9/11 and Saudi Arabia

MEMRI carries excerpts from two articles by Saudi liberals who argue that the 9/11 attacks initiated a new era in Saudi Arabia. One writes that the Saudis realized that such actions only result in "destruction, devastation, isolation and persecution" and cost them the good will and trust of the non-Muslim world. He sees the Islamists as now on the defense rather than the offense. The other author states that Saudi society now understands the importance of dialogue, and has engaged in a national debate on educational curricula, among other things.

Let's hope the trends described here shape the future. As an outside observer, looking for example at the terrible struggle to publish information dealing with Saudi financing of terror or over Saudi school texts, the situation remains very poor.

I would note one other thing: neither author nor, according to them, Saudi society at large, appears to really believe that the 9/11 attacks were perpetrated by the Mossad or the U.S. government. Nor do they appear to have much doubt about the relationship of radical Islam to terror. How refreshing!

Dhimmitude advances

Two days ago I reported about a French judge who delayed a trial until after Ramadan, but as usual, the UK can always trump France on the dhimmitude scale. Here are two British offerings: providing convicts, including the infamous Abu Hamza, with metal lunch pails to keep their sandwiches warm until they can eat them after the day's fast is over; and an East London Town Council wants its members to adhere to Ramadan requirements during meetings, so as not to offend.

Traditional Islamic law differentiated between Muslim and non-Muslim lands; when living in the latter, Muslims were expected to follow the law of the land. Ah, for the good old days!

9/11 Truth

In expectation of tomorrow's seventh anniversary of 9/11, City Journal has an article about the 9/11 Truthers: the people who are sure that those attacks were carried out by a conspiracy of rogue elements in the U.S. government, not by Al Qaeda.

U.S. opinion polls show surprising numbers of people who say they subscribe to some variant of this theory; what the article does not mention is that it is accepted as real throughout much of the Muslim world. There, apparently, people maintain that either the U.S. government or the Mossad was behind the attacks, for the simple reason that Arabs couldn't have been smart enough to pull it off.

The article notes that Truthers have had no success getting traction during this year's political campaigns. They may dissipate once President Bush leaves office, but the poison they leave behind them in many parts of the globe is sure to remain.

Jewel of Medina continued

Last August, Random House backed out of its contract to publish the novel, The Jewel of Medina, about Mohammed's child wife, for fear that Muslims might carry out violent acts against Random House employees. Now, according to the New York Times, Beaufort Books has purchased the rights and says it will release the book in October, as well as a sequel in 2009. Author Sherry Jones says that a German publisher has also picked up the book; earlier I reported that the Danes also plan to publish it. This is a saga well worth following, as it will show whether Western publishers can resist intimidation.

French justice

No, I'm not trying to pick on the French today, but this story is pretty outrageous. A judge agreed to postpone the trial of 7 men accused of armed robbery because one of them argued he would be too weakened from fasting for Ramadan to be able to stand trial properly. So the case will be heard in January, not September. Read the details here.

Three points off for multiculturalism. Muslims often observe Ramadan by fasting during the day, then feasting after sundown. The judge was had.

Paris by night

If you're planning a trip to Paris any time soon, and particularly if you're Jewish and want to show it by wearing a skullcap or a star of David, you might want to avoid the 19th arrondisement. For the second time in three months, the media have reported street attacks on Jews by Muslim gangs there.

In this case, three Jewish boys aged 17 and 18 were attacked and beaten up by 4-5 Arabs of African origin. (See details here.) In the previous case, on June 21 a Jewish boy was attacked and seriously injured, also by a group of assailants. Apparently there have been other attacks, but as they have not resulted in serious injuries, they have gone pretty much unnoticed.

These encounters are often described as fights between ethnic groups; e.g., gang warfare between Jews and Muslims, despite the lack of any evidence that Jews are attacking Muslims. This time, at least, the reporting is fairly straightforward. The French government seems to agree with it, as President Nicholas Sarkozy has condemned the attack.

Transnistria and Moldova

No, this is not a geography test. It's just a link to a good article by Michel Radu that describes another one of those remote, disputed regions, like Abkhazia and South Ossetia, that could well be the next object of Russian Prime Minister Putin's attention.

Moldova is the former Bessarabia, next door to Romania and with a largely Romanian population. It was incorporated into the Soviet Union after World War II and is now an independent country, with a seat at the UN and all the other trappings, although not much else to brag about. Transnistria is its 'breakaway' province, populated mostly by Slavs, along Moldova's eastern border with Ukraine.

Transnistria comes complete with Russian 'peacekeepers' who have been there since 1993. It functions largely as a Russian smugglers' paradise and tool for exerting pressure on Moldova. According to a recent news article, the 18 Russian tanks in Transnistria could reach Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, in 30 minutes.

There seem to be few good options for resolving the status of Transnistria, but if you read this article, at least you will know what the issues are when that crisis erupts.