As relations warm up between Israel and Saudi Arabia, do we detect a thaw in relations between Arabs and Israel? Two clips from MEMRI seem to suggest this – but the real proof of a change is whether these two exponents of coexistence with Israel put their lives in danger by saying publicly what they think. (With thanks: Lily)
Kuwaiti writer Abdullah Al-Hadlaq said that Israel was an independent and legitimate sovereign state and that there was no occupation, but instead, “a people returning to its promised land.”
“When the State of Israel was established in 1948, there was no state called ‘Palestine,'” said Al-Hadlaq. He recalled that he had once written: “I wished that we could be like the people of the State of Israel, who rallied, down to the very last one, to defend a single Israeli soldier.” In the interview, which was broadcast by the Kuwaiti Alrai TV channel on November 19, Al-Hadlaq further said that he believed in peaceful coexistence with Israel and envisioned a three-way alliance of Israel, the Arab Gulf states, and America “in order to annihilate Hizbullah beyond resurrection.” The interview caused an uproar in the Arab media and social networks.
Read transcript in full
Palestinian expert on international law Dr. Anis Fawzi Qasim said that it would be naive to call upon Arab Jews to return to their home countries. “The Jews in Israel are better off than the Jews in the Arab world,” he said, asking: “What exactly [would they be] returning to?” Dr. Qasim, who resides in Jordan, was a member of the advisory committee to the Palestinian-Jordanian delegation to the 1991 Madrid Conference. His remarks aired on Al-Quds TV on November 3, 2017.
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