Saudi mothers of misery

Arab News:

Mothers of Saudis who volunteered to fight in Iraq and who were captured are living in misery. These mothers cannot live a normal life knowing that their sons are in Iraqi prisons. These mothers are hoping that the Saudi government would speed up efforts to bring their children back home, the daily Al-Riyadh reported recently.

“My son is a very normal boy,” said Umm Faisla Al-Onaizi. “He did not show indications that he would leave for Iraq. I did not notice any extremist thoughts. Like any man of his age, he liked computers and sports.”

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Saad Al-Harbi was 19 years old when he went to Iraq. He was a student at a teacher’s college and his behavior was not out of the ordinary, according to family members.

“Five years ago he told me that he will be going for three days with his friends to Makkah to perform Umrah. That was the last thing we heard from him. A few days later someone called us and told us that he had gone to Iraq. We were lost because we did not know what to do. A few months later, we received a call from the Interior Ministry to inform us that Saad had been arrested. A few months later we received first letter from him in which he expressed his remorse and forgiveness for what he did.”

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The Saudi moms seem very forgiving of their sons leaving the country to go pursue the mass murder of Iraqis. I think the story would have been more balanced if it had mothers of Iraqis murdered by the Saudis give their own reaction to losing their children. Ultimately, these mothers misery is tied to the prevalent religious bigotry of many Muslims in Saudi Arabia. That is something they need to work on.