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CounterPunch
December
3, 2002
In Defense of
a Princess
by LINDA S. HEARD
The latest slurs by certain members of Congress
on the name of Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, youngest daughter of
the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, are indications of just
how low some political players are prepared to stoop.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi Ambassador
to the U.S., told the New York Times that he was little concerned
about the accusations against his wife, explaining that he has
lived in Washington long enough to understand the political game.
The Princess, herself, though is naturally
upset, issuing the statement: "My father, King Faisal, was
killed in a terrorist act in 1975. I find the accusations that
I contributed funds to terrorists outrageous and completely irresponsible".
For the Washington rumormongers and their
more gullible followers, ignorance of the Arab world and its
customs has never been more evident. Sections of the media have
colluded too by offering forums to agenda-led individuals bent
on expounding their implausible theories to a largely ill informed
audience as to the nuances of Saudi culture.
The accusation that Princess Haifa would
knowingly channel money to Al Queda hijackers Khaled Al-Midhar
and Nawaf Al-Hazmi is entirely ridiculous.
In the first instance, as we know only
too well, Osama bin Laden's greatest ambition is to overthrow
the House of Saud, against which he holds a personal grudge.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia and America have enjoyed a mutually beneficial
relationship for decades, and it was in no way in the interests
of the Al Sauds for those buildings in New York to topple.
Let's be realistic here. Even if, by
a huge stretch of the imagination, a high profile Saudi princess
harbored a secret agenda and wished to aid enemies of the US,
does anyone seriously envisage that she would risk her reputation
by sending the modest sum of USD2000 a month to Al Queda members
via unreliable third parties... and by cheque?
Surely, anyone who deliberately wanted
to give a financial boost to terrorism would use untraceable
bank notes, gems or gold, possibly the hawala system, not an
official, up front payment over a four year period.
Further, we have been told over and over
again that Osama bin Laden and his followers are in possession
of substantial funds and that the hijackers themselves had access
to large sums of Al Queda money. They even returned the 'loose
change' to source by post before they did the dastardly deeds.
The idea that they were in desperate need of a few thousand dollars,
courtesy of Princess Haifa, would be laughable if it wasn't so
shamefully insulting.
As regards the other flawed premise that
Princess Haifa should have investigated the female recipient
of her generosity, neither the Princess nor any philanthropic
individual or institution should be held accountable for where
their charity ends up. This, taken to its logical conclusion,
would mean that when we give to a hungry street dweller and that
person uses our donation to buy crack cocaine we are guilty of
propping up drug dealers.
Instead of condemning the Princess, we
should be praising her for her humanitarian concern. It is certainly
no fault of her own that, in this isolated incident, her good
deeds backfired.
But the Princess is unlikely to be seeking
praise, simply respect. She only did what her religion demands.
One of the five pillars of Islam is Zakat, or the giving of alms.
Many Saudi and Gulf sheikhas devote their lives to good works
but these acts of kindness rarely get reported. I know of one
in Dubai who many decades ago threw open the doors of her beach
palace to orphans and abandoned babies where they are treated
as members of the family.
The Saudi government too takes its charitable
responsibilities very seriously and during the period 1973-93
donated 5.5 per cent of its GNP to overseas aid. On the Saudi
government's official website is written: 'there is an interdependence,
both moral and economic, between rich nations and poor'.
Over the years Saudi Arabia has given
away mini fortunes for international drought relief, post-earthquake
reconstruction, and to both the World Food Program and the Program
for River Blindness.
Anyone who takes the trouble to do a
web search will find thousands of mosques, hospitals and schools
around the world, which have been built with Saudi and Gulf finance
or interest-free long-term loans.
More than that, there is a tradition
of helping out the poor and needy by wealthy individuals in both
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region. Many Gulf sheikhs hold a Friday
majlis (or informal get together) where nationals can go to request
financial assistance for any emergency. They are rarely refused.
Saudi and other Gulf royals receive thousands
of pleas for help each month from as far away as China, South
East Asia, East Europe and Africa.
