importance and many of the stories were related to Islam and the Muslim world.

There is no longer any serious doubt anywhere that the events of Sept. 11 created a new world order. And in that new order there is no doubt at all that there is now only one superpower: The United States. At present the superpower is behaving like the proverbial bull in a china shop. It is not yet breaking but it is certainly threatening, accusing and blackmailing. It is committing acts that would cause America's legendary Founding Fathers to turn in their graves if they knew.

Far too much American anger, wrath and simple belligerence has been directed against the Muslim world. America, it seems, has to have an enemy and in the absence of "godless communism," their war on terror is viewed by many as a "war on Islam." The evil done by a few Muslims has been expanded in the American media to include all Muslims. Nobody denies that America - or any other country - has the right to defend itself against terror. Nobody denies that America - or any other country - has the right and the obligation to safeguard the lives and property of its citizens. At the same time, America - and every other country - should realize that we Muslims too oppose terror. We too have suffered because of terror. America is not the exclusive victim of terror though it likes to think it is and to use that to justify many of its actions. The demonization of Muslims and the deliberate attacks on Islam by no less a person than US Attorney General John Ashcroft leave us sadly shocked and disappointed.

The cartoons ridiculing our Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, are justified by officials and the media who say - predictably - the press is free. Well, the press should be free but if it is, where are the cartoons, articles and TV shows presenting Arab or Palestinian opinions and views?

The ineffective and virtually impotent Arab PR programs have themselves become objects of ridicule and serve to do no more than increase the existing sense of helplessness. The self-appointed public-relations gurus spouting the usual platitudes about the success of those PR programs have failed to realize something very important. The anti-Islamic hysteria and the defamation of Muslims and their leaders has been a well-planned, well-orchestrated effort. It has been carried out with consummate skill and finesse. The hysteria and defamation cannot be countered or contained by the infantile puerility of the all too conventional Arab approach. The gurus serving Islam and the Arabs might just as well have not bothered to get out of bed.

As we look back at the year, we see that the attacks upon us have taken on a new and sinister dimension. Libelous and poisonous, the attacks have been both created and circulated by a powerful Zionist-backed lobby and its close allies. Against the background of sustained malicious attacks and allegations that distort, deal in half-truths, play to prejudices and simply lie, what can we do? What should we do? That may be a matter of debate but one thing is sure: We cannot, indeed we must not remain idle.

The time has come for us to look more closely at ourselves, to look honestly and analytically and to admit whatever we see - which will in many cases be painful to us. Once we have seen and admitted what is wrong, then comes the time for action. No self-indulgent pity, no claims that we are misunderstood and victimized, no turning away from the truth. A vital part of the success of this process depends upon our boldness in speaking out and challenging those who present and advocate ideas dressed in traditional language but which in fact too often run contrary to the best Islamic ideals of justice, fair play and tolerance. And a part of this tolerance will have to be - in the 21st century where we find ourselves - global cooperation. We are not an island, marooned and isolated; we are a part of the world and we must play our part in it. In order to do so, our children must be given a world-class education designed to produce caring, responsible and mature citizens, capable of making judgments, expressing logical opinions and demanding good governance.

As a society we have to learn something which is presently in short supply here: We must learn not only how to discipline ourselves but also the value of discipline in whatever we want to do. A part of the kind of discipline that is so necessary must be the conscious decision never to resort to violence as a way of solving our problems. We are, after all, the people of the Middle Path.

Indeed as has been said, whatever our options, a strong response must be made to those who speak and propagandize against us. We have no choice. We have no option. We must not fail ourselves or the world. At the same time, we must also pray that God Almighty preserve and protect our lands, our religion and our way of life, bring peace and prosperity to all humanity and strengthen men of goodwill whatever their religion. May God Almighty give honor to us all. Amen.

- almaeena@arabnews.com
Arab News Opinion January 1, 2003

THERE IS POLITICAL criticism, there is political attack, and then there is political political correctness: the massive overreaction to perfectly useful ideas that have been badly stated or misinterpreted. There is a danger, for instance, that people will become afraid to criticize any aspect of American foreign policy, lest they be branded 'anti-American'... ... it ought to be possible to discuss America's image in the Islamic world, and the kinds of mistakes the United States has made there. For decades, American governments have spent remarkable amounts of money in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, relatively little of which is visible on the ground. Yet if successive American administrations had identified the United States more closely with good works in the Middle East and had tried more assiduously to explain American values, then American relations with the Islamic world might look different today..." Complete editorial...