Category: Islam

Dec 05

The new peace partners and the next war

Analysis: A new kind of peace is taking shape before our eyes between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. No longer cold, indifferent and hostile, peace is hiding in the highest places of the government echelons. Together, the new peace partners are learning to assess the dimensions of the next conflict, which will likely be the worst we’ve ever experienced.

Smadar Perry |Published:  29.11.17 , 23:32

An old friend called me from Jordan on Monday. Help me out of the imbroglio, he requested. I have an urgent personal issue, and I must get to Tel Aviv. I need no explanation from my friend: the Israeli Embassy in Amman has been under lock and key for four months now, and there is no one to issue him an entry visa and stamp his passport.

Here’s a reminder: King Abdullah is angry with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to end the security guard affair. The Jordanian street is furious over the unsolved death of two citizens. Israel promised to hand over the investigation report and bring the guard to justice. The king and the street have lost their patience.

A solution has already been found for hundreds of passports that got stranded in the empty embassy building, including passports from Egypt which were sent to Amman after the Israeli Embassy in Cairo was shut down. In Jordan, new documents were issued. In Cairo, anyone wishing to visit Israel is required to first of all present “the yellow note.” The process of obtaining that note, in the general security service’s offices, is deterring. No one wants their name and address to be listed, as someone may pay them a visit at night to inquire why they are rushing to Tel Aviv. No one wants to “get caught in normalization” either.

A new kind of peace is taking shape before our eyes. It’s no longer cold, indifferent and hostile peace, but peace hiding in the highest places of the government echelons. Leader vis-à-vis leader, in Egypt’s case, and apparatus vis-à-vis apparatus, in Jordan’s case.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announces at his own initiative that he talks to Netanyahu, and the prime minister makes a comment about “an interesting conversation with the Egyptian president.” As for the angry king of Jordan, the street no longer has to launch protests against signs pointing to normal relations. Everything is concealed, and Israel is drifting away.

Now, a third partner is entering the picture. The young crown prince from Saudi Arabia, who is imposing a new political, economic and maybe even social order. As far as he’s concerned, the sky’s the limit. Who should we believe: Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is scattering statements about covert contacts and cooperation, or Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who is firmly denying this, and insisting that such things never happened?

I’m going to guess that had there really been no contacts, the Saudi minister would have allowed himself to keep quiet. There are too many signs stacking up on the ground that there is, in fact, a dialogue going on at a high rank. Riyadh and Jerusalem are connected by a whole lot of interests under the rug, led by the Iranian threat. I’m willing to believe the Saudi foreign minister when he insists that we have yet to reach the path of open relations. The test will take place soon: will the Saudis issue entry visas for the Israeli chess team, and how will be greeted, if at all?

The new peace draws the boundaries of the “good guys” camp versus the “bad guys” camp in our neighborhood, between the moderate Sunni-Muslim axis and the evil Shiite axis, as Iran has already succeeded in settling in four capitals: Baghdad, Damascus, Sanaa and Beirut. The Revolutionary Guards are not on an annual field trip; they have come to gain strongholds.

The moderate axis is learning how to walk on eggshells. If a conflict breaks out in one of the places, the next war will be the worst and toughest war we’ve ever experienced, with weapons we never dreamed of, soaked with blood and destruction. It won’t be a war between states. It will be a war within the Muslim camp which everyone is now trying to curb, and Israel—being stuck in the middle—will have trouble evading it.

Together, the new peace partners are learning to assess the dimensions of the next conflict. We should take note of the warnings from one side (Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah) and the “all clear” signals from our side. No one is planning to initiate an adventure in Lebanon against the Iranians and Hezbollah’s missile arsenal. No one in Riyadh, Cairo and Amman will assume responsibility for taking the first step against Iran, when no one knows where and how it will end. And peace? It will remain in its new, covert place, moving away from the civil level, because the leaders are busy.

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8871

Nov 29

After Mosque Attack Exposes Egypt’s Terror Weakness, Israel Offers to “Lend a Hand”

By JNS November 27, 2017 , 11:30 am

“Yehoshua established friendship with them; he made a pact with them to spare their lives, and the chieftains of the community gave them their oath.” Joshua 9:15 (The Israel Bible™)

By: Adam Abrams

After terrorists killed more than 300 people during prayers at a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last Friday, experts say that weaknesses in the Arab country’s counter-terrorism operations will likely lead to increased Israeli-Egyptian security cooperation.

The terror attack, which occurred at the al-Rawdah mosque in the northern Sinai town of Bir al-Abed, was one of the deadliest in recent memory in Egypt. While no organization has claimed responsibility for the attack, the terrorists hoisted Islamic State flags.

Despite ongoing efforts to secure the Sinai by Egypt’s military, Islamic State-affiliated terrorists have waged an insurgency in the region, perpetrating a succession of deadly attacks on Egypt’s security forces and civilians.

Last Friday’s attack “brings Israel and Egypt [closer] together,” said Prof. Joshua Teitelbaum, a senior research fellow at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

“Egypt and Israel have a common goal in crushing these [terror groups] operating in the Sinai, for two reasons,” Teitelbaum told JNS.org. “[Sinai-based terrorists affiliated with Islamic State] have attacked Israel in the past, mostly with mortar or rocket fire to Eilat. Israel also cares about the security of the Egyptian regime [and views it] as a bulwark of pragmatic stable countries in the region, along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan. So Israel will do what it can to help Egyptian security.”

