For all of my gentle readers in Canada and the U.S. today- BOO! It’s Hallowe’en. 

Thinking of the situation in the Middle East can be pretty scary these days. Last column explained how the Saudi royal family came into being, and left it at the discovery of oil by American geologists, which made the ruling Sa’ud family very powerful. The new kingdom of Saudi Arabia was led by Abd el Aziz, or Ibn Sa’ud as the West called him. He had miraculously fought and negotiated to bring all the warring districts (with the exceptions of Yemen and Transjordan which were then British protectorates) under his umbrella. Normally out to protect his version of religious dominance, Wahhabism, he instinctively knew the Americans were not interested in interfering in his politics; they just wanted to get the oil out of his desert sands. Oil was not important to him other than it made him very wealthy. The King knew nothing about America; what he knew was gold sovereigns and the oil boys of Aramco were happy to pay him his commission with lots of them. During World War II oil production ceased, but after it Aramco moved back in and developed a self-sustaining infrastructure for its workers. With the King’s approval they put in roads, schools, hospitals, golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools and an airfield.  

The King had had a great succession of wives, concubines and slaves mothering his many children. The three eldest were sons, Turki, Sa’ud and Faisal. When Turki died young Sa’ud became king and Faisal Crown Prince. The succession remains unofficially as passing from brother to brother or half-brother, instead of son to son, as with the European monarchies.  

Faisal ibn el-Abd el-Aziz was born May 17, 1906. His mother died soon after and he was raised by his maternal grandparents until his formal education ended at age 12. His grandfather, Sheikh Mohammed Abd el-Wahab loved nothing more than a good debate. By the time World War I ended though Faisal had memorized the Koran as required, he had inherited his grandfather’s gift of easily relating to people and of debating as well. His father recognized Faisal as a born diplomat. At age 13 in 1919 he was sent off to London as head of a delegation to congratulate Britain on winning the war and cementing Arab-British relations. From then until 1924 he was on the road constantly as a private citizen, enjoying himself thoroughly but forgetting nothing he saw or learned. He was also a warrior, distinguishing himself in consolidating new areas into the country. His great love was the desert. He excelled at hunting with rifle and falcon. Other cultures fascinated him and he adapted well to different climates. He loved the Arabic language, with a particular joy in Bedouin poetry, which was all oral. At age 19 he was made Viceroy of the Hejaz, located at the port of Jiddah, where he served as Foreign Minister. That year he was married off to settle some tribal dispute, and this short-lived marriage produced a son. He could have had four wives at one time, but reportedly always kept to just one.  

Until he was 26 peace reigned in the kingdom as the king had either paid off or beaten down all tribal warfare. The country was still called Nejd and Its Dependencies, and number of camels owned was still the bar by which wealth was judged. But that wasn’t a flashy enough name and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was born. It’s first and only Foreign Minister was Crown Prince Faisal who set out on a tour of the European capitals to announce the birth. The first to recognize the new kingdom was the Soviet Union, although it had no actual relations with Arabia. Sometime in the next three years he met the love of his life. Iffat was a distant cousin of his. She was the daughter of an Arab royal house with a Turkish mother and had grown up in Istanbul. She came to Riyadh under the King’s protection and Faisal married her. From then on he was completely monogamous, unheard of for a royal prince. He had previously been married a second time for tribal political reasons and had two more sons, Khalid and Sa’ud. He and Iffat had five sons and eight daughters. The sons were named Mohammed, Sa’ud, Abd-el-Rahman, Bandar and Turki. (By the 1960s six of his sons were in American or British universities and el-Rahman went to Sandhurst). 

Faisal had a very happy family life. His sons liked to argue with him but were not afraid of him. As had his father Faisal had a great relationship with his own sister, and consulted and deferred to his uncles. As Minister of everything he built schools, roads and hospitals all over Arabia. His foreign policy stemmed from his desire to unite all Arabs under the Islam of Mecca, with any progress built out of the Prophet’s teachings. In 1962 after Egypt invaded Yemen Faisal returned to find that his brother had spent the country into near-bankruptcy. Deciding that Sa’ud wasn’t up to the job he quietly took up the reins. Calling himself Regent he soon put things to right. On November 4, 1964 Sa’ud headed into exile in Egypt where he died in 1969, and Faisal was declared King. Slavery, which was never based on racial prejudice as it had been in the west, was abolished and the newly freed men went into the army or into the steadily growing administration.  

