JAFFA, Israel – One week on, Saudi social media is still reeling from former Saudi general Anwar Eshki’s visit to Israel.
The hashtag #Saudis_against_normalization has been launched by twitterati to express their dismay at what they see as Riyadh’s submission to the Jewish state.
“We have always been on the Palestinians’ side and forever will be, it was the policy of our fathers and our fathers’ fathers and we persist, we will never betray the Palestinian cause,” Abdelaziz wrote.
“Hatred for Israel and the Zionist enemy is carved on to our generation’s heart,” Essam wrote. “We will carve them on our children’s hearts too.”
The Saudi cleric Ali Badahdah wrote: “That’s the land we pray to, from which the prophet rose to heaven, that was conquered by Omar Ben Hatab and liberated by Saladin. The Muslims will never let the proponents of normalization sell it or lose it.”
The Palestinian-Jordanian journalist Yasser Zaatreh wrote: “It’s a nice hashtag that reflects the feelings not only of Saudis but of most of the nation. Saudi Arabia has a special status that will not be defiled by infiltrators.”
Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and director of Al Arab TV, wrote: “The worst kind of normalization is the kind offered gratuitously, because even the most formidable fortresses can be destroyed from inside.”
Hamas was quick to welcome the hashtag, and issued a formal statement: “We welcome this position, which is for us a continuation of Saudi Arabia’s national and Islamic commitment to the Palestinian cause.”
To which Majed, a Saudi man, retorted: “It is indeed Saudi Arabia’s official position, that’s why we anticipate a similar attitude to Iran from the beloved Hamas government.”
On Monday, Breitbart Jerusalem reported that Hamas slammed the Saudi government for “normalizing” relations with Israel.
Breitbart Jerusalem further reported:
However, according to the Times of Israel, the meetings with Gold and Mordechai did not take place at official Israeli government facilities but at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.
Even though it is unlikely the Eshki-led delegation traveled to Israel without the Saudi government’s blessing, a source from the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the visit “does not reflect the views of the Saudi government,” according to the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper