The Europeans committed a crime against humanity and Jews. They then could have given land in australia or somewhere else but no they compounded their evil deeds against Jews by committing more evil to the Palestinians except against the Palestinians the abused became the abuser and as the OP asserts Saudis were complicit with the Zionists
Saudi Arabia, Zionism, Peace and the Palestinian Cause
- Thread starter lem34
- Start date
The Europeans committed a crime against humanity and Jews. They then could have given land in australia or somewhere else but no they compounded their evil deeds against Jews by committing more evil to the Palestinians except against the Palestinians the abused became the abuser and as the OP asserts Saudis were complicit with the Zionists
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Jews lived in this land 2000 years before Muslims.
Its our ancient homeland and it was not used by other country.
You want war hense u are a jihadist, no need to whine. If you really cared about Palestinians u would call them to make peace with Israel. But you want them to die for your jihadist ideas while urself sit in comfort in UK.
Jews were living happily with Christians and Muslims in Palestine before an artificial entity known as Israel was created.
---------- Post added at 10:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 PM ----------
This is a thread where the OP is written by a Palestinian exposing the Saudi not so Royal family's support and links with Zionism, the fact that you attempt to derail this thread and take us off topic to forget the message speaks volumes that you don't want your friends Saudis exposed
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No. Jews and Christians were third class citizens in very very poor Ottoman province. Today Muslims, Jews and Christians live very well in Israel.
Simply for guys like you everyone who does not scream "death to Israel" is Zionist friend/agent/kisser/hidden Jew.
If you really care about Palestinians u should call them for peace, instead inciting them.
An excellent article exposing the Israeli American and Saudi fat family working together
US, Israeli, Saudi involvement in Syrian uprising .
Dr. Haytham Mannaa, spokesman of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, participated in a conversation in which a Syrian-American businessman offered to arm Syrian opposition groups in order to accomplish regime change. He indicates that most of the surreptitious arms dealers are linked to the American government and Lebanese agents connected to Saad Hariri.
By Tahir Mustafa
It was only a matter of time before protests erupted in Syria like elsewhere in the Muslim East. In fact, informed observers were surprised that Syrians had not joined the movement for change sooner when long-entrenched Western-backed dictators like Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Ali Abdullah Saleh were already ousted or under intense pressure to go. The Arabic word, irhal (go or more accurately translated as get lost) has become the standard slogan in the region.
Thus last month’s eruption of protests in Syria starting in Daraa and duly projected and amplified by al-Jazeera has focused attention on the situation in the region. But al-Jazeera refuses to reveal the true identity of those behind the uprising. In fact, the Doha-based network is part of the US-Zionist-Saudi conspiracy to undermine the Syrian regime so that a major challenge to American-Israeli hegemony can be removed and the Saudis can breathe a little easier under the protective umbrella of their Western masters.
The protests in Syria are not entirely indigenous even if people have legitimate grievances. A much larger game is underway that has little to do with the rights of the people. The US, Israel and Saudi Arabia as well as exiled Syrian politicians are all involved in undermining the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for their own nefarious ends. This is not to argue that Assad is a democrat or that he does not rule with an iron fist. Syria’s importance lies elsewhere: unlike regimes in the rest of the Muslim East, it is not an American-Zionist puppet. In fact, it is part of the resistance alliance that includes Islamic Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas against US-Zionist aggression. Add to that the US-Zionist agents in Lebanon whose machinations to undermine Hizbullah have been frustrated by the steadfastness of the resistance movement, and the picture begins to get clearer.
Unlike Libya, Syria would be an even bigger prize for the West and the Zionists. Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya is a two-bit player compared to Bashar al-Assad. Syria is a major plank in the resistance alliance against US-Israel. As long as it remains part of the Iran-Hizbullah-Hamas front, Israel feels insecure because its ill-gotten gains can be challenged and undermined. The uprising in Syria is part of the ongoing US-Zionist conflict that was first checkmated by Hizbullah’s valiant resistance in the Zionist-imposed war of July–August 2006. Instead of crushing Hizbullah, the Zionist invaders suffered a humiliating defeat. The psychological trauma was even greater than their military defeat. The Zionists then tried to eradicate this shame by assaulting and perpetrating a bloodbath in defenseless Gaza in December 2008–January 2009. There too, despite inflicting massive casualties and destroying much of Gaza’s dilapidated infrastructure, Hamas stood its ground and the Zionists failed in their mission to obliterate the resistance movement.
