Obama planted, Trump harvested

Any Arab-Israeli summit to serve desires of sponsors

“IN 2009, the former US president Barack Obama spoke at the Cairo University about the importance of countering extremism and terrorism. He spoke 9/11, an attack carried out by the terrorists on US soil and said this group had nothing to do with Islam except for identity,” columnist wrote for daily.

“‘This will not negatively affect the Muslim citizens because they are part of the American civilization’, he added. He then talked about ways of developing the joint cooperation between the United States and the Arabs and America’s intimate relationship with Israel, stressing its right to establish its state and the importance of dialogue and sitting at the table of negotiations to solve the pending issues between the two parties.

“Obama then brought into play his mischievous intelligence and talked about the right of the Palestinians to live in peace after the long suffering they had experienced over the past 60 years without giving solutions or putting in place a plan of action. He also tried to portray the good intentions of the United States denying any expansionist intentions, and gave the example of Iraq saying the Americans have given the Iraqis the chance to run the affairs of their country.

“In his speech, President Obama knew how to mix poison with honey. At times he cited a Quranic verse and at other times he spoke about freedom and the right of peoples to manage their affairs. The subject of freedom is one of his priorities and he seeks to apply it in practice. He succeeded in doing so through the Arab spring machinery which destroyed the greenery and the land. Those who manufacture Al-Qaeda must reap DAESH.

“President Trump at least is much more crystal clear because he has put forward the interests of the Americans and made it his top priority unlike his predecessors. He said the world has to pay for the security and addressed the Gulf region with a threatening voice saying if they don’t pay their very survival is at stake.

“The truth is Trump has harvested what Obama had planted and that the plan of normalization with the Zionist entity will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the US diplomacy in the region, the region which is on the verge of changes at the foreign policy level because the US administration has used the stick and carrot.

“The Arabs and the Gulf states must be cautious of the promises made by President Trump. The Gulf states have to pay 19 billion dollars and he will get it.

“In the end, Trump did not come up with new things. His speech to confront terrorism and wipe out extremism from Syria, Iraq and Libya was what was said by his predecessor Barack Obama.

“In my view and many others and taking into account all that is happening in the Arab world today the real winner is the Zionist entity and that America will never abandon its support for Israel. It will continue to create a state of enmity with us every day and impose normalization and recognition of the Zionist entity on us accompanied by the conditions spelled out by Israel, primarily with the closure of the Palestinian file and forgetting about the Al-Aqsa mosque.

“Those who want to know the US position towards the Arabs must recall what the late Egyptian President Mohammed Anwar el-Sadat had said when he accepted the terms and condition to stop the October War that he was not fighting Israel but it was a war with America.”

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Faisal Al-Sharifi

“A few days ago, the New York Times published a report which said the US President Donald Trump hopes to hold an Arab-Israeli summit perhaps next summer. The newspaper did not say how the US President will go about his plan to make his plan successful,” columnist wrote for daily.

“What matters us is to what extent the Arabs are willing and prepared to sit at the same table with the Israelis and discuss their agenda, which so far remains unknown.

“Have we reached a stage where the Arab-Israeli conflict must be discussed under US auspices at a joint summit, especially after the failure of all Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, which were sponsored by the United States in the past?

“On the other hand, is the US President Trump aware that the Israelis have already turned a deaf year to the Arab initiative which was launched by Saudi Arabia in 2002? The Israelis have stayed mum in the face of the initiative and the issue remains rather suspended.

“Does President Trump know that Israel has put the Hamas document in the trash even before the proposal was announced? So what will be the appropriate atmosphere that Trump plans to create before he brings the disputing parties to the table of negotiations?

“President Trump must be fully aware that the Israeli politicians are not offering anything for nothing and peace is certainly not one of those things which they will offer on a silver platter and the reason for this one and only – to continue building settlements with the aim of creating a greater Israel and Judaization of East Jerusalem.

“Peace cannot be accomplished with such policy. It is no secret that if we say that such a summit -- if at all takes place -- will not without bargains from Israel with least losses.

“What makes it worse and confirms the truth that the Israelis are not serious. Take for example what has been said by Netanyahu on the Golan Heights. He said the Golan Heights are not on the table for any future discussions as if it is a non-negotiable arbitrary annexation.

“Therefore, we will say that any future summit between the Arabs and Israel will serve the desires of their sponsors, that is to say how to keep the gains in the hands of the Jews.

“Hence, peace, coexistence and submission to the reality will be imposed on us unconditionally on our disintegrated Arab nation with little or no losses for Israel. It is a painful reality and we hope it will not happen. Steadfastness is thousand times better than signing on the eternal submissiveness.”

