Published: November 25th 2009 - at 8:57 am

30th anniversary of attack on Islam’s holiest site


by Don Paskini    

Thirty years ago this month, religious extremists pulled off an audacious attack on Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, storming the Grand Mosque in Mecca at the start of the hajj, and demanding an end to the Saudi rulers’ process of modernising the country.

A media blackout and the developing Iran hostage crisis helped keep the story off the front pages, but what followed led to the Faustian pact between the Saudi royal family and religious conservatives that sparked the growth of global Wahhabism, and the religious fundamentalist movement it spawned.

With the help of an interview with Yaroslav Trofimov, foreign correspondent for the Wall Street and one of the few writers to study the siege and its impact, our friends at the new website ‘The Samosa’ have taken a look at this under-reported event and how it influenced the world we live in today, radicalising Osama bin Laden and helping to fund the Taliban.

You can read the whole story here.


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About the author
Don Paskini is deputy-editor of LC. He also blogs at donpaskini. He is on twitter as @donpaskini
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Reader comments


In 1973 ,Syria and Egypt attacked Israel and looked as if they might win. Israel’s counter attacks defeated the advancing Egyptian and Syrian Armies and could have resulted in their forces entering Cairo, but were stopped doing so by the USA.

In general, the Jews are perceived in Muslim tradition as weak and deceitful, not as warriors. Many Muslim’s felt deeply humiliated Israel’s victory in 1973. The success of the Entebbe Raid was also seen as an example of the military power of the Jewish Nation of Israel. The Muslim Bretheren used Egypt and Syria ‘s defeat as as reason to turn away from the secular, Soviet influenced Pan Arabism of Nasserism towards their view of Islam. The MB said the secularism of Nasser and all the similar leaders of Muslim Nations, had resulted in muslims being punished by Allah for their apostasy.

Those people taking over the Mosque were highly influenced by the Muslim Bretheren.


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