Normalizing Ties with Israel Aimed at Paving Way for ‘Deal of Century’: Lebanese Analyst

TEHRAN (IQNA) – A senior Lebanese political analyst said attempts by certain Arab countries to normalize ties with the Zionist regime are aimed at paving the way for implementation of the so-called “deal of the century”

Speaking to IQNA, Talal Atrissi said they want to put an end to the issue of Palestine by such a plot.

He said the first objective behind recent visits and meetings of officials and of some Arab states and Israeli officials is making it look like a normal and ordinary occurring.  

The ultimate objective though is to set the ground for implementing the so-called deal of the century which would involve denial of Palestinians’ right of return and announcement of Quds (Jerusalem) as the permeant capital of the occupying regime, he added.

The so-called deal, a backchannel plan to allegedly reach a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, was proposed by the US administration late last year. Although the plan has not been released, leaks signal it will consist of the same tried and failed ideas.

While little is known about the controversial deal, leaks have suggested that it regards Quds entirely as Israeli territory, whereas Palestinians view the eastern sector of the occupied city as the capital of their future state.

Palestinians also believe that the US-drafted plan calls for keeping borders and security under Israeli control, while it keeps Israeli settlements’ final borders to be discussed in later negotiations.

In November, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the plan and decried what he called efforts to separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip.

“The ‘deal of the century’ will not pass and the fate of the land of Palestine will be decided by the Palestinian people,” Abbas said in a recorded speech aired on Palestine TV on Nov. 10.

Abbas has described US President Donald Trump’s plan as “the slap of the century" and boycotted the US administration since December 2017 when Trump recognized Quds as Israel’s capital.

In Gaza, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the resistance movement would never allow the “deal” to be implemented.

He said weekly protests held near an Israeli fence separating the occupied territories from Gaza would be held with the aim of thwarting the “deal of the century”.

Khashoggi’s Brutal Murder: How Safe are South African Critics of Saudi Arabia?

Iqbal Jassat

What certainty do South African critics of Saudi Arabia have that they will not face the same tragic fate that befell Jamal Khashoggi?

These concerns may have been dismissed as laughable and perhaps even paranoid a fortnight ago. But the horrific murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi by hitmen assigned to commit the ghastly crime within the confines of a consulate, has underlined the danger faced by critics and opponents of the Najdi oligarchy.

The Saudi regime may not enjoy the psychological pressure that Israel usually applies. To slander opponents of its occupation and apartheid policies, the settler colonial entity resorts to branding them as "antisemites". This defamatory tool is regularly applied by Israel to intimidate and silence external critics.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, its unelected leaders have traditionally whipped up sectarian divisions a la George Bush: "You either with us or against us". In a religious context, this divisive strategy has served Saudi geopolitical interests well for "with us" equates to "Sunni Islam" while "against us" means being in bed with "Shia Islam".

Thus in a broad context, Saudi dependency on keeping America's discredited "war on terror" alive, explains a great deal about the royal family's use of it as a defensive shield and offensive wars.

Derailing the Arab Spring, funding and arming Egypt's military coup, laying siege on Qatar, bombing Yemen, allying with Israel against Palestinians, seeking military aggression against Iran, outlawing legitimate civil society formations and resistance movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hizbullah as "terrorists", and stoking intra-Muslim strife are some of the despicable tactics that define Saudi Arabia.

Critics, whether in South Africa or elsewhere are probably aware of Saudi intelligence ties to Israel's notorious Mossad. They'd also be mindful of the long reach of Saudi Mokhabarat (intelligence agents) as the willful murder of Khashoggi demonstrates.

Reports about Khashoggi's disappearance and brutal murder while he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, have not only devastated his family, friends and fellow journalist colleagues, but also activists campaigning for drastic socio-political changes in the Arabian peninsula.

A one-time adviser to the Saudi kingdom with close ties to the establishment, including prominent members of the "royal" family, Khashoggi's increasingly critical views of the de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, (MbS) turned him into an enemy.

The threat he posed in his role as an active dissident derived from the fact that having interacted closely with Saudi and Arab intelligence services for more than 30 years, he was privy to many secrets. In addition, his position as a columnist for Washington Post and access to influential platforms in America and Europe, amplified his power to undermine MbS and his fake "reforms".

Khashoggi's self-imposed exile in Washington was evidently a choice he made to avoid being a victim of the harsh crackdown on independent voices. Despite his profile as a renowned political analyst-cum-journalist, with close to two million Twitter followers, it did not render him immune from state sponsored harm, as we now know.

It is known too from credible reports, that the folly, arrogance and brutality associated with MbS seems limitless. It may be his reasoning that if close allies and patrons such as Netanyahu and Trump can get away with murder, surely their protection would be sufficient for him to continue liquidating opponents under the guise of eliminating "terrorists"?

Bin Salman has been lauded in the West as a "great reformer" and harbinger of "friendship" with the colonial entity that has occupied Palestine for more than seven decades. Unfortunately for him and the rapacious family of "royals" he symbolises, the Khashoggi affair has exposed Saudi Arabia as a ruthless dictatorship that uses brutal methods to dispose of enemies.

Though international outrage against the killing has been as loud as media coverage, the South African government has yet to make its stance known.

Justifiably, critics will question whether the controversial yet lucrative arms trade and the pledge of billions of dollars made to President Ramaphosa, will hold us hostage to a rogue regime's contempt for human rights and the right to life itself.

 

Iqbal Jassat