Former senior Saudi navy chief says Israel is not the enemy.

[shapeup1]

I'm impressed with this guy.


Thirty-nine years ago, on Oct. 6, 1973, the third major war between the Arabs and Israel broke out. The war lasted only 20 days. The two sides were engaged in two other major wars, in 1948 and 1967.

The 1967 War lasted only six days. But, these three wars were not the only Arab-Israel confrontations. From the period of 1948 and to this day many confrontations have taken place. Some of them were small clashes and many of them were full-scale battles, but there were no major wars apart from the ones mentioned above. The Arab-Israeli conflict is the most complicated conflict the world ever experienced. On the anniversary of the 1973 War between the Arab and the Israelis, many people in the Arab world are beginning to ask many questions about the past, present and the future with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The questions now are: What was the real cost of these wars to the Arab world and its people. And the harder question that no Arab national wants to ask is: What was the real cost for not recognizing Israel in 1948 and why didn’t the Arab states spend their assets on education, health care and the infrastructures instead of wars? But, the hardest question that no Arab national wants to hear is whether Israel is the real enemy of the Arab world and the Arab people.

I decided to write this article after I saw photos and reports about a starving child in Yemen, a burned ancient Aleppo souk in Syria, the under developed Sinai in Egypt, car bombs in Iraq and the destroyed buildings in Libya. The photos and the reports were shown on the Al-Arabiya network, which is the most watched and respected news outlet in the Middle East.

The common thing among all what I saw is that the destruction and the atrocities are not done by an outside enemy. The starvation, the killings and the destruction in these Arab countries are done by the same hands that are supposed to protect and build the unity of these countries and safeguard the people of these countries. So, the question now is that who is the real enemy of the Arab world?

The Arab world wasted hundreds of billions of dollars and lost tens of thousands of innocent lives fighting Israel, which they considered is their sworn enemy, an enemy whose existence they never recognized. The Arab world has many enemies and Israel should have been at the bottom of the list.

The real enemies of the Arab world are corruption, lack of good education, lack of good health care, lack of freedom, lack of respect for the human lives and finally, the Arab world had many dictators who used the Arab-Israeli conflict to suppress their own people.
These dictators’ atrocities against their own people are far worse than all the full-scale Arab-Israeli wars. In the past, we have talked about why some Israeli soldiers attack and mistreat Palestinians. Also, we saw Israeli planes and tanks attack various Arab countries. But, do these attacks match the current atrocities being committed by some Arab states against their own people.

In Syria, the atrocities are beyond anybody’s imaginations? And, isn’t the Iraqis are the ones who are destroying their own country? Wasn’t it Tunisia’s dictator who was able to steal 13 billion dollars from the poor Tunisians? And how can a child starve in Yemen if their land is the most fertile land in the world? Why would Iraqi brains leave Iraq in a country that makes 110 billion dollars from oil export? Why do the Lebanese fail to govern one of the tiniest countries in the world? And what made the Arab states start sinking into chaos?

On May 14, 1948 the state of Israel was declared. And just one day after that, on May 15, 1948 the Arabs declared war on Israel to get back Palestine. The war ended on March 10, 1949. It lasted for nine months, three weeks and two days. The Arabs lost the war and called this war Nakbah (catastrophic war). The Arabs gained nothing and thousands of Palestinians became refugees.

And on 1967, the Arabs led by Egypt under the rule of Gamal Abdul Nasser, went in war with Israel and lost more Palestinian land and made more Palestinian refugees who are now on the mercy of the countries that host them. The Arabs called this war Naksah (upset). The Arabs never admitted defeat in both wars and the Palestinian cause got more complicated. And now, with the never ending Arab Spring, the Arab world has no time for the Palestinians refugees or Palestinian cause, because many Arabs are refugees themselves and under constant attacks from their own forces. Syrians are leaving their own country, not because of the Israeli planes dropping bombs on them. It is the Syrian Air Force which is dropping the bombs. And now, Iraqi Arab Muslims, most intelligent brains, are leaving Iraq for the est. In Yemen, the world’s saddest human tragedy play is being written by the Yemenis. In Egypt, the people in Sinai are forgotten.

Finally, if many of the Arab states are in such disarray, then what happened to the Arabs’ sworn enemy (Israel)? Israel now has the most advanced research facilities, top universities and advanced infrastructure. Many Arabs don’t know that the life expectancy of the Palestinians living in Israel is far longer than many Arab states and they enjoy far better political and social freedom than many of their Arab brothers. Even the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip enjoy more political and social rights than some places in the Arab World. Wasn’t one of the judges who sent a former Israeli president to jail is an Israeli-Palestinian?
The Arab Spring showed the world that the Palestinians are happier and in better situation than their Arab brothers who fought to liberate them from the Israelis. Now, it is time to stop the hatred and wars and start to create better living conditions for the future Arab generations.

— This article is exclusive to Arab News http://www.google.ca/search?q=ABDUL...sugexp=chrome,mod=12&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[oldjones]

All well and good. All true and worth saying. Doesn't alter the fact that Palestinians and Israelis are doing their best to kill each other instead of their best to make a prosperous life in peace with their neighbours.

It's unusual to hear a fighting man say such stuff, but some of them are smart enough to see that less fighting means they live longer, and so look for real causes and answers rather than the sort of stupid self-fufilling demonizing of the enemy we see so much of in campaigns whether military or political.

