Examining root of western hostility

As the self-ascribed Islamic State (IS) continues to murder as many people as possible and idiots with automatic weapons try to wipe out journalists who “hurt their feelings,” a trend is emerging to lay the blame for all the world’s wills on Saudi Arabia.
Since the Charlie Hebdo massacre a new wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Saudi opinion articles have been telling the western world that Saudi Arabia’s policy of “exporting” Wahhabism to their shores is the true reason for all of this murder and mayhem.
It would be nice if these guys and gals could offer some kind of evidence beyond vague WikiLeaks memos and 25-year-old Saudi textbooks, but, hey, why let the facts get in the way of an ill-informed opinion.
I do not mean to flippant, but Saudi Arabia is facing a crisis at an unprecedented level and it would be foolish to ignore the misguided anger directed at the Kingdom.
The passing of King Abdullah only magnifies these recent journalistic attacks, which have not considered the king’s track record of fostering unity among Saudis and tolerance between religions and cultures.
No matter how one feels about Saudi Arabia, it can’t be denied that real efforts spearhead by King Abdullah have been made to bridge religious differences. It’s the critics of Saudi Arabia that seem intent to widen that gap.
King Abdullah was the first king to establish organized international interfaith dialogue. He met with the pope in 2007 and a year later organized the interfaith conference in Spain that attracted more than 200 Christians, Jews and Muslims. Jewish leaders Michael Schneider, the World Jewish Congress secretary-general, and Rabbi David Rosen among others attended the conference. What head of state can make that claim?
The late king also chaired the United Nations interfaith dialogue conference. But King Abdullah’s crowning achievement was the 2011 opening of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna.
The center devotes itself to promoting reconciliation, justice and peace and to combating against the abuse of religion. As an NGO it also advocates the preservation of holy sites and promotes religious education.
Further, King Abdullah authored the Arab Peace Initiative that would give Israel full recognition among the Arab countries. As J.J. Goldberg pointed out on Saturday in the Jewish Daily Forward blog: “It’s not just that he released it (Arab Peace Initiative) publicly — to an American Jewish journalist, Thomas Friedman — but that he muscled it through to unanimous ratification by the 22-member Arab League and near-unanimous acceptance by 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (56 in favor, Iran abstaining). The initiative has been re-ratified repeatedly and its text liberalized.”
Any western leader who possessed this kind of track record would earn the Nobel Peace Prize. Certainly Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize in 2009 with fewer accomplishments. But skepticism and outright hostility dogs Saudi Arabia like no other country, including North Korea and Iran.
If we are to exercise any intellectual honesty about the country we live in, then we must unflinchingly examine the root of western hostility and how to overcome it. King Abdullah did a remarkable job in the decade he led our country. He laid the foundation for future generations of Saudis. We must honor his memory by continuing his good deeds while at the same time recognizing our own flaws and finding the path to correct them.