Official Saudi policy warms toward Jews

[Parihaka]

I have to admit, 2 years ago I would never have believed the state press in SA would ever print this.

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0...1.htm#_ednref8

[gf0012-aust]

I'm surprised that he's not the subject of a fatwah as a result....

[PeeCoffee]

A nice read put out by MEMRI.org

Has any other media carried this article or mentioned this story ?

[Parihaka]

A nice read put out by MEMRI.org

Has any other media carried this article or mentioned this story ?

No but I don't think we need question its authenticity.

[Monash]

Perhaps a case of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?

[troung]

Saudi mouthpiece issuing veiled threat with Christians in Lebanon.

Opinion: Do Lebanon’s Christians Know What They Are Doing?
Eyad Abu Shakra
Eyad Abu Shakra
3 days ago 335

Being a Lebanese myself I can claim that I know how the Lebanese think; this is why I expect the initial response to the above question from the Christians among them to be: “Who are you to tell us what to do? Are we so unqualified or brainless that a non-Christian like you should lecture us about politics?”

Has the creative source of genius that breathes liberty (as chaotic as it is) and eats and drinks democracy (albeit selective, unfair and irresponsible) in Christian society dried up? That society which transformed Lebanon’s craggy mountains into gardens, its limited natural resources into impressive wealth, and forced emigration into success stories?

The fact is I have written this article for two reasons. The first reason is because Lebanon’s survival as a country is under great threat; and the second, is because I am all for the survival of the Christian presence that has given Lebanon the virtues of tolerance, coexistence and cultural interaction, and has enriched its political life and economic well-being for centuries.

However, what is worrying these days is that those who claim to be the sole spokesmen for Lebanon’s Christians, and loudly call for ‘justice in political representation’ and ‘respect of the spirit of fair coexistence’ are the leading cause of their misfortune and the biggest threat to the Christian community’s interests. As they falsify truths and ignore realities in order to achieve personal aims, they are intentionally turning a blind eye to the real history of the Middle East, which poses the most serious genuine threat to their community’s existence, as well as most other small regional minorities.

The Free Patriotic Movement, led by Michel Aoun, MP, and chaired by his son-in-law Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil, is an extreme version of a sick ‘political mentality’ that refuses to realise how costly its adventures are.

Such mentalities never learn; and unfortunately Lebanon’s history has had tragic ‘landmarks’ whenever such mentalities gained ascendancy within the Christian community. The outcome was always spiteful thinking, unbridled sectarianism, unleashed instinctive factionalism, contrived animosities, and mobilisation of bigoted mobs, all of which pushed Christians to pointless and thankless wars.

No logical dialogue bears fruits here and if a proof is ever needed, let’s look at the PFM’s following contradictions:
– Being part of the government and yet opposing it and conspiring to bring it down.
– Claiming its belief in and full commitment to Lebanon’s ‘sovereignty’ and ‘independence’ while providing political cover to armed occupation and security hegemony over Lebanon by a religious militia that receives its orders from abroad through a useless ‘agreement’.
– Bemoaning others’ ‘disrespect of the spirit of fair coexistence’ while misrepresenting – on every occasion – the powers of the presidency, parliamentary speakership and premiership in order to justify its attempts to undermine the constitution.
– Lecturing about democracy and democratic institutions, while taking to the streets to agitate, sabotage, incite against public order, and paralyze political life.
– Calling for ‘the recovery of (lost) rights’ and ‘ending injustice’ while almost practicing racist and factional discrimination against what it regards as enemies, whether Lebanese or non-Lebanese. Their latest victims are Syrian refugees driven out by Bashar Al-Assad.

Aoun’s FPM, whose chairman Mr Bassil found enough time as a Foreign Minister to condemn North Korea’s latest nuclear test in the Far East seems unaware of the Syrian tragedy which has thus far resulted in the death of more than half a million and displacement of around 12 million people, the destruction of dozens of cities and areas, and attracting all kinds of extremists and terrorists from all over the world to Syria. But sweeping ‘causality’ under the carpet, the FPM continues to ignore the role played by Hezbollah militia – with its Lebanese façade but certainly Iranian core – in killing, maiming, brutalising and displacing tens of thousands of Syrians; indeed, driving around a million into Lebanon. In fact, as the FPM ignores Hezbollah’s role, it directs its wrath and hatred towards its victims, as if they chose to become homeless refugees, not the militia it has aligned itself to begging for a powerless presidency under the sway of that militia’s Supreme Guide!

