Category: Saudi arabia

Netanyahu floats peace with Saudis as key to resolving conflict with Palestinians In Al Arabiya interview, PM-designate urges Biden to reaffirm ‘traditional alliance’ with Riyadh and other Mideast states, says normalization would be ‘quantum leap’ for peace

A screenshot of presumed incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking in an interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya that was aired on December 15, 2022. (Twitter screenshot: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Presumed incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the United States needs to reaffirm alliances with its traditional partners in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, adding that a normalization deal between Jerusalem and Riyadh could serve as a “quantum leap” for long-moribund peace talks with the Palestinians.

In an interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya, Netanyahu said he plans to tell US President Joe Biden that “there is a need for America’s reaffirmation of its commitment to its traditional allies in the Middle East.”

Netanyahu noted Israel’s “unbreakable” alliance with the United States, but said that “the traditional alliance with Saudi Arabia and other countries has to be reaffirmed.”

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Saudi Arabia Uses Snitch App To Catch Critics For Harsh Punishment

POSTED BY: PETER GUEST VIA BUSINESS INSIDER SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

For “Real,” a Saudi Arabian women’s-rights activist, anonymity is all that keeps her safe. Under that alias, she uses Twitter to advocate for victims of domestic violence in the kingdom, sending their stories trending in the country and overseas. Her work is fraught with risk.

“Every day we wake up to hear news, somebody has been arrested, or somebody has been taken,” Real told Insider, using a voice modulator to disguise her voice. “Today I’m here with you, sharing my story. Tomorrow I might be caught.”

Real, like other activists, is on edge after the price of speaking out online in Saudi Arabia was made clear this August. The academic Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani was accused of “using the internet to tear Saudi Arabia’s social fabric” and sentenced to 45 years in prison. On August 16, Salma el-Shabab, a Ph.D. student, was sentenced to 34 years in jail for a handful of tweets in support of activists and members of the kingdom’s political opposition in exile.

El-Shabab was reported to the authorities via Kollona Amn, a mobile app available to download from the Apple App store and the Google Play store, which empowers ordinary citizens to snitch on their compatriots.

The Saudi regime has often encouraged citizens to inform on one another, but Kollona Amn, launched by the Saudi interior ministry in 2017, has made it possible to report comments critical of the regime or behavior deemed offensive by the conservative theocracy with a few clicks. Legal-rights activists say that over the past few years, they’ve witnessed a dramatic rise in court cases that reference the app, as the country’s current leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sultan — widely known by his acronym MBS — expands the use of technology to surveil, intimidate, and control its citizens at home and abroad.

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