Yossi Schwartz, the ISL the section of the RCIT in Israel/Occupied Palestine, 19.07.2022
The imperialist mass media has informed us that Biden in his visit to Saudi Arabia raised the issue of the journalist Khashoggi who was murdered by the Saudi local ruling class. Biden said after the meeting that he “made it clear what I thought of [the Khashoggi killing] at the time and what I think of it now.” [1] A CIA report presented to Biden says that the crown prince had ordered the hit on Khashoggi, in which Saudi operatives killed the journalist and dismembered his body after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Today we learn what was the reply of the Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who raised issue of the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The White House’s position is that it is not sure who killed Abu Akleh and if it was an Israeli soldier, it was by an honest mistake…
The crown prince highlighted the fact that Abu Akleh was a US citizen and asked Biden what he was doing to ensure justice after her killing on May 11 by the Zionist army.
“The official said Abu Akleh was one of several examples, along with the torture of prisoners by US troops in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison that the crown prince raised in an attempt to call out the ostensible hypocrisy in Biden’s position on human rights issues in Saudi Arabia.” [2]
“Saudi Arabia has tried several officials it said ordered the hit and sentenced eight people to prison terms. Bin Salman has called the incident regrettable but insisted he had no role in Khashoggi’s death, according to US and Saudi officials” [3]
Biden, who pledged as a candidate to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” over its human rights record has proven that his words are meaningless. More so, raising the murder of the journalist Khashoggi did not give Biden any points in the dirty game of capitalist diplomacy.
Biden has said that his goal in the trip was to advance Israel’s integration in the region. The White House hopes that such integration will overshadow talk of the apparent policy reversal on Riyadh. However Riyadh has long made clear that it will not formally recognize Israel without a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“No Normalization with Israel until a two-state solution is reached, Saudi FM Says. Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital is Saudi Arabia’s requirement for peace with Israel, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir tells CNN” [4]
“Biden is praising Saudi Arabia for opening its sky to all air lines including Israel and sees it as an advance in the relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. However Saudi Arabia will not fully normalize ties with Israel until a two-state solution with the Palestinians is reached, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Friday” [5]
“Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Farhan bin Faisal spoke to reporters after a four-day visit by President Joe Biden to the region, including two days that the U.S. leader spent in Saudi Arabia, where he held talks with the Saudi king and the crown prince, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, and took part in a summit of regional leaders.Prince Farhan stressed there was no discussion at the summit of any military cooperation with Israel or talk of a so-called “Arab NATO.”“There is no discussion about a defensive alliance with Israel,” he repeated” [6]
Regardless of the fact that a Palestinian state will be in less than 20% of Palestine, Saudi Arabia came as the principal winner from the meeting.
Biden has failed also in convincing Saudi Arabia to double its production of oil. He wants Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) partners to pump more oil to help bring down the high cost of gasoline and ease the highest US inflation rate in 40 years.
“Saudi Arabia will not have any additional capacity to increase oil production beyond 13 million barrels per day, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said during his address to the US-Arab summit in Jeddah. The kingdom has announced an increase in its production capacity level to 13 million barrels per day, after which the kingdom will not have any additional capacity to increase production,” he said. [7]
“The US national security adviser on Friday had downplayed expectations ahead of the meeting, saying he did not expect Saudi Arabia to immediately boost oil output and would rather look at the outcome of an OPEC+ meeting on August 3” [8]
“I don’t think you should expect a particular announcement here bilaterally because we believe any further action taken to ensure that there is sufficient energy to protect the health of the global economy, it will be done in the context of OPEC+,” Jake Sullivan said.” [9]
“Biden noted during his brief Friday afternoon news conference that oil prices have been dropping since before his trip to the Middle East, saying the potential effects of his visit to Saudi Arabia on the energy market would not be felt “for another couple of weeks” [10]
Spare capacity within OPEC is running low, with most producers pumping at maximum capacity. It is unclear how much extra supply Saudi Arabia could bring to the market and how quickly.
Thus, as could be expected, Biden’s visit to the Middle East has proven to be a failure. As he left the region he announced that the U.S will not leave the Middle East. He had to announce such a statement as the Arab local rulers do not trust the USA while the influence of Russian imperialism is strong. The sanctions on Russia are contributing to the high inflation in the U.S and to the instability in the Middle East that sooner rather than later will see another revolutionary wave because the workers and the poor will not be able to buy pita/bread.
Down with all the imperialists!
Down with both parties of the American ruling class! For a worker’s party fighting for a workers’ government in the USA!
Down with the Zionist apartheid state!
For Palestine red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[1] https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-biden-raises-khashoggi-killing-mbs-retorts-with-question-on-abu-akleh-death/
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/2022-07-16/ty-article/.premium/no-normalization-with-israel-until-two-state-solution-reached-saudi-fm-says/00000182-0614-d213-adda-
[5] Ibid
[6] https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/science/the-latest-saudi-arabia-downplays-normalization-with-israel/article_f2b01e93-a5e2-5c3c-a268-a2c471d4cb54.html
[7] https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2022/07/16/saudi-arabia-no-additional-capacity-to-increase-oil-production-beyond-13-million-bpd/
[8] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/16/us-saudi-arabia-pledge-moves-to-stabilise-global-energy-markets
[9] Ibid
[10] Ibid