Protesters in front of Saudi Arabia embassy in New Delhi, Jan. 4. Photo: Reuters

When the Saudi government decided to execute revered Shi’a cleric Nimr al-Nimr, they knew the decision would further inflame the raging sectarian tensions in the region. And that was the point. 

The oppressive monarchy is losing on all fronts. Pitting Arabs and Muslims against each other and appearing as the protector of Sunni Muslims is its last claim to legitimacy.

However, given the catastrophic consequences of a large scale sectarian confrontation, this is an act of madness. Saudi Arabia is going mad and it is threatening world peace.

From funding religious fanatics in Syria and Iraq to sponsoring the coup in Egypt to bombing Yemen, the Saudi government has brought nothing but misery to the Arab masses.

This past year, Saudi Arabia started feeling the failure of its frantic, criminal policies. The nuclear deal between Iran and world powers was a massive setback for Saudi Arabia, which views Iran as the ultimate enemy. In Syria, the Russian intervention has turned the table on the rebels; and Western powers seem to be approving if not supporting the Russian campaign.

The cancerous, sectarian Wahhabi ideology that Saudi Arabia has been promoting via its media and religious scholars is also becoming a burden on the entire world, including Saudi citizens. ISIS militants are becoming a threat to global security. Two Shi’a mosques in Saudi Arabia and one in Kuwait were targeted by suicide bombers, who subscribe to the Saudi-sponsored takfiri ideology.

The 2015 Hajj stampede and crane collapse in Mecca, which claimed thousands of lives, also highlighted the failure of the Saudi government. Riyadh’s monarchs are spending billions to export death and terror, but proved incapable of overseeing Islam’s holiest sites on their home soil. The Saudi king calls himself the “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”, but the sacred sites need to be guarded from his recklessness and mismanagement.

Saudi plans are backfiring everywhere. Now, the kingdom is reverting to an old trick— divide and conquer. Murdering Sheikh al-Nimr has stirred anger among Shi’a Muslims. Riyadh quickly capitalized on that rage by cutting diplomatic ties with Iran, to make it appear like a sectarian feud.

But the Saudi authorities are not representative of Sunni Islam; neither are they concerned with the wellbeing of Sunni communities across the world. States have no sects or ideologies. Saudi royals are acting upon self-interest.

For example, Riyadh has abandoned the mostly Sunni Palestinian people by entering a de facto alliance with Israel against Iran. Moreover, Iraqi Sunnis felt marginalized and oppressed by the government of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Iraqi government was the product of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in which Saudi Arabia was a military partner by offering its land and airspace to American troops.

U.S. leaders must act now and quell the foolishness of Saudi Arabia. Fueling sectarian conflicts will destabilize the Middle East. We know from Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya that chaos breeds terror. Violent extremism is already threatening to reach our shores. Saudi policies and state-sponsored teachings are unquestionably aiding terrorism.

It is bewildering that U.S. politicians from both parties are reluctant to point the finger at Riyadh. Instead, U.S. administrations and lawmakers have continuously garnered a close alliance with Saudi Arabia.

“The United States and Saudi Arabia have an extraordinary friendship and relationship that dates back to Franklin Roosevelt,” President Obama said in May. “We are continuing to build that relationship during a very challenging time.”

Meanwhile, Islamophobic right wing activists vilify Muslim Americans without acknowledging their own government’s complacency in spreading extremism as evidenced by Washington’s close ties to Saudi Arabia. 

The Republican Party dedicated a whole presidential debate to national security and candidates’ plans to defeat ISIS, but not single politician on the stage dared to suggest rethinking the U.S. alliance with the Saudis.

The United States and Europe continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia. The United Kingdom helped Saudi Arabia— a country that beheads and crucifies more people than ISIS, where women cannot drive and migrant workers are treated like slaves— become the head of the U.N. Human Rights Council. 

By treating Saudi Arabia as an ally, the West is also alienating the Arabs and Muslims by protecting the tyrants who oppress them.

A message to the community:

In the wake of al-Nimr’s execution, emotions are running high. We urge our community not to fall into the trap of sectarianism. As mentioned earlier, Saudi Arabia does not represent Sunnis. It was Sheikh al-Nimr himself who said tyranny does not have a sect and all tyrants muse be condemned. Also, we warn against conflating Saudi citizens with the Saudi government. As Arab and Muslim Americans, we are fighting bigots who condemn all Muslims because of the actions of a few extremists. Saudis are our fellow Arabs. We should not disparage them because of the actions of the rulers they did not choose.