Behind these maneuvers lies the US-Israeli plan to isolate and ultimately destroy the Islamic government in Iran. In this, they also have the backing of the Saudis because they feel vulnerable when Islamic Iran supports Hizbullah’s resistance to Israel and Hamas’ standing firm in Gaza — while the Saudis do not lift a finger to help them. Islamic Iran also exposes the Saudis’ claim to being leaders of the Muslim world. Instead, the Saudis stand exposed as agents of the West and the Zionists, hardly credentials that can earn them laurels among masses in the Muslim world.
The uprising in Syria is part of this chain of events. Recent revelations confirm the deep conspiracy being hatched by the US-Zionist-Saudi nexus to undermine and overthrow the government in Syria. A number of exiled Syrians are involved in this including Abdul Halim Khaddam, the former vice president of Syria, Abdul Razzaq Eid, chief of the Damascus Declaration National Council Abroad, former Syrian opposition MP Mamoun Homsi, Farid al-Ghaderi, leader of the self-styled Reform Party, Saad Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, his Saudi paymaster, Bandar bin Sultan and even an Emirati crown prince.
Al-Ghaderi, like Bandar, has the dubious distinction of visiting in 2007 the Israeli Knesset while the Saudi did it secretly in the summer of 2009 to urge then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to attack and eliminate Hizbullah. He said Saudi Arabia would pay for all the costs of Israeli aggression. Given their experience of three years ago, the Zionists refused to oblige.
Websites and social communications networks like Facebook and Twitter were not the only means used to coordinate demonstrations in Syria, especially Darra. Scores of UAE-supplied Thuraya mobile satellite handsets to specific activists in Syrian districts were also utilized. An Emirati crown prince, owner of Thuraya mobile handsets facilitated dispatch of these phones, which enabled users to communicate directly via satellite without using land lines or mobile Syrian networks, in addition to using Jordanian and UAE SIM cards. Weapons are being smuggled to Syrian rebels from Jordan using pack animals. These are paid for by Bandar who had tried, unsuccessfully, to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to Syria for disbursement among anti-government groups. Dressed in disguise and travelling on a fake passport, Bandar thought he could slip through Syrian immigration and customs. He was caught, interrogated and detained for several months. At that time, Bandar claimed his mission was to organize a “coup against King Abdullah” who had become senile. This led to his return and disappearance in the kingdom for nearly 18 months. He re-appeared only last October. Given recent revelations, it would appear Bandar’s plan was to finance anti-government groups in Syria. He has now organized these through Jordan.
Early last month, Nasser Qandil, a former Lebanese MP, revealed that Syrian opposition figures had met in Lebanon to plan and coordinate “sabotage” operations in Syria. Qandil said “On January 18, Hariri’s consultant Hani Hammoud went to Paris where he met with US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffery Feltman, and former Lebanese minister Marwan Hmedeh who is part of the March 14 alliance. It is reported that during this meeting, Fares Khashan, who works for Hariri’s Future newspaper, was tasked with coordinating with the Syrian opposition groups abroad. It was after this meeting that the Syrian conspirators flew to Beirut in private jets to avoid detection. Immigration and customs procedures were also bypassed, courtesy of Hariri.
Dr. Haytham Mannaa, spokesman for the Arab Commission for Human Rights confirmed in discussions with al-Manar television website that he was invited to a meeting in a Paris cafe with a Syrian businessman who had dual Syrian-French nationality. He was accompanied by three other Syrians and a reporter for al-Jazeera. The talks focused on Syria and “…the needs of the youth in Daraa, Syria. The Syrian businessman with the Western nationality offered to arm Syrian opposition groups both qualitatively and quantitatively.” Dr. Mannaa has reported that he and the other Syrians were stunned at what they had heard.
