We will be more trustworthy to keep agreements than many of your fellow Arab Countries,especially the Yemen.You cannot judge until you are here what a warm reception you would get.You are a Warrior in War.,I hope you wll be a Warrior also for Peace .I hope that you will accept a "State Visit" if you are offered one.I hope similar letters reach you in Saudi Arabia as our commitment to Peace is genuine.I feel that with a man like yourself, this can be achieved ,for not only the citizens of your country in particular,but for the benefit of the whole Moslem World as well ,Let us get out the flags for your visit soon.Shalom,and Salaam Aleikhum>

The sad thing is that not only his own people believe him but people in the west to will believe him too. I guess his statement is because Israel has announced its list of heritage sites which saudi is trying to twist as a religious oppression. I would like to see Saudi reaction if it didnt have the right to preserve MECCA.!!!

HELLO!?!?!?! you arrest and throw into prison couples snogging on the beach - the death penalty is given to anyone who drinks. Yeah, real liberal.

going to protest pali rights while their own people get hurt, see both minorities pulling to different direction, as I see it if the extreme right wingers r out law like Kach than shalom achshav also should be out lawd.

The Jewish state of Israel is not only the only true liberal democracy in the region, but also one of the most civilized countries in the world. Wahabi Saudi Arabia is alongside Iran the leading exporter of 7th century Jihadi extremism and terror. Saudi "liberalism" brought down the World Trade center and murdered thousands of innocent civilians. Saudi Arabia still treats women and foreign workers like animals and applies the strict dhimmi racist policy towards non-Moslems. The Saudi regime still hangs people, chops off their hands and Hitler's anti-semitic Mein Kampf is a bestseller in "liberal" Saudi Arabia. Who needs Jay Leno or Jerry Seinfeld when the Saudi entertainment industry gave us the clown Saud al-Faisal.

The brand is Islam in Saudi is Wahabi which is the most extreme, bloodthirsty and evil segment of Islam. Oh lets not forget that Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia

the Saudi's don't even let a woman drive, they beleive in an practice female genital mutilation, "honor" killings and they are progressive? They are living 1000 years in the past.

The way I see it is that Israel and Saudi Arabia are two sides of the same coin. States built on exclusionary religious identity. Judaism in the case of Israel and wahhabi Islam in the case of Saudi. So what he is saying is correct but he should say that his country is exactly the same.

While I respect the need to justify your existence in the crappy, draconian military state that is the Syrian Arab Republic, your country's continued de-facto occupation of Lebanon, its state-sponsoring of the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the oppression of minorities, women, etc., the funding and logistical support to terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, and its continued ties with the genocidal and diabolical Iranian regime, actually put your country on the other side of the coin as Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are Sunni Wahabist Jihadis, while your country represents Shiite/Alawite pseudo-secular pan-Arabist Jihadis. In the end, the great Zionist-Western-Judeo-Christian conspiracy will be the ruin of you all - maybe its time to look for an apartment in Dubai...oops, I mean...sorry...too soon?

did she teach him the phrase about the pot and the kettle. I assume she at least taught him the word hypocrite...

Is Saudi Arabia "liberal" and "progressive"? Well, let's examine the discrimination against women, homosexuals and non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia! Let's examine the punishments thieves get: cutting arms - Dark-Ages style. Murderers in Saudi Arabia are decapitated - again, Dark-Ages style. Adulterous women (NEVER MEN!) are stoned in public - AGAIN, Dark-Ages style. Women (even non-Saudi Citizens) who do not follow the strict Muslim dress code are punished and even brutally hit by the Islamic Police. Saudi women in this case are wipped or stoned in public - depending on how far they dared to go. EVERY DAY Saudi newspapers publish pictures of people who have "willingly" converted to Islam. Of course, they have been "convinced" by various official means - Dihmi-style. Nobody is allowed to build Churches, Budhist, Taoist temples and Synagogues in saudi Arabia and talking about other religions in public, is punishable by death. Visitors in Saudi Arabia are forbidden to display personal religious symbols in public. so you are not allowed to visit Saudi Arabia and wear a cross or Magen David on neck chains or rings. Visitors in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to bring with them Bibles or other religious scriptures (except for the Qur'an of course). The Bible is either confiscated or if you refuse, you are kindly put on the next plane back. Alcohol and pigs are not allowed in Saudi Arabia so if you happen NOT to be a Muslim (or if you are a Muslim Atheist) you are out of luck. There is no such a thing as "tolerance" and "enrichment" programs where Saudi Arabian kids can learn about Christianism, Judaism, Buddhism etc. as part of the curriculum. These religions are mentioned in the school material, but always in a negative way, emphasizing the fact that Islam is better than anything else. There is no "Christian" or "Jewish: studies at the University and no "Christian" or "Jewish" Faculty there where students can freely study about other people and religions WITHOUT ANY RACIST BIAS. And this is only a small example of what I've seen while I served there! In short, Saudi Arabia has NOTHING in common with "liberalism" and "progress". On the contrary. Saudi Arabia regime is just as in the Dark Ages, managed by Wahabist Islam. The only difference between the barbaric terrorists from the 11th Century onwards is that today they ride Mercedeses and Porches instead of camels and horses, and that they kill with F16s instead of knives. This is a fine example of Extremist Muslim diversion, distorsion and disinformation. It is all about misleading the enemy (all the non-Muslims) with the purpose of crushing it at the first opportunity - just as it is sanctioned in the Qur'an. So before Saudi Arabia preaches ANY Western democracy, INCLUDING Israel, about freedom and equality, they should really check their racist, barbaric and intolerant system at home. Until that happens, this Proud Redneck will give the respectable Sultan the three-finger salute and send him back to his hole in the sand.

