Question for Walks In Islam.

TJJJ · #1 02-24-2011, 08:07 PM

Serious question about politics in that region.

If I remember correctly, you are in the Middle east region, correct?

What is your view on the events happening in Egypt, Tunis, and Libya?

How is that affecting where you are at right now?

How do other countries in that area view the events?

Thanks for answering.

TJJJ

TJJJ · #2 02-25-2011, 10:02 AM

Bump for WII

Walks_in_islam · #3 02-26-2011, 02:50 AM

Sorry I was on vacation.

Right now Saudi is quiet but the King just returned from the US and announced a big aid package for the Saudis to stave off any possibility of troubles for the Kingdom.

Bahrain right now is a mess and the unrest there is religious in nature, the Iranians have a lot of influence there religiously and the majority group (Shias) are pressing hard for equal rights and a say in the government. Bahrain is a common destination for westerners in this area and they are pretty much staying out of that country.

Egypt as I understand and the other north African countries are basically police states where the governments are very corrupt and a few people enjoy the wealth while the others live in poverty. This is, I believe, what kicked off Tunisia. Their unrest is across the board and is political for the most part.

Yemen see Bahrain....

Saudi and the UAE are quiet for now so we are not directly effected. We do and always have had an exit plan LOL but that is what you do when you live overseas.

The religious unrest concerns us the most as eastern Saudi along with Yemen and Bahrain are all affiliated with the religious groups that run Iran/Iraq.

Hope that starts clarification

wii

Sam · #4 02-26-2011, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walks_in_islam

Sorry I was on vacation.

Right now Saudi is quiet but the King just returned from the US and announced a big aid package for the Saudis to stave off any possibility of troubles for the Kingdom.

Bahrain right now is a mess and the unrest there is religious in nature, the Iranians have a lot of influence there religiously and the majority group (Shias) are pressing hard for equal rights and a say in the government. Bahrain is a common destination for westerners in this area and they are pretty much staying out of that country.

Egypt as I understand and the other north African countries are basically police states where the governments are very corrupt and a few people enjoy the wealth while the others live in poverty. This is, I believe, what kicked off Tunisia. Their unrest is across the board and is political for the most part.

Yemen see Bahrain....

Saudi and the UAE are quiet for now so we are not directly effected. We do and always have had an exit plan LOL but that is what you do when you live overseas.

The religious unrest concerns us the most as eastern Saudi along with Yemen and Bahrain are all affiliated with the religious groups that run Iran/Iraq.

Hope that starts clarification

wii

So, what do you think of what is being proposed by some news/political commentators --

That Iran is pushing for rebellion and overthrow of governments in these countries in north africa and other parts of that area with the idea of establishing a caliphate with sharia law over the whole area?

and that many of the demonstrators in Egypt (maybe other areas) were brought in from outside (many had the same style cell phone and same style blankets and spoke in a dialect that was not Egyptian)?

That 85 percent of Egyptians favor the death penalty for those who convert from Islam?

Walks_in_islam · #5 03-10-2011, 10:43 PM

I think that this is quite accurate. The Shia leadership, holy sites, and base of religion is in Iran and they are spreading.

It was interesting that for the first time when we returned to Saudi they checked our passports carefully and in detail to make sure that we were not in Egypt

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam

So, what do you think of what is being proposed by some news/political commentators --

That Iran is pushing for rebellion and overthrow of governments in these countries in north africa and other parts of that area with the idea of establishing a caliphate with sharia law over the whole area?

and that many of the demonstrators in Egypt (maybe other areas) were brought in from outside (many had the same style cell phone and same style blankets and spoke in a dialect that was not Egyptian)?

That 85 percent of Egyptians favor the death penalty for those who convert from Islam?

sandie · #6 03-10-2011, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walks_in_islam

I think that this is quite accurate. The Shia leadership, holy sites, and base of religion is in Iran and they are spreading.

It was interesting that for the first time when we returned to Saudi they checked our passports carefully and in detail to make sure that we were not in Egypt

Are you near the demonstrations that are taking place, WII?
What do you think will happen?
Stay safe.

Walks_in_islam · #7 03-11-2011, 01:07 AM

Quite near. We were shopping in Dhahran yesterday. Qatif is near Dhahran.

The Saudi people want those demonstrations quashed. So, probably, they will be as happened in Qatif yesterday.

To get to Dhahran we have to pass Qatif. There were extra checkpoints set up near the town. We did not go through the town directly so we were not aware that the demonstrators were fired on until we returned home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandie

Are you near the demonstrations that are taking place, WII?
What do you think will happen?
Stay safe.

crakjak · #8 03-11-2011, 01:16 AM

What do you think of the King hearings in DC today, or did you see any of the testimony?

Sounds like the moderate Muslims are very serious about dealing with the radicals, I was encouraged by the testimony of Dr. Sasser.

Walks_in_islam · #9 03-11-2011, 01:26 AM

I only saw the interviews / story on FoxNews. Radicalism is becoming serious business. An example - yesterday the chief of police in Afghanistan was killed by a suicide bomber. He was, by the way, a Muslim. Most of the bombings in Pakistan have been either in the Mosques or in the public markets, and those bombers are probably not targeting westerners by bombing mosques they are targeting other Muslims.

This has to be addressed and it has to start with intolerance for radicalism and extremism within the Muslim community itself. It is good to see Muslim leaders in the US stand up and start facing it. Dialogue is a start but the Muslim community needs to reject and expose it as it is identified.

Quote:

Originally Posted by crakjak

What do you think of the King hearings in DC today, or did you see any of the testimony?

Sounds like the moderate Muslims are very serious about dealing with the radicals, I was encouraged by the testimony of Dr. Sasser.

aegsm76 · #10 03-11-2011, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walks_in_islam

I only saw the interviews / story on FoxNews. Radicalism is becoming serious business. An example - yesterday the chief of police in Afghanistan was killed by a suicide bomber. He was, by the way, a Muslim. Most of the bombings in Pakistan have been either in the Mosques or in the public markets, and those bombers are probably not targeting westerners by bombing mosques they are targeting other Muslims.

This has to be addressed and it has to start with intolerance for radicalism and extremism within the Muslim community itself. It is good to see Muslim leaders in the US stand up and start facing it. Dialogue is a start but the Muslim community needs to reject and expose it as it is identified.

WII - that I can agree with. A lot of my problem with this entire issue has been that almost no one within the Muslim community has stood up to the radicals. If that starts happening, it will change my mind-set on several levels.