The offer was categorically rejected, according to Dr. Mannaa. He then informed the movement leaders in Daraa, his hometown, that under no circumstances should they accept offers of arms regardless of their origin, and no weapons should be used. This would be a disaster for the opposition, fully aware that any regime confronted with this kind of challenge would come down hard and easily crush the uprising. The reply he received was that no weapons would enter the district of Daraa. It is, however, clear that while those leading the movement in Daraa may not have accepted arms from Syrian agents working for the West, there have been several instances of unidentified men driving in fast moving cars shooting at demonstrators. Some policemen have also been shot and wounded. Who are these people? The Syrian government insists these are foreign agents. Given the discussions in the Parisian cafe, could this not be a possibility?
Dr. Mannaa has also revealed that the Paris cafe arms offer was not the first its kind. “There were two other armament offers, one of them came from a Lebanese party that is currently at odds with Syria,” Dr. Mannaa was quoted as saying. This was an indirect reference to Hariri’s Future Movement that is backed by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Once again, there is proof of the trio’s dirty tricks.
It is not difficult to identify the parties anxious to resort to armed struggle in Syria and who their foreign sponsors are. These are groups financed by the Americans, Lebanese groups and parties that lost out in the recent power-struggle, and rich Syrian exiles sidelined in the political process. It is the same groups that have spread rumors about Hizbullah members being in Daraa, a charge categorically rejected by the Islamic resistance group.
Syrian opposition groups are hoping the US and its NATO allies would come to their aid the same way they have done in Libya. What they forget is that Syria and Libya are very different situations and if the West is feeling such great difficulties in Libya despite its being a soft target, Syria would be a lot worse.
US, Israeli, Saudi involvement in Syrian uprising .
Dr. Haytham Mannaa, spokesman of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, participated in a conversation in which a Syrian-American businessman offered to arm Syrian opposition groups in order to accomplish regime change. He indicates that most of the surreptitious arms dealers are linked to the American government and Lebanese agents connected to Saad Hariri.
By Tahir Mustafa
It was only a matter of time before protests erupted in Syria like elsewhere in the Muslim East. In fact, informed observers were surprised that Syrians had not joined the movement for change sooner when long-entrenched Western-backed dictators like Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Ali Abdullah Saleh were already ousted or under intense pressure to go. The Arabic word, irhal (go or more accurately translated as get lost) has become the standard slogan in the region.
Thus last month’s eruption of protests in Syria starting in Daraa and duly projected and amplified by al-Jazeera has focused attention on the situation in the region. But al-Jazeera refuses to reveal the true identity of those behind the uprising. In fact, the Doha-based network is part of the US-Zionist-Saudi conspiracy to undermine the Syrian regime so that a major challenge to American-Israeli hegemony can be removed and the Saudis can breathe a little easier under the protective umbrella of their Western masters.
The protests in Syria are not entirely indigenous even if people have legitimate grievances. A much larger game is underway that has little to do with the rights of the people. The US, Israel and Saudi Arabia as well as exiled Syrian politicians are all involved in undermining the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for their own nefarious ends. This is not to argue that Assad is a democrat or that he does not rule with an iron fist. Syria’s importance lies elsewhere: unlike regimes in the rest of the Muslim East, it is not an American-Zionist puppet. In fact, it is part of the resistance alliance that includes Islamic Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas against US-Zionist aggression. Add to that the US-Zionist agents in Lebanon whose machinations to undermine Hizbullah have been frustrated by the steadfastness of the resistance movement, and the picture begins to get clearer.
Unlike Libya, Syria would be an even bigger prize for the West and the Zionists. Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya is a two-bit player compared to Bashar al-Assad. Syria is a major plank in the resistance alliance against US-Israel. As long as it remains part of the Iran-Hizbullah-Hamas front, Israel feels insecure because its ill-gotten gains can be challenged and undermined. The uprising in Syria is part of the ongoing US-Zionist conflict that was first checkmated by Hizbullah’s valiant resistance in the Zionist-imposed war of July–August 2006. Instead of crushing Hizbullah, the Zionist invaders suffered a humiliating defeat. The psychological trauma was even greater than their military defeat. The Zionists then tried to eradicate this shame by assaulting and perpetrating a bloodbath in defenseless Gaza in December 2008–January 2009. There too, despite inflicting massive casualties and destroying much of Gaza’s dilapidated infrastructure, Hamas stood its ground and the Zionists failed in their mission to obliterate the resistance movement.