The FPM is now working overtime, under its chairman – the foreign minister – to ensure that generations of émigrés (mostly Christian) in faraway countries recover their Lebanese citizenship (or nationality). But he forgets how tens of thousands of Lebanese Christians are leaving Lebanon in pursuit of an honest living after Iran managed – through its tool and the FPM’s ally Hezbollah – to ruin the country’s service sectors, where Christians have always been dominant players, including tourism, education and health.

Furthermore, the FPM is overlooking the fact that by replacing them with others; and thus threatening the ‘Christian presence’ it is bemoaning and decrying. In this instant one could point out a similar mistake that happened in the past, when some Christians opened up to and cooperated with Israel against Palestinian refugees who were expelled to Lebanon by no one else but Israel. This was the case before the armed Palestinian ‘resistance’ movement, which was later penetrated and torn apart by several Arab governments through their intelligence agencies.

Refusing to learn from wrong adventures and the delusion of ability to manipulate international politics caused Lebanon’s Christians to commit existential mistakes in the past, and repeat them at present. This is explained by siding with Iran in its sectarian war across the Arab world, and the way some Christian leaders are justifying the ‘alliance of minorities’ against Arab Sunni Muslims by citing the threat ISIS, which is both an alien and dubious aberration.

As a researcher who is quite aware of ‘The Eastern Question’ during the Ottoman period, I acknowledge the fact that the current situation in the Middle East is threatening to ‘minorities, Muslims and non-Muslims. I am also aware that ‘little’ players cannot influence the game of ‘big’ players, nor change the maps they are drawing based on international interests. However, it would be wise for minorities, particularly Christians, not to take great risks with their well-being, based on wrong or misguided political calculations.

They need to keep in mind that Islamic extremism has always been a spasmodic phenomena occurring mainly during a period of weakness and the decay of the Muslim empires, while tolerance and moderation was the rule throughout times of prosperity and ascendancy.

http://english.aawsat.com/2016/09/ar...hristians-know

[Double Edge]

I have to admit, 2 years ago I would never have believed the state press in SA would ever print this.

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0...1.htm#_ednref8

This is how states feel their way around, put out feelers and see what the reaction will be. This has the halmarks of being a strategic shift not just tactical. Where's the midwife, can somebody call Carter.

Just want to know when the state visit happens. So we can stop beating around the bush and get on with it. Solve one headache whilst another brews. That headache will be getting two birds with one stone if Israel plays their cards right. Where is the Iranian objection to the Pals then. Which means an opening to iran maybe in the distant future.

The ME isn't the centre of action any more, its moved to Asia. Best if the region sorts its issues out.

[astralis]

this is probably part of Crown Prince bin Salman's reform plan, which in turn has been spurred on by the prospect of low oil prices.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...6b1_story.html

i wish him all the best, although it'll take more than one dedicated reformer to fix up the godawful sore on humanity that is Saudi Arabia.

[Double Edge]

this is probably part of Crown Prince bin Salman's reform plan, which in turn has been spurred on by the prospect of low oil prices.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...6b1_story.html

i wish him all the best, although it'll take more than one dedicated reformer to fix up the godawful sore on humanity that is Saudi Arabia.

They're paranoid about Iran. Ever since the revolution, exporting the wahabi's ideology was their only hope for survival and most importantly to withstand Iranian challenges to the royals legitimacy as custodians of Mecca. That's thirty+ years of running scared.

[Double Edge]

I have to admit, 2 years ago I would never have believed the state press in SA would ever print this.

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0...1.htm#_ednref8

Here's another. Crazy number, Heady times

Israeli PM flies through Saudi air space en route to the UAE. He will consider the possibility of selling missiles to the UAE....

That's the Abraham accords for you.

Trump got recognition of Israel from more Arab Countries (5) than his last six predecessors put together (!) Going back to and including Carter.

How did he do it ? delink Israel from Palestine

For the last 50 years the mantra went you cannot have peace in the ME unless you solve Israel-Palestine.

All the talks that were sponsored involved flying the Pals to 5 star hotels around the world for decades with nothing to show for. Longer it went on their families benefitted but not their people.

Trump did away with this advice and did things his own way.

[Albany Rifles]

How in the hell can you get lasting peace by delinking the Palestinian issue from Israel. Trump's moves have exacerbated the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

He also dropped linking of human rights to international relations.

