Kuwait Sunset
Kuwait SunsetiStock

Prestigious Kuwaiti Arab Writer Abdullah al Hadlaq proclaimed on November 22, 2017, "Israel is a Legitimate State, Not an Occupier. " [YouTube.com]. In doing so, he was undoubtedly, unbelievably, foresighted.

What makes al Hadlaq's assertions all that remarkable was that he was not a politician. Even more so, his remarks appeared significantly before the Abraham Accords on August 13, 2020.

A Kuwaiti writer, his words sent shockwaves throughout the Arab world, particularly his emphasis on their not being an "occupation" and that Israel was a legitimate sovereign state. These utterances were televised on the Kuwait Alrai TV Channel where he spoke of "a people returning to their promised land."

He brazenly clearly remarked, "When the State of Israel was establishedin1948, there was no state called Palestine.---There were various communities living in Arab countries under a host of other names."

Al-Hadlaq continues by quoting verses from the Islamic Holy Book, the Quran, and providing them as "evidence" of the Land promised to the Israelis.------"Like it or not, Israel is an independent and sovereign state" he says, "It exists, and it has a seat at the United Nations, and most peace-loving and democratic countries recognize it."

The countries that don't recognize Israel, he said, are "the countries of tyranny and oppression" citing North Korea as an example. He refers to the 2011 Gilad Schalit prisoner swap, in which Israel traded 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for 1 Israeli soldier, who had been held in captivity for 5 years in Gaza, as an example of the value Israel places on the lives of its people.

"When the State of Israel was established in 1948, there was no state called 'Palestine'.----The Land of Israel was promised to the Jews by 'Allah'. There were various communities living in Arab countries under a host of other names." As a side, he also happens to support eliminating Hezbollah.

As recently as January 30, 2022, the Jerusalem Post published "Kuwaiti paper pushes normalization with Israel, criticizes Palestinians" by Tzvi Joffre. In the body of the paper, a highly relevant question is posed, "How long will our people and their countries be insulted by those who sell themselves to the highest bidder? Is Palestine still our cause for which we bear all this harm caused by the Palestinians?" questioned Kuwaiti al-Jarallah.

Al-Jarallah appealed to the Gulf states to cease supporting the Palestinian Arabs and to cease mediating on the occasions when the Gazans launch missiles toward Israel. "In this case, let them rebuild what they destroy by their own acts."

The author wrote that the camel's back had been broken from the ingratitude suffered at the hands of the Palestinian Arabs. "Enough is enough !" It was time for all the Gulf states to normalize relations with Israel, given that peace with " this most advanced country" is the right thing to do. "Let the foolish fend for themselves."

In 2005, they finally started to leave the Palestinian Arab cause to Palestinian Arabs. And yet, surprisingly, their laws against an alliance with Israel remained in situ.

"Kuwait's Quirky Anti-Semitism Continues Unabated "-Israel Today, by Edy Cohen of March 24, 2022 is comparatively recent, and provides a very different side of the coin.

In the 1990s, Arafat supported Saddam Hussein, when the latter conquered Kuwait. As a consequence, Kuwait expelled 400,000 Palestinians living in its territory. At the time of the subject Op-Ed, there were very few Palestinians living in Kuwait. Surprisingly, despite Palestinian support of Kuwait's enemy, and despite the dozens of Hussein's statues in the Palestinian Arab-controlled territories, Kuwait considers it a moral obligation to fight Israel.

According to Edy Cohen, for many years, on every possible stage, indirectly and directly, publicly and secretly, Kuwait has been trying to harm the State of Israel and Jews all over the world. The conclusion finds Kuwait remaining as the last country in the region opposing Israel.

While other countries in the region have relations with Israel, some official and some secretly, Kuwait increasingly finds itself standing alone as the rest of the Gulf strives for peace.

And Biden?

A report by Nahal Toosi in Foreign Policy of 11/19/ 2021, titled "Biden's Balancing Act in the Middle East has a Problem: Israel" reflects his intentions of promoting so-called "balance ", meaning "Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal measures of freedom, dignity, and prosperity." Of course, this appears noble, but is devoid of reality.