Behind these maneuvers lies the US-Israeli plan to isolate and ultimately destroy the Islamic government in Iran. In this, they also have the backing of the Saudis because they feel vulnerable when Islamic Iran supports Hizbullah’s resistance to Israel and Hamas’ standing firm in Gaza — while the Saudis do not lift a finger to help them. Islamic Iran also exposes the Saudis’ claim to being leaders of the Muslim world. Instead, the Saudis stand exposed as agents of the West and the Zionists, hardly credentials that can earn them laurels among masses in the Muslim world.
The uprising in Syria is part of this chain of events. Recent revelations confirm the deep conspiracy being hatched by the US-Zionist-Saudi nexus to undermine and overthrow the government in Syria. A number of exiled Syrians are involved in this including Abdul Halim Khaddam, the former vice president of Syria, Abdul Razzaq Eid, chief of the Damascus Declaration National Council Abroad, former Syrian opposition MP Mamoun Homsi, Farid al-Ghaderi, leader of the self-styled Reform Party, Saad Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, his Saudi paymaster, Bandar bin Sultan and even an Emirati crown prince.
Al-Ghaderi, like Bandar, has the dubious distinction of visiting in 2007 the Israeli Knesset while the Saudi did it secretly in the summer of 2009 to urge then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to attack and eliminate Hizbullah. He said Saudi Arabia would pay for all the costs of Israeli aggression. Given their experience of three years ago, the Zionists refused to oblige.
Websites and social communications networks like Facebook and Twitter were not the only means used to coordinate demonstrations in Syria, especially Darra. Scores of UAE-supplied Thuraya mobile satellite handsets to specific activists in Syrian districts were also utilized. An Emirati crown prince, owner of Thuraya mobile handsets facilitated dispatch of these phones, which enabled users to communicate directly via satellite without using land lines or mobile Syrian networks, in addition to using Jordanian and UAE SIM cards. Weapons are being smuggled to Syrian rebels from Jordan using pack animals. These are paid for by Bandar who had tried, unsuccessfully, to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to Syria for disbursement among anti-government groups. Dressed in disguise and travelling on a fake passport, Bandar thought he could slip through Syrian immigration and customs. He was caught, interrogated and detained for several months. At that time, Bandar claimed his mission was to organize a “coup against King Abdullah” who had become senile. This led to his return and disappearance in the kingdom for nearly 18 months. He re-appeared only last October. Given recent revelations, it would appear Bandar’s plan was to finance anti-government groups in Syria. He has now organized these through Jordan.
Early last month, Nasser Qandil, a former Lebanese MP, revealed that Syrian opposition figures had met in Lebanon to plan and coordinate “sabotage” operations in Syria. Qandil said “On January 18, Hariri’s consultant Hani Hammoud went to Paris where he met with US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffery Feltman, and former Lebanese minister Marwan Hmedeh who is part of the March 14 alliance. It is reported that during this meeting, Fares Khashan, who works for Hariri’s Future newspaper, was tasked with coordinating with the Syrian opposition groups abroad. It was after this meeting that the Syrian conspirators flew to Beirut in private jets to avoid detection. Immigration and customs procedures were also bypassed, courtesy of Hariri.
Dr. Haytham Mannaa, spokesman for the Arab Commission for Human Rights confirmed in discussions with al-Manar television website that he was invited to a meeting in a Paris cafe with a Syrian businessman who had dual Syrian-French nationality. He was accompanied by three other Syrians and a reporter for al-Jazeera. The talks focused on Syria and “…the needs of the youth in Daraa, Syria. The Syrian businessman with the Western nationality offered to arm Syrian opposition groups both qualitatively and quantitatively.” Dr. Mannaa has reported that he and the other Syrians were stunned at what they had heard.
The offer was categorically rejected, according to Dr. Mannaa. He then informed the movement leaders in Daraa, his hometown, that under no circumstances should they accept offers of arms regardless of their origin, and no weapons should be used. This would be a disaster for the opposition, fully aware that any regime confronted with this kind of challenge would come down hard and easily crush the uprising. The reply he received was that no weapons would enter the district of Daraa. It is, however, clear that while those leading the movement in Daraa may not have accepted arms from Syrian agents working for the West, there have been several instances of unidentified men driving in fast moving cars shooting at demonstrators. Some policemen have also been shot and wounded. Who are these people? The Syrian government insists these are foreign agents. Given the discussions in the Parisian cafe, could this not be a possibility?
