Veteran Palestinian journalist Abdel Bari Atwan says the peace agreement that the UAE reached with Israel under American auspices is the height of treason.
Like all the agreements and treaties that preceded it, such as the ones made with Israel by Egypt, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, this is treason. And the same description will apply to any similar future agreements.
For an Arab, it’s so painful to see some cheer on this agreement and try to justify it, saying that it is “historical” and represents a new era for the Arab world.
Is selling out Palestine and Jerusalem to implement the Deal of the Century a historic day? Does crowning Israel the leader of the Sunni Arabs under the pretext of confronting Iran constitute a new era? Is this really a major step on the path to a just peace?
Please respect our minds even if you do not respect our feelings.
Yes, this Emirati-Israeli agreement could well lead to a permanent peace for the Palestinian cause because it may lead to its final liquidation.
Perhaps Netanyahu was at his most truthful when he said that they are normalising with us because we are strong and they are weak. Here he is not talking of course about the Arab resistance fighters who made him flee like a mouse to save his life after rockets from Gaza fell like rain over his head and settlers in the city of Ashdod when he was delivering an election speech. He is talking about the Arab leaders.
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What does the UAE gain?
Some Arabs pay tribute to Washington and President Trump, in cash or in the form of arms deals, in exchange for protection. And now some Arabs will pay tribute to the Occupying Power as well, out of fear and terror and in pursuit of “protection” from an alleged danger (Iran).
We know that Netanyahu and Trump (who is in crisis domestically) have emerged victorious from this agreement, even if only temporarily. But what are the gains made by the government of the United Arab Emirates which is an oil-rich country that has signed joint defence treaties with France, America and Britain?
In fact only a week ago its foreign minister met with his Iranian counterpart amicably and in the context of an accelerated improvement in relations between the two countries.
Countries are supposed to sign peace agreements after wars or tensions with their enemies. But was the UAE at war with “Israel”?
We could understand somewhat if these countries that signed peace agreements reaped economic, military and technological fruits as a result of their betrayal, and here we are talking specifically about Egypt, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
But Israel has rewarded Egypt with its support for Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam; it has rewarded Jordan by preparing to annex the Jordan Valley and steal its water and agricultural lands; and we all know how it has rewarded the Palestinian Authority for being an agent for promoting normalisation and setting the precedent for security coordination.
But thank you to Dr Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, who assured us that the Emirati embassy will not be established in Occupied Jerusalem, but rather in Tel Aviv!
We have loved the Emirates, and millions of Arabs and Muslims like us have loved them, when they were the distinguished champion of Arab causes, and when they were led by a virtuous Arab man (UAE founder Shaykh Zayed) standing in the trench of resistance who fired his historical cry during the 1973 war when he closed the oil taps, saying: “Oil is not more precious than blood.”
Enemy plots
But now we have definitively ascertained the logic that led to the plots to destroy Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria, to starve the Palestinian people, to lead the PLO into the trap of treason, and to poison its founding leader (Yasser Arafat) who wanted to atone for the Oslo sin by igniting the resistance.
That said, from the womb of the defeat of Lebanon in 1982 the Islamic Resistance was launched; from the womb of the defeat of June 1976 the Palestinian resistance emerged; and from the heart of the second Camp David plot in 2000 to bring the Palestinian leadership to its knees, the second armed uprising began in Occupied Palestine.
This nation is one of content re-birth and its creed is solid, its people are generous, and its history in all fields is one of civilisation. It may get sick and be attacked by vultures, but it will inevitably rise again.
This article first appeared in Arabic in raialyoum.
