Writing in the Saudi Arabian newspaper, based in London, a-Sharq al-Awsat, Amr al-Faisal opines that Saudi youth are not sufficiently anti-American or anti-Israeli ? to the extent that Saudi Arabians must ?save ourselves from our children, who have become our enemies.?
Writing that ?in the light of Washington?s flagrant pro-Israeli policy? many people have begun to look again at Saudi-US relations,? the Saudi author points out that the same is not true for young people in the Kingdom. Al-Faisal reports that ?the Zogby Foundation in the US published a poll taken in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries? [which] showed that opposition to American policies had dwindled considerably among people aged from 18 to 29 compared to older people.? This lack of sufficient anti-American fervor led the columnist to ask, ?Why are our youth apathetic to national issues? Why do they still show admiration for a culture which has bared its teeth at us and whose next move we are unsure of??
The Saudi Arabian people, indeed Moslems throughout the world (the Ummah) ?is threatened by this younger generation which feels no shame in merely imitating the West? embraced the glittering Western values and joined the bandwagon of the so-called new civilization,? writes al-Faisal. He further complains that ?Most Muslim parents are doing nothing to counter this attack by inculcating into their offspring the Islamic values on which our society is founded.? The Moslem youth also got ?an inaccurate impression that the conflict with Israel was over.?
?And now,? the Saudi Arabian newspaper concludes, ?we face a real challenge: To save ourselves from our children who have become our enemies.?
Writing that ?in the light of Washington?s flagrant pro-Israeli policy? many people have begun to look again at Saudi-US relations,? the Saudi author points out that the same is not true for young people in the Kingdom. Al-Faisal reports that ?the Zogby Foundation in the US published a poll taken in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries? [which] showed that opposition to American policies had dwindled considerably among people aged from 18 to 29 compared to older people.? This lack of sufficient anti-American fervor led the columnist to ask, ?Why are our youth apathetic to national issues? Why do they still show admiration for a culture which has bared its teeth at us and whose next move we are unsure of??
The Saudi Arabian people, indeed Moslems throughout the world (the Ummah) ?is threatened by this younger generation which feels no shame in merely imitating the West? embraced the glittering Western values and joined the bandwagon of the so-called new civilization,? writes al-Faisal. He further complains that ?Most Muslim parents are doing nothing to counter this attack by inculcating into their offspring the Islamic values on which our society is founded.? The Moslem youth also got ?an inaccurate impression that the conflict with Israel was over.?
?And now,? the Saudi Arabian newspaper concludes, ?we face a real challenge: To save ourselves from our children who have become our enemies.?