After training 20 years for the occasion, and with the objective of ridding Palestine of all Arabs to establish a Jewish state there, a massive Isreali army and air force, backed up with firepower provided by the U.S, France and Great Britain, invaded and thus began the Six Days War of June 5-11, 1967. For their part the Arab residents refused to go. They wanted Israel wiped off the map, though they had no organized plan to do this. Unfortunately for them the Arab armies had no warning of this invasion and were too scattered to come to the Egyptian army’s rescue. The Isreali air force annihilated the Egyptian before it could get off the ground. By the end of the six days Israel was six times its original size from gained land. From that day to this it has given up not one inch and doesn’t ever intend to. Israel neither cares about the Palestinians, who they believe should just go away; nor does it care what the U.S., who supported them, wants either. 

Faisal hated Zionists period. To his mind, and his peoples’, because they were never allowed to hear anything different, all Jews were Zionists who were out to destroy all Arabs throughout the world and start a Jewish dictatorship. Because Faisal controlled all radio and newspapers, (most people couldn’t afford a radio anyway) his people had been taught to believe from birth that no Arab had ever been defeated in battle. During these days Faisal was in Geneva. His people were simply never told about this war. They wouldn’t have believed the Israelis were smart enough to win by themselves without Americans telling them what to do anyway. His message to London, Washington and Paris was that Israel was a nuisance in Arab land that had to be eliminated. He returned to Mecca under strict security. Though he sent messages of support to Nasser in Egypt, and to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, it was all over before Saudi Arabia could get into it. Throughout everything Faisal’s faith remained undiminished. It governed all his actions. As Faisal went, so went Saudi Arabia. And Faisal hated Israel. 

Based on his love of the desert, of the Bedouin people and his desire to be always accessible to his people he held public forums twice a week in a huge, luxuriously-appointed tent, which was set up in various places. The Bedouins in their hundreds came from miles around to speak with him or present petitions. On March 25, 1975, during one of these sessions one of his nephews stood up and shot him dead at point blank range. Judged insane the young man was publicly beheaded for regicide that June. 

TIME™ Magazine’s Man of the Year for 1974, he had advocated for the Arab state all over the world. His sons all held prominent government positions and still do. In an effort to eliminate the taboo of non-Arab marriages in the royal family he married his daughter Haifa to his nephew, son of an African harem girl. He was succeeded by his half-brother Khalid. His family established the King Faisal Foundation, headed by Prince Khalid, which is a philanthropic organization contributing to Arabic arts, language and sciences. 

While King Sa’ud was busy building Saudi Arabia into penury, one of his half-nephews was growing to an uneasy manhood in Lebanon. He was the product of a broken home that affected his entire life. It had all started with a street race in Beirut in 1951. 

Riad El Solh, first Prime Minister of the newly-independent country of Lebanon had five daughters, the second named Mona. (In 1951, Sohl was assassinated while visiting Jordan).  Prince Talal Bin Abdul-aziz Al-Saud pulled up to a red light. In the next lane was a beautiful girl in another fast car. When the light changed she pulled away and the Prince caught up to her at the next light. Again and again she would race away from him. Intrigued he soon found out she was more than just a spoiled socialite. Both intelligent and good looking they were soon jet-setting all over Europe, wearing western clothing and acting all too liberally for the 1950’s Arab establishment. The Prince, former Finance Minister and current ambassador to France, was all for reform. He and some of his cousins formed an association, calling themselves the Free Princes, which wanted to speed things up by taking the King’s authoritarian rule away and giving it to an elected body. The King and the religious leaders thought not. Talal’s passport was taken away and he went into exile in Egypt for two years before he was allowed back in. 

While he was away his marriage to Mona fell apart, and his three children paid the price. His eldest son Alwaleed was born March 7, 1955, and he also had another son Khalid and a daughter Reema. When he returned Mona took her eldest son back to Beirut, while the two youngest stayed with their father. While his father got rich in real estate, Alwaleed’s separation from him, his remarriage to someone the boy couldn’t stand, and his need to readjust to differing cultures each time he visited his father, had a profound effect on the young Prince’s life. 

