Posted on 11/07/2017 12:59:49 PM PST by wtd
From TOI:
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Saudi Arabia unexpectedly on Monday to meet with King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman, with the Gulf kingdom at the height of a major crackdown on members of the royal family.
Abbas had been in Egypt, where he was scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, when he was summoned to Riyadh to meet with the Saudi rulers, according to the official PA news site Wafa.
The timing is very curious, as this sudden invitation came at the same time of the current upheaval in Saudi Arabia where some leaders were placed under house arrest.
Palestinians are making jokes about it:
Some social media users suggested that Abbas had been summoned to Saudi Arabia to hand in his resignation letter, in the same manner as Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned from Riyadh on Saturday.
Others tried to guess which luxury hotel Abbas would be placed under house arrest in.
The tweets were in reference to the wave of arrests of tens of Saudi princes and businessmen and their detention at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, as well as Saad's resignation.
One Arab analyst did float an interesting idea, though.
As the PA is slowly working to take over parts of Gaza, Hamas plans to maintain its military forces - exactly the way Hezbollah does in Lebanon outside the Lebanese army.
And Hamas has been very chummy with Iran, with their leaders visiting Iran only a couple of weeks ago.
Saudi Arabia is sufficiently worried about Iran that it may be possible that this is meant to push Abbas to stop any more encroachment by the mullahs into Gaza.
If this was only about the moribund "peace process" it could have waited. But when it comes to threats from Iran, and during the ongoing negotiations between the PA and Hamas under Egyptian oversight, this theory makes as much sense as any other.
Yes. Or just maybe a long shot — that the Saudi Prince really wants to Hell end Muslim terrorist murders of innocent people all around the world ? If so, he’ll end Wahhabism and Saudi financing and organizing and preaching aggression invasions and attacks. And he’ll execute abbas as a fine example of what it means to put a real end to Islam being seen by the world as identical with mass murder terrorist gangs like plo pa and etc.
From an article I was reading about a $500Billion dollar project to build a 10,000 sq mile ‘utopian city’ called Neom. Prince Mohammed bin Salman said: “We were not like this in the past. We only want to go back to what we were — the moderate Islam that is open to the world, open to all the religions. [...] 70% of the Saudi people are less than 30 years old, and quite frankly we will not waste 30 years of our lives in dealing with extremist ideas.” This is the guy who is the new ruler of Saudi Arabia and is in the process of purging lots of people in power. Talks about peace talks are rumored for the region. Makes you wonder if a change from business as usual is possible for the region.
Abbas’ term ended years ago. Everybody still plays like he is relevant as the alternative is dealing directly with Hamas. But Abbas has no real power. If he were to agree to any of the Israeli offers he would probably be killed or removed by those around him. Abbas is playing a game to keep the funding going. It’s all about money. He has no leadership role.
It will be interesting to find out what happens from this meeting with the Saudis, as they surely understand the man’s untenable position when it comes to negotiating.
Trump has apparently achieved a sea change in the middle east. He has brought the Saudis on board and the Saudis are actively playing their new role. The deal is probably, partially, a way to counter Iran. The cost of US protection is now ending clandestine support of terrorism, that being the recent arrests, and to reform Islam. If you want to know what reforming Islam is likely to look like, picture the Catholic Reformation, but with bullets, bombs and missiles. It may be too late to do it without nuclear wars. On the good side, for us, it is likely that any nuclear war will be between Muslims. They won’t touch Israel or America as they may sound stupid to us, but they aren’t stupid when DEATH is on the line.
You are speaking of the NEOM Project, here is a good video about it...
Geo-economics of Saudi Arabia’s NEOM project
https://youtu.be/iKgwm6WKhSg
And, a video by them same creator from last month about Prince Salman...
Abdication of King Salman in Saudi Arabia
https://youtu.be/UzTBev_svWI
I think that it’s Trump.
Him, and a return to a USA we have not seen in AT LEAST a generation or so.
At least in the promotional video.
miracles can happen occasionally
Yes, that an odd promotional video. Also, it’s worth noting, the location of the NEOM Project is about the most distant viable location you could possibly pick from both Mecca and Medina. (That said, likewise very distant from the Shia minority enclaves in Saudi Arabia which are near the Persian Gulf.).
But if the religious police are allowed into NEOM, then all bets are off.
Especially about Saturday evening near sundown ...
Speaking of Dubai, I know a German National that works for an international corporation that I won’t name. He likes beer. He was headed to Dubai and I joked it will be some time be for you have a good beer. He said “No, no, you can drink beer their, just not liquor -none whatsoever.”
It’s interesting to me that we see the Chinese building these idealic, but empty, cities for the sake of command and control.
And, you see the Saudi’s following the same path, but for the arrogance of palace life. Do you have to design an entire city to attract some industry and reckon jobs? It’s like they are happy to build a middle class in a terrarium they control. Intuitively, that should tell us they will fail miserably!
As the PA is slowly working to take over parts of Gaza, Hamas plans to maintain its military forces - exactly the way Hezbollah does in Lebanon outside the Lebanese army. And Hamas has been very chummy with Iran...Perhaps the first salvo of the current Saudi roundup?
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