Terrorism and the killing of infidels in "The Kingdom" of Saudi Arabia

There is a new movie about terrorism coming out in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see how the film portrays the story of people living in The Kingdom. The title of the film is The Kingdom, and the plot is based on the Riyadh bombings that took place in 2003. The country of Saudi Arabia is steeped with culture and actually a very different place, than the rest of the world. Some who have lived there understand that you are dealing with a place in a different time.
I spent three years in Saudi Arabia going to school and getting a degree in traditional religious studies, so I have been exposed to all sorts of characters and opinions. It was always interesting living with the people and being welcomed. Then going to an American facility and having to go through check points and security. The US is not exactly welcomed by the people even though the Kingdom has allowed bases in the country. Some claim that this specific issue of having US troops in The Kingdom is the tipping point that lead to the recent terrorist dilemma. Having troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the straw that broke the camels back ! it was then that Osama Bin laden left Saudi Arabia and began forming the beginnings of a base away from his home and family.  The Bin Laden family are the maintainers and  construction company that  built the structure around the two Holly Mosques.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been attempting to change their image and increase public awareness of their culture. Mekkah and Medinah the two Holly Cities are not allowed to be entered into by non-muslims. According to many religious leaders the whole Arabian Gulf is off limits to the "infidels". This is the same call that Osama Bin Laden is making, for the US to remove their troops from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This film, by Peter Berg the Executive producer of the TV series Friday Night Lights, has an all star cast.  The head liners are Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner as special agents. Jamie Foxx has been wearing a uniform a lot lately with his recent role in Jarhead. Jeniffer Garner most well know for her role as a special covert agent in the hit TV show Alias has not done a lot of films. It will be interesting to see her play a dominant woman in the chauvinistic terrain of The Kingdom. The film also stars Jason Bateman, yes from Teen Wolf 2, as well as the always amazing Jeremy Piven. Piven who recently was in Smoking Aces, but is well know by many as the lovable Ari Gold in the HBO series Entourage, is always a pleasure to watch. Also in the film is veteran actor Chris Cooper who is always a character.

Is The Kingdom, a work of entertainment or a piece of Western propaganda? It will be interesting to see if there is real substance in the story or just the typical stereotypes that we usually see when dealing with the Middle East and Muslims in general.   

Saleem Siddiqui is a Political Commentator, Public Speaker, and Consultant. He is a trained Mediation and Conflict Resolution Specialist. Saleem Siddiqui is founder of HotConflict.com which is an effort to help network Muslim communities and organizations, with other counterparts in various fields. With an effort to increase Muslim and Islamic awareness in Communications, Public Relations (PR), Public Speaking, Political Strategy, Media, Marketing, and many other fields as they relate to the integration of Muslims in the United States of America and around the world.

Please be sure to read my other series titled:

Using Technology Internet Social Networks Trends To Understand People, the World

Alternative Careers for Muslims To Stop Terror and Win the War of Ideology in Islam

Listen to our Past Shows: Archive of HotConflict Radio Podcast

Comments

[Ms. Scorpia]

I'm interested in watching this movie as well, to many times we fall short on making movies about others culture. The ignorance that is displayed by our government is why we will never be free of terrorism and peace. We love conflict to much! Our country was built from torture and genocides of others, remember the Indians? I really enjoyed reading your site, found it on craigslist.