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http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/12/prince_alwaleed.html
December 14, 2005
Prince Alwaleed's Georgetown Donation: A Sign of the Expanding Saudi PR 
Machine
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal recently garnered attention by donating 
$20 million each to Georgetown and Harvard to promote the study of Islam 
and the Muslim world.  Georgetown officials told the Washington Post 
that the gift is the second largest that the school ever received.  The 
money will be used to expand the activities of Georgetown's Center for 
Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU), which will be renamed the Prince 
Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
Although Prince Alwaleed was previously best known for having a $10 
million donation that he made in the wake of 9/11 refused by Mayor 
Giuliani after Alwaleed issued a statement linking 9/11 to U.S. support 
for Israel, Prince Alwaleed has more carefully tended to his public 
image since then.
This donation occurs in the context of what is clearly an effort to 
expand the Saudi PR machine in the United States.  Prince Alwaleed 
stands at the center of much of this effort.  I previously wrote about 
how some observers were concerned that Fox's coverage of the war on 
terror could change after Prince Alwaleed became the fourth largest 
voting shareholder in the News Corporation, which owns the Fox News 
Network.  Middle East Online reports that Prince Alwaleed has already 
boasted about changing Fox's coverage in at least one instance:
     He said that during last month's street protests in France, the US 
television network Fox -- owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 
which Al-Walid himself has shares -- ran a banner saying: "Muslim riots."
     "I picked up the phone and called Murdoch . . . (and told him) 
these are not Muslim riots, these are riots out of poverty," he said.
     "Within 30 minutes, the title was changed from Muslim riots to 
civil riots."
There are other signs of the Saudi PR machine gearing up.  Qorvis 
Communications has expanded and made some significant personnel 
additions in recent months.  There are slick ads for Saudi Arabia in 
such glossy magazines as The New Republic.  Interestingly, the December 
12 cover story by Spencer Ackerman explaining why Islam in the United 
States is moderate is sandwiched around a 6-page special advertising 
section paid for by the Saudi Arabian embassy.  And the donation to 
Georgetown will serve more of a PR function than most people probably 
realize at first glance.  John Esposito, CMCU's director, has for years 
been one of the U.S.'s foremost apologists for radical Islam, and he's 
already stated that a large part of Prince Alwaleed's donation "will be 
used to beef up the think tank part of what the center does." 
Esposito's explanation of the "think tank part" of the Center shows that 
he has a heavy PR component in mind:
     Up to now, he said, the center has not had enough resources "to 
respond to the tremendous demand that is out there, from the government, 
church and religious groups, the media and corporations to address and 
answer issues like, 'What is the actual relationship between the West 
and the Muslim world?  Is Islam compatible with modernization?'  Now we 
can run workshops and conferences [on these subjects] both here and 
overseas."
The Freedom House released a report entitled "Saudi Publications on Hate 
Ideology Fill American Mosques" (which I blogged about here) earlier 
this year.  This study has garnered enormous attention.  The true test 
of the beefed-up Saudi PR machine will come the next time someone 
releases a report exposing the effect that the Saudis have had on 
Islam's development in the United States and throughout the world.
Posted by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross at 11:45 AM


http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/12/prince_alwaleed.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1671173,00.html
Allawi molto male dietro filoiraniani sciiti e integralisti sunniti