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared a nationwide three-day mourning period following the attack, while the country’s air force initiated strikes to eliminate terrorist hideouts in the northern Sinai on Saturday night.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said regarding the attack that terrorism “will be defeated even more quickly if all countries work against it together,” while Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said Israel “stands shoulder to shoulder with Egypt and other countries in the region and the international arena in the war against radical Islamic terror.”

“The Israeli defense establishment expressed its sympathies and, as always, is willing to lend a hand to any country in order to help fight terror,” said an Israeli security official on Sunday.

According to Egyptian media reports, armed terrorists using all-terrain vehicles planted bombs outside of the mosque, then detonated them and opened heavy fire on more than 500 worshippers as they attempted to flee. The terrorists also set the worshippers’ vehicles ablaze and used them to block escape routes.

Experts say the terrorists’ ability to plan and carry out such a large attack is indicative of underlying flaws in Egyptian security, intelligence-gathering and counter-terrorism efforts.

“If several terrorists can be packed in SUVs and just drive up to a mosque and start shooting at them, then the Egyptian control of the Sinai leaves a lot to be desired. Egypt has never had great control of the Sinai,” Teitelbaum said.

The attack “reflects several characteristics of the ISIS Sinai Province’s current posture,” said Assaf Orion, a senior research fellow at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, referring to Islamic State’s Sinai affiliate.

“Substantial capacity to execute large-scale attacks, freedom of movement across the area of operations and a high level of operational security allowed [the terrorists] to mount a surprise attack of this scale,” Orion, the former head of the Strategic Division in the IDF General Staff’s Planning Directorate, told JNS.org. “All of these tenets may indicate possible shortcomings in the counter-ISIS efforts in intelligence, early warning and operational posture and response on the defenders’ side.”

Experts and officials fear that Islamic State’s recent loss of its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq has prompted the terror group to turn its attention to other lawless areas of the Middle East, such as the Sinai.

Orion said Egypt and Israel are “well aware” of the threats posed by Islamic State’s Sinai affiliate to each country’s civilians and security forces.

“Their mutual commitment to stand against terrorism, secure their common border and buttress the [1979 Israeli-Egyptian] peace treaty are well-known and often declared, and severe common threats are a stimulant to stronger common responses,” said Orion.

Following last Friday’s attack, Orion expects to see “heightened counter-ISIS efforts by the Egyptian Armed Forces in the Sinai, with Israel willfully concurring to Egyptian military capabilities and activities, which are originally limited by the peace treaty’s security annex.”

Orion added that Israel likely is already “actively coordinating with the Egyptian neighbors through their military liaison system.”

“Let’s not forget, Israel controlled the Sinai from 1967 to 1982,” said Teitelbaum. “It still has a lot of contacts there and a lot of amassed knowledge [about the area], so I’m sure it’s sharing what it knows.”

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8850

Nov 13

Iranian Government Reveals It Plans To Utterly “Wipe Saudi Arabia Out Of Existence”

By Walid Shoebat on September 28, 2016 in Featured, General

While Obama failed to protect Saudi Arabia today with his Veto, now Iranian government reveals that it plans to “utterly wipe Saudi Arabia out of existence”. Also learn about the Iranian Sejjil, a prophecy by Iran to destroy Mecca hidden in the tip of its favorite missile it designated for Mecca. So lets start:

What circulates the Middle Eastern media has not yet been reported by western media. Special Adviser to the commander of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Hassan Firuz Abadi on Tuesday threatened to “erase Saudi Arabia and the Wahhabis from existence” if Riyadh committed “any stupid moves”.

The Iranian FARS news agency quoted Firuz Abadi as saying that:

“We’re not going to war against any Muslim country, but Saudi Arabia is an exception. If it commits any stupid move they’ll get a penalty, that is erasing Arabia and Wahhabism out of existence, and if the defense necessitated an attack, we will attack and if we attacked the enemy, it certainly will be a reply to whatever we consider an attack, but it will not be a pre-emptive attack”. (translated by Shoebat.com)

In other words, Iran is telling Saudi Arabia that they will attack even if unprovoked and that such an attack will not even have to be pre-emptive where Saudi Arabia must show real aggression towards Iran.

Abadi pointed out that “even the U.S. recently admitted, Iran has missile deterrent capabilities. World powers admits that Iran can accurately perform a missile attack.”

While Iranian forces are no match technologically for Riyadh’s lavishly equipped military, Iran’s air force is mostly comprised of obsolete airframes, Tehran can use what equipment and troops it does have in clever ways to offset that advantage.

Iran has a host of missiles at its disposal including the liquid-fueled Emad, which has a 1,000-mile range. It also has the Shahab family of ballistic missiles. The latest variant, the developmental Shabab-4, could have a range as great as 2,400 miles.

But the most capable Iranian missiles are the solid-fuel, two-stage road-mobile Sejjil series ballistic missiles—which are very difficult to hunt down. They also have very quick reaction times.

“The Sejjil 3 would reportedly have three stages, a maximum range of 4,000 km, and a launch weight of 38,000 kg,” according to the Claremont & George C. Marshall Institute’s Missile Threat project.

What most do not consider is the name of the missile “Sejjil” which tells the whole story since it stems from the Quran. No ‘expert’ is even linking its prophetic symbolism. Sejjil stems from the history just prior to Muhammad’s birth: Year of the Elephant (Āmu l-Fīl), 570 AD, where according to Islamic tradition, it was in this year that Muhammad was born. The year is the story of Sejjil, the fiery missiles from Allah and Ababeel, the heavenly birds that delivered them and Abraha Al-Ashram‘s elephants, the tanks of the day  destroyed by Allah’s Sejjil.

