SAUDI ARABIA - Israel Committing Genocide?
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made the comments at a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders organized to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state, a year after the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held a first conference on the subject.
Mohammed told the summit that the international community should oblige Israel “to respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands.”
Mohammed told leaders gathered in Riyadh that the kingdom renewed “its condemnation and categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people, which has claimed the lives of 150,000 martyrs, wounded and missing, most of whom are women and children.”
Before the war against Hamas began, Saudi Arabia was in talks about a so-called mega-deal that would have seen it recognize Israel in exchange for deeper security and bilateral ties with the United States.
Iran and Saudi Arabia severed ties in 2016 following attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic during protests over Riyadh’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Relations had already been frayed by Saudi Arabia’s mobilization of a military coalition to counter Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah, a Lebanese terror group that Israel is fighting to halt over a year of incessant rocket fire, are backed by Iran, and had previously been blacklisted by Saudi Arabia as terror groups.
In an earlier sign of Saudi Arabia’s shifting positions, Riyadh said in October it was revoking the license of Saudi-owned news broadcaster MBC after it called slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar a terrorist.
-www.timesofisrael.com, 11 November 2024
Arno's Commentary
Much talk appears in the news assuming Israel is committing genocide against Arab Palestinians. Our answer is rather simple: If they wanted to, they could. Israel has the capacity. But contrary to general assumptions, Israel is the only military force in the world that does two things: first, it indoctrinates its soldiers not to hate the enemy. And second, they always identify the target of coming destruction and warn civilians to vacate the building(s) before launching an attack. Thus, the accusation that Israel is committing genocide is more than childish, but must be taken seriously, because wherever and whenever Israel is concerned, different levels and rules are applied. And, for most of the Arab and Islamic world, Israel is always wrong regardless of what they do.
Here we are reminded of the accusation about Jesus of Nazareth: “And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing” (Luke 23:8-9).
Something strange happened thereafter: “And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves” (verse 12). On the geopolitical level, we see this happening now between Saudi Arabia and Iran.