textbooks published in 2018 taught that the jews are cowardly, dooefs. another evil in saudi arabia was music. movies were considers evil too. and if you complained publicly about any of it, any government structure, you could be arrested. throws of the government have been tortured, even beheaded. for decades, saudi arabia has lived a bizarre double life. fabulously rich, drenched in oil, it was at the same time hand cuffed for years by extremist islam. the saudis have been deeply conflicted, but so are we
islamic centers, and those mosques. but in 1979, wahhabism turned on the kingdom itself. armed religious fanatics today seized the great mosque in the muslim holy city of mecca in saudi arabia and took hostages. the attackers were extreme religious conservatives. they were appalled by the unholy westernization that the riches of oil had wrought. they broadcast their message that the saudi ruling family are drunkards, gamblers, people who have taken saudi arabia away from the true islamic faith. after two weeks the rebels were captured and beep headed. it was a triumphant and tumultuous welcome fare the ayatollah khomenei that same year an islamic revolution swept through iran. a tearful shah of iran left his country today ousting a monarchy. launching the rise of iran s
it was at the same time handcuffed for years by extremist islam. the saudis are deeply conflicted. but then so are we. because their story is intertwined with ours. the closest ally of this strange desert kingdom has been america, one of the world s most open democracies, where freedom of religious is enshrined in the constitution. why? new york times columnist thomas friedman put it succinctly. guys, here s the deal. just keep your pumps open, your prices low, and don t bother the yahudis too much, and you can do whatever you want out back. out back. that s where you d find the medievalism, the extremist rhetoric, the clerics, the hatred of other religions. it is my view, fareed, 9/11,
shiite version of puritanical islam, the rival faith of the saudis. the saudi royal family panicked and gave more power to the wahabis. from the age of 12, she must dress in black to run the kingdom their way. no more. cinema. women could not appear on tv uncovered. no music in schools. they basically banned fun. at the end of 1979, the soviet union invaded afghanistan. a godless superpower had taken over a muslim nation. this gave the saudis a golden opportunity. it was a gift from heaven to the people of saudi arabia. they looked into these islamists eyes and they said, why don t you go find the infidels who
we counted at least seven huge saudi yachts. oil money buys million-dollar prizes for camel races. and expensive cars you can crash for fun. but most importantly, oil carved a country out of the desert. modern cities sprang out of the sand in just decades. there s only one other force as powerful as oil in saudi arabia. religion. saudis practice the most extreme form of islam in the world.