House of Saud and Tunisia

All the work I do and I will do against the reactionary government of Saudi Arabia is dwarfed by the work that Saudi Arabia does sometimes on behalf of all those of us who campaign against it.  I mean, the hosting of  Bin `Ali confirms the status of House of Saud as the haven for all dethroned dictators around the world.  Western media are not appreciating the extent to which there are Arab popular celebrations around the world regarding Tunisia: and here comes Saudi government to offer a slap on the face of Arab popular opinion.  This is significant.  There are calls for demonstrations against Saudi embassy in all Arab countries although it is doubtful that the Arab governments will allow it.  House of Saud decided to fly against the enthusiasm of Arab public opinion.  What do you expect: ousted dictators since the days of Hamid Ad-Din, Sanusis, Idi Amin, Numayri, and many others always find home in the Kingdom of Horror.  Yesterday, when the president of Bin `Ali was flying, Saudi media were hoping and praying that it was going to Qatar, just to embarrass Aljazeera and the Qatari government.  In fact, for the record, the private station of King Fahd's brother-in-law actually announced that the plane was going to Qatar.  And when the news came and an official statement from the House of Saud was issued in which Bin `Ali was officially welcomed "with his family" to Saudi Arabia, Saudi media tried to ignore the news altogether.