Sejjil is the name of Iran’s baby pet missile. Sejjil stems from when Abraha was a zealous Christian ruler of Yemen, which was subject to the Kingdom of Aksum of Ethiopia, marched upon the Kaaba with a large army, which included war elephants, intending to demolish the Kaaba. However, the Muslim legend by the Arabs has the story that the lead elephant, known as Mahmud, is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca, and refused to enter. It has been theorized by historians that an epidemic such as by smallpox could have caused such a failed invasion of Mecca.

Abraha’s army had complete war equipment, armour, and the elephants to knock down the Kaaba. Abraha was convinced that he will easily be able to destroy the Kaaba. But what happens next, according to Muslim legend in the Quran, was that Allah’s help arrived according to the Koran in Sura Al-Fil (The Elephant) where Allah sent “Birds of Ababeel to throw stones of Sejjil” on the elephants and the army, which led to their defeat and destruction.

The war was launched as a campaign to destroy Makkah in Arabia and end the pilgrim to the Kaaba and divert Arab worshippers instead towards Christian Yemen at the time, which had a large church built by Abraha.

This forced replacement of holy places is similar to what Iran wants to do proclaiming Karbala over Mecca. In essence, Iran’s naming this missile, Sejjil, is to succeed where Abraha failed to destroy the Kaaba, here now comes Iran’s Sejjil. It is a prophetic message from Iran to Arabia that your Kaaba will be no more and that they will fulfill where Abraha failed.

This Sejjil rock thrown by the Ababeel birds, became a symbol of Arabia’s pride. For example, one Saudi man on a hunting trip in the rugged mountains near the border with Yemen stumbled across a little dark stone, which according to him he instantly recognized as “Sejjil” mentioned in the Koran. A year later, he was offered $four million for the stone but he refused.

After all, this is what was sent by the Almighty Allah carried by the “Ababeel birds to throw Sejjil stones” (pebbles of hell) to destroy an army led by Yemen’s warlord Abraha just before the advent of Islam to knock down the Kaaba. While the story of Abraha’s campaign probably had some truth, the Sejjil part of it was simply an Islamic legend.

And today, Saudi Arabia is cornered, not just by Iran, but by the U.S. Just a few hours ago, in a stinging blow to President Barack Obama, the Senate voted Wednesday to override his veto of a bill to let 9/11 victims sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged role in the terrorist attacks. The U.S. has not forgotten Saudi Arabia’s men who knocked down their handsome Twin Towers. It’s the first time a chamber of Congress has had the votes to overrule Obama on a veto. Not even Saudi’s African slave, messenger of peace, was able to pull it off, Saudi Arabia’s money will not find a safe haven in the U.S. due to all the coming lawsuits.

War analysts presume that if a war ignites between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the Saudi planes will have to make numerous sorties against Iranian targets. This will expose Arabia since the Iranians would launch as many missiles as possible, potentially eliminating much of the Saudi air force and rendering bases unusable. The Saudis would have to flee and the war is over with Iran’s victory.

While the current saber rattling between Iran and Saudi is still in the status of “rumors of wars,” the war scenario is no legend but is daily becoming a reality. Isaiah 21 clearly declares that Persia will destroy Arabia. God predicted it and it will come to pass where Iran will soon mount Mecca with the magnificent thrust force of an elephant and a Sejjil for a suppository.

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8817

Nov 13

Saudi Arabia And Iran On The Brink Of War After Rebel Missile Attack From Yemen Hit Targets In Riyadh

On Monday, a Saudi-led military coalition battling Tehran-backed rebels in Yemen said it reserved the “right to respond” to the missile attack on Riyadh at the weekend, calling it a “blatant military aggression by the Iranian regime which may amount to an act of war”. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir also warned Tehran.

by Geoffrey Grider November 6, 2017

Saudi Arabia and Iran traded fierce accusations over Yemen on Monday, with Riyadh saying a rebel missile attack “may amount to an act of war” and Tehran accusing its rival of war crimes.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The tensions between the Saudi kingdom and the terror-state of Iran have gotten to the brink very quickly. Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen fired a SCUD missile well in the Saudi airspace and hit near their airport in Riyadh. What has the Saudi’s so upset is that this is the farthest-traveling missile they have ever fired, and the Saudis know they need to send a message. Because if they don’t, the next missile could very well be nuclear.

Tensions have been rising between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and predominantly Shiite Iran, which are opposed in disputes and conflicts across the Middle East from Yemen and Syria to Qatar and Lebanon.

On Monday, a Saudi-led military coalition battling Tehran-backed rebels in Yemen said it reserved the “right to respond” to the missile attack on Riyadh at the weekend, calling it a “blatant military aggression by the Iranian regime which may amount to an act of war”. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir also warned Tehran.

“Iranian interventions in the region are detrimental to the security of neighbouring countries and affect international peace and security. We will not allow any infringement on our national security,” Jubeir tweeted.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif issued dismissive tweets over the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in response.

Saudi Arabia blames Iran for missile attack:

“KSA bombs Yemen to smithereens, killing 1000s of innocents including babies, spreads cholera and famine, but of course blames Iran,” he wrote. “KSA is engaged in wars of aggression, regional bullying, destabilising behaviour & risky provocations. It blames Iran for the consequences.”

Saudi forces on Saturday intercepted and destroyed the ballistic missile near Riyadh’s international airport after it was reportedly fired by Shiite Huthi rebels from Yemen. It was the first attempted missile strike by the rebels to reach Riyadh and threaten air traffic, underscoring the growing threat posed by the conflict on Saudi Arabia’s southern border.

