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Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-880601
Normalization? The Mecca Sermon No One in the West Wants to Hear
(Jerusalem Post) Dr. Edy Cohen - On Dec. 12, the designated weekly preacher in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Imam Sheikh Salih bin Abdullah bin Humaid, asked God to punish the Jews, describing Israel as a "cruel Zionist enemy." The sermon was broadcast on Saudi state television, spread on social media, and circulated via many Saudi-funded TV channels, reaching tens of millions of people. The sermon is translated into dozens of languages and reaches Muslims who are not Arabs, including Turks, Indonesians, Pakistanis, and others. What are millions of Muslims supposed to think when they hear the imam in Mecca vilifying and cursing Jews? There are those who will argue that the crown prince did not authorize it. But the Saudi crown prince knows about every ant that moves across Saudi Arabia, and certainly about the most important weekly sermon. Mohammed bin Salman wants to cement his standing among Arabs, and his entry ticket is the Palestinian issue. He wants to be seen as an Arab hero, as someone who succeeded in bringing the Palestinians a state. The antisemitic sermons may stop, but only if the Americans, who in practice protect the Saudis in the Gulf against Iran, instruct the crown prince to stop. Anyone who thinks the Saudis are moderates is captive to a dangerous misconception. The Lebanon-born writer, who served for 15 years in the Israeli intelligence community, is a researcher at the Israel Center for Grand Strategy (ICGS).