“I think there has been a lot of talk about the US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia to attend the Arab-Islamic-US summit in his first overseas tour since he took office. However, there are also aspects about this visit that have not been publicized. The GCC people should be convinced first with that before listening to the propaganda that we always hear from some of the Arab media outfits,”

wrote for daily. “We should note that the Gulf States are among the few Arab countries that have maintained their stability in light of the wave of chaos witnessed in the Arab world. The reason for this is definitely the good governance of the GCC countries compared to other Arab countries, not forgetting the mistakes and negative aspects we must recognize. Nevertheless, the fact is that our systems, compared to the rest of the systems in the Arab world, excels in terms of governance, and not the wealth that our countries possess like what the propagandists claim because a lot of Arab countries are wealthier than us and have more resources than us even if they do not include oil.

“Besides the Gulf countries today has an entity that unites them – the Gulf Cooperation Council. Despite the slow pace in achieving some of their objectives and the differences that emerge now and then, the GCC has a unified mechanism to a certain extent which is lost by the entire Arab world.

“The GCC states never held hostile stances against any of the countries in the region or against the world issues. They have always been a positive element in supporting stability and peace.

“All the countries of the world seek to make ties with the United States of America in order to achieve their interests. All the countries around the world, without any exception, wish to reach agreements with the USA. There is no big deal or criticisms raised about this until the Gulf states take same steps to reach deals with the USA. Then the media of these revolutionary Arabs depict the GCC as a moneypaying machine, deliberately forgetting the behavior of the entire world towards the White House and its commitment to a series of agreements.

“How could they forget to mention that President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia is seen as launch pad to a chaotic region?”

“The global race in the Arab region has become noticeably clear for the observers and those interested in the region’s affairs. The alignment of Arabs has become peculiar in a manner that political analysts are posing its details after they overlooked its reasons and variables,” wrote for

daily. “Today, some find there are two trends in the regional reality which are globally supported. Some see precursors of war around. A testimony to that is the weapons deal at an unprecedentedly high cost. Others see the peace trend of the event as more attainable, especially with the scuffles faced by the US President Donald Trump in the US local politics.

“Undoubtedly, between the American stances of hesitance and the Russian decisiveness, these two major countries will not engage in any direct war regardless of the development of events. However, they will continue to monitor the Arab-Arab conflict, and will never allow their interests to be violated in any way possible.

“Therefore, it would be wise for us not to overshoot our dreams and ambitions beyond the reality of these two major countries. It is unfortunate that some of the Arab countries talk as though they are the ones running the policies of these major countries.

“We are forgetting the support of the West during the Arab revolutions to oust the Ottoman Empire. Later to the Arab surprise, the same western forces drew the maps in a manner that serve their interests. The history is repeating itself. As the former Zionist minister Moshe Dayan once said, Arabs never read.”

“Stories about the discovery of spoilt foodstuff in restaurants, stores and public markets have become so familiar that we cannot watch a single television news program or read the local page of daily newspapers which are free of such stories,” columnist

wrote for daily. “Serious stories which touch public health are no longer interesting for citizens who lost any hope that the government is capable of putting an end to such a dangerous phenomenon.

“It is quite known that each time banned or illegal substances are found or confiscated, there are similar or larger quantities smuggled into the markets. This happens in the case of drugs and all sorts of illegal substances.

“This dangerous phenomenon started about six or seven years ago but it is increasing day after day especially during some occasions including the advent of the month of Ramadan. Among the most dangerous incidents was the discovery a large quantity of spoilt babies’ milk ready for sale.

“A video clip showed a restaurant employee, who returned to his country when his contract ended, testifying that while he was working in the restaurant they used spoilt ingredients to prepare meals served to customers. It is true that such claims cannot be verified but the man did not mention the name of the restaurant or the owner so his story seems credible.

“In Saudi Arabia, if a trader deals with spoilt foodstuff or other products, he is defamed by publishing his name and the name of his company in addition to the criminal penalty he receives. In America, the action is taken by consumer protection organizations.”

“After the recent summit in Riyadh, the situation of the region will be quite different compared to the past,” wrote for daily.

“Without involving the temporary political analysis of the summit, I believe the summit is not just a political event but a historical turning point which will reflect on all relations of the regional countries.

“The Guardian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud attracted the entire world’s attention to Riyadh, which is the Capital city of the Islamic world. He managed to restore the Saudi-American relations, rendering it stronger than ever before. The summit proved the superiority of Saudi politics, not only regionally but also in the international level.

“The Riyadh Summit restored the harmony among the Gulf countries and identified the right direction as well as enhanced cooperation and adoption of unified stances. This means the coming phase will witness political calmness and obvious compromise among the regional countries. This will bring about effective handling of the issues especially in areas where struggles are prevalent, namely Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. This means, the struggles will be reduced and peace agreements are likely to be reached. It will also bring about an end to the proxy wars that the region has been suffering from for a long time.”

— Compiled by Ahmed Al-Shazli