Dr. Mannaa has also revealed that the Paris cafe arms offer was not the first its kind. “There were two other armament offers, one of them came from a Lebanese party that is currently at odds with Syria,” Dr. Mannaa was quoted as saying. This was an indirect reference to Hariri’s Future Movement that is backed by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Once again, there is proof of the trio’s dirty tricks.
It is not difficult to identify the parties anxious to resort to armed struggle in Syria and who their foreign sponsors are. These are groups financed by the Americans, Lebanese groups and parties that lost out in the recent power-struggle, and rich Syrian exiles sidelined in the political process. It is the same groups that have spread rumors about Hizbullah members being in Daraa, a charge categorically rejected by the Islamic resistance group.
Syrian opposition groups are hoping the US and its NATO allies would come to their aid the same way they have done in Libya. What they forget is that Syria and Libya are very different situations and if the West is feeling such great difficulties in Libya despite its being a soft target, Syria would be a lot worse.
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Fear and loathing in the House of Saud
By Pepe Escobar
To follow Pepe's articles on the Great Arab Revolt, please click here.
Early last week, US President Barack Obama sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah, delivered in person in Riyadh by US National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon. This happened less than a week after Pentagon head Robert Gates spent a full 90 minutes face to face with the king.
These two moves represented the final seal of approval of a deal struck between Washington and Riyadh even before the voting of UN Security Council resolution 1973 (see Exposed: the Saudi-US Libya deal, Apr 1, Asia Times Online). Essentially, the Obama administration will not say a word about how the House of Saud
conducts its ruthless repression of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain and across the Persian Gulf. No ''humanitarian'' operations. No R2P (''responsibility to protect''). No no-fly or no-drive zones.
Progressives of the world take note: the US-Saudi counter-revolution against the Great 2011 Arab Revolt is now official.
Those 'pretty influential guys'
The wealthy, truculent clan posing as a perpetual absolute monarchy that goes by the name House of Saud wins on all fronts.
Last month's ''Day of Rage'' inside the kingdom was ruthlessly preempted - with the (literal) threat that protesters would have their fingers cut off.
With the price of crude reaching stratospheric levels, and with Saudi refusal to increase production, it's a no brainer for Riyadh to dispense with a few billion dollars in pocket change to appease its subjects with some extra 60,000 ''security'' jobs and 500,000 low-rent apartments.
King Abdullah also recently ''received a verbal message'' from the emir of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, on the thriving ''bilateral issues'' - as in Saudi Arabia ruthlessly repressing the pro-democracy protests in Bahrain by invading their neighbor and deploying their ''security'' advisers.
The House of Saud's violent reaction to the peaceful protests in Bahrain may have been a message to Washington - as in ''we are in charge of the Persian Gulf''. But most of all it was dictated by an absolute fear of Bahrain becoming a constitutional monarchy that would reduce the king to a figurehead; a nefarious example to the Saudi neighbors.
Yet as much as real tensions between Iranian Shi'ites and Arab Shi'ites may persist, the Saudi reaction will end up uniting all Shi'ites, and turning Iran into Bahrain's only savior.
As for Washington's reaction, it was despicable to start with. When Sunnis in Iraq oppressed the Shi'ite majority, the result was Iraq shocked and awed to destruction by the neo-cons. When the same happens in Bahrain, liberal hawks have the Sunnis get away with it. (As much as there's been plenty of spinning to the contrary, the Pentagon's Gates knew Saudi Arabia would invade Bahrain on the spot, on a Saturday (the invasion started on Sunday night).
Not that Washington cares that much any way or another. Last week, in a Chicago restaurant, President Obama qualified the emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa, as a ''pretty influential guy''. He praised him as ''a big booster, big promoter of democracy all throughout the Middle East'.' But Obama didn't notice there was an open mike, and CBS News was listening; so he added, ''he himself is not reforming significantly. There's no big move towards democracy in Qatar. But you know part of the reason is that the per capita income of Qatar is $145,000 a year. That will dampen a lot of conflict.''
