Why Arabs Hate Palestinians

by Khaled Abu Toameh

• You simply cannot burn pictures of the Saudi crown prince one day and rush to Riyadh to seek money the next. You cannot shout slogans against the Egyptian president one day and go to Cairo to seek political backing the next.
• Remarkably, Turki al-Hamad, a Saudi writer, did what even some Western countries refuse to do: he dared to condemn Hamas and other Gaza-based groups for firing rockets at Israel.
• "Palestinians bring disaster to anyone who hosts them. Jordan hosted them, and there was Black September; Lebanon hosted them, and there was a civil war there; Kuwait hosted them, and they turned into Saddam Hussein's soldiers. Now they are using their podiums to curse us." — Mohammed al-Shaikh, Saudi author, RT Arabic, August 13, 2019.
• Many people in the Arab countries are now saying that it is high time for the Palestinians to start looking after their own interests and thinking of a better future for their children.... The Arabs seem to be saying to the Palestinians: "We want to march forward; you can continue to march backward for as long as you wish."
• "We should not be ashamed to establish relations with Israel." — Ahmad al-Jaralah, a leading Kuwaiti newspaper editor, arabi21.com, July 1, 2019.

Saudi writer Mohammed al-Shaikh has called for banning Palestinians from performing the Islamic hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, after a video surfaced showing Palestinians, during the recent hajj, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting, "With blood, with soul, we redeem you, Al-Aqsa Mosque!" Saudi Arabia has strict rules banning political activities during the hajj. Pictured: Hajj pilgrims in and around Mecca's Grand Mosque and on its roof, during night prayers. (Image source: Al Jazeera/Wikimedia Commons)

Is it true? If so, why? Sadly, the Palestinians are known for betraying their Arab brothers, even effectively stabbing them in the back. The Palestinians, for example, supported Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait – a Gulf state that, together with its neighbors, used to give the Palestinians tens of millions of dollars in aid each year.

This disloyalty is precisely how a growing number of Arabs, particularly those living in the Gulf states, have been describing the Palestinians for the past few years.

In recent months, however, Arab criticism of the Palestinians, mostly aired through traditional and social media, has further escalated, and sometimes turned ugly.

Some Arab writers and journalists expressed outrage over the Palestinians' opposition to peace plans, particularly the US administration's yet-to-be-announced "Deal of the Century."

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