Israelis have a right to their own land: Saudi Crown Prince

[gani999]

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has declared that Israel has the right to its own land alongside Palestinians.

In an interview with the US-based The Atlantic magazine, the 32 year old heir to the Saudi throne declared: "I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation."

The crown prince said that "there are a lot of interests" his country shares with Israel.


UPFRONT: Is Saudi Arabia's crown prince really a reformer? (25:00)
"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."

Bin Salman also said that while his country has "religious concerns" about the holy mosque in Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinians, it has no objection "against any other people".

"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."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/saudi-crown-prince-israelis-land-180403051145026.html

Hey whoa! Look what the cat brought in!

And I thought it was an April fools joke. Turns out it isn't.

Far cry from Israel being the Public enemy no 1, they now have a 'right ' to their own land. Looks like we will soon see the Saudis making public man love with the Israelis. The bearded boys are going to go berserk.

Way to go, Salman!

 

[TM Riddle]

Are my eyes deceiving me or what?
Wah Salman Bhai!

 

[Varun]

It's quite clear that the Saudis 'hate' Shia Muslims more than they hate the Jews.

 

[Thomaskutty]

Salman will end up as the best of the Saudi kings .. more woman rights , less conservatism , the right israel stance .. youth always brings about change and trumps the entrenched bigotry of the elders.

 

[www787]

Off course Israel does, but they do not have a right to indiscriminately killing innocent, destroying house to build a new one for an European Jews.

 

[RickyG]

Mohammed bin Salman is solidifying his relations with the West and trying to change the perception of Saudi Arabia to outsiders. It also helps that they have a common enemy in Iran.

As for the reforms he is bringing, it doesn't change the fact they should've been brought about decades ago. Saudi is still light years behind the rest of the world with regards to human rights. Lest we start calling them the torch bearers of human rights.

 

[troodon]

Could this be dawn of a new era of peace in Middle East?

 

[Madplayer]

This is a good approach. Slowly and steadily they should push for 2 things :

1) one nation combining Israel and Palestine.

2) Stronger democratic values in the combined nation.

In a few decades, the muslim population would out number that of Jews and they can assume control of what had been taken away from them.

Israel has historically hidden behind the curtain of democracy while its an open secret that its hardly anything more than a procedural democracy. Lets make them a real democracy and see where it takes them.

 

[Lonewarrior]

Good, another Civil war coming to the ME and this time in KSA. US and Israel gt what they want.
Good luck to this dude..

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Could this be dawn of a new era of peace in Middle East?

Not while he is spending billions on arms which are being unleashed in Yemen fighting the proxy war with Iran.

 

[R3verse Swing]

ISIS - Israeli Saudi Intelligent service.

 

[Sirris]

The Saudi clan has been deceiving the gullible Muslims since decades.

 

[Rishta Aunty]

This is a good approach. Slowly and steadily they should push for 2 things :

1) one nation combining Israel and Palestine.

2) Stronger democratic values in the combined nation.

In a few decades, the muslim population would out number that of Jews and they can assume control of what had been taken away from them.

Israel has historically hidden behind the curtain of democracy while its an open secret that its hardly anything more than a procedural democracy. Lets make them a real democracy and see where it takes them.

Gee and then people wonder why people in the West doubt Muslims' real intentions. Man come out of it; people from all religions can be good or bad. As long as they keep religion to their personal lives rather than as a tool to control people in the political sphere, things will be peaceful and coexistential.

I'm a Muslim too, but I'd much rather live in a democratic Muslim-inhabited state than a theocratic Islamic state.

Moreover, how is what your saying different from what Jinnah claimed will happen to the Muslims if we stayed with India. Sometimes I find this dichotomy in educated Pakistanis about what our country was founded on to be unbelievable.

 

[Madplayer]

Gee and then people wonder why people in the West doubt Muslims' real intentions. Man come out of it; people from all religions can be good or bad. As long as they keep religion to their personal lives rather than as a tool to control people in the political sphere, things will be peaceful and coexistential.

I'm a Muslim too, but I'd much rather live in a democratic Muslim-inhabited state than a theocratic Islamic state.

Moreover, how is what your saying different from what Jinnah claimed will happen to the Muslims if we stayed with India. Sometimes I find this dichotomy in educated Pakistanis about what our country was founded on to be unbelievable.

