"Fault line" is a geological term for a line where two disconnected tectonic plates meet and may clash. Such a clash can cause an earthquake.

In politics and international affairs, theories and policies are one plate, facts and realities are another. When they clash, the result can be dreadfully destructive.

In June 2002, President George Walker Bush publicly vowed that the United States would deal with the PLO when it had a leadership "untainted by terrorism". In May 2005, he found and embraced this pure character, in the tailored form of current PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen).

On May 26, in the Rose Garden of the White House, President George Walker Bush made an avowal of affection for Abbas, before the microphones and cameras of the world:

"Thank you. Mr. President,[1   Editor's note: The numbering in this section corresponds to the numbering in the next section: "Among The Fault Lines."] it is my honor to welcome the democratically elected leader of the Palestinian people[2] to the White House.

"We meet at a time when a great achievement of history is within reach, the creation of a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state.[3] President Abbas is seeking that goal by rejecting violence and working for democratic reform. I believe the Palestinian people are fully capable of justly governing themselves, in peace with their neighbors. [...]

"Mr. President, the United States and the international community applaud your rejection of terrorism.[4] All who engage in terror are the enemies of a Palestinian state, and must be held to account. We will stand with you, Mr. President, as you combat corruption, reform the Palestinian security services and your justice system, and revive your economy.

"Mr. President, you have made a new start on a difficult journey, requiring courage and leadership each day -- and we will take that journey together. [...]

"Any final status agreement must be reached between the two parties, and changes to the 1949 Armistice lines must be mutually agreed to.[5] "A viable two-state solution must ensure contiguity of the West Bank,[6] and a state of scattered territories will not work. There must also be meaningful linkages between the West Bank and Gaza. This is the position of the United States today, it will be the position of the United States at the time of final status negotiations. [...]

In a subsequent press conference, President George Walker Bush expounded on his convictions.

Question: "Mr. President, you just spoke about the rejection of terror. Are you satisfied that President Abbas is moving aggressively enough, doing everything he can to shut down terror groups? [...]"

Answer: "I believe that -- and I know the President [Abbas] is committed to democracy. [...] The President ran on a peace platform; you know, maybe somebody will run on a war platform -- you know, vote for me, I promise violence. I don't think they're going to get elected, because I think Palestinian moms want their children to grow up in peace just like American moms want their children to grow up in peace.[7] [...]

"President Abbas is a man of courage. Part of the success is going to require courageous decision by the President. And I take great faith in not only his personal character,[8] but the fact that he campaigned on a platform of peace ..."

He accompanied these effusions with a tip to Abbas of $50,000,000, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. This is in addition to the $1,500,000,000 already bestowed on the PLO, and an advance on the $350,000,000 more that has been promised. [See further: Issue No. 12]

In remarks on that and other days, he made no demands or even requests of Abbas. He requested that Arab states "take concrete measures to create a regional environment conducive to peace". He issued harsh orders to Israel to renounce its historic heritage, betray those who fought and died to save it, surrender its lands and its rights, and sacrifice the lives of its people.

"My father chastised you with whips, and I will chastise you with scorpions."
    -- I Kings 12:14, and II Chronicles 10:14

Among the fault lines where Rose Garden rhetoric clashes with reality:

[1] The official title of the PLO chief is "Chairman". The self-assumed title of "President" is no more valid than if Abbas/Mazen calls himself emperor.

[2] There is no such thing in the history of the world as a "Palestinian people", suddenly invented as a propaganda ploy in the 1960s. [See further: Issue No. 2]

[3] The U.S. "vision" of a Palestinian State was discovered by George Walker Bush in 2002. The invention of such a state would raise the total of Arab states from 22 to 23. It would rest on no valid historic claim and serve no purposes except to reward terrorism and vastly increase the danger to Israel's survival. [See further: the Special Issue "Twelve Bad Arguments for a State of Palestine]

It will not satisfy Arab demands because those are for a Palestine "from the river to the sea". That is, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, completely wiping out Israel. This is openly proclaimed. And it is openly proclaimed that a Palestinian state that does not yet include all that land will be but a springboard to complete the annihilation of Israel. [See further: Issues Nos. 5, 16]

President George Walker Bush has spoken of the "grievance" of the Arabs against Israel, but that grievance is that a free and independent Jewish state exists at all, in however tiny a space. It will not be soothed by tossing it a couple of thousand square miles to add to the near seven million square miles it already holds.

