- A prominent imam claimed Saudi and US are leading the world in peace and security
- Meanwhile, Saudi and US bombs are killing hundreds of civilians
- Considerable debate flared up over the statement online
- Some claimed "Al-Sudais does not represent me" in a worldwide trending hashtag
Saudi Arabia and the US are leading the world in peace and security.
Or, at least according to the imam of Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais.
“Saudi Arabia and the USA are the ‘poles of influence’ in the world and are leading the world and humanity towards the harbors of security, peace and stability,” Al-Sudais told Saudi network al-Akhbaria.
السديس لـ #الإخبارية: اليوم #المملكة و #أمريكا وهما قطبا هذا العالم في التأثير يقودان العالم والإنسانية إلى مرافئ الأمن والسلام والاستقرار.
— قناة الإخبارية (@alekhbariyatv) September 16, 2017
This, as America enters its sixteenth year of military presence in Afghanistan, as US airstrikes continue to kill Syrian civilians in large numbers and as President Trump taunts North Korea over its nuclear power.
Meanwhile, the Saudi cleric’s own nation leads a bloody campaign of airstrikes in Yemen in its third year, which has seen considerable civilian casualties.
Unsurprisingly, Al-Sudais made the comments while in the US where he was attending a conference organized by the Muslim World League, and sponsored by Saudi royals.
Under Trump, Saudi-US relations have considerably improved, between the US President's trip to the Gulf state in May when a multi-billion dollar arms deal was agreed, and his enthusiastic support for the regional split with Qatar.
#السديس_امريكا_تقود_العالم_للسلام #تصريح_السديس_لا_يمثلني
— ربيع (@kh1111333) September 17, 2017
الجامية الى اين ؟؟pic.twitter.com/EQSn92EyrS
Unusually for any Saudi public figure, whose words are typically revered on social media, his claims have stirred considerable debate among Saudis.
The hashtag “Al-Sudais’ statement does not represent me” trended worldwide in response as some took issue with what they felt was Saudi pandering to US policy.
#تصريح_السديس_لا_يمثلني تصريحه يمثل النظام السعودي .. الذي يعتبر ترامب ولي أمره ..
— الدكتور حزام الحزام (@hazam_ksa) September 18, 2017
His statement represents the Saudi regime… which considers Trump its guardian.
It was Al-Sudais’ important religious role which made his comments inappropriate, some suggested.
تصريح السديس
— معالي الربراري (@Mrbrary) September 17, 2017
منزلق خطير، غير موفق
لا يعبر عن وجهة نظر المسلمين
ولا يليق بمن هو إماما للحرم المكي
باختصار: والله عيب#تصريح_السديس_لا_يمثلني
Al-Sudais’ statement is a dangerous slide, not acceptable. It does not express the view point of Muslims. It is not fitting of the imam of the Mecca [Grand Mosque].
@msm7888 tweeted: “No, I swear he does not represent me .. Damn those who sell their religion and give up their principles for a transient world…”
Others pointed out the bloody realities of American military intervention in the Middle East.
#تصريح_السديس_لا_يمثلني بكل تأكيد
— معالي الربراري (@Mrbrary) September 18, 2017
لأنه يشرعن جرائم أمريكا ضد المسلمين
لأنه يشرعن احتلال أمريكا للبلاد الإسلامية
تحت شعار الديمقراطية والسلام
#Al-Sudais’_statement_doesn’t_represent_me because it legitimizes America's crimes against Muslims and because it legitimizes America's occupation of Islamic countries under the banner of democracy and peace.
وا أسفَاه..تأمّلواْ تفاصيل الطفلة "مها" من #دير_الزور، فهي ضحيّة طيَران دولة الأمن والسلام أمريكا؛ حسَب وصْف السديس!#تصريح_السديس_لا_يمثلني pic.twitter.com/MPy4QFOTsY
— #رجل_هيئة (@KSA_620) September 17, 2017
Look at the details of this girl, Maha, in Deir Ezzor, victim of the planes belonging to the "country of security and peace", America, according to Al-Sudais.
@m7mdshehri1 added: "He does not represent me and does not represent any Muslim. America is the one who caused devastation and destruction in Muslim lands, after France and Britain..."
In June, the US admitted to killing at least 484 civilians in airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, while monitoring groups place the number much higher, with AirWars estimating 3,800 killed since 2014.
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What none of the these Saudis mentioned, however, was that the Saudi-led coalition has also been held responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths in their own airstrikes on Yemen.
The coalition killed 349 children in airstrikes last year, a recent UN draft report found. Meanwhile over half-a-million Yemenis have contracted cholera in what the UN described as a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe”.
Still, many agreed with the imam that Saudi Arabia is leading the way to peace, with @altsaheel describing the hashtag criticizing him as "malicious " and @aziz040404 claiming that “Al-Sudais represents the honorable nationalist Saudis and does not represent the traitors of the homeland, the foreign agents [...]”
