Disgusting display of Arab Royal opulence

It is disgusting not because of its financial magnitude and glitter but because of the circumstance in which it took place

- By Dr. Ameer Ali

THE recent four-day sojourn of President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE deserves to be included among the legendary tales of Arabian Nights. While those tales remain just a collection of colourful and sensual imaginations to entertain readers and listeners, Trump's experience was real and entirely materialistic. It ended with a disgusting display of Arab opulence.

It is disgusting not because of its financial magnitude and glitter but because of the circumstance in which it took place. A four hundred million dollars-worth gift in the shape of a Jumbo Jet presented to the US billionaire President by the hereditary ruler of Qatar displayed not only the emirate's opulence but also the emir's subservience to the US regime. To add an element of sarcasm, US for all intents and purposes has become the alternate qibla or direction of prayer to rulers of Arab Muslim Middle East.

What was even more contemptuous of that four-day red carpet extravaganza laid out to welcome Trump was the fact that none of his hosts even dared to express a word of criticism of Trump's total endorsement of what a condemned war criminal and Prime Minister of Israel and his Zionist cabal are doing to Palestinians in Gaza. It is a "text-book genocide" as aptly described by Craig Mokhiber the former Director of the New York office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights. He resigned his position in disgust on 28 October 2023, and it is worth quoting the following from his letter of resignation: