Tuesday April 3, 2018

I've Been Thinking:

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed ibn Salman sat down for an extensive interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor and chief of the Atlantic. The most important points in their discussion were Saudi recognition of Israel's right to exist in peace in her own land and the need for a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Crown Prince said: "I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land." ... "But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

He also described his reservations: "We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people."

And he explained that there were great mutual benefits to be had in bringing Israel into the region's sphere of economic engagement: "Israel is a big economy compared to their size and it's a growing economy, and of course there are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan."


About anti-Semitism the Crown Prince said: "Our country doesn't have a problem with Jews. Our Prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman. Not just a friend—he married her." ... "Our prophet, his neighbors were Jewish. You will find a lot of Jews in Saudi Arabia coming from America, coming from Europe. There are no problems between Christian and Muslims and Jews. We have problems like you would find anywhere in the world, among some people. But the normal sort of problems."

Speaking about Iran the Crown Prince paralleled the Iranian Grand Ayatollah to Hitler, calling him worse than Hitler: "I believe the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good. Hitler didn't do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. ... The supreme leader is trying to conquer the world."

These on the record comments represent a watershed.
Now we watch and see what comes next.

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