Tariq Al-Homayed
Saudi journalist and writer, and former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper
TT

From Meshaal to Nasrallah…

The saying goes: “If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.” In our region, we could change it to: If you use your head, you will see lies exposed before you, an abundance of them, and the most prominent of them is that there is an axis “resisting” and “confronting” Israel.

We saw this hypocrisy of those claiming to “resist” and “confront” Israel manifest itself in two major stories last Wednesday because we had been waiting in the river for a long time. The first came from this newspaper, and the other from the TV show Al-Ikhtiyar 3 (Choosing), and the two complete each other.

This newspaper reported on the recently published book by the American diplomat and envoy, Frederic C. Hof, “Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace”, in which he discusses the secret talks between Damascus and Tel Aviv that began in 2009 and ended in 2011.

Hof recounts the details of a meeting with Bashar al-Assad aimed at ending Syria’s activities and relations that pose a threat to Israel’s security. It was held in Damascus on February 28, 2011, and they went as far as discussing “specific security measures.”

At the meeting, Assad told Hof that everyone would be surprised by how swiftly Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah would comply with the new rules once Syria and Israel declared that they had reached a deal. He then went further, adding that a peace deal would render Nassrallah’s status as the leader of the “resistance” untenable.

The second story from last Wednesday is the leaked clip, which is a form of audio and video documentation, from the TV show Al-Ikhtiyar 3 that exposed the Muslim Brotherhood’s ties with Israel.

The clip reveals how the Muslim Brotherhood’s Guidance Office managed governance in Egypt during Morsi’s time in office through Khairat el-Shater, who gave dictates to Khaled Meshaal, the head of the Hamas Politburo, willy nilly.

In the clip, el-Shater, who appears to be talking to a Westerner, tells his interlocutor that the eruption of a “hunger revolution” would undermine his interests and the Israeli project. Today, he goes on, when the people said they wanted to flock to the border with Israel. “We stood up and said no.” In the end, he explained, “we have spoken to Khaled Meshaal” and told him to release a press statement saying that Hamas does not want to see Egyptians head to the border… “We don’t want the country to collapse, nor do we want chaos or seek to undermine their interests… We are not at war with anyone.”

All right then, Bashar al-Assad, in 2011, said that if he were to sign a deal with Israel, everyone would be surprised by how swiftly Nasrallah, would comply with the new rules and render Nasrallah’s status as “resistance” leader untenable…

And in 2012, el-Shater said the “Israeli project” was under threat when he warned that the people wanted to flock to the border with Israel and “we stood up and said no.” In the end, he explained, “we have spoken to Khaled Meshal” and told him to release a press statement saying that Hamas does not want to see Egyptians head to the border… “We are not at war with anyone.”

What does this all mean? What is certain, as well as being evident for a long time, is that “confronting” and “resisting” Israel is a big lie. The goal for the Brotherhood is to reach power, and for Assad, it is stabilizing his regime. Those who have not woken up to this have no excuse.

The same is true for Iran, which is also fighting to the last Palestinian. The Palestinian cause does not genuinely concern either of them in the slightest. Khaled Meshaal and Hassan Nasrallah, like ISIS, al-Qaeda, and others like them, are mere pawns, nothing more and nothing less.