Rafi Ali Khan

'The Kingdom on the Brink: An unCaNNy Presentation

I had eagerly waited to watch this program ever since the ads "The Kingdom on the Brink - a CNN Presentation" started to run on CNN during the last few days of the American 2004 elections. And like most programs that I intent to watch, I was sure I would miss this one as well. Incidentally that was not to be the case. I caught up with the program at the said time and watched it till the end. The documentary sadly to say, has a skeptical and pessimistic approach and to can it right it was a uncanny presentation, which is not what you would call responsible journalism. Do we viewers have a choice any more? The ads building the curiosity of an explosive story waiting to be told to a country which chooses freedom of electing their leader, of a kingdom where people had no such freedom. When CNN talks about the brink, we are expected to believe on a horizon, people with stubbed urges and the want to cross-over, which demanded world viewership (but sadly it was a one directional perspective). The story of the yet another oppressed people by its own government, who can only find a voice with the most powerful news media in the world and hope to be heard.

I sat there in the office apartment at downtown Chicago and watched as the story unfolded on TV. In the light of the american adventure at the voting booths (this time around) on November 2nd 2004, I could relate to how media & journalism plays a drumbeat role and yet not necessarily being heard by its audience. The king makers of the media can not really touch the emotional side of the American people which voted Bush back into term. The controversial interviews and debates between vocal opposites created pyrotechnics on the screen. In most cases concluding that it was up to the viewers to choose their perspective on issues while all through the news channels chose to voice aloud the perspective of a single party as the news channels themselves accord loyalty towards democrats or republicans.

Its no surprise that it did not go down to change the minds of the American people? Were they bound by beliefs that they have always voted republican or democrat and would continue to vote republican or democrat? They would go on to support the small big boy from Texas, cause he was the one being pushed against the wall for being, saying and doing what every American wanted after 9/11. In hindsight, Bush was a big mistake, a folly, a misadventure that America had borne for 4 years. Wasn’t it time America got a fresh start or then again was it time to give the rash boy from Texas a fresh start. Truly, it speaks volumes of the compassion of the American people to concord and stand up for its president.

I’m not an anti Bush, a pro Kerry or an independent supporter. Maybe that is what gives me a clear view to see all sides of the story. I did not get carried away by the republicans, the democrats nor develop sympathy for Nadir who seemed insignificant with no political cloud backing him up and brushed away unheard in this land of opportunity. It is not necessarily true that this is the land of opportunity or is it best said, the land of the opportunist. The republicans took every opportunity to taint the democrats and vice versa. The media did not bother the American people with knowing more about who the independents were since they didn’t deem them high profile and worthy of American viewership or their own air time and advertisement benefits and that’s also a canny truth. The day America chooses a capable independent candidate as her president, will I and the world be truly convinced that it is freedom and not money power or political divide that influences America at the voting booth.

What does this have to do with Saudi Arabia? Well just that the documentary and the presenter spoke only to the democrats of the kingdom who cant sit well with the republican rule. But truly amazing is that the documentary is in parts a factual representation of the country we only knew as the birth place of Osama bin laden and the breeding ground of Muslim extremists. What astonishes me is that this is a recycle of other perspective story-telling similar to the ones aired before on Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria or Libya. How can the American media put negative perspectives to its audience while America considers Saudi Arabia today, as in the past Iraq, an ally? Is this not dirty standard on the part of American media, to speak ill of a friend nation, and if not, do tell us the story of why America politically acknowledges the country as an ally. Political gains do definitely take precedence over social misdoings when America’s monetary interests are concerned.

Are the motive and the truth so distractively apart or is it tasked by the political scenario or judgemental reporting as need be. The documentary makes believe that the country is run by villainous characters that do not oblige to speak on camera like when (then) prince Abdullah turned you away as if he has something to hide. But when the foreign affairs minister prince Faisal who is the man friday for such tasks sits down to chat with CNN, speaking to him appeared insignificant to the most powerful media’s journalist. In all fairness, (then) prince Abdullah was born into the job and not obliged to give comments to media, when there are others given the responsibility.

In America there are over 50 million people who are oppressed and do believe that the government in power should not exist. But there are 56 million who believe it should. See how easy the balance can turn when you put both perspectives together. A single standing percentage will comprehend to the common mind, the republican mind, the democratic mind, the human mind, the free mind, that there can be opposition without oppression. Opposition is only equal to oppressed in the minds that seek to create it. So have 50 million Americans been oppressed, and another 100 million who did not vote, too scared to do so? Give us the whole picture. Almost 50% of Americans did not vote, they did not seem to care who was at the center, given a chance to make a difference, they still don’t care. Which is in fact true of people all around the world, whether you call it dictatorially ruled or under monarchies. In India about 300 million people don’t vote. Pakistan, an American ally is under military rule and US condemn it but overlooks it as a no matter. Double standards only mean hypocrisy. They simply don’t care as it does not affect them and no nation and its politics is ever free of corruption.

Knowing America and knowing an American are two different things, and a large majority of Americans are genuinly good people and the same inference should be allocated to other countries and country men. The notorious behavior of Hitler during the world war does not speak of the characters of the Germans and nor does the Neo Nazis speak of individual Germans.

The voice of the Saudi teen in the documentary who if he walks up to a girl (who for all reason may feel harassed by him) and the fact that the religious police in the country took him aside and reprimanded him be the gut of the report. Americans value culture and so too should the culture of closed societies where respect for the other person is to strictly to keep your hands to yourself and not see whether it can get hold of another hand. These societies do encourage marriage but not courtship before marriage and they live happily ever after too. Why is this so difficult to comprehend? Does not the country of America have laws against adultery? But then the law has a hole which allows consenting adults to share the same bed, even though it may not be under wedlock. Moral issues are always high on American agenda this year of voting but the moral limits set aside by different cultures are different and does not necessarily constitute violation of living a happy life.

Saudi Arabia is no exception, the laws of the land have been laid down and death punishment by hanging or slicing of the throat seems much offensive when shown without the context for which the criminals are executed. The death punishment in America is to execute criminals in the gas chambers or by lethal injection. In every country innocents do suffer but that is just outright stupid to say that all are innocent. American jails are filled with criminals from rapist to murderers and condemning them to rot in jail for their crimes. A few of the convicted may truly be innocent but the facts were against them. In a closed society its difficult to get hold of the facts, but if facts be told, the trial must have been convened within the bounts of fair trial and not tarnished by political agendas. It must be mapped against the law of the country. If the law of the country says, you get a drunk ticket 3 times and your license will be cancelled, thats what it means. If the law of the country is, death to drug trafficker then thats the law. Does not the amerian law hold that "Ignorance is not the equivalent of innocence".

Also maybe the Americans should be told that Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in the world not to have any tax on their people. So what they earn they keep and the government does not take anything from them. They are left on their own as long as they keep to the laws of the land. If that’s not fair living what is? I am not a saudi but i still stand up to it, as i will stand up to the laws of america even though i am not an american. The truth is we must respect one another in the true sense and not despise one another. The democrats of the kingdom spoke and sadly there were no republicans interviewed to set straight the sufferings, but the uncanny truth is that we are all just victims of politics, not countries, not people but politics. The politics of the media, the politics of the people who can raise their voice and the politics of the power mongers.