Former Saudi TV host Rania Al-Baz was recently interviewed by Murr TV. In 2004, Al-Baz made headlines when she gave an emotional interview to a Saudi TV channel, after having been beaten by her husband within inches of her life. The channel also aired an interview with the abusive husband. To view the 2004 interviews, go to:
http://www.memritv.org/clip/
Following are excerpts from the current interview, which aired on May 8, 2011.
Rania Al-Baz: When Bin Laden first came on the scene, people considered him to be a prophet, who would kill the Americans and who would liberate the Muslims. This was how he was perceived at first, and it continues to this day.
We Arabs all embrace the notion of conspiracy – that America is conspiring against us, if my son gets the flu, it's because America did it, if I can't find a husband, it's because of America. That's the conspiracy theory. We attribute everything to America.
Therefore, when someone who kills people shows up, someone who massacres everybody – Muslims and non-Muslims alike – it is only natural that half of the people will love him, because he is against the US.
But this man who is against the US is against us as well. Bin Laden was a black stain on the life of Muslims more than he was hostile to America. I do no think that we as Muslims love blood or killing. This is not our goal.
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