Saudis Bomb Yemen Rebels Across Border

Did the Saudis get UN approval, before they took military action? Will the world condemn them for taking matters into their own hands? If Muslims want to have their civil war, let them. Not everything is our problem.

Saudis bomb Yemen rebels across border

By AHMED AL-HAJ and SALAH NASRAWI

SAN'A, Yemen – Saudi Arabia sent fighter jets and artillery bombardments across the border into northern Yemen on Thursday in a military incursion apparently aimed at helping its troubled southern neighbor control an escalating Shiite rebellion.

The Saudis — owners of a sophisticated air force they rarely use — have been increasingly worried that extremism and instability in Yemen could spill over to their country, the world's largest oil exporter. The offensive came two days after the killing of a Saudi soldier, blamed on the rebels.

Yemen denied any military action by Saudi Arabia inside its borders. But Yemen's president is a key ally of the Saudis, making it highly unlikely the kingdom would have launched the offensive without tacit Yemeni agreement.

The offensive immediately raised concerns of another proxy war in the Middle East between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally. Shiite Iran is believed to favor the rebels in Yemen while Saudi Arabia, which is Sunni, is Iran's fiercest regional rival.

The same dynamic has played out in various forms in Lebanon, where Iran supports the Shiite militant Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia favors a U.S.-backed faction, and in Iraq, where Saudi Arabia and Iran have thrown support to conflicting sides in the Sunni-Shiite struggle.

A top Saudi government adviser confirmed "a large scale" military operation underway on the Saudi-Yemeni border with further reinforcements sent to the rugged, mountainous area.

"It is a sustained operation which aims to finish this problem on our border," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. He said Saudi troops were coordinating with Yemen's army, but Yemen's defense ministry denied the Saudis were inside the country.

The northern rebels, known as Hawthis, have been battling Yemeni government forces the past few months in the latest flare-up of a sporadic five-year conflict. They claim their needs are ignored by a Yemeni government that is increasingly allied with hard-line Sunni fundamentalists, who consider Shiites heretics.

The rebels said the Saudi airstrikes hit five areas in their northern stronghold Thursday but it was not possible to independently verify the reports. They said there were dead and wounded, and that homes were destroyed.

"Saudi jets dropped bombs on a crowded areas including a local market in the northern province of Saada," Hawthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam told The Associated Press. "They claim they are targeting al-Hawthis, but regrettably they are killing civilians like the government does."

He said the attacks were followed by hundreds of shells from the border, but there was no reliable information about casualties.

The fighting is more than 600 miles from Saudi Arabia's oil fields on the kingdom's eastern Persian Gulf coast. But northern Yemen overlooks the Red Sea, the world's busiest route for oil tankers.

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Obama Sides With Saudis Over 911 Victims

Hat tip to Eve.

Less than two months ago President Obama stated that he did not want a lawsuit against the Iran hostage takers to go forward, as he sided with the hostage takers over the American hostages. Obviously that was not a big enough smack in the face towards America. So now the US Justice Department has filled a brief in which the Saudi Royal family cannot be sued for any involvement in 911. The brief can be viewed here.

Obama Hits the Ground Running

As soon has Air Force One landed President Obama took off running to see his Saudi masters. The truth is that Obama talking to the Muslim world will only accomplish one thing, and that will be getting those who do not follow the subject of Islam closely to believe that the Islamic world is changing for the better. If the Muslim world wanted to change, talks are not needed. They would just do it.

To open a Muslim dialogue, Obama visits Saudi king
By MARK S. SMITH
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – President Barack Obama began his latest bid to open a dialogue with the Muslim world by paying a call Wednesday on Saudi King Abdullah, guardian of Islam's sacred sites in Mecca and Medina.

The monarch of Saudi Arabia greeted Obama at Riyadh's main airport with a ceremony when the new U.S. president arrived after an overnight flight from Washington. A band played "The Star-Spangled Banner." And each leader shook hands with members of his counterpart's entourage.

Perched on ornate chairs behind a flower arrangement, Obama and Abdullah then chatted briefly in public and shook hands, with cameras capturing the scene. Then, they retreated to hold private talks on a range of issues.

Saudi Arabia is a stopover en route to Cairo, where Obama is to set deliver a speech that he's been promising since last year's election campaign — aiming to set a new tone in America's often-strained dealings with the world's 1.5 billion Muslims.

Many of those Muslims still smolder over Iraq, Guantanamo and unflinching U.S. support of Israel, but they are hoping the son of a Kenyan Muslim who lived part of his childhood in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, can help chart a new course.

"You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world," Obama said in a pretrip interview with the BBC. "And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West."