What did i say which you didnt like?
Did i say muslims should get control of the lands and draw jews out? Or did i say they should chuck democracy out after they assume control?
My entire point is to shift power to the people from whom the land was taken to create a new country. Thats my stand on it. If you dont like it, okay. If you think Muslims of Middle east should think of the west who has clearly been their well wisher as we can see, then thats your opinion and i respectfully disagree.
Finally, India and Pakistan are a completely different case. Their location, their history, the entire context is different. India and Pakistan by and large came to a mutual agreement. Nobody is blockading the other and dictating how the other should live. We cant compare apples to oranges.

 

[KingKhanWC]

This clown prince himself doesn't have the right to any land in Arabia. A stooge has no right to discuss ownership.

 

[BlackShadow]

Real gutsy coming from a Muslim leader. Too bad most Muslim nations would still not come out of their stone age mentality.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Real gutsy coming from a Muslim leader. Too bad most Muslim nations would still not come out of their stone age mentality.

Maybe they are waiting for the Hindu leaders to set the example?

 

[BlackShadow]

Maybe they are waiting for the Hindu leaders to set the example?

A Muslim leader has already set the example. He should be easier to follow.

 

[Markhor]

The statement is nothing new, Salman is reaffirming what the Saudis sponsored in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

There won't be any negotiations as long as Netanyahu continues being propped up in power by the far-right, pro-settler elements in Israel with people like Naftali Bennett. With the location of the settlements, its also increasingly difficult to create a contiguous Palestinian state. Israel will never accept a one state solution as it'd no longer be a Jewish State.

One of the more interesting ideas I've read is of an Israeli-Palestinian Confederation which would be the best of both worlds. A loose union of two states akin to the European Union that allows free movement of people, goods and service. You don't have to kick the half a million West Bank settlers out - they can vote for Knesset elections - whilst Israel and Palestine cooperate on security and maintain economic ties. Jerusalem can be a shared capital of both confederations.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Real gutsy coming from a Muslim leader. Too bad most Muslim nations would still not come out of their stone age mentality.

He is still displaying a stone age mentality, it is pointless arguing for a political solution with Israel while waging a proxy war in Yemen. I don't see how we can praise his peace overtures in one direction while he is waging war in another. Your view?

 

[troodon]

This is a good approach. Slowly and steadily they should push for 2 things :

1) one nation combining Israel and Palestine.

2) Stronger democratic values in the combined nation.

In a few decades, the muslim population would out number that of Jews and they can assume control of what had been taken away from them.

Israel has historically hidden behind the curtain of democracy while its an open secret that its hardly anything more than a procedural democracy. Lets make them a real democracy and see where it takes them.

How will Muslims outnumber Jews? By producing more children? Do you know what happens when the demographic balance changes? It will not be pretty for both parties. Israel will never let Muslim population take over and they will not sit quite and watch the circus.

Putting Jews and Muslims in one place will be a recipe for disaster.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

MBS is only being practical - Israel exists and isn’t going anywhere. Only crackpot leaders with their head in the sand and nations which have delusions to be the thakedaar of Islam and the global ummah think otherwise.

 

[IMMY69]

I would like to think that after decades of trying to fool everyone that most people can now see through all this rubbish.......

If anything it’s even more blatant now...
Spread extremism, arm them, let them call themselves ISIS... funny how ISIS doesn’t target the Israelies??

It’s a load of rubbish.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

MBS is only being practical - Israel exists and isn’t going anywhere. Only crackpot leaders with their head in the sand and nations which have delusions to be the thakedaar of Islam and the global ummah think otherwise.

Which is fine, I don't have any problem with him recognising Israel, even if it is a state built on religious fundamentalism. What I don't understand is, if he can come to terms with Israel, why does he not show a similar softening of position with Iran re Yemen? Iran is a reasonable state I presume, they have had great long standing ties with India and Russia, so it's not as if they are beyond reason.

 

[Yossarian]

He's simply trying to consolidate his power with the help of the Americans (read Israel supporting Congress and White House) and the Israelis themselves. After all he's created enemies out of virtually all of the rest of his extended family, the thousands of princes of The House of Saud, along with confiscating most of the wealth of the major Saudi investors and business owners, as well as alienating the powerful clergy.

Anybody who thinks that the aforementioned groups will remain toothless, remain rolled over, and won't try to take him down (and probably succeed) is living in cuckoo land. This is just the calm before the coming storm. He's racing against time trying to build a safe shelter with the help of the Americans and the Israelis in return for acting as their stooge and doing their bidding.