It will not sooth the Arab world's grievance against the United States, because Israel is only a facade for its envy and resentment.

When the authorities and residents of the PLO commemorate Nakba Day [Catastrophe Day] it is keyed to the date of Israel's Declaration of Independence in May 1948. The Catastrophe they celebrate is that Israel lives.

[4] "The United States and the international community" are applauding a non-performance. Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen has never rejected terrorism. He has declared that he will extract as many concessions as possible by political tactics, and when he can get no more he will turn to terrorist tactics.

Contrary to misrepresentations by the news media, there is no "truce" and no "quiet" on the part of these terror gangs/security services. Missiles and mortars rain on Israeli towns. Suicide-bombers, often juveniles, are dispatched on their missions.

Abbas/Mazen refuses to take away the weapons of the various and often rival terrorist gangs within the PLO. Instead, he enlists them into his "security services", that it seems likely will be taken under the aegis of the CIA. Terrorists if arrested at all are placed in revolving-door cells, and are quickly free to go about their bloody business. The security services facilitate the smuggling of weapons into PLO-land, including rockets and missiles that can be used against civilian aircraft.

He controls the PLO news media, whose chief item of trade is to propagate false charges against Israel and incite hatred and violence. There has been no change in this editorial priority.

He controls the schools where children are taught "kill a Jew and go to heaven" He controls the universities, where terrorism is a popular major.

He controls the mosques in PLO-land, whose clergy are employees of the PLO, and official Friday sermons are broadcast on PLO television. He was reportedly present to hear the sermon delivered by Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris on 4 February 2005, that belies any delusion that the PLO would live in peace with Israel on any terms.

Excerpts from the translation of Palestinian Media Watch:

"We tell you Palestine, we shall return to you, by Allah's will, We shall return to every village, every town, and every grain of earth which was quenched by the blood of our grandparents... Our willingness to return to the 1967 borders does not mean that we have given up on the land of Palestine. No! We might be able to use diplomacy in order to return to the 1967 borders, ...but it does not mean that we have given up on Jerusalem and Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramle, Natanyah ... and Tel Aviv ...Our approval to return to the 1967 borders is not a concession for our other rights. No! Palestinians will return the way Muhammad returned there, as a conqueror."

In another sermon. Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris explained that after the destruction of Israel and the Jews comes the fall of America and the rest of the Western World. Excerpt from translation by MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series No. 908, 17 May 2005:

"Look at modern history. Where has Great Britain gone? Where has Czarist Russia gone? Where has France gone - France, which almost ruled the entire world? Where is Nazi Germany, which massacred millions and ruled the world? Where did all these superpowers go? [Allah] made them disappear will make America disappear too, God willing. He who made Russia disappear overnight is capable of making America disappear and fall, Allah willing.

"We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world - except for the Jews. The Jews will not enjoy a life of tranquility under our rule, because they are treacherous by nature, as they have been throughout history. The day will come when everything will be relived of the Jews - even the stones and trees which were harmed by them. Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew."

[5] In the days before the Six-Day War of 1967, numerous Arab diplomats flaunted before the United Nations Security Council that their states would soon launch a war of annihilation against Israel. The Council did nothing to impede or even discourage that intent. After the war, however, it presumed to dictate terms of settlement. In so doing it conjured up a doctrine previously unknown in international law or historic precedence: That the nation that successfully defended itself against genocidal aggression should yield land to the defeated aggressor.

Even this peculiar doctrine as enshrined in Resolution 242 does not dictate the exact terms of a settlement. Nor did it mention or even imagine that a party to the settlement would be a "Palestine" that had not yet been invented. The authors and sponsors of the Resolution did at least make clear that the final settlement would not be based on the pre-war lines of demarcation:

President Lyndon Johnson, September 1968: "We are not the ones to say where other nations should draw lines between them that will assure each the greatest security. It is clear, however, that a return to the situation of 4 June 1967 will not bring peace.

Joseph Sisco, Assistant Secretary of State, July 1970: "That Resolution did not say 'withdrawal to the pre-June 5 lines'. The Resolution said that the parties must negotiate to achieve agreement on the so-called final secure and recognized borders."

