I have been blogging about the changing winds in the Middle East for a while now.
In the latest manifestation of this, Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya channel has aired a documentary about “Palestine” until 1948, which ostensibly depicts the Arab states as the aggressors that they actually were.
Arab and Muslim seething ensues.
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel has been facing a backlash by Arab social media activists after airing a documentary film entitled “Al Nakba” earlier this week.
The 47-minute documentary film follows the story of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land since 1897-1948 “as narrated by Arabs and Israelis, without any ideology or partisanism”, as the channel website says.
The documentary also represented Palestinians as criminals; the ones who attacked the Israelis to begin with. It has also described Hamas as a ‘Terrorist Movement’ for trying to defend the land, and defended ‘Haganah’ as a Jewish paramilitary organization.
—
In the meantime while Al Arabiya was provoking a public anger over the documentary, a Saudi pro-government writer released an article titled: “Yes to an Israeli Embassy in Riyadh and normalized relations as part of the Saudi Initiative”.
The article that describes Mohammed Bin Salman as the “peacebuilder” in the region, suggesting the opening of a Saudi Embassy in West Jerusalem and an Israeli Embassy in Riyadh as well.
