ABSORBING DOMESTIC DISSATISFACTION:PALESTINE-IN-CRISIS IS THE SOURCE OF LEGITIMACY FOR EACH AND EVERY ARAB GOVERNMENT

It took September 11 to awaken the Saudi governmental establishment to the dissatisfaction of its people. It caught on fast. It read the public message as follows: We the Saudi people are Arab, and have brethren in Jenin who are being murdered by a state that was built on stolen Arab land, one that is financed by the same imperial power which is our royal family's closest ally. We have oil and can live without that ally who, in effect, is murdering our brethren.

Abdallah took in that message and, fortunate for him, Israel was led by Ariel Sharon, an easy target to hate and mobilize against. The Arab public holds Sharon responsible for the cold-blooded murder of 600 to 1000 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, at Sabra and Shatila. He was now doing it at Jenin.

Though Saudi Arabia had never ignored the Palestinians' struggle against colonization, it took Usama bin Laden, September 11, and Ariel Sharon to inject life into Saudi Arabia's Palestine policy. The entire Arab nation, including the Saudis, was so offended by Sharon's attempt at humiliating the Palestinian Arabs. The resistance of the impoverished Palestinian fighters at Jenin, against overwhelming Israeli force, revived Arab pride. Abdallah read the new political map. (SPC predicts that Jenin will become a hallmark in the revival of Arab nationalism, now that Islamic fundamentalism has proven murderous, ineffective, is been hunted down the world over.)

Saudi Arabia sent humanitarian help, both governmental and grass-roots, to the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Britain, Ghazi Algosaibi, published a poem in Arabic called "The Martyrs." His words expressed the frustration of the Arab masses, Saudis included, at repeated humiliation by Israel. You died to honor God's word, said the poem. You committed suicide. In fact, we are the ones who committed suicide by living like the dead. The Palestinian suicide bombers and Jenin had thus revived Arab pride and nationalism--even in hitherto insulated Saudi Arabia.

The Israeli Prime Minister accused Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorism, thus giving Abdallah yet more room to regain legitimacy for the Saudi government at home. And so the Kingdom finally stood its ground: Prince Ahmad bin Abdel-Aziz, Deputy Foreign Minister, responded to the Israeli accusations that the Kingdom is supporting the suicide bombers by providing humanitarian aid to their families. He told reporters: If the Israelis accuse us of being implicated in terrorism because we provide humanitarian aid to the families of suicide bombers, then terrorists we are. And he asserted the Kingdom's continued support of the Palestinians.

To bring the point home to the Saudi populace, the Kingdom's armed forces held maneuvers in the Northwestern region of the Kingdom. SPC looked at the map and decided that these maneuvers were a message to Israel. And, in SPC's view, a message to the Saudi public. Inspired by America's advertisement culture, the military maneuvers were called "Sword of Peace."