Biden earlier had said he would leave the Embassy in Jerusalem. But, his administration has pledged to reopen the consulate and found a backhanded way to do so. Then Israeli Interior Minister, Ayelet Shaked, while visiting Washington addressed POLITICO, "We have needs. We have a policy. There are issues [where] we will not agree with the Administration. But in a family, we [do] not always agree on everything --everyone knows that."

She also made known that Israeli leaders want to forge a formal relationship with "a heavyweight neighbor, Saudi Arabia."

There is much postulating on what Biden will deliver, but no assurances on any of these ideas.

Stephen M, Flatow, the well-known father of a daughter murdered by Palestinian terrorists in 1995, penned, "Will Biden visit Palestinian Authority Sites honoring the killer of his friend's niece?", which appeared in Arutz 7 of 26.06.2022.

We are reminded of this horrific event through Flatow's opening. "As Rubin lay dying on the beach, Mughrabi and her fellow terrorists walked to the Coastal Road, took over a bus and killed 36.

Flatow takes us through a historical trajectory of Mughrabi's landmarks to commemorate her "contributions". We are reminded of the 44 years since the Coastal Road Massacre, during which the P.A. has never missed an opportunity to glorify Mughrabi and to hold her up as a role model for Palestinian girls. Her heritage is marked by El Bireh's public square named after her.

In Beit Awwa, near Hebron there are 2 schools named after Mughrabi, the Beit Awwa Elementary School for Girls and the Second Dalal Mughrabi Republic School. Even if President Biden manages to avoid many Mughrabi memorials, he can't avoid the bigger problem "the Palestine Arabs to whom he is giving $360 million, continue to promote terrorism."

Will Biden follow Ribicoff's advice, in choosing between the PA and its policy of glorifying the murderer of Gail Rubin or the other side - the cause of justice and peace and the memory of Senator Ribicoff and his niece. Clearly, the latter " is the side Biden needs to pick."[Think-Israel, Nov-Dec 2013l]

Biden is known for his deep interest in human rights in pursuit of peace, necessitating compromise. Daniel Greenfield has produced a brilliant article, fitting for President Biden and Leftism in the context of "peace" as applied to Israel. An excerpt from his Sacrifices of Peace:

He commences with G-d s command to Abraham to sacrifice his only son noting that the Almighty did not want human sacrifices. "The peace process does."What follows is a comparison between then and now. "In ancient Israel, in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the Korban Shelamim, the Peace Offering was brought as a celebratory offering ---to be eaten by all.. In the modern State of Israel, the Korbanot Shalom were brought by the families of the dead, who often had little more than a few scraps of skin tissue, a finger or a hand caught in a crack in the sidewalk to remember their children by."-------

"Peace made the service of death into a national duty.. There was no telling where or when one might be called upon by Israel's peace partners in Ramallah to become a sacrifice for peace.--------

"Netanyahu, who replaced Olmert, who was put on trial, who replaced Sharon, who fell into a coma, who replaced Barak, who fell out of favor, who replaced Netanyahu the 1st time around, bowed to the inevitable. And to his credit, he did it reluctantly.------

"This long train of sacrifices has taken the PLO from a relic in Cyprus to a mortgage on the West Bank, Gaza and part of Jerusalem. And now another bout of sacrifices begins. Murderess are set free, victims are forgotten and the blood begins to flow. There is no peace, but there are sacrifices for peace. And one day, if this goes on, a nation will have sacrificed for the peace of the alter in a new Shoah.

"A million Isaacs lie on the altar and no voice calls out to stay the knife, the sacrifice of peace that G-d did not command, is made again and again. The blood flows over the altars of peace and it is never enough. Not so long as one Isaac still lives. "


Alex Rose, alexrenee.rose@gmail.com, was born in South Africa in 1935 and lived there until leaving for the US in 1977, where he spent 26 years. He is an engineering consultant. For 18 years he worked for Westinghouse until age 60, whereupon he became self-employed. He was formerly on the Executive of Americans for a Safe Israel and a founding member of CAMERA, New York [Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in Americaת one of the largest media monitoring organizations concerned with accuracy and balanced reporting on Israel. In 2003, he and his wife made Aliyah and reside in Ashkelon.

.