Eugene V. Rostow, expert in International Law, Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs when the resolution was adopted: "It is, therefore, not legally possible to assert that the provision requires Israeli withdrawal from all the territories now occupied under the cease-fire resolutions to the Armistice Demarcation lines."

The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and other experts in strategic affairs have studied the issue of future borders of Israel and concluded that the viability of Israel demands control of territory well beyond the pre-1967 lines.

The incumbent President of the United States ignores both pledges and findings on Israel's rights and needs. It should not be said that he reneges on the clear commitment of the U.S. government not to seek a return to the 1967 lines. Rather, he has bestowed a sudden sanctity on the even earlier and more unfavorable 1949 ceasefire line. Nor has he explicitly given the PLO full right to dictate terms. He has merely ruled that it has right of veto over Israel's rights and needs.

This would wipe out Israel's heroically-fought victory in its long defense of its existence against Arab aggression. This would wipe out every defeat suffered by the aggressors. To the PLO and the Arab states, this means: "Attack Israel as many times as you like. My new doctrine guarantees that you will never have to pay any price. So, just keep on trying ..."

[6] The current U.S. administration repeatedly demands that its made-up State of Palestine must have "contiguous" territory. That is, one solid and unbroken landmass -- something that the United States itself does not have. It does not explain how or if it can do this without chopping the remnant of Israel into disconnected chunks.

[7] There may indeed be some mothers who would prefer to raise their children in peace, bu they are not the ones who make their voices heard and certainly not the ones who are glorified by the PLO authorities as heroines to be admired and emulated. The doctrine of the PLO, blared on its media and taught in its schools, is that the ideal mother is one who joyously sends her child to murder Jews and thereby achieve shahida [martyrdom].

Excerpts from "The Joy of Killing Your Kids", Palestinianian Media Watch Bulletin, 16 March 2005:

"Creating a supportive social environment for terrorists has been a critical factor in the Palestinian Authority's successful promotion of suicide terrorism. To this end, PA policy has been to honor terrorists as Shahids (Martyrs for Allah), and to teach Palestinian mothers to celebrate when their children die as terrorist Shahids. Categorizing these dead terrorists as Shahids grants them the highest honor a Muslim can achieve, and is therefore cause for a mother to celebrate, according to this PA teaching.

"This pressure on Palestinian mothers to celebrate their dead sons as Shahids continues under the regime of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and even increased this past week with repeated PA TV promotion connected to International Woman's Day. [...] It is important to note that this was the first Friday sermon broadcast since the PA announced last week that it would control and vet all Friday sermons delivered in West Bank and Gaza strip mosques. This portrayal of the ideal Palestinian woman as one who willingly sacrifices her sons as Shahids, therefore, continues to represent official PA ideology -

Typical quote, from Palestinian Media Watch archives. Interview on PLO-TV:

Host: They [Israelis] accuse the Palestinian mother of hating her sons and of encouraging them to die.

Mother: No. We do not encourage our sons to die. We encourage them to shahada [death for Allah] for the homeland, for Allah. We don't say to the mothers of the shahids, ~We come to comfort you, rather, We come to bless you on your son's wedding, on your son shahada... For us, the mourning is a [joyous] wedding. We give out drinks, we give out sweets. Praise to Allah, our mourning is a [joyous] wedding. [...]

[8] Some highlights of the resume of the man whose "courage" and "personal character" inspires "great faith":

From the 1960s onward, Abbas/Mazen was Yasser Arafat's deputy and close associate. He was party to the PLO Charter defining the purpose of the organization as the destruction of Israel. That charter has never been changed. He was party to the founding of the PLO's Fatah terrorist gang. He was party to devising the Plan of Stages in 1974; a tactic to gain land west of the Jordan to use as a base for the destruction of Israel. This plan was reaffirmed by Arafat the day after the Oslo Accords were signed. [See further: Issue No. 5]

Abbas/Mazen has been active or complicit in decades of terrorist slaughters perpetrated by the PLO. He personally planned and financed the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes -- one of them a U.S. citizen -- at the Olympic Games of 1972.

He is an educated man. He took a doctorate in history at Oriental College, Moscow, then the capital of the late Soviet Union. His published his dissertation under the title The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and the Zionist Movement.

