The international news agencies have published news of a meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Mohammed Bin Salman in NEOM, though the meeting was denied by the Saudi Foreign Ministry, it was confirmed by multiple news sources. We, at the National Assembly Party (NAAS), have followed several previous political attempts towards the normalization of relationships with Israel via the media, targeting and arrests of critics of normalization, and targeting of the Palestinian community leaders in Saudi Arabia. These attempts are taking place while Saudi people are silenced and for reasons unjustified by national interests.
Confronting the Iranian aggression on Saudi Arabia cannot be a justification for an alliance with a colonial state that does not comply with any of the international resolutions or commitments in its historical conflict in Palestine. The Israeli racist and expansionist policies in the region triggered the worst calamity in the region for decades and fueled wars and political instability. As a result, the Palestinian people are living in exile or under the siege of an apartheid system where the Palestinians are continuously deprived of their rights and lands. In addition to their struggle, many Arab governments are consistently targeting Palestinians within their countries or anyone who defends their just cause -despite the risk for retaliation by their oppressive regimes-, whether by supporting a political position, sympathizing with the Palestinians’ suffering, or supporting charities to help them. In this context, the party resents the pressure, interrogations or deportations which the Palestinian leaders face in our country by political and unlawful charges.
The argument of security concerns of Saudi Arabia that is presented in justifying the normalization is not historically supported in the other Arab countries that have conceded to normalization. None of these countries have achieved a political or security power, neither have they achieved economic prosperity. Moreover, people of these countries remained in opposition of normalization despite their governments’ position and maintain a support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. Israel works to weaken the countries of the region to maintain political and security supremacy and resists the democratic transition in the region by supporting oppressive regimes. In Saudi Arabia, Israel has supported repression by selling spyware and intelligence cooperation to be used for unlawful means. The results were a wide scale of arrests and a deteriorating status for rights and freedom. In addition, the regime’s promotion of normalization, and its attempts to coerce other Islamic and Arabic countries towards it, is diminishing the Islamic and Arabic leadership of the country while opening opportunities for other competing powers in the region to lead.
For these reasons, the party refuses the alliance with an occupation government to defend our country’s security and interests. It also refuses the use of developmental and touristic projects as venues for suspicious meetings and promotional campaigns at the expense of our people. Such acts are merely a cover up of the regime’s violations such as the forced displacement and killing or arresting resisting residents of this region in our country. The party also resents other justifications for normalization such as advocating the Saudi leadership for the upcoming United States administration or providing protection for it against a potential sanction for serious violations. The party calls on the Saudi authorities to refer to diplomacy and international law in resolving any conflicts in the region, along with legitimate allies. And first and foremost, the party, instead, calls on the Saudi authorities to seek normalization with their own people through resolving violations, protecting people’s rights, and respecting their choices.