Officially, Saudis still pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. Unofficially...not quite.

The official PA Wafa news agency reports:

Manal Radwan, Saudi Arabia's delegate at the United Nations, pledged on Thursday during a United Nations General Assembly meeting on the situation in the Near East and on the “question of Palestine” that her country will continue to support the Palestinian people in their cause for self-determination and statehood.

...She condemned Israel, the occupying power, for its violations against the Palestinians people, including the killing of innocent civilians, illegal settlement construction and expansion, the theft of Palestinian land and the demolition of thousands of homes since the Palestinian exodus (Nakba) in 1948.

Radwan blamed Israel for “committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people of Palestine… in full disregard of all the demands of the international community [on Israel] to stop these grave violations and adhere to international resolutions.”

But the reality is more like this Saudi columnist is saying in a column sarcastically entitled "Throw the Palestinians into the sea."

It is now clear that the Arab position on the Palestinian issue is shifting, and Arab feelings towards the Palestinians and also towards the Israelis are shifting.
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The big difference is that the official position stems from pragmatism dealing with the reality and the Israeli presence. The popular transformation is based on its justification for demonizing the Palestinians and accepting the Israelis as a civilized and harmless people compared to neighboring peoples!

...What is happening now from some Arabs is not only recognition of Israel, but a confession of guilt in boycotting it once upon a time!

The demonization of the Palestinians would not have succeeded if it had been done in one go. But we began many years ago to talk about the corruption of elements of  Fatah in the name of the struggle, and then we talked the (excesses) of Hamas, which made the Palestinian unable to get rid of his bad reputation. This is combined with Israeli efforts to improve its reputation in the Arab world, such as Ramadan blessings, Eid recitations and the circulation of Umm Kulthum and Abdel Halim songs sung by Israeli voices.

Where will this rapprochement go? What are its conditions, if they have conditions? And who will lead the cart: political pragmatism or popular emotional feelings?

The Arab discourse, which in the 1960s wanted to "throw the Jews into the sea," has changed: some of its voices now seem to want to throw the Palestinians into the sea!

A Saudi TV host caused a ruckus in both the Arab world and Israel by calling on Saudi Arabia to allow Israeli chess players to attend a tournament there.

Just being able to suggest that on TV is already a huge difference from a couple of  years ago.

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