Saudi officials have “told their US counterparts that Riyadh would not insist Israel take concrete steps to create a Palestinian state.” On the surface, this offer seems to be a golden opportunity for Israel to embrace the so-called two-state solution, with the help of the US and Saudi Arabia, in exchange for peace. Yet taking […]
Saudi Arabia Is Not Your Friend
A lesson we should have learned after 9/11. Americans and Israelis tend to suffer from ‘delusions of diplomacy’ when it comes to the Muslim world. Some Israelis in particular have the conviction that because they have back channels to Muslim nations and private talks with them that they’re on track to a better relationship. A […]
Saudi Arabia: Israel’s defense against Hamas ‘inhumane,’ a ‘bloodbath’ by ‘Israeli occupation forces’
It isn’t the war that has led Saudi Arabia to turn on Israel. It showed plenty of signs of its loyalty to the Palestinians long before Operation Swords of Iron began. El Pais reports below that the Israeli/Saudi dialogue is “frozen,” and normalization is “shelved.” But the hope in the normalization agreement with Israel was […]
Egypt’s Sisi discusses ‘escalation between Palestinians and Israelis’ with Erdogan and Saudi crown prince
According to Ahram: “El-Sisi received a phone call from Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in which the president emphasized the necessity of concerted efforts to find a just solution to the Palestinian issue in accordance with relevant international resolutions,” so El-Sisi proceeded to discuss the Israeli war with regional leaders. There are a […]
Blinken in Saudi Arabia committed to expanding Abraham Accords, but new doc casts shadow over prospects
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Saudi Arabia that the US is committed to its Gulf allies and to expanding the Abraham Accords (that Trump brokered). As with any high-level political negotiation, respect is a key attribute, and the Biden administration has not managed to garner any. Saudi Arabia sent […]
Saudi Arabia: ‘They say women can wear whatever — but at the end what is happening is that it’s only for Westerners’
Despite claims about reforming, Saudi Arabia ruthlessly cracks down on its dissidents. Last year, women’s rights activist Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison for a tweet criticizing Saudi Arabia. And in January of this year, Saudi Arabia sentenced a 71-year-old respected academic, Awad Al-Qarni, to death for sharing on WhatsApp what it […]
Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia resume ties in China-brokered deal
As Biden’s handlers manage America’s decline and is distracted with exacerbating racial tensions, pushing the “insurrection” hoax, erasing the Southern border and bankrupting Americans, China emerges as the leader of the world and the dominant power in the Middle East. During the four years of Trump, the Islamic Republic of Iran was nearly destitute and […]
Zelensky backs Saudis after Biden condemns Saudis as pro-Russia, despite Biden giving Ukraine billions in weapons
Just when it looks as if it couldn’t get any worse for Biden’s handlers, it has finally emerged why Saudi Arabia decided to cut back its oil supply to America: “In August, the Saudis had planned to push OPEC+ to raise oil production by 500,000 barrels a day in an effort to please Mr. Biden, […]
Biden ‘Re-evaluating’ US Relationship with Saudi Arabia
For decades, ever since President Roosevelt talked with King Saud on the USS Quincy on Feb. 14,1945, the United States has labored under the delusion that the primitive kingdom, in thrall to Wahhabi Islam and largely owned by a single family, was our loyal ally. This fiction was maintained because we didn’t want to look […]
Biden’s Middle East Trip: Not Much to Write Home About
Biden’s much-ballyhooed trip to the Middle East amounted to very little. The Saudis did not agree to increase their oil production. Nor did they make any move toward joining the Abraham Accords, as so many had confidently predicted they would. They insisted that while they would let Israeli planes use Saudi airspace, this should not […]