leomoon
Well-known member
from Mondoweiss on the subject:
(seems the whole thing can backfire on many, including the nosy U.S.A.)
https://mondoweiss.net/2020/09/bahraini-normalization-will-heighten-irans-standing-for-palestinians/
(seems the whole thing can backfire on many, including the nosy U.S.A.)
At the moment, indications show that despite the regional changes Saudi Arabia may not be rushing toward Normalisation. Not until after the US election at least. It might be that for some in the House of Saud the heart is willing but the flesh is weak. The Saudi ambassador to the Arab League reiterated the Kingdom’s commitment to the so-called Arab Initiative which stipulates that normal relationships with Israel are conditioned on the establishment of a Palestinian State. These may be words, and words, as Bahrain had unequivocally showed, don’t mean much. But in reality, as a Saudi writer pointed out, the Kingdom has a lot more to lose than the UAE and Bahrain, and a lot more to offer to Israel if Normalisation takes place.
Despite the wide-spread anger over the war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia still enjoys a prominent position for most Arabs and Muslims, Palestinians included. Not least because it is the cradle of Islam and the home of Islam’s first and second holiest sites, Mecca and Medina. It is also the most important financier of Islamic centres and communities worldwide. Normalising with Israel will cause the Kingdom to lose much of its credibility, leverage, and respect among the majority of Muslims who still see Israel as a settler-colonial project planted in the heart of the Muslim world. Normalising will also mean that what Saudi Arabia loses, will allow other Sunni Muslim countries like Turkey and/or Egypt to move in and fill the gap.
There is also the unpleasant scenario that losing the Kingdom’s standing in the Muslim World will only heighten the Iranian influence in the region, especially amongst Palestinians. Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad are already seeing growing relations with the Islamic Republic. Those relations will only increase as official Arab support diminishes. In fact, there are now some Palestinian calls to move closer to Iran and Turkey.
https://mondoweiss.net/2020/09/bahraini-normalization-will-heighten-irans-standing-for-palestinians/