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Will Kushner be invited to Makkah?

May 24, 2019 at 3:54 am

White House senior advisor Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump arrive at the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology shortly before its inauguration in Riyadh on 21 May 2017. [ AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN / Getty]

Neither the Israeli attack on Gaza nor Trump’s decision to recognise the Israeli occupation’s annexation of the Golan Heights, the Russian and Iranian assault on Idlib and the use of chemical weapons there, the war criminal Khalifa Haftar’s attack on Tripoli and the cutting off the water supply to its people, the Gulf crisis entering its third year, or the war on Yemen and the obvious Saudi-Emirati occupation of it entering its fourth year, or any of the other calamities require a Gulf, Arab, or Muslim summit. Three summits in the most sacred land are being held to discuss the attack on the oil tankers and lines, which did not result in any deaths.

The major parallel summit held by economists in Manama, which they are calling an “economic workshop”, is in preparation for the deal of the century is similar in time, place, and sponsorship. It is being based on the rule of payment before receipt, as the Palestinian, Jordanians, and Arabs, in general, are required to pay the price for their dignity, sanctity, and state. Meanwhile, the concepts of enemies and friends are redefined, as Israel becomes a friend and economic partner who the rules become closer to, try to satisfy, and seek their help to face the new enemy, Iran, who, along with its allies, shed precious oil.

Jared Kushner Peace Process or Puppet Show? - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Jared Kushner Peace Process or Puppet Show? – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Disregarding Iran and its allies is politically foolish, whether when they shed precious oil from the pipelines and tankers, or when they shed the cheap blood of the Arabs in Syria and Yemen. Until today, it remains a partner, either in the crimes committed by the Syrian and Russian regimes or by the Houthis under the pretext of the conflict with Israel. As for the panic over the spilt oil and overlooking the urgent and future issues of the nation, this makes the summit morally bankrupt.

Read: Germany seeks to be a mediator in Iran-US relations

Iran couldn’t have spread across Yemen and the region if it weren’t for the policies of the US Saudi Arabia. The Houthis were enabled by the Emirati and Saudi conspiracy against the Yemeni youth’s revolution, which is no longer a secret, and its efforts to dismantle the Yemeni army. The Emiratis and Saudis were planning on Hussein Al-Houthi invading Sanaa and the outbreak of a civil war between him and the Islah party, bringing Ali Abdullah Saleh in on its ruins, and for the south to separate, along with its ports and islands, and join the UAE. Iran tricked them both and eliminated Saleh at a time when the Islah party was fighting on two fronts, the Houthi front in the front and the Emirati militias in the back. Meanwhile, Iran spread in the country using its missiles, drones, and soldiers fighting on its behalf based on their doctrine and convictions.

Iran is no occupying Yemen, and the Yemeni people are not its agents, but the result of conspiring against it and the terrible disaster that befell the country has created a spirit of revenge that Iran has benefitted from on a strategic level that will last for years. Iran has not managed to infiltrate the Arab world only utilising this spirit; it also has the appeal of its doctrine, which it has managed to turn into a unifying cross-border nationalism, just as Zionism became Judaism into nationalism.

We need Arab and Muslim summits that restore Iran as a civilised partner, as it had been throughout history. Iran’s allies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and other countries are citizens in their countries, not settlers who came from abroad. We need understanding and dialogue with Iran, along with confronting it militarily and on a security level. It is Netanyahu and Kushner, who funded settlements before reaching the White House, who came from abroad and they are now seeking to grant them legitimacy, contrary to the historical opinions and positions of the American administrations.

Read: Ex-US official: Trump’s goals in Iran will not materialise

Fighters loyal to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) hold a position on the frontline facing forces of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, south of the capital Tripoli's suburb of Ain Zara, on 28 April 2019. [FADEL SENNA / AFP/ Getty]

Fighters loyal to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) hold a position on the frontline facing forces of Libyan National Army (LNA), loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, in Tripoli, Libya on 28 April 2019 [FADEL SENNA / AFP/ Getty]

We need summits to establish understandings between the brothers in the Gulf, who Kushner cannot understand the reasons for their disagreements. We need summits to reach agreements in Libya and to end the Arab civil wars, but the condition for this does not exist. Saudi Arabia is no longer the state of reconciliation and understanding. It is a direct party in every Arab conflict, as it supports Haftar, commits horrific crimes in Yemen and tried to occupy Qatar. Moreover, it is a country that has not yet emerged from the scandal of liquidating Jamal Khashoggi and committed a massacre of executions after this crime. It is even preparing for another round of executions of Eid planning to execute sheikhs Salman Al-Ouda, Awad Al-Qarni and Ali Al-Omari.

In the face of these open fronts that Saudi Arabia is fighting on, only Israel is safe, and preparations are underway to impose normalisation with it after Eid via the deal of the century, either willingly or out of fear. Only Jared Kushner is welcomed in Saudi Arabia. However, is it possible for a miracle to happen, and Saudi Arabia begins to normalise with its Arab and Muslim neighbours?

This article first appeared in Arabic in Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on 23 May 2019

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.