Saudi Press Roundup

The Houthi tactics

The Houthis, who are allies of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have bombed the presidential palace in Aden in an attempt to finish off the country’s legitimate President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. This shows they have selected the easiest way — assassination — to overthrow Hadi.
Ever since Saleh left the presidency and the escalation by Houthis, there were coordinated operations to assassinate Yemeni military officers — a scenario similar to what we saw soon after the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Baghdad. Saleh’s followers and Houthis as well as Al-Qaeda militants have carried out a series of terrorist operations in Yemen in the past months.
Now they are trying to assassinate President Hadi and they are following the same pattern applied to unseat Saleh. The former president, with the support of Houthis, took control of Sanaa and the remaining Yemeni Air Force to target Hadi. This shows that the political maneuvers of Houthis and their allies have failed especially after the call for a conference in Riyadh, and before that Hadi’s escape to Aden and the shifting of GCC embassies from Sanaa to Aden. This embarrassment has led them to adopt the easiest method.
It is clear that all the four Arab capitals — Damascus, Beirut, Baghdad and Sanaa — controlled by Iran follow the same pattern to finish off their opponents, reading from the same catalogue. They claim that they wanted to have dialogue and at the time make machinations to finish off their opponents such as Rafik Hariri, senior military and security officers.
We are witnessing the same scenario in Yemen, beginning from the house arrest of Hadi, his prime minister and senior officials and killing of senior security officers. The latest attempt to assassinate President Hadi by bombing his residence in Aden shows the frustration of Houthis and Saleh’s men after the call for a dialogue in Riyadh. This also indicates that Yemen’s dark days will continue for long, demanding serious out-of-the-box ideas to deal with it.

— By Tariq Alhumayed


Israel’s fear of existence

Sometime ago, Benjamin Netanyahu had told a Jewish conference: “While US is concerned about its security, Israel is worried about its existence.” He made this statement in the US to mobilize greater American support for his country.
We don’t know the reason for the strained relations between the Obama administration and Israel in recent months. However, we Muslims believe that injustice and aggression is bound to end one day, even if it takes a long time.
The Israelis know that the Americans have been extending them moral and material support all these years. At the same time, they still fear that some enemy forces from other countries could attack them anytime.
Netanyahu’s fear speech once again exposed to the world that Israel is a country that was established on the basis of injustice and crimes. Its Jewish population was imported from other countries after driving away the Palestinians from their lands.
The prime minister’s worries also denote that Israel has now become morally the weakest in its history as he expressed fears about the Jewish state’s existence. He was indirectly acknowledging the power and firmness of the Palestinian resistance inside and outside the occupied territories to retrieve their rights. Netanyahu told Americans that they share the same fear and are in the same trench…and asked them what are they are going to do? We have seen Palestinian Arabs jointly contesting the Knesset elections and I wonder if the Arab coalition had won the election they would have nominated an Arab as prime minister of Israel. In that case what would have been the situation in Israel?
Israel should fear about its existence in the face of the Palestinian fighters who do not fear death and even to practice politics in the lion’s mouth.

