In an article titled "Nobel Delusion Prize," published October 5, 2022 in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, the daily's former editor-in-chief, senior Saudi journalist Tariq Al-Homayed, accuses Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah of hypocrisy for welcoming the U.S.-brokered contacts between Lebanon and Israel on the demarcation of the maritime border between them. Nasrallah, he says, has for years been spewing the Iranian slogans of "death to America" and "death to Israel," and cursing Saudi Arabia and other countries for pursuing peace with Israel. Yet now he welcomes an agreement with this country, while at the same time encouraging the Palestinians to reject any progress towards peace. Quipping that the region should award figures like Nasrallah with a Nobel Delusion Prize, Al-Homayed states that "'we should not listen to those trading in causes and brokering wars. Peace is fundamental, and it is the best way to rid ourselves of the merchants that have been trading in our region’s resources and the youths for decades."
Tariq Al-Homayed (Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London)
The following is his article, as published in the English-language edition of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat:[1]
"Our region needs a prize like the Nobel Peace Prize, but called the Nobel Delusion Prize. It would be given out once a year, if not once a month, as we have enough delusional figures for it. I will give one example and start with a sort of surprising experiment.
"He says: 'Regarding the issue of our maritime borders and oil and gas rights - after months of hard work, political efforts, media campaigns, and action on the ground - we saw the country’s three top officials [President Michel 'Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister Najib Mikati] receive a written text from the mediator. I have always reiterated that it is up to the state to take the right decision that it believes best serves the interest of Lebanon, and the coming days will be decisive in this regard,' he added. He then went on to add that 'over the next few days, the stance of the Lebanese state will become clear, and we hope that the process is close to its conclusion and that things will end well for Lebanon and all the Lebanese.' He then says: 'If the conclusion is positive, it would open new horizons that will be positive for the Lebanese, God willing.' This would be the result of national solidarity and cooperation.
"Well, who is speaking? What are they talking about? Who is the mediator in question? Was it Rafik Hariri, may God have mercy on his soul, Walid Jumblatt, or one of those whom Hezbollah had assassinated and accused of being Israeli operatives? Answer: No. It is Hassan Nasrallah speaking, and he is talking about the maritime border demarcation negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. The mediator he mentioned is the United States. Doesn’t he truly deserve the Nobel Delusion Prize?
"We have already heard of the terms phrases like the peace of the courageous and Abrahamic peace; now we see 'oil peace,' a term that had been used to criticize us. Now it is being lauded by Nasrallah, who said this in the same speech in which he brazenly insulted Saudi Arabia and defended Iran and its crimes.
"He would not have said this if it had not been for his exploitation of the stale Iranian slogans that have made the region lose its way. 'Death to America,' the mediator in the gas negotiations. 'Death to Israel,' Lebanon’s oil partner.
"The theoretician of a so-called axis that mendaciously calls itself the 'Axis of Resistance' has gone out and celebrated the deal with Israel… The man behind the 'blocking third,' which obstructed every general election, presidential election, and prime ministerial appointment, claimed he had nothing to do with the agreement. The Muslim Brotherhood did the same when Mohammad Morsi, who addressed his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres as 'my dear and great friend,' was in charge.
"Some say that the deal with Israel has nothing to do with the land border and that it is not a recognition of Israel’s existence. Who knows, are territorial ties now distinct from maritime and aerial ties?! A dear Lebanese friend tells me: 'Man, people can hardly make it through the day in Lebanon.' That is true. It is the result of the malicious and frivolous actions of Hassan Nasrallah and those who support him.
"However, the Palestinians also cannot find a nation or shelter; so why do the likes of Nasrallah, and behind him Iran, refuse to sign a peace deal as they celebrate Lebanon’s 'oil peace.'
"And so, we pray that God will have mercy on the genius who was Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat. He spared his country the humiliating farce of such obnoxious self-aggrandizement, concluding a genuine peace of the courageous through which he retrieved his territory and spared Egypt a dark fate. Only God knows what would have happened to the country if that agreement had not been concluded.
"I am convinced that peace should have come sooner and that it is inevitable. We should not listen to those trading in causes and brokering wars. Peace is fundamental, and it is the best way to rid ourselves of the merchants that have been trading in our region’s resources and the youths for decades.
"Our real battle is not achieving peace but development, and we still have a long road ahead."
[1] English.aawsat.com, October 6, 2022.