He dismisses the notion that there was a Holocaust of the Jews. He also dismisses the notion that there was ever a Jewish Temple on Jerusalem's Temple Mount: "I challenge the assertion. But even if it were true, we do not accept it."

He holds sacred the "Right of Return" -- that is, an influx of millions of hostile Arab "refugees" and their progeny into the heart of Israel: "We demand their return to Jaffa, to Haifa and the other regions they came from." [On the origin and status of these "refugees" see further: Issues Nos. 9 and 31]

He orders the execution of his own subjects accused, with or without evidence, of being "collaborators" in Israel's defense against the terrorist security services.

Madam Doctor Secretary Condoleeza Rice has declared that "birthing Palestine" is a top priority for her Administration.

That would seem to place the enterprise ahead of or at least on a par with such concerns as:

[a] the ongoing threat to the United States of Islamist terrorism and subversion

[b] Iraq and Afghanistan

[c] the rapid rise of China's military and economic power

[d] the prospective atomic weapons of Iran and North Korea and perhaps Saudi Arabia

[e] the massive influx into the United States of illegal immigration and its attendant problems

[f] the crumbling of the U.S. educational system

[g] the debasement of popular culture and mores

[h] the problematic condition of the Social Security system

There has yet to be a candid and cogent explanation of this odd "priority". How will the people of the United States benefit playing midwife to a terrorist state whose subjects dance and sing and cheer to celebrate the massacre of Americans?

Abbas's PLO, now cherished friend and protege of the U.S. administration, sent this recent birthday greeting to Saddam Hussein:

"We wish him long life for the sake of Iraq and to free the Arab nation from the enslavement of foreign imperialism. Oh, the glory of victory, with the help of Allah!"

Saudi Arabia produced the bulk of the terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center and murdered 3,000 people. It produces the bulk volunteers for anti-American attacks in Iraq. The regime finances violent jihad worldwide. It bankrolls Al Qaeda and Hamas. It sponsors, supports, and manages schools worldwide that indoctrinate students in jihad. Its government-approved broadcasters and preachers pour out Hate America messages.

Yet it is coddled and petted. Crown Prince Abdullah, its de facto ruler, is literally embraced by President George Walker Bush when they "bond" at the latter's ranch in Texas.

The rich have many friends. -- Proverbs 14:20

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was constructed in the first quarter of the 20th century, when Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud conquered all of the Arabian peninsula and brought it under his rule. He also brought under the rule of the ultra-puritanical Wahhabi school version of Islam.

The new kingdom became an actor on the world scene with the Arabian-American Oil Company (ARAMCO) found and developed vast deposits of oil. The geological accident that placed this oil under its sands gave Saudi Arabia the power to jiggle worldwide fuel supplies and prices and brings it huge unearned wealth. It uses its control of a vital natural resource and its money to control the policies of those who want oil, or profit from trading in it, or profit from peddling goods and services to the thousands of nouveau-riche princes of and princesses of the Saud dynasty.

Saudi Arabia is dedicated to the mission of bringing the world into submission to Wahhabi Islam. That mission will be accomplished when everyone else in the world has been converted or crushed. This dedication is not compatible with the American dedication to liberty and tolerance, but shapers of U.S. policy fawn upon and cater to the Saudi princes who dole out petrodollars.

The United States as well as other industrialized nations could long ago have been free of Saudi pressure through a serious program of fuel conservation and use of alternative sources of energy. But such a program is stymied by those who prosper through dealings with the Saudis.

At times, the public proponents of this private greed dominate U.S. foreign policy. For example: James Baker III, Secretary of State in the first Bush Administration and shadow scriptwriter in the second Bush Administration. This self-interest is a factor in the pretense that Saudi Arabia is an ally in America's "War on Terror", when in truth it instigates and finances Islamist Jihad.

"If the reputation builds that the Saudis take care of their friends when they leave office, you'd be surprised how much better friends you have who are just coming into office."
- Prince Bandar ibn Sultan, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States.

