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MEMRI Daily: May 11, 2011 |
The following is research published today from MEMRI’s Special Dispatch Series and the MEMRI TV Project.
*Special Dispatch Series
Special Dispatch No. 3831—Saudi Arabia/Minorities in the Middle East/Women's Topics
Saudi-Born Liberal: The Persecuted Sectors – the Shi'ites, Women, and Alien Residents – are the Fuel of the Coming Saudi Revolution
In a recent article published on the liberal Arabic-language website Aafaq.org, Saudi-Born liberal journalist and writer Mansour Al-Hadj wrote that the revolutions sweeping through the Arab world will not pass Saudi Arabia by. He argued that though the recent protests in the kingdom were suppressed by the regime, the revolution will inevitably come; it will be fueled, he said, by the rage and frustration of the disenfranchised sectors in Saudi society: the Shi'ite minority, women, and the alien residents (children of foreign workers who were born in the country yet are denied the right to citizenship), as well as the prisoners who are held without trial and the reformists calling for change. He stressed that the regime's attempts to appease them by improving their living conditions will not be successful, because the majority of Saudis do not actually receive the benefits, and because people deprived of basic rights cannot be bought off with money and material comforts.
To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5278.htm.
Special Dispatch No. 3830—Syria/Democratization and Reform in the Arab & Muslim World
Syrian Poet Adonis Calls for Separation of State and Religion: 'Religious Ideology Negates Democracy'
Following are excerpts from an interview with Syrian poet Adonis, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on April 20, 2011.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2916.htm.
Interviewer: "Why are we Arabs always left out of the progress of history? If anything, we give rise to totalitarian regimes. Why are we absent from any process of civilization, with the exception of a few individuals – thinkers and scientists, expatriates living abroad? What is the reason behind this?"
Adonis: "I do not think that anyone would dispute that we Arabs have not succeeded in establishing a state in the globally acknowledged legal and human sense – a civil state and a civil society – in the past 15 centuries. No political or social scientist has ever sought the reason why a nation like the Arabs, who had built a great civilization, has not succeeded in giving rise to a civil society or a civil state. This is a question…"
To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5277.htm.
Special Dispatch No. 3829—Egypt/Yousef Al-Qaradhawi
Egyptian Intellectual: Al-Qaradhawi Has Ruled that Muslims May Donate Money to the State In Lieu of Performing Hajj
In his column in the independent Egyptian daily Al-Shurouq, Islamist intellectual Fahmi Huweidi proposed that Egypt's Muslims contribute the funds they had set aside for the pilgrimage to Mecca toward helping Egypt out of its economic difficulties. Huweidi wrote that he had consulted Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, the head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), who ruled that in times of economic crisis the leaders of Islamic countries must place restrictions on the pilgrimage to Mecca; moreover, under such circumstances, a Muslim may donate the money reserved for the pilgrimage toward supporting the country's economy, and this counts as if he has performed the pilgrimage. Al-Qaradhawi's ruling even permitted diverting charity funds toward supporting the state economy.
Al-Qaradhawi's fatwa met with mixed responses in Egypt's religious establishment. Al-Shurouq reported that associates of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar were discussing the matter and considering the possibility of consulting the Al-Azhar Academy for Islamic Research for its opinion. One of the academy's members expressed opposition to the fatwa, on the grounds that it constituted forbidden intervention in the believer's religious worship.
To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5276.htm.
*From the MEMRI TV Project
MEMRI TV Clip No. 2907 - Former Israeli MK Azmi Bishara Turns Against the Syrian Regime
Following are excerpts from an interview with former Israeli Knesset member Azmi Bishara, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on April 15, 2011:
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2907.htm.
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