JERUSALEM - Four years after it was first presented, the Arab Peace Initiative is finally coming to centre stage. Rumours of behind the scenes meetings and negotiations on the Initiative between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Saudi national security advisor Prince Bandar bin Sultan have been strengthened by reports that the Saudi prince is trying to modify the Initiative so that it will be more acceptable to Israel.

by Gershon Baskin

Republican congressman Tom Tancredo has refused to apologize for his inflammatory remarks made on Tampa radio station WFLA-AM July 15, where he urged the United States to "take out [Muslim] holy sites" in response to another terrorist attack on the U.S.

When asked if he meant Mecca, Tancredo responded, "Yeah."

In Wahhabi Islam, Natana DeLong-Bas achieves and engaging and enlighting treatise on Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of a now controversial sect of Islam.

Review by Sara Powell

by George S. Hishmeh

April 22nd, 2005

The visit Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah starts next week to the United States, meeting President George Bush at his ranch, the second time he goes to Crawford, Texas, has the potential to further improve relations between the two governments which for more than 60 years have often seen eye-to-eye.

It coincides with the 60th anniversary of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt who, some historians believe, was the greatest American president of the 20th century and is remembered by Arabs for his historic visit aboard a Navy destroyer in 1945 with King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and for establishing US-Saudi ties on a more solid footing.

Although the horrific attacks in September 2001 on the US mainland by Al Qaeda terrorists, most of whom were Saudi nationals, that resulted in the death of thousands, left an indelible mark on the relations between the two peoples. Yet, the strategic ties between Washington and Riyadh appear to be virtually back to normal.

Last week, however, a new black cloud seemed to cast its ugly shadow over the upcoming talks between the two leaders in Crawford. That cloud emanates from Israel's dogged plans to expand its illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank. This Israeli stance has already earned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, sometimes known as "the bulldozer" for his expansionist policies, a first public scolding from Bush.

By Roger Harrison

IT LONG HAS BEEN axiomatic that, as a country develops, the maintenance and protection of the natural environment gives way to the development of an industrial and technological infrastructure. The shift from rural to urban living alters peoples' survival techniques and priorities alike.

In the construction of an urban environment, the rural environment frequently is seen simply as a resource. Only when full industrialization has been achieved do concerns for the protection and preservation of the environment resurface. Even then, however, they often are perceived as something to be tolerated rather than promoted. Rarely, after all, does environmental protection yield a profitable financial return to investors

With regard to Saudi Arabia, the word "environment" conjures the image of desert. Certainly the country is mainly inhospitable desert-the Rub Al Khali, or "Empty Quarter," alone, which comprises 25 percent of the country, is the size of France, and one of the most inhospitable environments on earth. A common perception is that little or nothing lives in these wild places, so to dispose of waste by "throwing it in the desert" seems like a reasonable option.

by Yasmine Fahim

Dear World,

Please take the time to read my prayer, a prayer we probably all say in our hearts as we watch our children grow.

I don't know the kind of human beings Sharon's and Bush's and Saddam's and other monsters' mothers are. I don't know if they support their sons' actions or not. I don't even know how they feel in their heart when they, if they, realize the kind of monstrosity these men allow to take place under their leadership.

But I know that many of us mothers feel the same way. And as I think about the way our world is turning to be, I look up to the sky, especially when I hear the call for prayer in my town, and I say, with a bleeding heart, "Oh Allah, you have blessed me with motherhood. I thank you for this great gift. But more than ever, I beg you to spare me the atrocity of having to watch any of my sons or nephews become monsters. I beg you on my knees, with all the strength of my faith in you and the power of my love for my sons, not to test my resolve and my moral values through watching my sons go wrong. I beg you to test me through my health and not through that. I beg you also to spare them the kind of humiliation that our brothers and sisters have endured."