Department of State personnel are aware that if they please the Saudis they can go on to high-paying posts with corporations doing business with the Saudis, or institutes and foundations sponsored by the Saudis, or in university chairs padded with Saudi contributions. [See further: Issue No. 25]. The same personnel

-- waive standard precautions when bestowing U.S. entry visas on Saudis,

-- refuse to fulfill the duty they owe to U.S. citizens, and abandon American-born women held against their wills in the Saudi Arabia,

-- protect Saudis of rank who commit criminal acts in the United States, such as princesses who batter their maidservants.

In the hours after the September 11 attacks, all aircraft were grounded -- except the plane that carried the Bin Laden family home to Saudi Arabia.

February 2005: Saudi Arabia conducts an Anti-Terrorism Conference with Iran, Syria and the Sudan as participants. The conference features the de rigueur pronouncements that "the Jews and the Christians are Allah's enemies". At the conclusion of this conference, President Bush called Crown Prince Abdullah to compliment him on the success of the conference.

April 2005: Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi Minister of Defense, praised relations with the U.S. administration and "the will of cooperation between the two countries to serve Saudi interest first of all."

Despite the bonding at the Texas ranch, Crown Prince Abdullah's regime is assiduously spending and working to subvert American society.

The Religious Freedom Center of Freedom House, Washington, D.C., produced an 89-page report entitled Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques. From a summary issued 28 January 2005:

"The propagation of hate ideology by Saudi Arabia is known to be worldwide, but its occurrence within the United States has received scant attention until now. [...] The report concludes that the Saudi government propaganda examined reflects a 'totalitarian ideology of hatred that can incite to violence,' and the fact that it is 'being mainstreamed within our borders through the efforts of a foreign government, namely Saudi Arabia, demands our urgent attention.' [...]

"Among the key findings of the report: Various Saudi government publications gathered for this study, most of which are in Arabic, assert that it is a religious obligation for Muslims to hate Christians and Jews and warn against imitating, befriending, or helping them in any way, or taking part in their festivities and celebrations; The documents promote contempt for the United States because it is ruled by legislated civil law rather than by totalitarian Wahhabi-style Islamic law. They condemn democracy as un-Islamic;

"The documents stress that when Muslims are in the lands of the unbelievers, they must behave as if on a mission behind enemy lines. Either they are there to acquire new knowledge and make money to be later employed in the jihad against the infidels, or they are there to proselytize the infidels until at least some convert to Islam. Any other reason for lingering among the unbelievers in their lands is illegitimate, and unless a Muslim leaves as quickly as possible, he or she is not a true Muslim and so too must be condemned.

"For example, a document in the collection for the Immigrant Muslim bears the words 'Greetings from the Cultural Attache in Washington, D.C.' of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, and is published by the government of Saudi Arabia. In an authoritative religious voice, it gives detailed instructions on how to 'hate' the Christian and Jew: [...]

"Saudi textbooks and other publications in the collection, propagate a Nazi-like hatred for Jews, treat the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion as historical fact, and avow that the Muslim's duty is to eliminate the state of Israel; [...] [Saudi Arabia's] publications propagating an ideology of hatred remain plentiful in some prominent American mosques and Islamic centers, and continue to be a principal resource available to students of Islam within the United States."

The Saudi campaign within the United States is not confined to the mosques. From "Jihad on the American Mind," by Rachel Ehrenfeld, Fronpage Magazine, 11 March 2005:

"[...] Saudi Arabia, according to various Saudi official publications, have spent somewhere between $70-87 billion on the spread of Wahhabism around the world since the oil boom began in the mid- 1970's. This money was not only spent in Muslim/Arab countries. Large amounts were and are still being spent in the West, including in the US.

"The Saudis have established endowments for American universities, have set up centers for Islamic and Arab studies, and have distributed generous scholarships, which often include visits to Saudi universities [...]

"Among the first to enjoy the Saudi largess in 1976, to the tune of $1 million dollars, was the University of Southern California (USC). Announcing the endowment of the King Faisal Chair in Islamic Studies, the then-Saudi Minister of Finance and National Economy Mohammed Abalkhalil had no qualms stating that the Chair 'shall be chosen by the university in consultation with the Saudi Minister of Higher Education'.

