Harbingers of war and destruction in the Middle East

In his recent speech to the nation, King Salman outlined Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy and his government’s commitment to a Palestinian state and its obligation to ensure that the Palestinian people be granted their legitimate rights and be able to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

He said: “Saudi Arabia is always committed to adhering to international treaties, conventions and charters, and the continued defense of Arab and Islamic issues in international forums in various ways, including the achievement of what the kingdom has always sought and will always seek, namely, the recognition of a Palestinian state.”

Saudi Arabia has been relentless in its quest for a Palestinian state. The late King Abdullah proposed the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002 calling for an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict and for normalizing relations between the entire Arab region and Israel, in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal from the occupied territories.

Constant rejection

The Arab League reaffirmed its commitment to the initiative in its 2007 summit and on several other occasions.

However, Israel has always rejected the initiative, and has continued to build more settlements and refused to define its borders.

It continues to twist the truth and repeat its lies to justify the killing of innocent and helpless Palestinian women and children and it continues to evict Palestinians from their homes and rob them of their land.

Israel defies all international treaties and U.N. charters. Recently, the Israeli deputy minister of defense threatened Palestinians with a “Holocaust” and a senior figure of the governing coalition in Israel called for the destruction of “the entire Palestinian people… including its elderly and its women, its cities and its villages, its property and its infrastructure.”

And a deputy speaker of the Knesset also called for the forced depopulation of Gaza. Israelis are afraid of no one.

Nothing is likely to change in Israel until its public feels that impunity for occupation and settlements will no longer be tolerated by the U.S. and other superpowers.

Unlimited arrogance

The whole world recently witnessed the extent of Netanyahu’s arrogance, which appears to have no limits.

This was quite evident during his speech to the U.S. Congress in which he spoke of Israel’s need for security, distorting the truth of the continued daily Israeli massacre of innocent Palestinians.

He claimed that Israel wants peace with its neighbors, when I believe it provides logistical military and medical assistance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in order to escalate conflicts and incites the U.S. to go to war as it did in Iraq and as Israel now wants it to do in Iran.

Netanyahu has committed enough war crimes. He continues to incite the U.S. to go to war and is now determined to dictate U.S. foreign policy.

Undoubtedly, he is emboldened by the strong support of AIPAC and the pro-Israeli lobbies that control American foreign policy in the Middle East.

Raising concerns

He is also reassured by the backing of an overwhelming majority of U.S. lawmakers. The U.N. can merely raise concerns about Israel’s human rights abuses because the U.S. administration makes sure that Israel is never punished or restrained no matter how brutal or inhuman its crimes.

Meanwhile, U.S. media is also under Zionist control. Most American journalists and U.S. mainstream media are forced to play down Israeli brutality in their news coverage and to repeat Israel’s lies and false justifications for the atrocities in occupied Palestine, thereby keeping the American public in the dark.

The international community does not have the power to defy Israel, a formidable enemy with a large arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and a threatening stock of nuclear arms.

The world is facing another fascist power that can do much more harm than Hitler ever dreamed of. Netanyahu and the neocons are as dangerous as ISIS.

Global threat

They are a threat to peace and global prosperity. They thrive on terrorizing people to create conflicts in order to forward their selfish agendas.

This miserable situation could easily come to an end if honorable Israelis and Jews with conscience support more respect for human rights and give peace a chance.

The Likud and the neocons give Jews and Christians a bad name, just as ISIS gives Muslims a bad name.

Saudi Arabia and the Arab world remain committed to peace. Let us hope that more sane voices in Israel and the U.S. speak out and find the courage to stop the harbingers of wars and destruction. Global peace can only be achieved if there is justice for all.

This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on March 14, 2015.

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Samar Fatany is a Chief Broadcaster in the English section at Jeddah Broadcasting Station. Over the past 28 years, she has introduced many news, cultural, and religious programs and has conducted several interviews with official delegations and prominent political personalities visiting the kingdom. Fatany has made significant contributions in the fields of public relations and social awareness in Saudi Arabia and has been involved in activities aiming at fighting extremism and enhancing women’s role in serving society. She has published three books: “Saudi Perceptions & Western Misconceptions,” “Saudi Women towards a new era” and “Saudi Challenges & Reforms.”