The coalition on Monday sealed off air, sea and land borders in Yemen, where it has been battling rebels in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognised government since 2015.

An Iranian foreign ministry statement quoted spokesman Bahram Ghassemi as saying the accusations by the coalition were “unjust, irresponsible, destructive and provocative”. Ghassemi said the missile was fired by the Huthis in response “to war crimes and several years of aggression by the Saudis”.

The missile attack, he said, was “an independent action in response to this aggression,” and Iran had nothing to do with it.

Repeated attempts to bring about a negotiated settlement to the conflict have failed, including a series of UN-backed peace talks. Saudi Arabia has blamed the Huthis for the failed efforts, and on Monday offered rewards totalling $440 million for information on 40 senior officials among the rebels.

Topping the list, with a $30-million reward for tips leading to his capture, was the group’s leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi. The Huthis, allied with Yemen’s ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh in the conflict, have captured the capital Sanaa, forcing Hadi’s government to operate from the southern city of Aden.

Analysts said it was unclear how far Saudi Arabia would be willing to go in the escalating confrontation.

The kingdom is in the midst of an unprecedented purge of its upper ranks, with dozens of senior figures arrested at the weekend, as 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidates his hold on power.

Prince Mohammed, who is also defence minister, is seen as a key supporter of the intervention in Yemen.

Analyst Randa Slim of the Middle East Institute said it was unclear whether the Saudi leadership had “thought through an escalation of the scale they’re hinting at”. Compounding concerns of an escalation, she said, is that US President Donald Trump’s administration has also taken a hard line against Iran “and may not send a deterrent message to Saudi”.

The Saudi-Iran rivalry also played out this weekend in the resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister Saad Hariri, a protege of Riyadh who said he was stepping down because of the “grip” of Iran and its ally Hezbollah on the country.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah hit back on Sunday, saying Hariri’s resignation had been “imposed” by Saudi Arabia.

Iran rejected Hariri’s words as “baseless” and said his resignation was “designed to create tensions in Lebanon and in the region”. Hariri, who announced his resignation in Riyadh, on Monday met Saudi King Salman and “reviewed the situation in Lebanon”, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8815

Nov 13

‘Last days Babylon’ now on drawing board

Joel Richardson urges keeping close eye on Saudi ‘mega-city’

Published: 2 days ago

Mecca, Saudi Arabia is the spiritual home of Islam

It is planned to extend over multiple nations and to dwarf New York City at 33 times its size. The costs are expected to be hundreds of billions of dollars, and it is already attracting investments from some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world.

It’s Neom, the new mega-city planned by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmon.

Located on the Red Sea coast, the city will have a special legal status within Saudi Arabia and will supposedly be fully automated, with robots outnumbering humans.

The city is also supposed to be powered entirely by renewable energy sources, feature free high-speed Internet and will extend over 10,231 square miles, crossing the Egyptian and Jordanian borders. The crown prince also spoke of the kingdom’s willingness to embrace what he called a “normal” life, promoting a form of Islam that “translates to tolerance, to our traditions of kindness.”

Saudi Arabia has debuted a flashy promotional video intended to attract foreign investment, vowing to build a center for global culture with “nothing to hold you back.”

“No set ways of thinking, no restrictions, no divisions, no excuses,” claims the narrator, speaking in a British accent. “Just endless potential. This is the blank page you need to write humanity’s next chapter. Neom … a part of the world set aside for those who want to change the world.”

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8813

Nov 13

Future Saudi king tightens grip on power with arrests including Prince Alwaleed

Stephen Kalin, Katie Paul

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s future king has tightened his grip on power through an anti-corruption purge by arresting royals, ministers and investors including billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal who is one of the kingdom’s most prominent businessmen.

Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of the king and owner of investment firm Kingdom Holding, invests in firms such as Citigroup and Twitter. He was among 11 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers detained, three senior officials told Reuters on Sunday.

The purge against the kingdom’s political and business elite also targeted the head of the National Guard, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, who was detained and replaced as minister of the powerful National Guard by Prince Khaled bin Ayyaf.

The allegations against Prince Alwaleed include money laundering, bribery and extorting officials, one official told Reuters, while Prince Miteb is accused of embezzlement, hiring ghost employees and awarding contracts to his own companies including a $10 billion deal for walkie talkies and bulletproof military gear worth billions of Saudi riyals.

The allegations could not be independently verified and members of the families of those detained could not be reached.

News of the purge came soon after King Salman decreed late on Saturday the creation of an anti-corruption committee chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his 32-year-old favorite son who has amassed power since rising from obscurity three years ago.

The new body was given broad powers to investigate cases, issue arrest warrants and travel restrictions, and seize assets.

“The homeland will not exist unless corruption is uprooted and the corrupt are held accountable,” the royal decree said.

Analysts said the arrests were another pre-emptive measure by the crown prince to remove powerful figures as he exerts control over the world’s leading oil exporter.

The roundup recalls the palace coup in June through which he ousted his elder cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, as heir to the throne and interior minister.

MbS, as he is known, was expected to follow at least by removing Prince Miteb from leadership of the National Guard, a pivotal power base rooted in the kingdom’s tribes.

Over the past year, MbS has become the ultimate decision-maker for the kingdom’s military, foreign, economic and social policies, causing resentment among parts of the Al Saud dynasty frustrated by his meteoric rise.

Saudi Arabia’s stock index was dragged down briefly but recovered to close higher as some investors bet the crackdown could bolster reforms in the long run.

