During a weekend demonstration by the pro-Iran group Islamic Jihad, dozens of protesters chanted “’Death to the House of Saud’ and waved posters of the leader of Yemen’s Houthi militia.”
Hamas is a client of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as is Islamic Jihad, but Hamas doesn’t want to lose its support from Sunnis, including Saudis, so it could not and did not go along with this.
The division between Iran and Saudi Arabia is becoming more difficult to navigate.
This has grown increasingly difficult as Gulf countries have established ties with Israel in recent years. Mixed messages from Hamas have also complicated the task. Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, said Saturday he supports Houthi drone attacks against the United Arab Emirates.
“Gaza’s Hamas rulers play down pro-Iran demonstration,” Associated Press, January 23, 2022:
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers on Sunday tried to distance themselves from a protest staged by a pro-Iranian militant group that harshly attacked Saudi Arabia over its role in Yemen’s civil war.
During Saturday’s demonstration by Islamic Jihad, dozens of protesters chanted “Death to the House of Saud” and waved posters of the leader of Yemen’s Houthi militia.
Although Hamas did not participate in the protest, it tightly controls Gaza and authorizes all public gatherings. The protest threatened to embarrass Hamas, which already is largely isolated in the Arab world, and draw attention to its own ties to Iran.
On Sunday, Hamas tried to contain the damage. “The shouts against Arab and Gulf states from our Palestinian arena don’t represent our position and policy,” it said.
Yemen’s conflict began in 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthis took the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government to flee to the south, then to exile in Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi-led coalition, backed at the time by the U.S., entered the war months later to try restoring the government to power. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people and caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, pushing the country to the brink of famine. Most of the Arab world has sided with Saudi Arabia and largely sees Iran as an enemy.
Hamas has long tried to play both sides of the divide, accepting millions of dollars from Iran while also seeking broad Arab support for its armed struggle against Israel.
This has grown increasingly difficult as Gulf countries have established ties with Israel in recent years. Mixed messages from Hamas have also complicated the task. Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, said Saturday he supports Houthi drone attacks against the United Arab Emirates.
The hashtag, “#Palestinians Support the Houthis,” was trending on social media on Sunday and Dubai’s deputy police chief, Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, said that Zahar should be placed on the UAE’s most wanted list….
mortimer says
What a duplicitous game both sides are playing, both the client Hamas and the patron Iran. Under different circumstances, they would gladly massacre one another.
Saudi Arabia teaches school children to hate Shi’ism and consider it a deviation and a ‘rejection’ of valid Islam. About 10% of Saudi Arabia is Shi’ite.
Remember also that Osama bin Laden likewise hated the House of Saud and wished them dead, even though he was a subject and citizen of their country. Give Muslims weapons and they will just as eagerly slaughter other Muslims (of the wrong sort) as slaughter kafirs.
Mural says
There are similar sentiments echoed by the Muslim community in India and Pakistan. These groups are not happy with the modernisation happening in Saudi Arabia. The folks are not ok with Movie theatres and other modes of entertainment that are newly available in SA.
Islam cannot be reformed for the simple reason that other Muslims won’t allow it to. Thanks to the eternal commands in the Quran.
Infidel says
Pakistan’s relations w/ the Saudis is toast. There was that major fall-out b/w those 2 countries in 2019, over Saudi Arabia’s refusal to take Pakistan’s side on Kashmir, where Pakistan had that tie-up w/ Turkey and Malaysia over their ‘anti-Islamophobia’ alliance, then Pakistan’s foreign minister denouncing Riyadh and following that, the Saudis demanding that the Pakis fully pay back their loans of some $3 billion. The Pakis did that by borrowing it from China. Since then, sentiment in Pakistan has been pretty strongly pro-Turk and anti-Arab
For a community that heavily influences and is influenced by Bollywood and its Pak version, they sure are hypocrites about the Saudis opening up movie theaters and making available in their own country entertainment that their royals typically used to go to Europe to enjoy. The Saudis are learning to flip them the bird: yesterday, there were plenty of Saudis and Emiratis who flipped Rana Ayyub the bird over her comments denouncing Saudi operations in Yemen, that too days after 2 Indians (Sikhs) and 1 Paki were killed at Abu Dhabi airport. Honestly, the Saudis should tell both Paki and Indian muslims that “what we do in our country is none of your business”
Infidel says
I don’t think Hamas has any support from the Saudis, since they are a Muslim Brotherhood affiliate in Gaza. However, the reason they may not have jumped on this is that Iran is still not out of the woods as far as the ability to finance them goes, while in the meantime, those who do fund them, like Qatar, may be wary about attracting Saudi opposition again
IMO, the real navigation that Hamas would need to do would be b/w Iran and Turkey
gravenimage says
Hamas has gone back and forth several times in recent years in their association with Iran.
gravenimage says
Gaza: Pro-Iran members of Islamic Jihad chant ‘Death to the House of Saud,’ Hamas distances itself
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More Muslim-on-Muslim hatred.