Saudi Arabia withdraws nationality of a pro-Israel journalist

Saudi Arabian Ministry of Interior has recently withdrawn the nationality of a journalist Abdul Hameed Al Ghabin because he publicly supports Israel and advocates his relations with Israel. Abdul Hameed is a writer as well as political analyst who has written for famous and well-known Saudi Newspapers like, Al Jazeera, Okaz and Al-Riyadh newspaper.

The writer and journalist are famous in the Kingdom for possessing pro-Israeli views because his writings, as well as Social media Posts, are encrypted in praising Israel. In November, he also praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that he deserves to be honored with the greatest of leaders.

The news of his withdrawn nationality was also confirmed by Abdul Hameed al-Ghabin on Twitter where he also mentioned that he is unsure about the reason behind this and he was not officially informed about this decision. He also said in a statement that he respects the decision issued by the Ministry and can do nothing except listening and abiding the decision.

ما نشر عن سحب الجنسية صحيح وبقرار وزاري ولا أعرف الأسباب !
وأنا أحترم القرار بغض النظر عن حيثياته وليس لنا إلا السمع والطاعة.#عبدالحميد_الغبين

— #عبدالحميد الغبين (@ABDULLHAMEEDS) DECEMBER 16, 2019

On the other side, it is also reported that Al-Ghabin is also highly praised by Israeli groups. His pro-Israeli videos on social media accounts are also shared by official Israeli’s social media accounts. He has also published articles in Israeli publications and has also called for building relationships with Israel.

Al Ghabin in one of his recent video clearly showed his support for Israel claiming that Israel is a peaceful state that only seeks peace. In the same video, he also repeatedly expressed his encouragement of the collaboration between Saudi Arabia and Israel and also talked about the political, economic and military ties between these two states.

تصوري وما المسه على الواقع الفعلي وليس الافتراضي أن الشعب في الخليج و #السعودية بشكل خاص والأغلبية الاجتماعية ترحب بالعلاقات مع #إسرائيل بغض النظر عن مسار القضية الفلسطينية التي انقرضت.
والسلام مع إسرائيل بات خيار استراتيجي وسياسي واقتصادي وثقافي.
خط البداية 2020 بعون الله ✌ PIC.TWITTER.COM/C7OV0JTXUW

— #عبدالحميد الغبين (@ABDULLHAMEEDS) DECEMBER 18, 2019

Above all Al Ghabin also continued to express his support for Saudi leadership despite the decision of canceling his citizenship. Posting a picture of Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman showing great leadership represent justice and security he supported the Saudi leadership

Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel. The Kingdom has officially claimed that the normalization of relations with Israel totally depends on Israeli withdrawal from the Arab lands captured during the 1967 Middle East war.

#نتنياهو الله يحفظك ويستر عليك.. كنت مخلص وأمين لدولة وشعب #إسرائيل ..
كنت صاحب قرار وشجاع.
يحتاج المجتمع الإسرائيلي وقت طويل حتى ينجب شخص مثلك .. تستحق أن تكرم مع العظماء فقد جعلت إسرائيل دولة مرحب بها في الإقليم العربي .. أن وجودك يعني الكثير
اكن لك كل الاحترام والتقدير ..? PIC.TWITTER.COM/YWBFVHLVIC

— #عبدالحميد الغبين (@ABDULLHAMEEDS) NOVEMBER 21, 2019

The Government of Saudi Arabia repeatedly called for the recognition of the Palestinian state that was built on their land and Israel captured it during the war. In April 2018 Prince Mohammad bin Salman said that Israeli’s were entitled to live on their own land peacefully.