The royal decree said the arrests were in response to “exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to, illicitly, accrue money.”

REFORM AGENDA

The line between public funds and royal money is not always clear in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy ruled by an Islamic system in which most law is not systematically codified and no elected parliament exists.

WikiLeaks cables have detailed the huge monthly stipends that every Saudi royal receives as well as various money-making schemes some have used to finance lavish lifestyles.

Analysts said the purge aimed to go beyond corruption and aimed to remove potential opposition to Prince Mohammed’s ambitious reform agenda, which is widely popular with Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning youth population but faces resistance from some of the old guard more comfortable with the kingdom’s traditions of incremental change and rule by consensus.

In September, the king announced that a ban on women driving would be lifted, while Prince Mohammed is trying to break decades of conservative tradition by promoting public entertainment and visits by foreign tourists.

The crown prince has also slashed state spending in some areas and plans a big sale of state assets, including floating part of state oil giant Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] on international markets.

FILE PHOTO – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Prince Mohammed has also led Saudi Arabia into a two-year-old war in Yemen, where the government says it is fighting Iran-aligned militants, and a row with neighboring Qatar, which it accuses of backing terrorists, a charge Doha denies. Detractors of the crown prince say both moves are dangerous adventurism.

The most recent crackdown breaks with the tradition of consensus within the ruling family, wrote James Dorsey, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“Prince Mohammed, rather than forging alliances, is extending his iron grip to the ruling family, the military, and the National Guard to counter what appears to be more widespread opposition within the family as well as the military to his reforms and the Yemen war,” he said.

Scholar Joseph Kechichian said the interests of the Al Saud dynasty, however, would remain protected.

“Both King Salman and heir apparent Mohammed bin Salman are fully committed to them. What they wish to instill, and seem determined to execute, is to modernize the ruling establishment, not just for the 2030 horizon but beyond it too,” he said.

Many ordinary Saudis praised the crackdown as long-awaited.

OPULENT HOTEL

A Saudi official said former Riyadh Governor Prince Turki bin Abdullah was detained on accusations of corruption in the Riyadh Metro project and taking advantage of his influence to award contracts to his own companies.

Former Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf, a board member of national oil giant Saudi Aramco, was also detained, accused of embezzlement related to the expansion of Mecca’s Grand Mosque and taking advantage of his position and inside information to purchase lands, the official added.

Other detainees include ousted Economy Minister Adel Fakieh, who once played a major role in drafting MbS’ reforms, and Khalid al-Tuwaijiri, who headed the Royal Court under the late King Abdullah.

People on Twitter applauded the arrests of certain ministers, with some comparing them to “the night of the long knives”, a violent purge of political leaders in Nazi Germany in 1934.

Bakr bin Laden, chairman of the big Saudi Binladin construction group, and Alwaleed al-Ibrahim, owner of the MBC television network, were also detained.

At least some of the detainees were held at the opulent Ritz-Carlton hotel in the diplomatic quarter of Riyadh, said sources in contact with the government and guests whose plans had been disrupted.

The hotel’s exterior gate was shuttered on Sunday morning and guards turned away a Reuters reporter, saying it had been closed for security reasons, although private cars and ambulances were seen entering through a rear entrance.

The hotel and an adjacent facility were the site of an international conference promoting Saudi Arabia as an investment destination just 10 days ago attended by at least one of those now being held for questioning.

The detentions follow a crackdown in September on political opponents of Saudi Arabia’s rulers that saw some 30 clerics, intellectuals and activists detained.

Prince Alwaleed, a flamboyant character, has sometimes used his prominence as an investor to aim barbs at the kingdom’s rulers.

In December 2015, he called then-U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump a “disgrace to all America” and demanded on Twitter that he withdraw from the election.

Trump responded by tweeting: “Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our U.S. politicians with daddy’s money. Can’t do it when I get elected.”

His father, Prince Talal, is considered one of the most vocal supporters of reform in the Al Saud family, having pressed for a constitutional monarchy decades ago.

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8811

Oct 30

Bridge Tying Saudi Arabia to Africa May Need Israeli Signoff

By Jonathan Ferziger

October 25, 2017, 4:18 AM EDT October 25, 2017, 1:25 PM EDT

  • Massive project would span waterway that sparked 1967 war
  • Israel sees Gulf of Aqaba as arena for regional cooperation

Connecting Egypt to a new $500 billion Saudi city via a bridge across the Red Sea will require cooperation from Israel, analysts say. Could it one day help integrate the Jewish state with its Arab neighbors?

Israel’s 1979 peace treaty with Egypt guarantees it access to the Red Sea’s Straits of Tiran, which the planned bridge and causeway would cross. That makes Israel’s involvement in the project crucial, says Yoram Meital, chairman of the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies & Diplomacy at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Egypt’s closing of the straits to Israeli shipping in 1967 was one of the central actions that led to that year’s Mideast War.

“There couldn’t be anything close to this unless Israel and the Saudis had the opportunity to discuss in detail their relations and this bridge,” Meital said. “There have to have been back channels.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the project, whose plans were announced Tuesday by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at an international business conference in Riyadh.

Economic Benefits

U.S. President Donald Trump appears to believe Arab nations hold the key to securing peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and has touted economic ties with Saudi Arabia as one of the benefits Israel could see from a peace deal. Israeli leaders have identified the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba region as an ideal place to cement business ties with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt — which, like Israel, all border the waterway.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin addressed the Riyadh conference on Wednesday, and flies to Israel for meetings on Thursday with Netanyahu and other officials. Mnuchin said he is talking to all U.S. allies in the region to work together against “threatening activities” by Iran.