Translation; who cares whether these ''pretty influential guys'' in the Gulf reform or not as long as they remain our allies?
The House of Saud (as well as the US and Israel) backed Mubarak in Egypt until the 11th hour. They all knew if that ''pillar of stability'' fell, the other (Saudi) would also be in danger. For all its bluster, the House of Saud's actions are essentially moved by fear. In recent years it has lost power in Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and now Egypt. Its ''foreign policy'' consists in supporting ultra-reactionary regimes. The people? Let them eat kebab - if that. Their last bastion of power is the Gulf - crammed with political midgets such as Bahrain or Kuwait. With a little thrust, The House of Saud could reduce all these to the status of mere provinces.
Not yet. As the House of Saud developed its counter-revolutionary strategy, the Saudi-Israeli alliance morphed into a Saudi-Qatari alliance. Qatar could be destabilized via the tribal factor - the Saudis had attempted it before - but now they needed a close ally. And that, unfortunately, explains Qatar-based al-Jazeera's meek coverage of the repression in Bahrain.
It took only a few days for the House of Saud to force the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to toe the new hard line: we are the top dog; there's no room for democracy in the Gulf; sectarianism is the way to go; our relationship with Israel is now strategic; and Iran is to blame for everything. The ''Persian conspiracy'' is the key theme being deployed by the hefty Saudi propaganda machine especially in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Israeli hawks, not surprisingly, love it. There's plenty of flower power - or downright lunatic - rhetoric in the Israeli press about a ''strategic alliance'' between Tel Aviv and Riyadh, ''similar to the one between the Soviet Union and the US against the Nazis''.
And guess what - Obama is to blame for it. Without this strategic alliance, according to the Israeli narrative, the whole Gulf will fall ''victim of a nuclear Iran'', and the Obama administration won't lift a finger to save anybody. Obama is vilified as someone who ''only confronts and abandons allies'', while emboldening ''evil'' Syria and Iran. It's a narrative straight out of the Loony Tunes.
Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs
---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:55 PM ----------
Saudi Arabia has always been cautious not to have any direct communication with Israel, but in 2002, King Abdullah launched an initiative that would normalize Riyadh's ties with Tel Aviv.
Freshly- released WikiLeaks documents have uncovered a deep alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia, reportedly affecting Riyadh's ties with regional states.
One of the cables dispatched from Tel Aviv on March 2009, refers to a meeting between US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Israeli Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director General for Middle East Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm reported Tuesday.
The meeting, which involved other high-ranking Israeli officials, evolved around Tel Aviv's relations with Persian Gulf nations and the situation in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iran.
At one point Hadas admitted to having secret communications with Saudi Arabia through various channels.
The Israeli official then added that relations between Qatar and Israel were even affected Doha's belief that Tel Aviv maintains secret and powerful ties with Riyadh.
“Of course, indirect forms of communication through third parties happen all the time in diplomacy… so it can happen through Egypt, Jordan or the US,” the head of the London-based Gulf Strategic Studies Center, Omar Hassan, said.
Saudi Arabia has always been cautious not to have any direct and open communication or ties with Israel due to its position in the Muslim world.
However, in 2002, Saudi Arabia extended an initiative that it would normalize relations with Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders and an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The initiative was reaffirmed in 2007, but no headway has been made in that regard.
WikeLeaks cables also underline that despite the recent regional developments, Israel continues to enjoy steady ties with Arab nations.
Meanwhile, the secret documents have unraveled Israel's deep fear of Iran's growing influence in the region, by pointing at Tel Aviv's direct support for anti-Tehran positions held by the United Arabs Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt (before the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak).
By Pepe Escobar
To follow Pepe's articles on the Great Arab Revolt, please click here.
Early last week, US President Barack Obama sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah, delivered in person in Riyadh by US National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon. This happened less than a week after Pentagon head Robert Gates spent a full 90 minutes face to face with the king.
