Houston. Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud has criticized both Hamas and Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza. Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former intelligence chief and Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to the US, said “there are no heroes in this conflict, only victims”. India was also mentioned in his speech at an American university. He mentioned the civil disobedience movement and how India struggled non-violently to oppose the British.
He gave the example of Indian freedom movement. However, a viral video of his address begins by saying that all people under occupation have the right to resist their occupation, even militarily. Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal said, “I do not support the military option in Palestine. I choose the second option: civil rebellion and disobedience. It destroyed the British Empire in India and the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe.
Hamas killed innocent children, women and the elderly
Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal said Israel has tremendous military superiority and the world can see the devastation it is wreaking in Gaza. Hitting out at Hamas for the October 7 attack, Faisal said, “I categorically condemn the targeting of civilian targets of any age or gender by Hamas, as it is accused. “Such a goal belies Hamas’s claims to an Islamic identity.” He said there was an Islamic injunction against killing innocent children, women and the elderly and desecrating places of worship.
His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, former ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the US, offers his perspective. #BakerLive pic.twitter.com/mRwYiCqTkG
— Baker Institute (@bakerinstitute) October 17, 2023
More than 5800 people died tragically
According to United Nations estimates, more than 5,800 people have lost their lives so far in Hamas attacks on Israeli cities and the brutal response that followed. The Saudi prince criticized Hamas, saying its attacks gave the Israeli government moral grounds to attack. “I condemn Hamas for giving this terrible government an excuse to ethnically cleanse and bombard its citizens from Gaza,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s efforts also failed
The Saudi prince also criticized Hamas for thwarting Saudi Arabia’s efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the Palestine issue. Many experts have said that the normalization of Israel-Saudi Arabia relations, which had been stalled by the war in Gaza, was an important backdrop against which Hamas planned its unprecedented attack.
Two wrongs don’t make a right
The Saudi prince had no words to criticize Israel for its retaliatory attacks targeting innocent civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. He said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Opposing the US media’s use of “unprovoked attacks” to describe Hamas attacks on Israel, Faisal said, “What more provocation is needed than what Israel has done?” The Palestinian people for three quarters of a century? “This bloodshed must stop,” he said, targeting Israel’s alleged atrocities and killing of civilians in Palestine.
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Tags: Hamas, Hamas attack on Israel, Israel, Israel-Palestine conflict
First published: October 22, 2023, 16:17 IST