Aides cautioned that Obama was not out to break new policy ground in his Cairo speech, which follows visits to Turkey and Iraq in April and a series of outreach efforts including a Persian New Year video and a student town hall in Istanbul. And they said the president is not expecting quick results, even though the speech will be distributed as widely as possible.

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Saudis do Destroy Bibles, Think Tank Affirms

While Muslims will riot at even a rumor of a Koran being desecrated, they have no problem destroying Bibles. The Islamic world must be told, the one-way street is over. Respect us or get none back.

Hat tip to John Ruberto.

Saudis Do Destroy Bibles, Think Tank Affirms
Patrick Goodenough
International Editor
(CNSNews.com) - A U.S.-based think tank critical of the Saudi government has added its voice to allegations that authorities in the kingdom routinely destroy Bibles.

"As a matter of official policy, the government either incinerates or dumps Bibles, crosses and other Christian paraphernalia," the Saudi Institute said in an article posted on its website.

"Although considered as holy in Islam and mentioned in the Koran dozens of times, the Bible is banned in Saudi Arabia, and is confiscated and destroyed by government officials," it said.

Last week a Christian pastor who worked in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s told the Cybercast News Service it was widely known among underground Christians there that Bibles were confiscated -- and sometimes shredded -- by Saudi customs officials at ports of entry.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington has yet to respond to emailed queries about its policies regarding the Bibles and the shredding allegations.

Saudi Arabia was one of the first governments to protest after Newsweek reported earlier this month that U.S. troops had thrown a Koran into a toilet to fluster Muslim terror suspects being detained by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

A statement issued on May 12 said the Saudi government was "following with great concern and apprehension reports that the sanctity of the Holy Koran has been violated on several occasions at Guantanamo Bay."

Following rioting in Afghanistan and protests elsewhere in the Muslim world, Newsweek retracted the report. It said its unnamed government source was no longer certain about his original claim that he saw the Koran flushing mentioned in a military report of abuse at the base.

Home to Islam's two most revered sites, in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia views itself as guardian of the religion. The kingdom is committed to the fundamentalist Wahhabi ideology, and non-Wahhabi Muslim traditions are frowned upon.

Human rights campaigners name Saudi Arabia as one of the world's most egregious violators of religious freedom.

In another article posted on its site -- and published as an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Friday -- Saudi Institute director Ali Al-Ahmed wrote of his fellow Saudis: "As Muslims, we have not been as generous as our Christian and Jewish counterparts in respecting others' holy books and religious symbols.

"Saudi Arabia bans the importation or the display of crosses, Stars of David or any other religious symbols not approved by the Wahhabi establishment," he continued. "TV programs that show Christian clergymen, crosses or Stars of David are censored."

Based in Washington, the Saudi Institute describes itself as an independent organization that provides information relating to "terrorism, democracy, human rights, charitable organizations, religious freedom and the House of Saud."

Wire services reported Saturday that 18 Saudi Muslim scholars have demanded that "those involved in the alleged desecration of the Koran at the U.S. detention facility of Guantanamo Bay be tried by an Islamic court."

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Fox News Watch "Expert" Panel on Obama's Saudi bow

Kirsten Powers, James Pinkerton, and Cal Thomas all agreed that Obama was just showing respect when he bowed down the King of Saudi Arabia. Well we all know that. But my problem with their analysis is that none of them had any issue with the President of the United States bowing down to the main exporter of Islamic hate. Gutless, just gutless.

Sharia Court Approves Text Message Divorce

Under Sharia law men can divorce their wives (as Islam allows up to four of them) by just writing or saying that they want a divorce three times. This is known as talaq. A Sharia Court in Saudi Arabia has now allowed a Muslim man to divorce his wife via text message. Back in 2003 a Malaysian court also allowed a text message divorce. Obviously the women have no say at all in this.

Shariah court approves SMS divorce
Arab News

JEDDAH: A Shariah court here has approved the divorce of a young Saudi woman in her 20s whose husband sent her an SMS text from Iraq saying he had divorced her.

The husband, who is in Iraq to participate in what he described as “jihad,” also telephoned two of his friends who witnessed his marriage and told them that he had divorced his wife.

The woman had approached the court and asked for an official document proving she was divorced.

A judge summoned the two witnesses who confirmed that their friend called them from Iraq and told them that he had divorced his wife. Another two relatives of the absent husband also confirmed that he had told them on telephone that he had divorced his wife.

The judge approved the divorce and told the woman that she did not have to go through the iddah (the post-divorce waiting period stipulated by the Shariah) as the marriage was not consummated.

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Afghanistan:Saudi & Taliban sit Down?

