Gulf states’ pact with the devil over Palestine
What did the UAE hope to achieve by making public peace with the zionist state?
On 13 August the normalisation of relations (the Abraham Accords) between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel was announced in a fanfare of flags and smiles from the leaders of both sides and from US president Donald Trump, who is taking credit for brokering this ‘peace’ deal of the century.
It is well known to most people who have looked at the middle east situation in any depth that the UAE, along with a few other Arab countries, has had relations with the illegitimate state of Israel for a long time in the spheres of trade, military knowledge sharing, the nurturing of terrorist groups to undermine and attack neighbours and so on.
In 2015, Israel opened a diplomatic office in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi as part of the International Renewable Energy Agency, and many senior Israeli officials have visited the city. In the field of sport, Israeli athletes have participated in many regional competitions in the UAE.
Returning to trade, Israel was set to participate in Dubai’s World Expo 2020, which had to be postponed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. In short, the UAE has merely made official its already existing policy.
However, even that is a huge knife in the collective back of the long-suffering Palestinian people.
For those who wish to understand some of the methods used by zionist terrorism to take Palestinian land, simply google Deir Yassin. In the accounts of this single massacre in 1948 can be found the names of various zionist terror gang leaders who would go on to be leaders of Israel.
In view of its ideology and its modus operandi, the equation of zionism with nazism is obvious.
When people term themselves anti-zionist, it is that ideology and the murderous practices of the zionists that they are opposing. Unfortunately, the zionists and their supporters inside many governments have for some time now been pushing the lie that anti-zionism is synonymous with antisemitism in order to try to have any resistance to Israel’s crimes or any sympathy with the Palestinian people outlawed wherever possible – and this idea has gained a lot of ground thanks to its endless repetition in the imperialist corporate media.
Zionism itself is an antisemitic ideology, since it posits that jews do not belong in the various countries of the world in which they are citizens but only in Israel. In the eyes of zionism, all Arabs who are not of the jewish religion are sub-human.
For those who wish to have a greater understanding of the political history of the middle east we suggest reading Imperialism in the Middle East by Harpal Brar and Ella Rule.
During the various press conferences and interviews with US president Trump, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE crown prince (and de facto leader) Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and their underlings we have heard some extraordinary statements.
Trump, being a man of few words, called the agreement “huge”, which it is because now all the other muslim countries in the region that have been indulging in semi-secret relations with Israel will start to formalise them too, giving Trump the chance to portray himself as a peacemaker just in time for the presidential elections, while his Democratic party opponent, Joe Biden, an equally avid supporter of zionism, can say nothing against it.
Netanyahu sees the deal as the possible saving of his personal political career. For zionism more generally, the deal formally isolates the Palestinians at a time when the US has been working to weaken many of Palestine’s true friends – Iran is under crippling sanctions, Syria is still trying to rebuild and reclaim its territory after years of western, Israeli and wahhabi-backed terrorism and invasion, Libya has been totally smashed, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah is still reeling from the massive explosion in Beirut port, which the western newsmoulders are trying to lay at its door.
In fact, Netanyahu got so giddy that in an interview with Sky News Arabia that he said: “The deal connects the UAE with Israel; both of them are advanced democracies and their societies are advanced.”
A copy of this interview that had been immediately uploaded to his Twitter account was deleted very quickly, presumably after someone perhaps showed him a copy of the US-based Freedom House NGO’s current scoring on the ‘advanced democracy’ of the UAE: General freedom: 17 out of 100. Political rights: 5 out of 40. Civil liberties: 12 out of 60.
The UAE is a federation of seven emirates, led in practice by Abu Dhabi. There are some limited elections for a federal advisory body, but political parties are banned, and all executive, legislative, and judicial authority ultimately rests with the seven hereditary rulers who sit on the Federal Supreme Council (FSC).
The FSC is the country’s highest executive body. It selects a president and vice-president from amongst its members, and the president appoints a prime minister and cabinet. The emirate of Abu Dhabi has controlled the federation’s presidency since 1971.
The FSC is advised by the 40-seat Federal National Council (FNC), which can review proposed laws and question government ministers. Fifty percent of the FNC is elected, but the electoral college is very small with the non-elected half chosen by the emirates.
Political parties are not allowed in the UAE. Those who do try to form them see them broken up very quickly with harsh sentences meted out to those involved.
The UAE has claimed that it has signed this agreement to assist the Palestinian masses, the logic being that it has ‘persuaded’ the Israeli side to halt its proposed formal annexation of the illegally-occupied West Bank.
This is, of course, complete balderdash. Netanyahu has stated on Israeli news channels: “Extending sovereignty will only be done alongside the United States.” ‘Extending sovereignty’ is the chosen zionist euphemism for annexation of the illegal West Bank settlements, and Netanyahu was making it quite clear that the annexation is not shelved but only suspended for a time.
Whoever wins the US presidential election, be it Trump or Biden, will have to give the green light to Israel to start the annexations soon, since the West Bank’s terrorist settlers are not known for their patience when it comes to stealing land or committing genocide. They will be pushing Netanyahu very hard, and when it happens the UAE will just look the other way.
So what has the UAE got from the deal? It is hoping that it has got security, not only from Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, but also from ordinary Arabs and muslims, the vast majority of whom are very supportive of the Palestinian cause (a poll in 2018 found that 87 percent of respondents in various Arab countries were opposed to establishing any ties with Israel, and the most-cited reason was Israel’s oppression of Palestinians).
This illusory security that the UAE dictators think they have been given by the zionists and their US paymasters will also be sought by some other Gulf states and Arab/muslim countries that fear Iran, Syria and Lebanon, and the messages of real Arab and muslim unity emanating from them. It was not for nothing that Palestinian protesters against the Abraham deal burned not only pictures of Trump, Netanyahu and Mohammed bin Zayed but also of Saudi leaders.
Among the other rich and powerful families probably preparing to stick a blade in the backs of the Palestinians are those who rule Bahrain and Oman, both of whom sent out statements welcoming the Abraham deal.
Israeli intelligence minister Eli Cohen told IDF radio: “I think that Bahrain and Oman are definitely on the agenda. In addition, in my assessment, there is a chance that already in the coming year there will be a peace deal with additional countries in Africa, chief among them Sudan.”
These foul murderous despots managed to gain control of the last Arab uprisings and turn them upon their own and imperialism’s enemies, but Palestine is such an emotive and pivotal issue in the region that more risings will certainly come.
Already Turkey seems to be moving away from the US’s sphere of influence, which will certainly complicate matters for both US imperialism and Israel, which is itself becoming riven with contradictions.
The future isn’t bright for imperialism or any of its middle-eastern puppets, but the struggles to overthrow them will be long and hard. We in the imperialist heartlands who stand with the poor must start pulling our weight against the seemingly mighty US imperialism and its zionist surrogate.
