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Saudi Arabia, Israel Join at Religious Dialogue; Critics Call Out Flawed Freedoms
November 20, 2008 10:17 AM
By LARA SETRAKIAN, ABC News Dubai
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah led an interfaith dialogue at the United Nations this month, part of his ongoing platform for religious tolerance. One notable participant was Israeli President Shimon Peres, who praised the king for his initiative and backed the “pro-peace” efforts – a notable move because Saudi Arabia does not officially recognize the Jewish state.
Critics assailed Saudi Arabia for leading the dialogue while restricting religious freedom at home. The kingdom’s Wahhabi clerical establishment, which follows a strict form of Sunni Islam, has banned all forms of worship except Islam. Personally, I've spoken to Christians in Saudi Arabia who celebrate Mass in secret, while elsewhere religious police attack Filipino laborers for their underground Catholicism. Human Rights Watch recently issued a report citing discrimination against the country’s Shiite minority.
“There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, yet the kingdom asks the world to listen to its message of religious tolerance," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The dialogue should be about where religious intolerance runs deepest, and that includes Saudi Arabia."
ABC News consultant Robert Lacey, an expert on Saudi Arabia and speaking to us from Jeddah, shared another view of the dialogue and the king who’s seen as a reformist working to move the kingdom toward stronger civil and individual rights.
“Those who say there is no religious toleration in Saudi Arabia are missing the point. … What the king is doing is to try to set a tone back in Saudi Arabia. It’s no secret that the heart of the religious establishment in this country is opposed to what he’s doing. It’s very difficult for him to accomplish what he wishes inside the kingdom, so for the moment he’s going outside the kingdom,” said Lacey.
“He is seeking to accomplish outside Saudi Arabia what is not yet possible inside Saudi Arabia.”
What’s true by all standards is that a Saudi-led interfaith conference would have been inconceivable years ago. King Abdullah is pushing forward with many firsts, among them the Sunni-Shiite dialogue in Mecca in June. With that momentum he could well reign over other major changes in the kingdom -- I’d bet on women driving.
November 20, 2008 in Lara Setrakian | Permalink | User Comments (2)
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Unfortunately, the article omits mention of the King's intolerance of agnostics, atheists and humanists. Before the King's recent conference in Europe to promote cooperation between the three major worldwide faiths, he called atheism and humanism "unacceptable." This is not tolerance, by any stretch of the imagination.
Posted by: Jeff | Nov 20, 2008 11:02:26 AM
The King has to start somewhere.
It is far easier for a typical Saudi to accept the idea of tolerance toward 'People of the Book' (though that's a long row to hoe in itself) than it is toward those who are strongly condemned in the Quran: idolators, atheists, etc.
Congratulations to ABC News for catching that the audience for the King's acts are Saudis.
Posted by: John Burgess | Nov 20, 2008 12:22:06 PM
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