And all the nations he made deals with were ALREADY doing back channel with Israel. Bringing it to the front has done nothing but pissed off those populations. Time will tell how much that causes overall instability for nations which are our allies.

It has resulted in a blind eye turned...what Saudi is doing in Yemen is no better than what Assad is doing in Syria.

[Dazed]

How in the hell can you get lasting peace by delinking the Palestinian issue from Israel. .

To the Palestinian yes, To most of the nations of the Middle East, Palestinians, residing in ME countries are refugees, segregated and usually disqualified by the name on their employment application. Jordan is pretty wary think Black September.

The populations in the ME are pissed off with their government. Ask any American who votes solely by the dashed letter after the candidates name. Being pissed off at your government. is a universal.

[Albany Rifles]

To the Palestinian yes, To most of the nations of the Middle East, Palestinians, residing in ME countries are refugees, segregated and usually disqualified by the name on their employment application. Jordan is pretty wary think Black September.

The populations in the ME are pissed off with their government. Ask any American who votes solely by the dashed letter after the candidates name. Being pissed off at your government. is a universal.

The governing body of the Palestinian Authority has lost the backing of their followers. Their autocratic, corrupt rule has lost it's bite (see NPR report). The Palestinian people have a right to exist in better conditions. The Arab Spring was 10 years ago...what became of so many governments then. The populations are becoming more restive again.

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/10/10631...nian-authority

As I said, the Gulf States had moved into the public eye what had already been happening in the background vis a vis Israel. But just at what cost?

And I remember Black September well...I watched in unfold live on TV. But Jordan is different in they always were pro-Western and have always looked to the US & UK. But Jordan also backs the Palestinians plan to have their own country based on pre-1967 borders.

The answer on how important these changes are won't be seen for 10-15 years. But I think we have given up too much, the entire Saudi assassination case. The Saudis knew they had the previous Administration from this photo forward.



And don't forget the makeup of the 9/11 hijackers.

[Double Edge]

How in the hell can you get lasting peace by delinking the Palestinian issue from Israel. Trump's moves have exacerbated the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Lasting peace in the ME is still a ways off. I have no doubt that Trump wanted that too, What a prize that would be. But the Pals would not play ball. So he moved to other priorities.

The Pal-Israel issue has become overshadowed by the Iran vs. Gulf & Israel issue.

It will be interesting to see how Biden squares things here.

He's continuing with the Abraham accords because it simplifies US management of the area. As Palki said, the UAE becomes the interlocutor between Iran and the US.

He wants to restart JCPOA. Which both Israel & the Gulf oppose.

Is this zero sum ? maybe not if some more tweaking is done. But the Iranians won't accept that.

He also dropped linking of human rights to international relations.

US isn't consistent with this policy if you look back over the decades. Geopolitics always trumps human rights.

US will raise the issue when convenient and ignore otherwise.

I do wonder whether the US president, any president can even do what you want ?

POTUS is beholden to a host of domestic interests and can't go against them.

This is for Congress to decide. eg. Magnitsky.

And all the nations he made deals with were ALREADY doing back channel with Israel. Bringing it to the front has done nothing but pissed off those populations. Time will tell how much that causes overall instability for nations which are our allies.

The other key player in the Abraham accords is MBS. No way could the accords have gone ahead without his support.

They are playing it down but without having something formal it would have been insufficient to continue as is.

So the Gulf Arabs have made this calculation they can handle the fallout. The Gulf states surely can. They just buy off or deport troublemakers.

It has resulted in a blind eye turned...what Saudi is doing in Yemen is no better than what Assad is doing in Syria

For the Saudis to learn the same lessons of bigger powers that intervened in other countries.

[Double Edge]

But Jordan also backs the Palestinians plan to have their own country based on pre-1967 borders.

Is that a two state solution ?

But I think we have given up too much, the entire Saudi assassination case.

You will not be seeing MBS in DC any time soon.

The Saudis knew they had the previous Administration from this photo forward.

That was a fortuitous change of affairs.

Because one could say the exact opposite with the predecessor administration. The feeling of abandonment was palable with the Saudis.

This is when they felt they had to take matters into their own hands and made an ill advised entry into Yemen.

Didn't matter what the US said the Saudis figured they had been dumped. Remember this a relationship that goes back to the 30s.

These Gulf people are very sentimental over things like this. Trump would not get an audience with them unless he reversed things.

Considering how serious MBS was to change things that would have positive consequences further afield i think that was the right call.