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The Saudi Double Game

(International Institute for Counter-Terrorism-IDC) Jonathan Fighel - Anti-Semitic conspiratorial allegations have been embedded in Saudi religious and political dogma for decades. Persistent allegations that Jews, Christians, and Westerners are responsible for Saudi woes strongly belie the notion that Saudi Arabia is sincere in its public condemnations of terrorism. It has been proven over and over again that the Saudi "factory of ideas" has made a major active contribution in generating, spreading, propagating and assimilating its doctrines of Jihadism on a global scale. Counter-radicalization initiatives and efforts have little chance for success unless the Saudi Wahhabi-Salafi ideological and doctrinal sources are transformed, first and foremost inside Saudi Arabia by its government-supervised religious establishment. Only the official Saudi royal family and their official clerics can make the change in order to possibly ignite a new wave of moderation within Muslim communities on a global scale. The Saudis are still perceived as the leaders of the Sunni Muslims around the globe and the religious source of legitimacy. The reformation of Saudi religious doctrine seems to be the only catalyst to start a change in the "battle over hearts and minds" between radicalism and violence or moderation and reconciliation. Col. (ret.) Jonathan Fighel is a senior researcher at the ICT.
2009-12-23 08:38:01
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