of a people, of the Jewish people, and as such it is a liberal democratic state, not a religious one. Judaism, you may wish to note, is first and foremost the civilization of a people, of those people whose origin is from Judea, hence the name. Judaism since it is an old civilization, has included religiosity in it of course, One can't expect a civilization of nearly 4,000 years to be void of religiosity. But in order to be a Jew, one does not need to be a believer, a religious person, but rather be a member of a people. In this sense being a Jew is akin to being an Arab.

nour, you seem to know your people well, it seems. just a couple of weeks ago, i saw a youtube clip where hamas in gaza entered a wedding party celebration that was playing music and dancing in a courtyard around the bride and groom. hamas started spraying the party with bullets, killing a couple of people in that party and creating havoc and death where everyone disperesed and some were left dying on the ground. and all that, hamas says, is because music and dancing is not allowed according to islamic tennants and that the partygoers were heretics and blasphemers according to islam. nice going, nour. you really know your people well. there is no difference between gaza and saudi arabia, dear. same nuts, same religion, same fanatics and same murderers and oppressors. yes, you do know your people very very well. have you ever seen a religious person in israel shoot down wedding parties????? i doubt it. hameed aboughaze, iranian

And their women still can't drive.

Is that why there is not on christian chruch in Saudi Arabia? Is that why they abolished slavery only in the mid-1960s--after world prressure (before the whole worled whored after their oil wealth). Let Saudi Arabia apologize to the Jews for Khaybar and Qurayza--they might even want to set up a Khaybar/Qurayza memorial fund.

they can refuse to pay the gets they are mortally obliged to give.

For observer like us we see his statement as a real statement. Saudi is heading to be free society but Israel is becoming more religiously dangerous

Faisal Ahmadinejad, & Gaddafi are the new Marks Brothers of the Middle East. They come up with some of the best lines you will ever hear. king of a religiously enlightened country who are so liberal that you can be beheaded for crimes like blasphemy and homosexualtiy is criticizing Israel of becoming to much of a religiously oriented culture whilst his country is becoming more liberal then I geuss he must be rehearsing for a tour that the Middle East Brothers will soon be making

poor Arab and Islamic countries can't believe that people of other countries can have nationalistic feelings too.

The United States under President Franklin D. Roosevelt was interested in cultivating the friendship of Arab countries because of the need to protect US petroleum interests, and in particular, Roosevelt was interested in the friendship of Saudi Arabia. According to some sources, King Ibn Saud was interested in a plan for a Jewish state that was formulated by his adviser and confidante, British archeologist and diplomat Harry St. John Philby (father of cold war spy Kim Philby). This plan was put to Chaim Weizmann and other Zionist leaders. Eventually the US administration became interested. At the beginning of July 1943, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull gave Colonel Henry Hoskins (not Harry Hopkins, as stated in some accounts) a directive from Roosevelt ordering him to proceed to Saudi Arabia to ascertain whether Ibn Saud "would enter into discussions with Dr. Chaim Weizmann or other representatives selected by the Jewish Agency for the purpose of seeking a solution of basic problems affecting Palestine acceptable to both Arabs and Jews?" Hoskins met King Abdul Aziz on Aug. 14, 1943, but according to Hoskins, Saud rebuffed the Philby plan and what he claimed was Weizmann's proposal to bribe him. Later, Roosevelt met Saud in February 1945. On board the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake of the Suez canal, President Roosevelt tried to persuade Saud to acquiesce to a plan for Jewish emigration to Palestine, but Saud was adamant in his opposition. One week before his death, in a letter dated April 5, 1945, Roosevelt promised King Saud that he, as president of the United States, would take no hostile action against the Arabs and that the United States would not change its basic policy toward the Palestine issue without prior consultations with both Arabs and Jews. http://www.mideastweb.org/roosevelt.htm

That is truly funny. Definition for a liberal Saudi. One that doesn't kill one of his wives today. The fascists are lecturing us on being liberals, doesn't get more stupid than that. What is the penalty in Saudi Arabia for converting to any religion beside Islam? Isn't it death?

The inability of Arabs to accept Israel as the Jewish State in the Middle East is the impediment. For ever Arab who accepts Israel and wants peace, there are 20 Arabs who rally behind their religion to deny basic human rights to Jews and work to ethnically cleanse the region. How Israeli society acts internally makes no difference to the Arab stance, and never did.

@45, I disagree with that. Judaism is a religoun not a nationality. I had Jewish Syrian friends and they are Syrian in their food, habits, music, etc, and they identify themselves as Syrian or even Arab jews. They have in common with me far more what they have with, say, a Russian jew.

http://pajamasmedia.com/wp-content/themes/default/images/rogerkimball/Tourist_Traps-Mecca.jpg

Saudi Arabia is the most restrictive religious county in the world. The Wahab's which the President is, are the ones supporting terrorism all over the world. He is a joke.

Saudi Arabia is so religiously oppressive and for so long, that any positive step will be applauded, even if it barely scrapes the surface or makes a difference in anyone's life. Saudi Arabia is also very homogeneous. Conversely, Israel is wide open and has been for a very long time, which is amazing considering the heterogeneous population and its security concerns. Yet, when any democracy moves towards less openness, even a little and it doesn't really affect anyone's life, they are thrown under the spot light, critiqued, ridiculed, and cursed. There are two issues here - 1) Leftists always demand absolute openness and room for everyone to run roughshod on everyone else's rights, and 2) these same Leftists who demand human rights also accept the oppressive descrimination as part of their culture and therefore acceptable. At the end of the day, when you're as far in a hole of depravity as most Arab nations are....even one inch towards civility is cause for celebration.