(Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction. Learn to take a joke; you’ll live longer.)
RIYADH – Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince has said that the non-Muslims “have the right to have their own religion” and that formal relations between Muslims and non-Muslims could be mutually beneficial.
The comments by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that were given in an interview to The Dependent reflected the distinctly warmer tone toward non-Muslims adopted recently by the de facto ruler of a powerful Arab country that has often opposed many non-Muslims’ right to exist, or at the very least the right to exist as equals.
The Saudi Crown Prince and the Saudi non-Muslims still have no formal relations, and Saudi leaders have historically criticized the non-Muslims for their existence, “especially in the shape of Iran.”
But the kingdom’s stance toward non-Muslims – both within and outside of Islam – has changed with the rise of Prince Mohammed, who is 32 and is seeking to overhaul Saudi Arabia’s economy.
“Excommunications and genocides, including the calls for them, will damage us economically, so we’re going to steer clear of that henceforth,” the Crown Prince said in the interview.
Instead of seeing the non-Muslims as an enemy, Prince Mohammed has come to view the demographic as an attractive economic and technological hub as well as a potential partner in the kingdom’s cold war with economic insecurities. And part of that is the non-Muslims’ right to exist, preferably in the context of a peace deal with the Muslims.
“They’re not really kafir, you know,” he maintained in his interview with The Dependent.
The Saudi Prince’s globe-trotting charm offensive is effective only where nations receiving him want to grab $ billions of the Saudi vast oil wealth in various deals – commercial, political, or military support of Saudi Arabia’s confrontational stand with the Shiite Iran. Wherefore, Bin Salman’s “charm offensive” is not about bin Salman’s political acumen, or his global recognition as a statesman; it is about an Arab prince loaded with $ trillions trying to make friends, and politicians he meets treat him like
a rich uncle ready to dispense $ billions to put himself on the global headlines as a personality of global significance. He isn’t; he is a multi-billionaire dictator of an anachronistic and despotic regime hated at every social level around the world, but courted by bureaucrats looking for free Saudi $ billions to invest in their countries and secure their re-elections. It is all about money; nothing about the inhumane conditions inside Saudi Arabia, or about Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen.
Prince Salman, therefore, tries to whitewash that Saudi Arabia image around the world with friendly visits, smiles for the cameras, and $ billions to buy friends! An example: Malaysian Prime Minister Rajib Razak was found by his parliament to have $ 631 millions in various global banks. When his Parliament launched an investigation to find out if he had acquired that money illegally, he revealed that “the 631 $ millions was a gift from Saudi Arabia!” Buying friends at $ 631 millions each, I would happily be a friend of Prince bin Salman, too! For the record, Saudi Arabia spend about $ 100 billions to Egyptian oppositions political parties to launch public demonstrations against it first elected president, Mohammed Morsi, and then the Egyptian Army overthrew him with the full support of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Bin Salman goes now around the world to buy friends beyond Middle East.
Nikos Retsos, retired professor, USA
Two things, as we speak Ahmad-al-Shamri is languishing in prison in Saudi Arabia, with the death penalty hanging over his head. His only crime? Renouncing Islam for atheism on social media. Two appeals were made, both were denied. This new Prince should pardon him immediately and allow him to leave the Country if he wishes.
This man spent around $600 million in U.S. dollars for a yacht. Then he spent over $100 million for a place in France, then he spent multi-millions for an original Picasso. I doubt that this money is legitimate private sector income.
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