The recent "peace" talks with the Taliban in Pakistan resulted in the Taliban thugs getting their wish of sharia law being enforced in Swat Valley. Now is appears that Afghanistan will follow the lead of Pakistan as top Muslim clerics in Afghanistan are calling for "peace" talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government to me mediated by the hate preaching Saudis. If theses talks take place look for the Taliban in Afghanistan to call for governing their own land.

Top Muslim clerics in Afghanistan urge Karzai to talk with Taliban
Saturday, March 21, 2009

The Associated Press
KABUL – Afghanistan's top Muslim clerics urged President Hamid Karzai on Friday to push ahead with a proposal for talks with the Taliban that would be mediated by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.

Calls for negotiations between Afghanistan's government and the Taliban have been mounting as the militant group has stepped up attacks in recent years despite efforts to defeat it by Afghan and international forces.

In the latest violence, international forces killed 34 militants in two days of clashes in the country's volatile south and east, the U.S. military said Friday.

President Barack Obama has urged the Afghan government to encourage moderate elements of the Taliban to reconcile with the government. Karzai has repeatedly said he is open to talks with top Taliban leaders but has made few apparent moves to start such a process. However, Karzai has previously asked King Abdullah to facilitate contacts with the Taliban.

The leaders of Afghanistan's powerful Muslim clerics' council pressed Karzai in a meeting Friday to push the talks forward, said Faiz Mohammad, a council member from Kunduz province. They proposed a meeting that would include government and Taliban representatives and also former jihad leaders, other prominent Afghans and representatives of neighboring countries, Mohammad said.

Karzai's office issued a statement summarizing the meeting, without saying if it would take any action.

The Associated Press

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Radio Show:Wednesday Night's Special Guest!!

This Wednesday I am proud to announce that Dr. Sami Alrabaa will be our live guest. Dr. Alrabaa is an ex-Muslim who is a professor of Sociology and an Arab-Muslim culture specialist. Before moving to Germany he taught at Kuwait University, King Saud University, and Michigan State University.

Dr. Alrabaa has just written a new book entitled "Karin in Saudi Arabia": A Look Into What Life In Saudi Arabia Is Really Like

The book details an astonishing true story of a naive young woman who was looking for love and found it in the worst place of all, Saudi Arabia. Her journey goes from loneliness to falling in love to severe persecution in the name of Islam and Islamic culture. It is a truly frightening story that must be read by all parents to help save our children from the potential dangers of marrying a Saudi.


To listen live to Dr. Alrabaa and call in with comments or questions please listen in on Wednesday January 21St at 7PM EST.
The station and the call in number are on WVOX.com

Here are some highlights.

Human rights abuse is a civilized euphemism for the barbaric ill-treatment of many innocent people in Saudi Arabia. No language in the world can fully describe the physical and mental suffering, the depths of injustice, and the inhumanity inflicted on those who are targeted for victimization.

“Men and women are only allowed to visit the museum on alternate days. Some of us call it ‘gender apartheid’, you know.

“But first I’ll have to buy you an abbaya – you know, like a bathrobe, but in black. Women really must wear it in Saudi Arabia if they don’t want to attract anger and sexual looks from men here.

Nearby I observed a Saudi woman eating her meal. Every time she ate a mouthful of food, she lifted her veil outwards with her left hand, shoved the fork in, and then dropped the veil while she chewed.

“Well, some Saudis, as well as our religious leaders, believe that a woman’s voice is a sexual organ. And, just like any other sexual organ, you don’t expose it in public. You may as well have been showing him something else.”

A place where women were raped, with great pleasure, in the name of Islam.

Highest Saudi Cleric:Marrying a 10 Year-Old Girl is OK

Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh. has come out and stated that not allowing 10 or 12 year-old girls to marry is "unfair" to the girl. He has also stated that Islamic law has not done any "injustice to women". To normal people with morals this is called pedophilia and this all stems from the actions of Mohammad and Islam itself.


Hat tip to The Religion of Peace

It's an injustice to NOT marry girls aged 10, says Saudi cleric

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
14th January 2009

Ten-year-old girls are ready for marriage, according to Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric.

Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, the country's grand mufti, told Al Hayat newspaper that those saying ten or 12-year-old girls are too young to marry are being 'unfair' to them.

Al Sheikh's comments come at a time when Saudi human rights groups have been pushing the government to put an end to marriages involving the very young and to define a minimum age for marriage.

In the past few months, Saudi newspapers have highlighted several cases in which young girls were married off to much older men or very young boys.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Kingdom's grand mufti, prays during the funeral of the Saudi woman and her daughter last February

Though the mufti's pronouncements are respected and provide guidance, the government is not legally bound by them.

On Sunday, the government-run Human Rights Commission condemned marriages of minor girls, saying such marriages are an 'inhumane violation' and rob children of their rights.

