Feature Article

War, Peace and Politics - The Royal Family and Palestine (Part III)

By Senior Analyst Talal Kapoor

While each Saudi monarch has had a unique role in Arab-Israeli relations, King Faysal can be singled out for the legacy of his confrontation with the West over the issue of Palestine. His reign, coinciding with a series of upheavals in the region, spanned the Saudi transition from a defensive stand against pan-Arab nationalism to prioritizing support for Palestinian statehood as the main foreign policy objective of the Kingdom.

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Commentary


The Legacy of 1979: Religious Fundamentalism and the Royal Family (Part II) Following the attack on Makkah's Grand Mosque by a group of millennialist zealots in 1979, a time of liberal experimentation and openness to the West came crashing to a halt as the Kingdom renewed its alliance with the conservative religious establishment. The consequences were still being felt decades later.
The Legacy of 1979: Religious Fundamentalism and the Royal Family (Part I) For two weeks in November 1979, a ragged band of religious fanatics held Makkah's Grand Mosque, sending shock waves through the Islamic world and posing a direct threat to the legitimacy of the Al Saud. For how could kings who styled themselves 'Custodians of the Two Holy Mosques' be entrusted with dynastic rule, when they could not guarantee the safety of this most holy of places?
The Premier League Prince: Status Symbol or Image Laundering? The acquisition of a long-suffering Premier League football club by Saudi's sovereign wealth fund has renewed charges of "sports-washing" its negative international image. But is the yearning for a high profile sports team more than a simple distraction from trouble at home?
Spectacles in the Desert: Sports-washing or Catalyst for Change? All eyes are on Saudi Arabia as the country prepares to host its inaugural Formula One race in Jiddah, the latest in a series of high-profile sporting events that have shattered the commonly-held image of an austere and reclusive kingdom which shuns the corrupting influence of the West. At the same time, these spectacles have become embroiled in controversy, with concern that they are being used to divert attention from human rights abuses at home, in a phenomenon that has been termed "sports-washing". Is the use of sports and entertainment merely a cynical public relations ploy, or is there more than meets the eye?
The Taliban and Royal Support: a Change in Outlook? Saudi Arabia's nearly complete silence in the wake of the rapid and astonishing collapse of the Afghanistan government is remarkable, given that the Kingdom was one of only three countries to recognize the Taliban's control of the country before the 2001 US invasion. Further, the royal family has had controversial dealings with the Taliban and the al-Qa'ida leaders they sheltered in the past, and their involvement with the group is still a matter of ongoing contention. Yet, in light of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman's efforts to moderate religious hardliners at home, would the Saudis now prefer to keep a Taliban-controlled government in Afghanistan at arm's length?
Changing Dynamics: Family Enterprise or One-Man Rule? While Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman dominates the headlines, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that two of his brothers, Abd al-Aziz and Khalid, are both highly accomplished in their own right. But to what extent do their policies and views reflect the influence of the powerful heir to the throne, or indeed, the king?

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