Saudi Arabia is allegedly increasing the number of its residents who are arrested for making remarks critical of Israel about the Gaza conflict despite Riyadh’s absence of ties to Israel.
According to Bloomberg, among the recent detainees was an official from a company part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 economic plan, whose opinions on the war were judged offensive by local authorities.
Bloomberg is informed by anonymous sources that two people advocated for the boycott of American fast-food outlets in the monarchy and that a media representative declared that Israel could never be forgiven.
According to a person acquainted with the Saudi government’s thinking, the arrests are intended to discourage people from posting statements about the war online that could endanger national security.
One of the nation’s maximum-security prisons has seen a significant increase in inmates within the previous six months, according to a second Saudi source with knowledge of the situation.
Several Saudi diplomats and human rights organisations confirmed this, claiming that since October 7, there has been an increase in arrests for offences relating to social media.
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But according to the sources, a large number of the incarcerations might be for posts unrelated to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Fearing that pro-Palestine demonstrations will spark new uprisings against their governments, Riyadh and its regional allies, Egypt and Jordan, have clamped down on domestic protests.
The report comes as Saudi Arabia and Israel proceed with an accord mediated by the United States.
Prior to October 7th, the Biden administration had been in talks with Saudi Arabia and Israel about a possible peace deal.
These conversations continued during Israel’s Gaza war, but it seems that obstacles remain in the way of an accord.
As the discussions with Riyadh continued, an accord might see the US providing technologies to support Saudi Arabia’s nuclear power development in exchange for normalisation relations with Israel.
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli