A few weeks ago, I wrote here about the Palestinian cause and the Arabs, especially in Saudi Arabia, who have supported it since the beginning of the Israeli occupation.

I received some comments on social media accusing me of prejudice against the Palestinian leadership, and suggesting that the article came across as an emotional reaction to recent Palestinian statements critical of Arabian Gulf countries, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

An interview with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador to Washington and former secretary-general of the Saudi National Security Council, was broadcast in three parts on Al-Arabiya TV news channel this week. It clarified many of the facts that Saudi citizens, especially the younger generation, might not know about Saudi Arabia's support of Palestine, starting with the Kingdom’s founder, King Abdul Aziz, and continuing until the reign of King Salman.

The interview also highlighted Saudi Arabia’s insightful vision of the events, and its acceptance of the two-state solution from the start. The Palestinian and Arab stance at that time was emotional and far from political realism — it did not read the development of events properly and did not accept a two-state solution and UN Resolution 181, which was passed in 1947 and called for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. As a result, Israel was recognized as a member state of the UN, while Palestine was not.

What was more serious is that this option was removed from the table, and so Israel — which had initially accepted a two-state solution while the Palestinians and Arabs rejected it — rejected the two-state solution the Arabs later demanded and was included in the Arab Peace Initiative adopted during the 2002 Arab League Summit in Beirut.

Prince Bandar also reviewed Saudi Arabia’s position on Palestinian refugees, including the need for them to remain on their land and for camps for the displaced and refugees to be built on Palestinian territory. But Saudi Arabia’s long-held strategic vision, which aims to connect Palestinian citizens to their land even in the most difficult of circumstances, was ignored.

The conclusion that everyone who watched the three parts of the interview with Prince Bandar will have reached is that the Palestinian cause has been plagued by Palestinian leaders who failed to invest in successive opportunities to build their independent state.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami

The results of building Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan were raging internal civil wars in Lebanon, and Palestinian refugee uprisings that aimed to overthrow the Jordanian state and occupy the country.

Successive Palestinian leaderships went beyond that to support Saddam Hussein in 1990 and congratulate him on Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait. Now, they stand with Turkey and Iran against Arab countries, even though the number of Arabs these two regimes have killed in seven years exceeds the number of those killed by Israel in seven decades.

The other subject that occupied a significant amount of time during the interview was the Saudi position on the reconciliation of Palestinian factions. Prince Bandar discussed the work of the Kingdom’s negotiation team, led by Prince Muqrin, to bridge the gap between the Palestinian Authority delegation, led by Mahmoud Abbas, and the Hamas delegation, led by Khaled Meshaal.

These negotiations took place at the royal palace in Makkah, just meters from the Grand Mosque, and continued for nearly two days. A formula was agreed to resolve the disagreements between the delegations, which was signed in the presence of King Abdullah. The two delegations then swore to God before the Holy Kaaba to adhere to the terms of the agreement.

However, the Palestinian sides returned to their old ways and broke the deal and the covenant after only a few weeks. Prince Bandar said that the Palestinians would ask Saudi Arabia for financial assistance and advice, and when the Kingdom agreed to provide both, the Palestinians would take the money and go against the advice.

Not only did the prince explain the facts and chain of events in a calm and composed manner, and in coherent language full of respect and tact, he also set up a website, and associated social media accounts, to provide access to important documents that support the information he presented in the interview. This is an important development in efforts to communicate with the audience and learn the reactions of followers.

The conclusion that everyone who watched the three parts of the interview with Prince Bandar will have reached is that the Palestinian cause has been plagued by Palestinian leaders who failed to invest in successive opportunities to build their independent state. Instead, they sought the wrong choices at home and abroad, and failed to learn from history and the mistakes that have been repeated since 1948.

The facts presented in the interview emphasized the honorable stance of Saudi Arabia on the Palestinian cause, despite the jabs and disappointments from the Palestinian leaderships, and sections of the Palestinian people, over those decades

It can also be concluded from the interview that Saudi Arabia will continue to support the Palestinian cause because it is convinced that it is a just cause, even though its advocates have been failures. This Saudi support is for Palestine and its people, not the warring leaderships whose actions have allowed the Israeli occupation to endure.

In conclusion, I would repeat my previous call for a younger Palestinian leadership that cares more about their land and people than their own personal interests.

  • Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is head of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami