Adel al-Jubeir has been selling his snake oil in Washington for quite some time. This is not the first time his polished words have rung hollow. When is fighting terrorism not fighting terrorism? When wanton jihadist murders of civilian non-combatants in one particular country are not condemned. From Globes Online, with thanks to Nicolei and RB:
On Tuesday, at a press conference at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, al-Jubeir launched a campaign to improve Saudi Arabia’s image in the US, under the slogan, “We’re fighting terrorism.” The fact that someone of his stature has been assigned to orchestrate the campaign shows how Saudi Arabia’s image has deteriorated in US public opinion….
Now, however, al-Jubeir wants Americans to believe that Saudi Arabia is remaking itself that what it has been is not what it will be. As he puts it, “The bottom line is that no Saudi citizen will be able to escape the clear message that intolerance, violence and extremism are not part of our Islamic faith, or of Saudi culture or traditions.”
Asked how Saudi Arabia defines terrorism, al-Jubeir said that the kingdom had adopted the UN’s formula, which defines terrorism as an act that causes victims among civilians, “anywhere.”
Saudi Arabia’s master explainer elegantly sidestepped, however, discomforting questions from an Israeli journalist, thereby raising doubts about the credibility of his brave pronouncements about his country’s efforts to surgically remove the cancer of terrorism.
“Globes'” reporter, who identified himself as an Israeli journalist, wanted to hear how Saudi Arabia defines Palestinian organizations like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other like them. Are these terrorist organizations? Does Saudi Arabia support them, and will it continue to do so? The reporter also asked whether the Saudi Arabian royal family would agree to diplomatic relations with Israel after implementation of the disengagement plan.
Without blinking, al-Jubeir answered, “Let’s wait a minute with that. Let’s finish with the subject of terrorism.” He turned to two other reporters, unexpectedly stopped the press conference, and quickly left the room….
In any case, before his tactical retreat, al-Jubeir demonstrated amazing command of the art of spin. Imams giving poisonous sermons against the West? In the US, al-Jubeir says, the Ku Klux Klan delivers poisonous messages ostensibly based on the principles of Christianity. Would anybody say that the US is a racist country, or that Christianity spreads hatred? The Ku Klux Klan hijacked Christianity, and uses it for its own ends. Extremist Muslims in Saudi Arabia have hijacked Islam, and are using it for their own ends.
“We won’t let deviants distort our religion,” al-Jubeir said, “We’re overhauling our educational system to instill the true values of our religion.”
Why weren’t these “true values” taught already?
Anyway, al-Jubeir is peddling here the sweet lulling strains of moral equivalency. So many Western lotus-eaters fall for this. We have nothing to worry about. Islam is just like Christianity, you see. It’s just a few nuts, that’s all, just a few nuts, nothing to worry about…
Except for one thing: in sidestepping the question about Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Adel al-Jubeir has placed himself on the side of those he compares to Klansmen — a small indication of just how much more mainstream the “hijacking” of Islam in his country is than the purported “hijacking” of Christianity is in America.