Planning for the 10-kilometer (six-mile) bridge, which would carry road and rail traffic, was made possible by Egypt’s acceptance of Saudi sovereignty last year over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir that sit in the straits between the two countries, in exchange for billions of dollars in aid. Egypt’s four-decade old guarantee of unfettered passage for Israeli ships could create complications for Saudi Arabia under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea if Israel isn’t consulted on the bridge construction, says Simon Henderson, director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“I have no doubt that there have been consultations, either directly or indirectly, perhaps through the United States,” Henderson said. “As long there is no change in the status quo, Israel is presumably happy.”

Hush-Hush

Netanyahu has repeatedly said that relations with moderate Sunni Arab nations are better than ever — though most of the cooperation can’t be discussed because the countries have no formal ties with Israel.

Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief and ambassador to the U.S., Prince Turki al-Faisal, said this week that Netanyahu is exaggerating the extent of Saudi cooperation with Israel and that there are no “under-the-table” talks with the Jewish state. He spoke during an Oct. 22 conference sponsored by the Israel Policy Forum, a liberal advocacy group that distributed a video recording of his remarks.

Israeli business executives say ties with Saudi Arabia are flourishing, particularly in the fields of cybersecurity, infrastructure equipment and water conservation. Many, including Elbit Systems Ltd., Israel’s biggest non-state-owned defense contractor, deal with Saudi Arabia through U.S. subsidiaries and foreign front companies, according to employees, lawyers and Israeli government officials.

“Everybody recognizes the opportunities here, but in order not to ruin them, it’s best not to talk about them at this point,” Israeli Communications Minister Ayoob Kara, a close Netanyahu lieutenant and the only Arab member of his cabinet, said in a phone interview. “We want to find a formula to get above the radar.”

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8792

Oct 11

Analysis: What does historic Saudi-Russia meeting mean for Israel?

Analysis: What does historic Saudi-Russia meeting mean for Israel?
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
10/09/2017
Will Moscow heed Israel and Saudi Arabia’s concerns about Iran in the region?

 

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday wrapped up a four-day visit to Moscow where he met President Vladimir Putin.

It was the first visit by a ruling Saudi king to the Russian capital, a symbolically historic meeting that has wide-ranging implications for the Middle East.

With Iran influence at an all-time high in the region, the visit especially has major implications for Israel as Jerusalem tries to navigate the threats posed by Iran’s involvement in Syria and Lebanon.

Will Moscow heed Israel and Saudi Arabia’s concerns about Iran in the region? Saudi Arabia’s opening to Russia comes in the context of the decade-long decline of US influence in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has been a pillar of US policy and alliances in the region for more than half a century, but under president Barack Obama, the Kingdom began to sense that US policy was drifting from its familiar tether.

At the G20 in January 2016, Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Adel al-Jubeir said he wanted to “improve our relationship with Russia,” and called Russia a “great power.” Obama was snubbed by the Kingdom when he arrived on a visit in April 2016, met on the tarmac by the governor of Riyadh and not the king. According to various reports, Saudi Arabia and Russia have been discussing a major arms deal since 2015.

The visit by the Saudi king comes at a unique time in the Middle East. The post-Arab spring revolutions were meant to bring democracy but instead brought conflict to Libya and Syria. From Saudi Arabia’s point of view, they engendered chaos and extremism that threaten the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia intervened to stop the monarchy in Bahrain from being overthrown in 2011 and backed General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s removal of the Muslim Brotherhood from power in Egypt in 2013. Initially, it supported the rebellion against Bashar Assad, endorsing the Geneva 1 communique and UN Security Council Resolution 2254 that envisioned elections and a transition from Assad’s rule.

Saudi Arabia welcomed Donald Trump’s election and hosted him in May for the Arab Islamic American Summit, attended by 50 Muslim countries; Trump criticized Iran at the summit.

Israel and Saudi Arabia share common interests in concerns about the Iranian threat to the region; Iranian involvement in Syria; and support for Hezbollah.

Saudi Arabia, since the 1989 Taif Accords, has been a keen broker in Lebanese affairs only to watch Hezbollah slowly digest Lebanese politics.

Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has cemented close ties with Moscow through repeated personal meetings and phone calls.

Israel has stressed the importance of denying Iran permanent bases in Syria and its concerns about an Iranian presence near the Golan, particularly after a July cease-fire brokered by Russia, Jordan and the US.

It is “much more than just a symbolic visit,” says former Israel ambassador to Russia Zvi Magen, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies.

“It’s not just a visit of the Saudi King, it’s a change of Russia’s image in the area,” he says, arguing that the Syrian context is important because Russia is the main backer of the Assad regime alongside Iran and Iran is an enemy of Saudi Arabia.

With Saudi Arabia the leader of the Sunni camp in the region, he says there is a “bitter competition” and Israel is involved on the side of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

Russia has become stuck working alongside Iran in Syria, “but Russia is not interested only in Syria or only to be a friend of the Iranian player on this table. They want to be an important player in the region, together with the US.”

In this sense, he says Russia has “crossed a river” in welcoming the Saudi King and his massive 1,500 person entourage.

In the complex chessboard of Russia, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia, Magen says “Israel is not the main factor in this game, but is one of them.”

“We don’t know what will be the result of this visit, but generally speaking Israel is in a good position,” he says.

During the visit, reports emerged that Saudi Arabia had agreed to a memorandum of understanding on arms purchases. According to Al-Arabiya, this could include the S-400 air defense missile system.

Dr. Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, cautions that it could be a long time before this deal happens.