These two moves represented the final seal of approval of a deal struck between Washington and Riyadh even before the voting of UN Security Council resolution 1973 (see Exposed: the Saudi-US Libya deal, Apr 1, Asia Times Online). Essentially, the Obama administration will not say a word about how the House of Saud
conducts its ruthless repression of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain and across the Persian Gulf. No ''humanitarian'' operations. No R2P (''responsibility to protect''). No no-fly or no-drive zones.
Progressives of the world take note: the US-Saudi counter-revolution against the Great 2011 Arab Revolt is now official.
Those 'pretty influential guys'
The wealthy, truculent clan posing as a perpetual absolute monarchy that goes by the name House of Saud wins on all fronts.
Last month's ''Day of Rage'' inside the kingdom was ruthlessly preempted - with the (literal) threat that protesters would have their fingers cut off.
With the price of crude reaching stratospheric levels, and with Saudi refusal to increase production, it's a no brainer for Riyadh to dispense with a few billion dollars in pocket change to appease its subjects with some extra 60,000 ''security'' jobs and 500,000 low-rent apartments.
King Abdullah also recently ''received a verbal message'' from the emir of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, on the thriving ''bilateral issues'' - as in Saudi Arabia ruthlessly repressing the pro-democracy protests in Bahrain by invading their neighbor and deploying their ''security'' advisers.
The House of Saud's violent reaction to the peaceful protests in Bahrain may have been a message to Washington - as in ''we are in charge of the Persian Gulf''. But most of all it was dictated by an absolute fear of Bahrain becoming a constitutional monarchy that would reduce the king to a figurehead; a nefarious example to the Saudi neighbors.
Yet as much as real tensions between Iranian Shi'ites and Arab Shi'ites may persist, the Saudi reaction will end up uniting all Shi'ites, and turning Iran into Bahrain's only savior.
As for Washington's reaction, it was despicable to start with. When Sunnis in Iraq oppressed the Shi'ite majority, the result was Iraq shocked and awed to destruction by the neo-cons. When the same happens in Bahrain, liberal hawks have the Sunnis get away with it. (As much as there's been plenty of spinning to the contrary, the Pentagon's Gates knew Saudi Arabia would invade Bahrain on the spot, on a Saturday (the invasion started on Sunday night).
Not that Washington cares that much any way or another. Last week, in a Chicago restaurant, President Obama qualified the emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa, as a ''pretty influential guy''. He praised him as ''a big booster, big promoter of democracy all throughout the Middle East'.' But Obama didn't notice there was an open mike, and CBS News was listening; so he added, ''he himself is not reforming significantly. There's no big move towards democracy in Qatar. But you know part of the reason is that the per capita income of Qatar is $145,000 a year. That will dampen a lot of conflict.''
Translation; who cares whether these ''pretty influential guys'' in the Gulf reform or not as long as they remain our allies?
The House of Saud (as well as the US and Israel) backed Mubarak in Egypt until the 11th hour. They all knew if that ''pillar of stability'' fell, the other (Saudi) would also be in danger. For all its bluster, the House of Saud's actions are essentially moved by fear. In recent years it has lost power in Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and now Egypt. Its ''foreign policy'' consists in supporting ultra-reactionary regimes. The people? Let them eat kebab - if that. Their last bastion of power is the Gulf - crammed with political midgets such as Bahrain or Kuwait. With a little thrust, The House of Saud could reduce all these to the status of mere provinces.
Not yet. As the House of Saud developed its counter-revolutionary strategy, the Saudi-Israeli alliance morphed into a Saudi-Qatari alliance. Qatar could be destabilized via the tribal factor - the Saudis had attempted it before - but now they needed a close ally. And that, unfortunately, explains Qatar-based al-Jazeera's meek coverage of the repression in Bahrain.
It took only a few days for the House of Saud to force the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to toe the new hard line: we are the top dog; there's no room for democracy in the Gulf; sectarianism is the way to go; our relationship with Israel is now strategic; and Iran is to blame for everything. The ''Persian conspiracy'' is the key theme being deployed by the hefty Saudi propaganda machine especially in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Israeli hawks, not surprisingly, love it. There's plenty of flower power - or downright lunatic - rhetoric in the Israeli press about a ''strategic alliance'' between Tel Aviv and Riyadh, ''similar to the one between the Soviet Union and the US against the Nazis''.