Much good may it do someone: I suspect little good will be done on the ground under the rockets. When did saying smarten up and face reality ever work?

 

[basketcase]

The Saudis have been quietly working with the Israelis for a long time as have many Arab governments. In specific, they all agree that Iran is a threat to regional stability but in general have seen that a constant state of war is useless.

If they only have a way to overcome the decades of government produced anti-Israel propaganda they might admit it more often.

 

[groggy]

The Saudi's are worried about the possibility of an Arab Spring hitting them. They've aligned themselves with the US and Israel for oil sales and defense and while the 'royalty' are backing it the people are non too happy about it

Saudi Arabia, a key Gulf ally of the United States and the world's top oil exporter, banned protests in March 2011, after demonstrations began sweeping the Arab world in what became known as the Arab Spring.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-28/192997-saudi-arabia-should-stop-prosecuting-peaceful-protesters-hrw.ashx#axzz2DTEdlvkC

Saudi Arabia did not have an Arab Spring. But it has had a revolution of sorts.

Open criticism of the country’s royal family, once unheard-of, has become commonplace in recent months. Prominent judges and lawyers issue fierce public broadsides about large-scale government corruption and social neglect. Women deride the clerics who limit their freedoms. Even the king has come under attack.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/twitter-gives-saudi-arabia-a-revolution-of-its-own/1020229/

Shiites, who form a majority in Iran, have long been treated as second-class citizens by the ruling Sunni elite in Saudi Arabia. They account for about 10 percent of the country’s 28 million people and are concentrated here in the Eastern Province’s industrial center, sandwiched between the vast Arabian desert and the glistening Persian Gulf.

The death toll here — 14 civilians and two police officers since the beginning of last year — is small compared with those in recent rebellions in other Arab countries, especially the civil war in Syria. And, unlike elsewhere, protesters here are not demanding the overthrow of their government. They want long-denied basic rights: equal access to jobs, religious freedom, the release of political prisoners.

But in a nation where even peaceful protests have long been banned, the clashes between police and demonstrators have become a big concern for King Abdullah and his ruling family.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/shiite-protests-pose-major-challenge-for-saudi-arabia/2012/10/18/f6157c84-13ab-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_print.html

The reason that Saudi is afraid of Iran is that they are afraid of the majority of their population rebelling against them.

Protests occur almost weekly, mainly on weekends. The marches can be a few dozen protesters carrying photos of the dead and shouting anti-government slogans, or hundreds of people taking over main boulevards, as they did after the recent funerals for Labad and the two teens.

The protesters, including fully veiled women, march down humid seaside streets in temperatures well over 100 degrees, carrying signs and chanting. They have also burned tires, tossed molotov cocktails and, both sides agree, sometimes shot at police.

 

[Aardvark154]

The Saudi's are worried about the possibility of an Arab Spring hitting them. They've aligned themselves with the US and Israel for oil sales and defense and while the 'royalty' are backing it the people are non too happy about it.

The people or Shiite's in the Eastern Province?

 

[shack]

The Saudi's are worried about the possibility of an Arab Spring hitting them. They've aligned themselves with the US and Israel for oil sales and defense and while the 'royalty' are backing it the people are non too happy about it


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-28/192997-saudi-arabia-should-stop-prosecuting-peaceful-protesters-hrw.ashx#axzz2DTEdlvkC



http://www.indianexpress.com/news/twitter-gives-saudi-arabia-a-revolution-of-its-own/1020229/



http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/shiite-protests-pose-major-challenge-for-saudi-arabia/2012/10/18/f6157c84-13ab-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_print.html

The reason that Saudi is afraid of Iran is that they are afraid of the majority of their population rebelling against them.

And none of this changes the truths of the original article.

Arabs waging war after war since day one, losing at every turn and the plight of their people continues to get worse directly because of these wars and the money squandered on them.

Any actions taken by Israel have been in response to the war mongering tact of the Arabs, not as initiatives.

 

[groggy]

And none of this changes the truths of the original article.

Arabs waging war after war since day one, losing at every turn and the plight of their people continues to get worse directly because of these wars and the money squandered on them.

Any actions taken by Israel have been in response to the war mongering tact of the Arabs, not as initiatives.

It puts the original article into context.
Having the support of the royal dictator doesn't really build your case that you support democracy and human rights, now does it?
Saudi has banned public demonstrations and civil disobedience.
They are probably worse than Iran for human rights right now.

Which makes this only an issue of who backs who, not who is morally superior.

 

[shapeup1]

It puts the original article into context.
Having the support of the royal dictator doesn't really build your case that you support democracy and human rights, now does it?
Saudi has banned public demonstrations and civil disobedience.
They are probably worse than Iran for human rights right now.

Which makes this only an issue of who backs who, not who is morally superior.

Perhaps you haven't read the article, it from a former Saudi navy man. He dosen't speak for the Saudis, he's a journalist that write for the Arab news. Although I agree with what you're saying about the Saudis like many Arab dictators, you're missing the point of what he's saying.

 

[DATYdude]

He's not missing the point, he refuses to see it because to him Israel is the ONLY enemy and the ONLY thing standing in the way of Arab rights and prosperity. Sounds like he was raised with the same propaganda fed to the Arabs by their leadership for the last 60 years.