"This marked the beginning of Saudi investment in the USC. A year later, in 1977, the Saudis established the Middle East Center, and, according to NBC reports at that time, funded it with money they 'extorted from Americans doing business in Saudi Arabia.' The Middle East Center not only excluded Israel from its program, but its prospectus suggested that it would represent not only 'the Saudi's view of the Middle East,' but will also present the Jewish State 'as an international outlaw.' Despite protests from the American Jewish Committee and others, the Middle East Center continued to operate as an autonomous center within USC, choosing its own curriculum and faculty.

"In September 1978, the Saudis established an East Coast satellite to the USC program, at Duke University. The program in Islamic and Arabian Development Studies aimed to 'provide for the Eastern part of the United States a balance, with the USC.' The money for this center came initially from the Saudi government and was supplemented by local foundations fronting for the Saudis.

"Among [universities taking Saudi funds] are The Middle East Study Center at the University of Arkansas, which received $20 million dollars; Cornell, which received $11 million dollars; $8.1 million dollars went to Georgetown; $5 million dollars each to Rutgers, Columbia, and US Berkeley; $2.5 million dollars to Harvard; $1.5 million dollars to Texas A&M; and $1 million dollars to Princeton.

"To further identify as many universities and colleges in the US that have received Saudi and Gulf-States funding, a major study is underway now. This is not an easy task, since lately the Saudis have taken to giving their gifts anonymously. In the meantime, however, we already know that they have given substantial sums also to UC-Santa Barbara, Johns Hopkins, Rice University, American University, University of Chicago, Syracuse University, UCLA, and Howard University, to name a few.

"It is important to note that the many millions of dollars that the Saudis are spending here to establish Islamic centers to increase their influence are indeed subverting our academic institutions through indoctrination. Moreover, once established, these centers receive budgetary assistance from the US government under Title IV of the Education Act. In 2004, Congress allocated $86.2 million of our tax money to support these programs.

"By giving our money to Islamic Centers and programs endowed by Islamist, we are helping the Saudis and their likes to acquire the foot soldiers to use the knives with which they intend to slit our throats."

The Washington, D.C. public relations firm Qorvis Communications produced and broadcast a series of anti-Israel radio advertisements. The bill of $679,000 went to a U.S. group calling itself Alliance for Peace and Justice. It was paid by the government of Saudi Arabia.

Petrodollars-for-Propaganda are widely welcomed -- but not invariably. In the wake of the terrorist destruction of New York's World Trade Center, billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, publicly presented then New York Mayor Rudolf Giuliani with a check for $10,000,000 solace money for the victims. The prince then launched into an anti-Israel tirade. Mayor Giuliani tossed the check back to the royal donor.

Even the subservient Department of State cannot cover up the Saudi ban on any religion other than its own Wahabbi Islam. The ban extends even to private homes, and to transient visitors. A careless travel agent arranged an international flight for a Catholic nun that required her to change planes in Saudi Arabia. The airport guardians of morality confiscated and shredded her Bible and her prayerbook and smashed her crucifix. A Christian from India was arrested and held incommunicado when a Bible was detected in his baggage.

"Christians Arrested in Saudi Arabia For Religious Activity," from MEMRI, 29 April 2005:

"The Saudi daily Al-Jazirah reported that 40 men, women, and children with Pakistani citizenship were arrested on April 21, 2005 after performing Christian religious rites in an apartment in the Thaharat Al-Badi'a neighborhood in western Riyadh. The arrest was part of a sweeping police operation by the Riyadh District Police, at the order of Riyadh Governor Prince Salman bin Abd Al-'Aziz. The paper reported that the operation came after Saudi religious police -- known as the Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice -- followed and collected information on the activity of the 40, who listened to a proselytizing lecture by a Pakistani minister.

"The paper also noted that during the police operation, which lasted nearly 10 hours, a cross and a large number of proselytizing books and cassettes were found [in the apartment]. The detainees themselves stated that they had come to listen to lectures by the minister. One of the detainees was a Muslim Pakistani, who acknowledged that he had been influenced by the Christian ideology.

"The Saudi daily Al-Riyadh said that the detainees had set up a church in the apartment, equipped with crosses, pictures, and statues. Likewise, it was said that during their religious activity, one of them was found praying, as the others present repeated their words, and one of the women arrested was listing the people's confessions and distributing writs of absolution. The Al-Riyadh report included a photo of the detainees and of a large cross and the group which was arrested.

