The targets of the new Saudi royal decree

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In a new royal decree Saudi Arabia declares its men fighting abroad terrorists. The new law imprisons from 3-30 years any civilian who participates in fighting abroad. Military personnel and state security employees will receive harsher sentences. Providing aid to 'terrorist' groups, as designated in the new legal thinking of the notoriously repressive monarchy, has also been made illegal.


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After disfiguring the face of the Syrian uprising by sending its criminals to kill indiscriminately and in the most grisly fashion, the Saudis would like now to make a further damage to the Syrian revolution. Rather than preventing terrorists from going to Syria, the new law will allow the Saudi government to punish the ordinary Saudis who provide any form of aid to their Syrian brethren who are struggling against the dictator Bashar Asad.


Saudi Arabia does this neither because it loves Asad, nor because it hates terrorism, but rather because the success of the Syrian revolution would inevitably have unwelcome echoes home. Saudi Arabia which has just declared that it is willing to spend the last Riyal (Saudi currency) in its coffers to help prevent any democracy in Egypt, is quite fearful of a successful revolution in Syria, especially one that succeeds by militarily defeating the stratum of fulul in Syrian. The lack of fulul in this neighboring country means a lack of future allies to delay the Arab aspiration for independent and meaningful democracies.

The Saudis are nervous. Their U.A.E friends are nervous as well. The change is on its way to the gulf.


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The new Saudi decree also incriminates links to, membership of or sympathy to any organization or political current that has been deemed locally, regionally or internationally terrorist. Of course, this broad language will open the door ajar for the Saudi government to clampdown on the dissidents who could easily be found 'sympathetic' with the Muslim Brothers who are considered now terrorists in Egypt (=regionally). It will also justify in time the Saudi rapprochement with Israel and the parallel demonization of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, as a new joint plan is sketched out in Cairo with the Israelis to try one more time to 'finish' Hamas.

The next joint Egyptian and Israeli war on Gaza will be justified in Saudi Arabia as a war for Islam. There will be enough Saudi ashyakh (clerics) to explain how Hamas is the greatest threat to Islam and how meritorious in the sight of Allah is to donate and volunteer to ensure the defeat of Hamas. The alliance with Israel will either be downplayed or described as a part of the Prophetic sunna since the Prophet did sign a constitution where Jews of Madinah where allies--the fact that the Jews of Madinah were allies and the military leaders of Tel Aviv are enemies and occupiers will be obfuscated. 

Phrases, such as 'we have warned you,' which Mubarak addressed to the Gazans as they were being barbequed indiscriminately with White Phosphorus, which seemed then shocking to most Muslims would pale in comparison with the new religious discourse which will emanate from Cairo and Riyadh justifying the upcoming campaign on Gaza. Compared to Sissi's and Al Saud's scholars of 2014, the world of Mubarak would look reminiscent of the Rashidi Caliphate. And Bukra Tshufu, as the Egyptian saying goes.