A language of tolerance in Saudi Arabia, by Tariq A. Al-Maeena
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia received a massive jolt in 2001 when it was widely reported that 15 of the 19 suspected 9/11 perpetrators were sons of its soil. In the days and weeks that followed, practically every Saudi felt they had become a suspect on the world s stage.
US President George W. Bush did not help matters much by announcing his crusade , with the ensuing backlash in some quarters of the Saudi Kingdom resulting in increased admiration for the cavalier Osama Bin Laden who thumbed his nose at the United States. Al-Qaeda became a household word, and faced with perceived aggressive US policies in the region, recruits to this increasingly well-known organization were not difficult to find.
But by 2003, the tide began to turn as these misfits wreaked indiscriminate death and destruction on their own soil. Over 30 government and civilian facilities were targeted in the years following 9/11 leaving behind innocent victims, many of them Saudis. An increasing number of Saudis soon began to see Al Qaeda as callous in its destruction and as a vehicle for further oppression of Arabs and Muslims.
To crack down on the violence, the government of Saudi Arabia began taking proactive steps to curb Al-Qaeda s activities with mass arrests of suspected terrorists. Since 9/11, it has also allowed free access to law enforcement agencies across the world in ongoing attempts to combat terrorism. Exchange of information between Saudi Arabia and other countries, unthinkable in the past, became the norm as an era of more affirmations and less denial took over.
In a softer approach to combating terrorism, Saudi Arabia – home of two of the holiest sites for Muslims – embarked on a series of three interfaith summits starting in 2008 to create understanding between the world s religious communities, with the goal of lessening religiously fuelled extremist ideologies both within the country and abroad. A fourth summit is scheduled later this month in Geneva.
Focusing on the country s own religious community, King Abdullah also advised mosque leaders and clerics to preach the language of tolerance rather than that of confrontation. Friday prayer sermons were reviewed and over 1,500 clerics were sent for re-education in Islamic teaching. The king s message of tolerance was beginning to take hold.
And in an attempt to discourage radicalism from a young age, schoolbooks were analyzed by a Saudi royal study group, beginning in 2004, for inflammatory passages that had the potential to fuel divisions between adherents of different beliefs and overshadow the open-mindedness within Islam towards other faiths. All suspect passages were removed in a curriculum that continues to be revised under a new leadership at the Ministry of Education.
Saudis are helping to combat terrorism globally, but we must also tackle it first in our own backyard. The fight continues.
Targeting root causes of extremism in Morocco, by Mohsine El Ahmadi
WASHINGTON, DC: After 9/11 and the 2003 Casablanca bombing, Morocco began to rethink its counterterrorism approach. Not only were they facing threats from within, but as a key ally to the United States in the war against Al-Qaeda, external threats also became a very real concern.
Parallel to furthering its cooperation with other states in the region through the exchange of information, a new social policy was developed by the Moroccan government to target the factors – living conditions, despair and religious influences – that were propelling high-risk youth toward extremist ideologies,
As part of a new ambitious long-term National Human Development Initiative (INDH), launched by King Mohammed VI in 2005 to improve the conditions of poor and vulnerable groups in Morocco, there has been a focus on improving the economy and infrastructure in Morocco. Distribution of water and electricity, the development of schools and the improvement of slums like Sidi Moumen, from where the Casablanca bombers came, have been priorities for the government.
Another government-funded effort to help youth build confidence and succeed socially and economically is Mukawalaty, a project that began in 2006 and provides youth with the professional training and loans necessary to become small business owners. Since 2006, 1,114 projects have been approved, with recent state university graduates being the primary recipients.
Additionally, since some young people are indoctrinated in mosques by sheikhs with narrow and hateful interpretations of the Quran, a new policy, “The Reformation of the Religious Field , was crafted in 2004 to educate new imams and spiritual guides, some of whom work in the most at-risk communities in the country, and to provide them with a more mainstream religious and cultural framework.
Alongside this program, which started in 2004, the Moroccan Ministry of Islamic Affairs has trained, qualified and certified about 520 imams and spiritual guides while enrolling them as government officials with a salary.
They have been placed in up to 40,000 mosques throughout the country to provide religious counseling and other such services to Moroccans.
Since 2003, there have been no successful terrorist incidents in Morocco, which suggests that this multi-pronged policy has thus far helped the government to reduce popular support for extremists and prevent radicalism from spreading. Hopefully, with continued emphasis on the roots of terrorism, even the motivation for such attacks will cease to exist.
Dr. Mohsine El Ahmadi is a visiting scholar at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Tariq A. Al-Maeena ([email protected]) is a Saudi socio-political commentator. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).