The commission's statement followed a ruling by a court in Oneiza in central Saudi Arabia last month that dismissed a divorce petition by the mother of an eight-year-old girl whose father married her off to a man in his 50s.

Newspaper reports said the court argued that the mother did not have the right to file such a case on behalf of her daughter and said that the petition should be filed by the girl when she reaches puberty.

Responding to a question about parents who force their underage daughters to marry, the mufti said: 'We hear a lot about the marriage of underage girls in the media, and we should know that Islamic law has not brought injustice to women.'

The mufti said a good upbringing will make a girl capable of carrying out her duties as a wife and that those who say women should not marry before the age of 25 are following a 'bad path'.

'Our mothers and before them, our grandmothers, married when they were barely 12,' said Al Sheikh, according to the Al-Hayat newpaper.

There are no statistics to show how many marriages involving children are performed in Saudi Arabia every year.

It is also not clear whether these unions are on the rise or whether people are hearing about them more now because of the prevalence of media outlets and easy access to the Internet.

Activists say the girls are given away in return for hefty dowries or as a result of long-standing custom in which a father promises his infant daughters and sons to cousins out of a belief that marriage will protect them from illicit relationships.

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Canadian Govt Backs Saudi Hate of Jews

This story is just outrageous as the obviously politically correct Canadian government cannot even bring themselves to condemn the act of Saudi Arabia not allowing Israelis or anyone who has traveled through Israel to enter their country.
As for the Saudis themselves, until they change their ways they should get the same treatment in return. No Saudis should be allowed into non-Islamic countries and no Saudi funded Mosques should be allowed to open anywhere until Christians and Jews can open houses of worship inside of Saudi Arabia.

Dec 6, 2008
Canada defends Saudi policy of shunning tourists who visited Israel
By MICHAEL FREUND

The Canadian government has come to the defense of Saudi Arabia, telling The Jerusalem Post that the desert kingdom's policy of barring entry to Canadian citizens whose passports bear an Israeli visa or border stamp is "accepted practice."

According to the Web site of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, "Canadians have been denied entry into Saudi Arabia because their passports bore: a) an Israeli visa; b) an Israeli border stamp; or c) an Egyptian or Jordanian border stamp issued by an office bordering Israel (such a stamp would indicate the traveller entered from Israel)."

Contacted via e-mail by the Post, Department spokesman Lisa Monette was asked how the Canadian government views the Saudi policy. Monette refused to criticize or condemn the practice, instead asserting that, "it is the sole prerogative of each country or region to determine who is allowed to enter."

When pressed further on the matter and asked if Canada had raised the issue with Saudi officials, Monette once again reiterated the right of every country to impose such rules, describing it as the "accepted practice within the international community."

Contacted by the Post, a leading Canadian Jewish organization expressed outrage over Saudi Arabia's policy and said they would raise the matter with Canadian government officials in Ottawa.

"We will ask the Canadian government to make every effort to ensure that Canadian citizens are not discriminated against by the human-rights abusing regime of Saudi Arabia," said B'nai B'rith Canada Executive Vice President Frank Dimant. "The issue goes well beyond Canadian passports and is a matter for all democracies in the world to deal with," he added.

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Russia to Saudis, Respect is a Two way Street

The Christian oppressing Saudi Royal Family has asked Russia if they can build a Mosque in Russia. Russia has done what no other country has done and has answered yes, but only if they can build a Church in Saudi Arabia. Do any of the politicians of the US or the UK have guts to take this stand?

A Russian church for a Saudi mosque?
Belief Blog
POSTED December 03 2008 BY Julia Duin
This delightful story just came in thanks to getreligion.org: The Saudis have recently asked permission to build a mosque in Moscow, a city where there are only four mosques and 2 million Muslims. The Russians, however, are saying they want, in return, an Orthodox church in Saudi Arabia.

As we all know, the Saudis have a habit of constructing mosques in dozens of world capitals while forbidding houses of worship for any religion whatsoever outside its Wahabist brand of Islam. They've gotten some bad PR locally for some of the hate language in textbooks at the Saudi Academy in northern Virginia. Not only are hapless Christians terrorized and jailed for daring to hold private prayer services in Saudi Arabia, but God help them should they try to convert someone to their religion. And that's for a fellow People of the Book: One can only guess at what the treatment of Buddhists and Hindus must be like.

Wouldn't it be so ironic if the Russians were the first Christian body to win acceptance of the right to build a church in, say, Riyadh? (Some of the Russians are calling for a church in Mecca, but the chances of any other religion getting a foothold within walking distance of the world center of Islam is less than zero.) Of course we all know the Saudis aren't about ready to let Bibles or other religious literature, let alone a church, anywhere near their homeland, but all the same, it's amusing to see the Russians give the Saudis a taste of their own medicine.

-Julia Duin, religion editor

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