 

[DeadBall]

Pak/Brit/SC Muslims chest thumping about a people that does not give a hoot about their own Kashmiri problem. Lets see how Palestinian/Arabs will repay them for their loyalty to the Ummah once (if ever) they do gain independence or at least achieve a two state solution.

 

[Lonewarrior]

MBS is only being practical - Israel exists and isn’t going anywhere. Only crackpot leaders with their head in the sand and nations which have delusions to be the thakedaar of Islam and the global ummah think otherwise.

and name of that nation is ?

 

[cricketjoshila]

Off course Israel does, but they do not have a right to indiscriminately killing innocent, destroying house to build a new one for an European Jews.

Why not let them exist peacefully according to the present borders?

 

[RickyG]

Why not let them exist peacefully according to the present borders?

I don't care much for the Palestinian cause but you can clearly see that Israel has consistently forcibly removed Palestinians from their homes/land to create more Jewish settlements. Don't think they can peacefully exist under these circumstances.

 

[humzy]

Sounds like a pretty mature and calculated response to me. Both people of the two nations deserve to live peacefully in their own lands. The past is the past we need to move forward with this situation.

 

[Greenstorm]

Pak/Brit/SC Muslims chest thumping about a people that does not give a hoot about their own Kashmiri problem. Lets see how Palestinian/Arabs will repay them for their loyalty to the Ummah once (if ever) they do gain independence or at least achieve a two state solution.

I never understood this logic. Much maligned concept of ummah only means that all Muslims are like a family and that we should help any Muslim that is in need(in the eyes of Pakistanis). Moreover, Islam considers every Muslim as equal so if Arabs or anyone considers themselves as superior than that is their problem not ours. In other words most of the Pakistanis support muslims of Kashmir, Palestine, Myanmar and Bosnia because of Islam and not because of any special love for Arabs etc.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Sounds like a pretty mature and calculated response to me. Both people of the two nations deserve to live peacefully in their own lands. The past is the past we need to move forward with this situation.

Taken in isolation I agree. But then I don't see why there is a contradictory stance with regard to Yemen. Peace with Israel while bombing a poor country like Yemen into the stone age seems like this whole modern and liberal image is a facade. Unless of course his war mongering has some hidden far reaching progressive motive which we are unaware of.

 

[ManFan]

The predictions of Sheikh Imran Hosein getting truer and truer by the day concerning events in the ME.

 

[Justcrazy]

The predictions of Sheikh Imran Hosein getting truer and truer by the day concerning events in the ME.

To an extent you are right.

This King deserves to be made takfeer of.

 

[BlackShadow]

He is still displaying a stone age mentality, it is pointless arguing for a political solution with Israel while waging a proxy war in Yemen. I don't see how we can praise his peace overtures in one direction while he is waging war in another. Your view?

I agree, but how is a political solution with Israel pointless?

 

[James]

Sounds like a pretty mature and calculated response to me. Both people of the two nations deserve to live peacefully in their own lands. The past is the past we need to move forward with this situation.

Yep. I would back a two-state solution, with Palestine as a minimum to comprise Gaza and the West Bank along with all illegal settlements to be returned and East Jerusalem as the capital city. Meanwhile Israel would still keep the majority of its existing territory and could either nominate West Jerusalem or Tel Aviv as its capital.

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

This new crown prince is very polarizing but I'm supportive of his new policies and rulings. About time KSA decided to change in certain things.

 

[Madplayer]

How will Muslims outnumber Jews? By producing more children? Do you know what happens when the demographic balance changes? It will not be pretty for both parties. Israel will never let Muslim population take over and they will not sit quite and watch the circus.

Putting Jews and Muslims in one place will be a recipe for disaster.

Jews could nothing to stop the muslim population from growing if it is made into a complete democracy. That was one of the conditions i mentioned.

 

[Braveheart]

If you ask people in the Security industry, they will tell you that that most Arab countries have been trading intensely with Israeli companies for Technology and Arms related services for the last two decades.
A recent Security and Arms fair in London saw 45% of the traders/exhibitors being of Israeli origin, with the majority of deals being carried out with representatives from Saudi and other Middle Eastern countries.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I agree, but how is a political solution with Israel pointless?

Because while he is talking about a political solution with Israel, which in theory would lead to a more peaceful region, but his actions are destabilising the middle east by carrying out bombing raids on Yemen due to a fruitless proxy war with Iran. So it's a case of saying one thing, but doing another.