Egyptian Delegation in Saudi Arabia
As’ad abu Khalil, al-Akhbar, May 7 2012

The visit by an Egyptian delegation to Saudi Arabia was illustrative. It shows that not only Lebanese politicians excel at the art of prostration before the kings of oil and gas. The origin of the idea of the visit is contested: the Egyptian Parliament’s speaker claimed that the idea was his alone, while ambitious Egyptian liberal politician, Ayman Nour, a man desperate for a role at any cost, claimed that it was his idea. This liberal politician failed to show how his liberalism squares with Saudi Wahhabi doctrine. But this ostensibly liberal contradiction afflicts most Arab liberals, many of whom work at the pleasure of Saudi princes. But the idea most likely did not originate in Egypt: it was a face-saving formula proposed by Saudi rulers to spare themselves an embarrassing fiasco. The delegation was made up of various Islamist MPs and journalists, and it also included delegates from Al-Azhar and the arts community. The audience with the king was televised live on Saudi networks and it incensed young Egyptians who were commenting on the event live. Many noticed that the Saudi hosts did not place an Egyptian flag next to the Saudi flag. Some members were asked to give speeches for a few minutes each: the event seemed clearly choreographed by Saudi royal protocols. The speeches were a lesson in political and financial subservience that has been exhibited by people on the payroll of Arab rulers. One speaker from Al-Azhar, one of the most corrupt institutions of the Arab world, went as far as comparing the recall of the Saudi ambassador to the severing of a limb from the body of Egypt. It is not known when the cash exchanged hands, but the speeches were replicas of those by Lebanese politicians who have been accustomed to Gulf oil money.

The delegation did not clearly speak for the Egyptian uprising and its youth. People on Facebook and Twitter quickly discredited the visit and formed a “black list” of the people who joined the Egyptian delegation. Another youth group in Egypt set up a Facebook group threatening a shoe-throwing welcome party for the returning visitors. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Egypt will continue to strain: not only due to Saudi sponsorship of Mubarak’s dictatorship but also due to Saudi attempt at controlling Egyptian politics through money, just as in Lebanon, where Prince Muqrin’s financial support for Mar 14 guaranteed their narrow victory in the last parliamentary election. The Saudi government does not trust political change, especially in a country that is central to Arab politics, and that has been a cornerstone of USraeli/Saudi plots in the Middle East region. Saudi’s Pavlovian resort to sectarian agitation does not work in Egypt the way it has worked in Lebanon and Iraq. Typically, Saud al-Faysal blamed an “external” (i.e. Iranian) conspiracy for the worsening of Egyptian-Saudi relations. But when Saudi media reported that Egyptian protesters outside of the embassy included Iranian conspirators who wanted to kidnap the Saudi ambassador in Egypt, Egyptian government sources quickly denied the claim and exposed the lies of Saudi propaganda. The Arab world is changing and House of Saud is doing its best to resist change, or to control it and steer it in the direction of the past. But the Arab youth look at the Saudi model of government as the epitome of medieval rule that has brought disrepute and backwardness to Arab lives. Without cash payments, the entire Arab world would make the overthrow of the House of Saud the clear and necessary goal toward real change in the Arab world.