Just recently Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid,
the Crown Prince of Dubai, responded to an appeal from an Iraqi
man whose wife had given birth to conjoined twins. He reacted
by sending his personal aeroplane to collect the tiny brothers
and bring them to Dubai where they were separated successfully
at his own cost.
Even if we forget for a moment the humanitarian
outlook of wealthy Arabs, it is true to say that even down to
the poorest individual, Moslems can rarely pass a beggar in the
street without digging deep into their pockets. And during Ramadan,
mosques all over the Islamic world open their doors to the hungry
throughout the month when daily post-fast iftar feasts are prepared.
This is the case even in poorer countries such as Egypt.
Just a small example of the culture of
giving ingrained in the psyche of Moslems which I personally
witnessed: a Jordanian had been ripped off by people smugglers
and ended up wandering around penniless in an area of Bangkok
where Arabs congregate due to its plethora of restaurants serving
Middle-Eastern cuisine.
Upon learning of the young man's sad
tale, it wasn't long before his cousins from all over the Arab
world banded together to purchase an airline ticket for him to
return home, paid for his hotel room while he awaited the flight
and even gave him a respectable sum of money with which to resume
his life.
The man's benefactors didn't ask questions.
For all they knew, the Jordanian could have been a liar, a thief
or even a terrorist but all they saw was a person in dire need.
Simply put, Westerners are being duped
with regards to the intentions of Princess Haifa. When the sick
wife of a Saudi national asked her for help, she responded as
one human being to another. True, she didn't send forth hordes
of private investigators to ascertain whether the women and her
request were legitimate. She only heard a call for help and answered
in a way that, in a perfect world, we should all feel obliged
to do.
It should further be taken into account
that the Princess's donations in question were made before September
11 when any thoughts of terrorism were on the backburner. Why
should it have even occurred to Princess Haifa that her money
would end up in the hands of hijackers?
Colin Powell, who is a long-term friend
of the royal couple, has clearly indicated that the Princess
is entirely blameless, echoed by others in the higher echelons
of the American government. But this doesn't stop the ugly snippets
of 'information' being allowed to filter down in an attempt by
certain malicious individuals to compromise the Saudi leadership.
Thanks to the Saudis the US has enjoyed
the benefits of cheap oil for years, and its forces have been
guests on Saudi soil. This is no way to treat a friend even if
Saudi Arabia is not prepared to be involved on any future attack
on Iraq. Even friends have the right to say a firm but polite
'no' when the affirmative would mean a negation of their own
belief system and an affront to their conscience.
The Bush administration must understand
that even if America is the superpower it cannot always get its
own way and to attempt to do so by smearing innocent individuals
like Princess Haifa is not only below the belt but also reflects
badly on its own reputation of being a just and decent society.
But America could have a lot more to
lose than its reputation here. The attacks on the princess amount
to another nail in the coffin of worsening <Arab-U.S>.
relations. Racial profiling at America's entry points and the
mass imprisonment of Moslem suspects in the US has already angered
the Arab world, leading to the pull out of Arab students from
American universities and a drop in Arab patronage of U.S. medical
facilities.
Indeed, billionaire Saudi entrepreneur
Prince Al Waleed bin Talal - who after donating USD10 million
to the victims of 9-11 was himself snubbed by the former Mayor
of New York - recently told The Times of London that there could
shortly be a massive upcoming transfer of private Saudi funds
out of the US.
President Bush and his colleagues, currently
juggling with a fragile economy, would surely do well to take
note. The Saudis can see through the game of 'good cop, bad cop'
currently being played out by members of the administration and
the Senate and could well reach the point of enough is enough.
How this could affect the US economy and what the ripple effect
would be for the rest of the world is anyone's guess. Let's hope
we don't have to find out.
Linda Heard
is a writer, editor and Arabist, who has lived and worked for
most of her life in the Middle East.
She can be reached at: freenewsreport@yahoo.com
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