Free Republic

Appearing from Riyadh on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace this morning, Secretary Tillerson fielded a slightly offbeat question and responded with what (outside President Trump’s speech) may have been the quote of the day (transcript here). Wallace observed that Tillerson asked Tillerson about the traditional Arab sword dance in which he participated upon his arrival yesterday. “And I have to tell you,” Wallace commented, “you looked pretty good while you were doing it – frankly, more comfortable than the President or Commerce Secretary Ross. Had you been practicing, sir?” Tillerson responded: “Well, I hadn’t been practicing, Chris, but it...

The bizarre story of the refusal of British royals to visit Israel, while they are constantly in the Arab world, continues. I wrote about this phenomenon here, last February, when Prince Charles visited Saudi Arabia. As I noted then, the Queen has never set foot in Israel and Prince Charles set foot there briefly only once, for the Rabin funeral. By contrast, in just the month of November 2014 we found Prince Andrew and Prince Harry at what the Foreign Office must have considered a diplomatic necessity: the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Prince Andrew also visited Saudi Arabia (at the...

Britain’s Prince Charles, dressed in a traditional Saudi robe and a checkered red and white keffiyeh, joined members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family in performing the “Ardah” sword dance near Riyadh. Charles, who arrived Monday on his second visit to the kingdom in a year, swayed his sword to the rhythm of drumbeats at the annual cultural and heritage Al-Janadriya festival, late on Tuesday near Riyadh. He was accompanied in the dance by several princes, including deputy prime minister Moqren bin Abdul Aziz and National Guard chief Prince Mitaab, who is King Abdullah’s son. The Prince of Wales, in a...