Political initiatives gain their importance from three factors. First, their content. Second, their timing. And third, the parties’ serious adherence and execution.
These factors were available in the recent Saudi initiative, when the Kingdom appointed an ambassador to the State of Palestine, and a general consul in Jerusalem.
The content is both old and new, as the Kingdom has embodied firm support for Palestinian national rights since the reign of the late founder, King Abdulaziz, and moved forward in this commitment with determination and stability, providing the Palestinian people and cause, strong protection on which to rely.
Despite negative indications that emerged from time to time, as a result of political changes, various developments and interference, the essence of the Saudi position on the Palestinian issue has never changed. Its policy has remained constant at all forums and at all levels. In terms of financial support, the Kingdom has borne the bulk of it over decades.
Recently, Saudi policy has been targeted by parties with hostile agendas. But this has not affected the Palestinian people’s confidence in the strength of the Saudi position and its firm commitment to their cause. Stances, which were voiced at the summits, especially the recent ones, were strong and clear, relieving the Kingdom of the need to explain its position in the face of the torrent of skepticism and confusion.
The Kingdom’s policy towards the Palestinian people and their cause has gone beyond the limits of typical, automatic, and emotional solidarity, to be part the Saudi calculations related to the stability of the entire region, especially as the world is watching the development of Saudi impact on the global level, and the collective international satisfaction with the enlightened, fair, and active way it is wielding its influence.
In terms of timing, the Saudi initiative to develop its diplomatic presence in Palestine came at the right moment. That is, a time when the Palestinians seem to need a dose of support with such significant connotations and implications. Embassies are opened in real entities, and the Consulate General in Jerusalem is seen as the highest level of support, acceptance, and commitment to the Holy City, the recognized capital of the Palestinians, for whom the day must come when their state is established, their capital is declared, and the Saudi embassy is built on their land.
It is a dose in which the symbolic, political, ethical and concrete factors are all combined, at a time when many voices were raised talking about the assassination of the cause, and the falsification of Palestinian national rights by dealing with them with the logic of naivety, not with the deeper and more deserving existential necessities.
With the renewed commitment, and the studied timing that the Palestinians needed, comes the need for adherence and implementation. The Kingdom launched the Arab peace initiative as the first Arab-Islamic political project that defined the foundation of the political settlement.
In fact, Saudi Arabia possesses convincing capabilities for serious and effective work to implement what it has committed to, supported by its international network of old and new relations, and sufficient independence in drawing up policy and mechanisms and moving towards its goals.
This is what provides the Palestinians, who were almost driven to a state close to despair by fierce winds and political instabilities, with a strong wall to lean on, a window of hope, and faith that the future holds what is worth betting on.
After this dose of support, the Palestinians should tend to their internal affairs that are rife with divisions and cracks. They must foster a state of accord to be able to benefit from the support. The winds are favorable, but the ship’s imbalance prevents it from sailing, and this must be always tended to, before and after the Saudi imitative.