“It was an important visit symbolically and symbolism means a lot [in the Arab world] and to the Saudis,” he says, agreeing that in Syria both Israel and the Saudis want to reduce Iranian involvement.

To get the Russians to try and limit the Iranian footprint in Syria, he says Saudis “are willing to offer investments to Russia, such as an investment fund, and this is payment for what they are asking Russia to do in Syria.”

“Another thing that interests the Saudis in Syria is Saudi investment in rebuilding Syria and the Saudis could do that in the Sunni areas and strengthen the Sunni population,” says Guzansky.

This might be in exchange for Saudi Arabia ending backing for certain extremist rebel groups.

Saudi Arabia understands that the regime backed by Russia and Iran now have the upper hand.

“Assad will remain president for time being so [Saudi Arabia] tries to mitigate risk and lower the losses,” he says.

Another player in all this is the US. Trump is considering a new Iran policy, possibly abandoning the Iran deal or declaring the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization. The US is trying to shore up Saudi Arabia as an ally, announcing that the kingdom was spending $15 billion on a THAAD missile defense system while the king was in Moscow.

“One needs to remember that the US and Saudis have strong relations and with Russia not replacing US instability in the Gulf, they [Saudi Arabia] are hedging their bets and have some accomplishments in Syria,” says Guzansky.

For Russia, the meeting illustrated the increased role Moscow plays in the Middle East as a power broker.

Saudi Arabia wants stability in the region after six years of chaos in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. To that end, it recognizes the dangers of extremist groups that feed off civil wars. This could lead to trade-offs in Syria as Assad remains in power and Saudi Arabia offers to accept Assad back into the Arab fold in exchange for Iranian influence being rolled back.

That would fit the Saudi goal of reducing Iranian influence in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.

Russia benefits by being seen as a wise backer of stability in the region. For Israel, this would be a welcome development as long as Jerusalem can be assured Moscow continues to weigh Israel’s concerns and Jerusalem is not left behind by Saudi overtures to Moscow.

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8763

Sep 25

7 YEAR TREATY? Abbas Says Peace With Israel Possible This Year, Will Be Trump’s ‘Deal Of The Century’

by Geoffrey Grider September 20, 2017

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed optimism on Wednesday about reaching a peace agreement with Israel this year and said U.S. President Donald Trump’s commitment to the issue would help create the “deal of the century” in the region.

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Abbas dropped quite the bombshell today when he said that not only is peace with Israel possible, but could happen this year. On top of that, Abbas went on to give President Trump all the credit for making it happen when and if it does take place. Typical Palestinian bluster…or…are we about to witness the 7 Year Peace Treaty? Mr. Abbas, if that happens, it won’t just be the ‘deal of the century’, it will fulfill 2,500 year old prophecy. What a great time to be alive and a Bible believer.

Abbas met Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders in New York and thanked him for his support.

“If this is any proof to anything … it attests to the seriousness of your Excellency, Mr. President, to achieve the deal of the century in the Middle East during this year or in the coming months, God willing,” Abbas said through an interpreter.

Trump said his team of advisers was working very hard on the issue, as were Israel, Saudi Arabia and other nations.

“I think we have a very, very good chance, and I certainly will devote everything within my heart and within my soul to get that deal made,” Trump said. “We’re at a very important juncture, there’s a small period of time, and we’re going to see what we can do. There can be no promises, obviously,” he said.

Abbas noted that the Palestinians had met with Trump’s team more than 20 times since the U.S. president entered office in January, and he said the fact that Jews and Muslims were celebrating a new year was a positive sign.

“This is a very sweet coincidence that we can celebrate the new year together within a 24-hour period, and if this is an indication to anything, it means that we can coexist peacefully together,” Abbas said.

Later at the U.N. gathering, Abbas urged the 193-nation body to end the “Israeli occupation of the state of Palestine” within a set timetable.

He also borrowed a campaign line of Trump’s, using the phrase “draining the swamp” as an argument for addressing the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Trump used a similar phrase as a presidential candidate to criticize politicians and policy making in Washington.

“Beyond any doubt, draining the swamp of colonial occupation of our land and ending its unjust, oppressive and illegal practices against our people would greatly affect the fight against terrorism, depriving terrorist groups of one of the key rallying cries they exploit to promote their repugnant ideas,” Abbas said in his prepared remarks.

Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the week. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders both went out of their way to praise the U.S. president.

The White House played down both meetings in terms of their significance toward peace talks on one of the world’s most intractable conflicts that has defied the peacemaking efforts of several U.S. administrations going back decades.

TRUMP MAKING PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST? GET READY TO FLY!

The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the Israeli occupied West Bank, territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the United States, Husam Zomlot, said “the meeting was forward-looking, and the conversation was deep and frank between the two allies.”

The Palestinian Authority said in a statement Abbas told Trump that “peace can be achieved through implementing the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.” Abbas also said “the illegal Israeli settlements policy poses an immediate threat” to that.

For at least two decades, the goal of U.S.-led diplomacy has been a “two-state solution”, meaning an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side and at peace with Israel.

But neither Trump nor his aides have publicly recommitted to a two-state solution, instead saying it is up to the two parties to work out in peace talks. Abbas’ insistence on a return to 1967 pre-war borders is something Israel has repeatedly rejected.

