Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
Former Saudi diplomat Dr. Saud Kateb said in a January 24, 2022 interview on Rotana Khalijiya TV (Saudi Arabia) that the Saudis have lost their sympathy for the Palestinian cause because the Palestinians insult Saudi Arabia and support Iran and the Houthis. Dr. Kateb referred to a rally held in Gaza earlier this month in support of the Houthis in Yemen in which Palestinians held up posters with images of IRGC Qods Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani and Abdul-Malik Badreddin Al-Houthi, the leader of the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement in Yemen (see MEMRI TV Clip No. 9320 for more information). Dr. Kateb said that the Palestinians have sold themselves to Iran and said that he has been driven to wonder how the Palestinians would treat Saudi Arabia if they had their own state, since this is how they treat the Saudis now without a state. For more information about Dr. Saud Kateb, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 8301.
Interviewer: "Yesterday, there was a campaign coming from Gaza, against the KSA. The campaign included harsh insults against the KSA. Pictures of Soleimani and [Abdul-Malik Badreddin] Al-Houthi were raised, in a show of support for their position against the KSA.
"How should we deal with such a campaign and such insults in the media?"
Dr. Saud Kateb: "This campaign by some Palestinian leaders, especially Hamas in Gaza... Even though truth be told, I do not want to talk about Gaza alone, the [Palestinian] Authority is problematic as well from our point of view..."
Interviewer: "Yes but the insults coming from Gaza were unacceptable..."
Kateb: "It was not the first case of insults [against the KSA], and it will not be the last. These people have sold themselves to Iran and put themselves at Iran's service. In my opinion, there have been no leaders or nations throughout the history of nations that harmed their own cause like the Palestinian leaders and the Palestinian people - and I do not want to generalize.
"I got to the point that I think - and this is my personal opinion - that these people act this way when they still do not have a state, so what would be their position towards us if they had a state? Am I supposed to support the establishment of a state for them? I know that these are harsh words, but I have been driven to this point.
"What drove me, a [Saudi] citizen - and I believe that there are many Saudis like me... We have reached this conviction because of everything we hear."
Interviewer: "So are you against the Saudi support for the two-state solution?"
Kateb: "No, not at all. The Saudi position towards the Palestinian cause is noble and magnanimous. But personally, I fear that since these people treat us this way now, they will treat us [worse] once they fulfill their rights? The point that I want to make is that they have lost the empathy of the people.
"They have snatched the empathy we have always had for them out of our hearts. They reached with their hands into our hearts and snatched out the empathy. What are we supposed to do after such a thing?"
Latest Clips
