A COOL SAUDI? – AT 11:21 A.M.  ET:  That almost sounds like a contradiction in terms.  And yet,  the new strongman in Saudi Arabia appears to be a genuine reformer.  This can only be good for us, and for peace between the Arabs and Israelis.  From Fox: 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a man on a mission.

Known to many simply by his initials, MBS, the 32-year-old was given expansive new powers by his father just nine months ago and arrives Tuesday in Washington, D.C. for a summit with President Trump in the midst of a major push to modernize his conservative Islamic Kingdom.

Bin Salman has already instituted a series of surprising reforms to make the Muslim country -- known for its bearded religious police enforcing strict social codes -- more open and accepting of Western norms.

Last fall, the Kingdom agreed for the first time to allow women to drive. After 35 years, movie theaters will open again (they were shut in the 1980s during a wave of ultra-conservatism). In a break with the rigid guardianship that’s defined the kingdom for decades, it was recently announced that women can launch their own businesses without consent from a husband or male relative. And a prohibition on women attending sporting events in national stadiums was lifted.

During an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” the crown prince, who has curtailed the ability of religious police to arrest women for dress code violations, said women are equal to men: “We are all human beings and there is no difference.”

Although Saudi women have been dictated by custom and the religious police to wear the abaya, a full-length black cloak that covers everything except their hands and face in public, bin Salman pushed back against that idea during the interview.

“The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Sharia: that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men,” said bin Salman. “This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or a black head cover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear.”

Bin Salman went on to explain that “extremists” forbidding the mixing of men and women are pushing ideas that “contradict the way of life during the time of the prophet and the Caliphs.”

COMMENT:  That is a remarkable breath of fresh air.  Who woulda thunk it?  And yet we must be careful.  Reform in Saudi Arabia is on MBS's shoulders.  I have no doubt he has enemies, and powerful enemies.  Will he be allowed to govern, and bring needed change?

It's widely reported that Saudi Arabia and Israel now have a good off-the-record relationship.  Saudi recently gave permission for Air India to overfly Saudi airspace on flights to Israel, something that would have been unheard of only a year ago.

Saudi Arabia is the keeper of the holiest place in Islam, Mecca.  If the country can produce reform, and make it stick, there could be a dramatic effect on the Islamic world.  But "if" is that very big word.   

March 19, 2018