Al-Sheikh and Sun of Victory

On last Dec.6th, US President Donald Trump signed his controversial decision recognizing occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The decision did not go by unchallenged. The United States and its Israeli ally stood alone facing almost the whole world in defiance of all international resolutions that consider Jerusalem as a city and ask the occupation authorities to preserve the city's Islamic identity.

Trump's decision, which no previous American president dared to take because they were aware of the repercussions, has increased anti- US feelings in the Arab and Islamic countries and the peace-loving countries of the world, and shed as well more doubts on the US policy favoring Israel at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian Arab people.

With this decision,  in addition to freezing aids to the UNRWA, Trump added a new problem to the already troubling internal problems he is currently facing after issuing of  " Fire and Fury" by Michael Wolff and the summoning  of some of his senior aides for hearing in the case of complacency with Russia to manipulate the US presidential elections.

Thus President Trump has created for himself, his country and his Republican team, an atmosphere of mistrust to the extent that his promises for accomplishing the so-called "deal of the century" to solve the Middle East conflict are becoming a popular joke. Some call it the "blow of the century"!

But what concerns us in all if this is that some of the hostile parties, especially Iran and the media supporting it, have used this decision to defame the Kingdom and discredit its reputation. The Kingdom, by the wisdom and faith of its leadership, has stood fast in calling for restoration of the Palestinian people's legitimate rights in statehood. While insisting on these principles, our leadership opted to give Trump an opportunity to prove his credibility in achieving a just settlement of this conflict that threatens the stability of the entire Middle East, but his decision was disappointing and killed the dreams of peace.

In this ambiguous atmosphere, the Kingdom had to clarify its position and declared its rejection of this decision and called on the US administration to reconsider and abrogate this decision. This rejection was expressed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and top Saudi officials, including Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and OIC Secretary-General Dr. Yusuf bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen in his address to the OIC conference held in Turkey last month.

Things didn’t stop right here. Once again, the kingdom affirmed its firm position on the Palestinian issue despite the campaigns of skepticism. This was confirmed by the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Da'wah and Guidance Dr. Saleh bin Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh in his speech at the Al-Azhar Conference in support of Jerusalem held in Cairo Wednesday. Dr. Saleh emphasized the Kingdom's steadfast position and the role of scholars in enlightening the generations and spreading the spirit of pride and readiness to resist and confront Masonic and Zionist schemes.

His speech was brief but it is a a strategic political statement that we must read carefully because it is a blueprint for the future to liberate Palestine and Jerusalem from Zionist occupation. It is a Saudi manifesto for the nation promising the hope and the demise of occupation and tyranny and heralding brightness of the sun of the coming victory.