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8723

Sep 14

Saudi Arabia Is So Dead: Qatar Invites Iran To Opening Of New Seaport Between Two Countries For The Purpose Of Building Ties With Turkey

By Andrew Bieszad on September 4, 2017 in Featured, General

Qatar has just announced that it is opening a major brand new sea port and has invited Iran for an official visit. As stated, the purpose will be to help with facilitating economic exchange between Qatar, Iran, and Turkey:

Abbas Akhoundi of Iran will head a delegation in his Tuesday visit to Qatar where a new sea port is slated to open.

Abbas Akhoundi, Iran’s Roads and Urban Development Minister, is to head a ranking delegation in a visit to Qatar on Tuesday.

The Iranian official is to attend the official inauguration ceremony of Qatar’s Hamad Port on Tuesday. While the port has been in operation in the last months, the official full capacity kick-off of the hub will be on Tuesday.

The new Qatari port is the main rival of Shahid Rajaee Port, Iran’s biggest container port at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.

Qatari Port officials say that the port can process 7.5 million containers a year which gives a margin of advantage to the Qatari port vis-à-vis the annual capacity of Iranian port which is 6.5 million containers.

Mr. Akhoundi who is travelling to Qatar in response to the invitation submitted by his Qatari counterpart will sign a memorandum of understanding to ease international transportation and transit between Iran, Turkey, and Qatar. (source)

We have been following the development of Iranian-Turkish relations because as Walid has pointed out, they pertain directly to the future of Saudi Arabia and the return of the once decease Ottoman menace as a world power, and this time even more savage than before.

Contrary to what most Americans believe, Saudi Arabia is not as powerful as it is. While a powerful and oil-rich nation, Saudi Arabia’s wealth and power is due strictly to the abundance of oil in that nation and the fact that America’s economy cannot survive without a steady flow of cheap crude oil. While the Saudi Royal Family is the public face and head of the nation, the nation is actually run by ARAMCO- the Arabian-American Oil Company, which is the official government oil-exporting company and the largest of its kind in the world.

Saudi Arabia grows almost nothing of its own food, and to such a point that 80% of its food is imported. Contrary to the image of a modern nation (in spite of the well-known application of Islamic law and its subsequent brutality) that it presents, many Saudis live in abject poverty and misery. The Royal Family is as notorious for its governance of their nation as they are for their lavish lifestyles and open flouting of all the teachings of Islam. Add to that the long-standing conflict that Saudi Arabia has with the Hashemite family of Jordan, who are regarded as the direct biological descendants of Muhammad, over custody of the Islamic sacred sites of Mecca and Medina, and there is today what existed in France during the years building up to that which eventually culminated in the French Revolution, except in an Islamic context.

Enter into this picture Turkey and Iran.

Arabia and Iran have been feuding with each other since antiquity and well before Islam. The conflict there has not changed in its essence. The same can be said about Turkey and Iran, for both nations have been in conflict with each other well before the advent and subsequent Islamic conquests of both Persia and later, Byzantium. The conflict is as much geopolitical as it is religious, but given the geopolitical history, the religious nature simply fuels what already has existed for millennia.

Turkey and Iran, though historical enemies, are working together right now to build relations in a way that has not been done in likely centuries. Qatar, while a small nation, is a major economic and political player in the region just as is the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and all three of these nations have close ties to Iran as well as hate the Saud Family. Of all the Middle Eastern nations, Turkey is the most powerful and also the most dangerous historically speaking in the same way that Germany has been for Europe or Japan for the Far East. Turkey has the largest military, it has a younger population with respect to its neighbors, and given its imperial history, it is attempting to restore its glory days of the past, which in a Turkish context means the revival of the Ottoman Empire and all of the horrors that came with it.

Turkey and Germany are historical allies going back to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, for it was a Hungarian engineer of German extraction, Orban, who sold the weapons to the Turks that destroyed the Byzantine Empire. In both World Wars I and II Germany and Turkey were allies, and as we have detailed through our Shoebat Exclusive investigations, Germany and Turkey are once again attempting to re-unite with their third ally, Japan, to form an axis of power stretching from Europe to the Far East. It is for this reason that Germany and Japan are reviving old economic relationships with African nations formerly in their economic sphere of influence just as how those two nations are creating the largest free trade zone in the world, just as how Japan is helping Turkey build nuclear weapons now. Given the situation, it makes perfect sense that Turkey and Iran would also be simultaneously deepening their economic ties.

Economy always precedes policy. What begins as a trade war will turn into a hot war, and improved trade relations mean the formation of political alliances.

As I wrote in the title, to use a colloquialism, ‘Saudi Arabia is SO dead’. It does not matter how much oil they have or do not have, because they are unstable internally on account of the hatred from their own people and facing massive military and economic threats from without, in particular from their former Ottoman masters who are rising once again to power.

What is happening in Qatar now is not peace talks, and this is not the opening of another mere port. This is the formation of economic alliances that will turn into political ones and the preparation for an Ottoman conquest of Arabia that will be cheered (at least initially) by many poor Saudis as the Ottomans do to the Saud family what the French did to their King three centuries ago.

Do not think that Europe will be spared either. For as Turkey rises so will Germany rise in proportion with them, and eventually will re-assert itself in Europe just as it did in the First and Second World Wars, leading to the same horrible results except even more widespread and more efficiently executed than before.

Christians likewise will not be safe anywhere, for as Germany has returned to paganism, Japan always having been pagan, and Turkey following Islam, it will be (as we have warned) an absolute struggle for power in which Christians will be attacked and murdered by European, Middle Easterner, and Asian alike. For as we have said that a man is saved by grace and not by race, so it will not matter in the coming struggle what race you are, because if you choose the grace of God you will be marked as a target.

Just as in ancient times and again today, it will be Christ against the world.

Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8708