— By Mohammed Ahmed Baba

Saudi-Swedish crisis

Since the time of King Abdul Aziz, the Kingdom’s foreign policy has been based on non-interference in the affairs of other countries. Saudi Arabia’s constitution is based on the Qur’an and Sunnah and it implements the divine rules and teachings. The Kingdom has been following this method since its inception.
A few days ago, the Swedish foreign minister interfered in the Kingdom’s internal affairs while speaking at the Parliament. She criticized the verdict issued by the Saudi court against a citizen saying it violated human rights. Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Sweden but Stockholm did not back down from its stand or did not make any statement clarifying its stand on the speech.
The Swedish foreign minister was scheduled to address the Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo and the Kingdom asked Arab League to cancel her speech after understanding its anti-Saudi content. The minister had leaked some of its content through the social media.
The Council of Ministers in Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned Sweden’s interference in the Kingdom’s internal affairs and its attempt to create suspicions about the fairness of its judiciary. The Cabinet reiterated that the Saudi judicial system is independent and that the Kingdom protects human rights and the freedom of expression within the Shariah framework.
Saudi Arabia has been maintaining strong relations with Sweden and they had signed a military cooperation agreement. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman visited Stockholm when he was the crown prince and defense minister and decided to expand military cooperation. But this agreement is likely to be canceled because of Sweden’s unjustifiable and unacceptable interference.
Saudi Arabia wanted to establish good relations with all countries to realize its interests. But this does not mean it gives priority to political considerations over its Islamic, national and economic principles. Saudi Arabia is an important country in the Arab and Islamic world and would not surrender its sovereignty to anybody. Everybody should know that the judicial system in the Kingdom is a symbol of its sovereignty and independence. The Kingdom’s defense of its judiciary is an issue of its existence and it will not accept any compromise on it.

— By Mohammed Al-Shuwaier

Rising prices of goods

Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah has brought about qualitative improvements in all services ever since his appointment to the post. For the first time, the ministry started providing special care to consumers, educating them about their rights as part of the ministry’s efforts to end trade fraud.
I would like to bring to the minister’s notice that prices of essential commodities are increasing rapidly without any legitimate reason. Traders have to bring down prices as oil prices have fallen by 40 percent while the value of currencies of many exporting countries has decreased.
We see prices of cars, electric utensils and foodstuffs still unchanged because most of our traders do not care about the interests of citizens and their only aim is to make more money. As the ministry knows, some traders control the market, while prices in other countries have fallen considerably. The ministry should not leave citizens at the mercy of traders.
Traders had previously stressed the need to increase prices due to increase in oil and insurance prices and other reasons. All these reasons have disappeared several months ago and traders are not ready to bring prices down.
I request the minister not to allow traders to increase prices as they wish as it would have a negative impact on the welfare of society where a large number of people live on intermediate revenue. I hope you would take necessary action to bring down prices to reduce the burden on citizens.

— By Hussain Aburashid

Charity and mosques

Many philanthropists believe that “sadaqa jariya” (ceaseless charity) means just construction of mosques. They should know that there are many other fields in which they can spend their money to win the pleasure and reward of Allah. At the same time, there are many villages in Arab and Islamic countries without a single mosque and they should give priority to build mosques there. There are many mosques in the Kingdom with few worshippers.
Recently, a relative of mine expressed her desire to build a mosque and I asked her whether she had noticed a big increase in mosques, with few worshippers? I also suggested why doesn’t she spent the money on some other charitable projects. She said she had constructed a mosque in an Egyptian village, which did not have a single mosque. She had also bought a building in Riyadh to accommodate poor people. It is now run by a charitable society. She also financed construction of hospitals abroad.
I was very happy over the work of my relative and hoped every philanthropist and businessmen and businesswomen would think in this way for the benefit of more people. There are many charitable areas such as providing necessary support to widows, divorcees, poor children, orphans, the handicapped and the homeless. I am not underestimating the importance of building mosques. If there are places without mosques, then we have to give priority to building them.

— By Samar Al-Muqrin

Youth and joy riding

Joy riding by young men is growing in the Kingdom, claiming the lives of many people and destroying valuable cars and other properties. The Shoura Council has taken up the issue and its members are now weighing options to put an end to this dangerous phenomenon.
Before enacting new regulations to prevent this dangerous game, we have to ask ourselves who is mainly responsible for encouraging youth to become joy riders? Families of these children have also a big role to play in preventing them from engaging in such wrong practices that endanger their own lives and that of the others.
We should not show any leniency in bringing up our children properly as they are a trust on our shoulders and it is our duty to teach them moral and human values and our responsibility is higher than that of schools and the state. If every family takes care of their children properly, providing them with necessary guidance on what is wrong and what is right we would not have seen such negative practices in our society. The new law being discussed by the Shoura will punish not only joy riders but also those who encourage them.

— By Sattam Al-Thaqeel