Rebellious, with a strong humanitarian streak and an incredible work ethic, the young prince used food to comfort himself. He hated school and ran away from all of them. He also developed an independent streak a mile wide. And maybe cursed or blessed, he forgot nothing he read or saw, just like King Faisal. He wasn’t very tall or very athletic and he was getting fat, which didn’t help his disposition much. In 1975, unable to attend the International College in Lebanon due to the civil war there he and Reema headed to California to attend Menlo College (near San Francisco). While there he made a lifelong friend in Chuck Golan. At age 19 he too was married off to a family member, two years his senior, Dalal. With his wife to remind him of his roots, and continuing to gain weight, his world was his studies. One day, when he suddenly noticed that squeezing himself in and out of his little sports car was becoming an embarrassing exercise, he went cold turkey on the junk food. On April 27, 1978 his son Khalid was born. Working feverishly he completed his degree six months ahead of time in 1979, and headed home with his little family.  

What was the great rush? Oil. It had been making his father’s side of the family very rich for forty years and Alwaleed wanted in. Since he grew up away from most of the privileges of his royal cousins he had something to prove to them: he was their equal. Real estate was his game, and he decided to deal ethically with all. Was being one of the King’s innumerable half-nephews an advantage or a curse? 

In 1982 his daughter Rem was born. The following year he set out to complete his Masters in Social Science at Syracuse University in New York. In the record time of 11 months they were back in Riyadh because he had a better plan. His real estate business, the Kingdom Establishment for Trading and Contracting was going into the banking business. 

To lose weight Alwaleed became a dedicated walker. Accompanied by his entourage of security guards, lawyers, doctor, his barber and a group of old Bedouins, he is often seen briskly trekking though the streets of Paris or New York or London, with cell phones in both ears, walkie-talkie contact with outriders and newspapers in his hands. The Prince is one connected dude, but keeps the elderly desert veterans around to keep him grounded, and to entertain him in the language he loves. In 1994 he divorced Dalal and two years later married Iman Sudairi. This lasted about a year. In 1999, the 44-year-old prince married 22-year-old Khalood, who was a year older than his eldest son. Despite being so much younger than he, she found it physically difficult to keep up with him. He refused to acknowledge that he needed sleep. His every moment was prescheduled. Plus he had decided unilaterally that there would be no more children. By 2004 the marriage was over, and his son got engaged to a non-royal named Monurah, set up by his sister. 

Although a massive range of technology keeps him constantly in touch with the business world, like his uncle Faisal he too spends weekends in the desert, and his religion is very important to him. The colour of Islam is green. He writes in green ink, has a private Boeing 767 painted green, and a yacht he bought from Donald Trump (who needed the money at the time). During the summer it is anchored off the coast of France at Cannes, which he loves. Based on the Islamic principle of Zakat he gives 25% of his yearly income to charity. He has had the Koran translated into many languages and gives millions to needy Saudis. Every weekend (Wednesday and Thursday), like King Faisal, he goes into the desert and holds court. The location is decided by his Bedouin retainers, which may be a shady oasis or someplace with a great view. He often hears up to 2,000 Bedouin petitioners in four-hour sessions. Each petition is sent off to a committee to be considered, and is usually granted. Since he took up skiing he has a home at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. There he entertains former U.S. Presidents and other dignitaries or discusses the oil business with other billionaires. Under the radar he advocates for political change in Saudi Arabia, although he pretends no political ambitions for himself. 

Popular at home and in the west, and as an advocate for democratic elections, could he be the best candidate for the top job? Alwaleed himself wants modernization in his country, but an Islamic version of it. He is also a defender of women’s rights, himself hiring a female pilot for his jet in 2004, even though Saudi law forbids women to have a driver's license. Because of his increasing generosity with charities the Royal Family was beginning to realize that poverty did exist within its borders.  

As was King Faisal, Prince Alwaleed is most comfortable in the desert with his Bedouins and his family. His son and daughter were both educated and working toward someday succeeding him. But he is only 53 now. How long will his body allow him to keep up his frantic pace? Despite his father Prince Talal’s caution that he should keep out of politics, will Alwaleed elect to speed up the timeline for his desired changes whether his royal relatives approve or not?  His influence and power with European and American governments and markets make him a bridge between the West and the Saudi religious leaders who will never allow outsiders to force changes. Like King Faisal, Alwaleed is a dedicated, indefatigable warrior. Unlike Faisal he is very impatient. We’ll have to see how long he keeps his head down, or whether he too ends up getting it shot off.

Anon until next time.