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DID YOU KNOW THAT ISRAEL OCCUPIES SAUDI ISLANDS?
Israel is still Occupying Saudi islands & Saudis remain tight-lipped
Saudi Arabia and Western governments have for decades remained silent on the occupation of Saudi islands by Israel.
It
is a fairly well kept secret that Israel has been occupying parts of
Saudi Arabia since 1967. Tiran and Sanafir are two islands with a
combined area of 113 square kilometres, so they are small, and are in a
very strategic location at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, through which
sea traffic to Israel’s southern port of Eilat must pass en route to
and from the Red Sea. Israel maintains an early warning post on the
islands.
Although
the Saudi Arabian government might claim that the islands are small,
unimportant coral reef islands, their position is such that whoever
controls them controls the Gulf of Aqaba. They are as important as the
Hanish archipelago at the other end of the Red Sea over which a conflict
raged in 1995. International arbitration determined that Hanish belongs
to Yemen. The Israeli occupation of Tiran and Sanafir determines that,
if nothing else, the Israelis control the islands and don’t really care
who they belong to. Saudi Arabia has fought for similar islands but
seems to be reluctant to challenge the Israeli occupation. Is it because
the islands have no material value?
The
islands were occupied by Israel after the late King Faisal had given
control of them to Egypt to prevent Israeli ships being able to get to
Eilat during the Six-Day War. After the ceasefire, Saudi Arabia and
Egypt each claimed that the islands belonged to the other, leaving them
free for the Israeli occupation to begin. When Egypt made peace with
Israel in 1978, President Anwar Sadat refused to include them in the
peace agreement, arguing that they belong to Saudi Arabia. A computer
search reveals that even Google labels them as “Saudi Arabia” and maps
of the country in governmental offices show clearly that they are Saudi
territory, so why the reluctance to challenge Israel, and why is there a
media blackout?
It’s
quite simple: Israel needs an outlet to the Red Sea for its shipping.
The only Israeli presence on the islands is military to ensure that the
shipping lanes are kept clear for its imports and exports, including
military hardware to fight against Arab states. By international
agreement, a multinational UN force is also stationed on the islands
which “monitors the compliance of all parties” with this agreement. In
reality, this means that American and Egyptian troops help to protect
Israel’s shipping lanes through the Straits of Tiran, Saudi Arabia’s
occupied sovereign territory. What would the people of Saudi Arabia say
if they knew?
Many wonder where these islands are and why Saudi Arabia never tries to regain its sovereignty over them.
The question is WHY?
Source: Mission Islam
http://falastinews.com/2014/
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