"A Saudi religious police source explained the reason for the arrest: 'These people tried to spread the poison and their beliefs to others, by means of distributing pamphlets and [missionary] publications .' He said that all the detainees 'had been transferred to the relevant bodies for investigation.'"

[Comment: Religious restrictions in Saudi Arabia do not apply to Jews. That is because no Jew of any nationality is permitted to enter Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom demands and the U.S. government agrees that even U.S. military personnel on U.S. bases be judenrein.]

During the first Gulf War in 1991, then President George Herbert Walker Bush went to Saudi Arabia to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with the U.S. troops defending the Kingdom and its myriad princes. Even on an American base, the Saudis forbade him to recite a Grace on Saudi soil. The President of the United States submitted to this ruling, and had his Thanksgiving Day dinner aboard a U.S. Navy vessel outside of Saudi territorial waters.

In his post-presidential career he, like James E. Baker III, is a leading figure in the Carlyle Group international investment consortium that tends its financial interests in Saudi Arabia [see Issue No. 52]. He also delivers paid orations in and on behalf of Saudi Arabia.

After George Walker Bush became president, Bush Senior used the telephone in the Oval Office to assure the Saudi crown prince that "My son's heart is in the right place".

This administrations's heart is in its Road Map to Peace in the Middle East that is in fact a roadmap to doom for Israel. [See Issues Nos. 23, 28, 29]. The Quartet designated to prod Israel down that road subsume the U.S. Department of State, plus the compulsively Judeophobic European Union, United Nations, and Russia. It is now reported that the administration wants to enlarge the Quartet into a Quintet by adding Saudi Arabia -- an entity dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people.

The IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] has granted Saudi Arabia officially exemption from any questions about its atomic developments, including development of weapons to be used against Israel.

Voices from Saudi Arabia -- Who is listening? There is neither freedom of religion nor of speech in Saudi Arabia. Sermons preached in mosques reflect official doctrine and not some eccentric personal opinion. The Saudi Information Service itself provided this characteristic example:

"[...] People should know that Jews are backed by the Christians, and the battle that we are going through is not with Jews only [...] I am against America until this life ends, until the Day of Judgment; I am against America even if the stone liquefies My hatred of America, if part of it was contained in the universe, it would collapse. She is the root of all evils, and wickedness on earth. [...]

Recent deadly terror attacks in Saudi Arabia have been attributed by the uninformed to Al-Qaeda. But Prince Abdullah knows better: "It became clear to us now that Zionism is behind terrorist actions in the Kingdom [Saudi Arabia]. I can say that I am 95 percent sure of that."

Prince Nayef Ibn Abd Al Aziz, Saudi Minister of the Interior, concurs with his fellow prince: "W e put big question marks and ask who committed the events of September 11 and who benefited from them. Who benefited from events of 11/9? I think they [the Zionists] are behind these events."

A dissident view broadcast on Saudi television is the conclusion of Egyptian historian Dr. Zaynab Abd Al-Aziz: The United States did the deed itself on behalf of a Vatican-World Council of Churches plot against Islam.

Successive presidential administrations and the entrenched staff of the Department of State are more concerned to protect the Saudi Arabian ally than to look after the interests of the United States and its citizens. In contrast, Congress is now considering the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act, designed to "halt Saudi support for institutions that fund, train, incite, encourage, or in any other way aid and abet terrorism, and to secure full Saudi cooperation in the investigation of terrorist incidents, and for other purposes." [...]

The regime of Saudi Arabia has officially contributed some $4 billion petrodollars to PLO terrorists. For those individuals who wish to add their personal largesse, official Saudi TV held a fund-raising event via telephone.

One princess called in and donated her Rolls Royce.

Patricia Berlyn is a writer and editor who is a native of New York, N.Y. and now resides in Israel.

Part I of this article is from "A Time To Speak -- Messages About Israel", Vol. V:5 (No. 53), May 2005 - Nissan-Iyar 5765; Part II is from Vol. V:6 (No. 54), June 2005 - Iyar-Sivan 5765.

"A Time To Speak" appears once a month, and each issue is on a theme that relates to Israel and the Middle East past and present, including history, background, current events, analysis and comment. All issues appear on its website: http://www.israel.net/timetospeak. A complimentary subscription to the e-mail edition is available by request to: speak@actcom.co.il.

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