Saudi Rapprochement With Hamas Is Step In The Right Direction

28 July 2015

By Khalid Amayreh

The latest visit to Saudi Arabia by four leading officials from Hamas, including the group's politburo chief Khalid Mishaal, should be viewed as a step in the right direction.

Saudi Arabia, which is fighting an existential war against the forces of evil both at home and abroad, is an indispensable Arab-Muslim power which must always be given ample consideration.

Hamas, too, is an important Sunni Muslim player which must be constantly preserved and strengthened, irrespective of inter-Arab differences and conflicts.

In the final analysis, a strong Hamas is a valuable asset for all Arabs and Muslims, states and peoples alike. The opposite is absolutely correct. A weak Hamas would lead to the rise and consolidation of antithetical sectarian forces, harboring a clear anti-Arab and anti-Islamic agenda.

Indeed, the ongoing unrelenting holocaust in Syria, where the minority Alawite regime is waging against the Syrian people, is a brazen expression of this evil agenda. We all know who is bankrolling and abetting this holocaust and no amount of propaganda and "revolutionary rhetoric" would blur the facts.

Hamas did the right thing by distancing itself from the nefarious regime in Damascus. The courageous but costly act earned Hamas a lot of respect among friends and foes alike.

True, certain regional powers, didn't like Hamas's stance vis-à-vis the Hitlerian regime in Damascus. However, short-term expediency and parochial politics must never take priority over moral principles.

In fact, had Hamas behaved otherwise, the movement would have paid a dear price in many respects. That is why, Hamas must remain a dignified movement as it has always been. This is what makes Hamas different from other political groups on the Palestinian arena.

It is now widely hoped that King Salman will realize that Hamas is not a mercurial movement that would trade its fixed Islamic principles for short-term expediency.

It is also hoped that the Saudi leadership will not allow for a situation in which Hamas is forced to seek badly-needed financial assistance from certain powers deemed anti-Arab and anti-Islamic.

Indeed, by supporting Hamas, which bears a huge financial burden toward its struggling and suffering people despite being under a tight and harsh siege from both the Zionist regime and the Sissi regime, Saudi Arabia would deny certain powers in the region the chance of spewing their sectarian venom throughout the region in the name of Palestine and its just cause.

Such powers must never be allowed to sow more chaos and instigate sectarian tumult under the rubric of helping the Palestinian cause. In the final analysis, the road to Palestine is clear. It doesn't go through Aden, Ta'iz, Idlib, Halab, Hama and Ramadi.

Apart from the financial dimension, Saudi Arabia must use its clout with the sadistic regime in Cairo which is tormenting two million Palestinians by shutting off the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for no convincing reason.

The primitive Sissi regime has a problem with the Egyptian people in connection with the bloody coup against the legitimate government of Egypt.

The Palestinian people have absolutely nothing to do with internal insurrection in Egypt or with the issue of terror there.

But the unpopular regime, which is shamelessly blackmailing Saudi Arabia for billions of dollars in order to swell the pockets of the chronically corrupt military establishment, is punishing the Palestinians to vent its frustration and impotence in failing to achieve peace and stability.

Hence, King Salman ought to make it abundantly clear to the thug of Cairo that the safety and dignity of the Palestinian people are a red line that must not be violated.

Finally, Hamas and Saudi Arabia have actually no real political or ideological differences to speak of. In fact, most of the problems that emerged under the late King Abdullah's rule were psychological in nature and more or less had to do with rumors and canards than with facts.

That is why, there should be no problem getting mutual relations between Hamas and Riyadh back to an exemplary state.

At the same time, Hamas ought to treat Saudi Arabia and its legitimate concerns as an absolute constant, rather than a momentary variable. As part of this strategic orientation, Hamas should never allow itself to be swayed by certain voices, internally and externally, including some voices within Hamas itself, to alienate Saudi Arabia or, God forbid, stand along the side of its foes.

No one is suggesting that Hamas should allow itself to be puppet to be manipulated by any power. Hamas must always remain independent and responsible to the Palestinian people.

But, the delicate golden balance that made Hamas shun the criminal regime of Bashar Assad must always be resorted to, to enable Hamas to carefully take the right decision and make a distinction between friends and foes. Hamas must always remain Islamic.

Khalid Amayreh is a Palestinian journalist and current affairs political commentator living in Occupied Palestine 

 

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