And guess what - Obama is to blame for it. Without this strategic alliance, according to the Israeli narrative, the whole Gulf will fall ''victim of a nuclear Iran'', and the Obama administration won't lift a finger to save anybody. Obama is vilified as someone who ''only confronts and abandons allies'', while emboldening ''evil'' Syria and Iran. It's a narrative straight out of the Loony Tunes.
Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs
---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:55 PM ----------
Saudi Arabia has always been cautious not to have any direct communication with Israel, but in 2002, King Abdullah launched an initiative that would normalize Riyadh's ties with Tel Aviv.
Freshly- released WikiLeaks documents have uncovered a deep alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia, reportedly affecting Riyadh's ties with regional states.
One of the cables dispatched from Tel Aviv on March 2009, refers to a meeting between US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Israeli Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director General for Middle East Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm reported Tuesday.
The meeting, which involved other high-ranking Israeli officials, evolved around Tel Aviv's relations with Persian Gulf nations and the situation in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iran.
At one point Hadas admitted to having secret communications with Saudi Arabia through various channels.
The Israeli official then added that relations between Qatar and Israel were even affected Doha's belief that Tel Aviv maintains secret and powerful ties with Riyadh.
“Of course, indirect forms of communication through third parties happen all the time in diplomacy… so it can happen through Egypt, Jordan or the US,” the head of the London-based Gulf Strategic Studies Center, Omar Hassan, said.
Saudi Arabia has always been cautious not to have any direct and open communication or ties with Israel due to its position in the Muslim world.
However, in 2002, Saudi Arabia extended an initiative that it would normalize relations with Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders and an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The initiative was reaffirmed in 2007, but no headway has been made in that regard.
WikeLeaks cables also underline that despite the recent regional developments, Israel continues to enjoy steady ties with Arab nations.
Meanwhile, the secret documents have unraveled Israel's deep fear of Iran's growing influence in the region, by pointing at Tel Aviv's direct support for anti-Tehran positions held by the United Arabs Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt (before the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak).
Developereo
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It's hard to know what to believe.
It is true that the Arab-Iranian rivalry -- both sides are guilty -- is a continuing disaster for the region and Muslims in general. However, we must also be careful against propaganda by the Israelis/West to perpetuate the mistrust and division.
Remember, the fake US allegations about Iranian plots to assassinate some Saudi dignitaries? I am sure there is also opposite propaganda against the Saudis. The interests of the region are best served by promoting dialog rather than conspiracy theories about Saudis or Iranians.
Always ask yourself who wins by creating mistrust within the Muslim world.
It is true that the Arab-Iranian rivalry -- both sides are guilty -- is a continuing disaster for the region and Muslims in general. However, we must also be careful against propaganda by the Israelis/West to perpetuate the mistrust and division.
Remember, the fake US allegations about Iranian plots to assassinate some Saudi dignitaries? I am sure there is also opposite propaganda against the Saudis. The interests of the region are best served by promoting dialog rather than conspiracy theories about Saudis or Iranians.
Always ask yourself who wins by creating mistrust within the Muslim world.
Kazhugu
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lol are you insinuating that the saudis are so foolish to gobble up the "zionist" propaganda and approaching the security council without sufficient proof...?
the iranian - saudi ala persian - arab ala shia-sunni rivalry had been there long long before the west...infact it is no surprise the saudis consider iran their # 1 enemy even before the jews (israelis)
Developereo
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I am not saying this rivalry is new. I am just saying it is being exploited and stoked by "interested" parties. It is up to the regional players to set aside ancient (and irrelevant) rivalries to focus on mutual benefits going forward.
There are some elements on the Arab and Iranian side who want to play along and perpetuate the conflict.
Kazhugu
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cheaters will always be there as long as people who want to be cheated are there....cannot fault the cheaters...
jha
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Aryan is doing a good job... Always wanted to highlight this angle but the thread would have been hijacked by calling me an anti-islam and so on...
Good Job Aryan..Keep it up...
Lets hope people of the region use their brains to see something other than what is fed to them...
Good Job Aryan..Keep it up...
Lets hope people of the region use their brains to see something other than what is fed to them...
we must not forget what Saudi family is about. They are in a deep alliance with Zionists
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