Prince Turki Al Faisal: Unlike other western leaders, Mr Trump should not follow double standards

US President Donald Trump in the Situation Room of the White House in Washington on Saturday night. EPA

In a world where even-handedness reigns, we would have seen American B2 bombers’ buster bombs rain on Dimona and other Israeli sites. After all, Israel has nuclear bombs, contrary to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

What’s more, Israel did not join that treaty, staying outside the writ of the International Atomic Energy Agency and no one has inspected Israel’s nuclear installations.

Those who justify Israel’s unilateral attack on Iran by referring to the declarations of Iranian leaders calling for the disappearance of Israel ignore the statements of Benjamin Netanyahu ever since he became Prime Minister in 1996, calling for the destruction of the Iranian government. Iran’s bluster brought destruction to them.

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The West’s hypocritical support for Israel’s attack on Iran is expected. After all, their support for Israel’s assault on Palestine is ongoing, although some countries have recently become less supportive.

The West’s sanctioning of Russia for invading Ukraine stands in sharp contrast to what is allowed Israel. The international rules-based order, so long heralded and proclaimed by the West, is in shambles. We in the Arab world are not impervious to that. Our principled stand on those conflicts is a shining example of what countries, their leaders and their peoples should do.

What is galling about the West’s leaders is that they continue to proclaim platitudes about their supposed beliefs. Fortunately, especially about the Palestinian people’s struggle for independence from the Israeli occupation, vast numbers of common women and men in the West have rejected their leaders’ false stands. People of all faiths, colours and ages continue to show their support for Palestinian independence; hence the growing shift in their leaders’ positions. That is a welcome development.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday night gave his country’s military the green light to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran. Having done so, he believed Mr Netanyahu’s enticements and his embellishment of successes in his ongoing, illegal attack on that country.

He courageously opposed his own leadership’s illegal attack on Iraq more than two decades ago. Remember the law of unintended consequences. It worked in Iraq and in Afghanistan. It will surely work in Iran.

It is still possible to return to diplomacy. Unlike other western leaders, Mr Trump should not follow double standards. He should listen to his friends in Saudi Arabia and the GCC. Unlike Mr Netanyahu, they seek peace, like Mr Trump, not war.

However, I can do nothing about the double standards, Mr Netanyahu’s genocidal conduct, Iran’s history of nefarious activity, the Palestinian leaders’ fratricidal feuds, Europe’s pusillanimity, Mr Trump’s pledge to bring peace to the Middle East, while he wages war on Iran, and his congratulations to Iran for signing on to his call for a ceasefire. There’s also his effusive adulation for Mr Netanyahu.

What I will do is to follow the example of my late father King Faisal’s decision when then-US president Harry S Truman reneged on his predecessor Franklin D Roosevelt’s promises and helped birth Israel. My father kept himself from visiting the US until Mr Truman left office. I will keep myself from visiting the US until Mr Trump leaves office.

Prince Turki Al Faisal