by SAMIA NASIR KHOURY
During this century, 2020 seems like a year we would like to remove from our memory. With life being toppled upside down for everybody all over the world due to the Corona Pandemic, forces of evil still find a way to strike again and again
We hardly got over the shock of the explosion in Beirut on August 4, and the loss of so many lives along with the destruction of a large area of the city when we got another shock on August 13, with the breaking news of the United Arab Emirates’ recognition of Israel and the normalization of their relationship on all levels. Why would the Emirates do that at a time when the Palestinians are at their lowest ebb, and they need the support of all their Arab neighbors to sanction Israel instead of allying with it. A promise for full Arab States relationship with Israel was stipulated clearly in the Saudi initiative at the Arab summit meeting in Beirut in March 2002, provided Israel ended its occupation and withdrew from all the Arab territories it occupied 1967, in accordance with Security Council 242 and 338. However, the Israeli occupation has been further entrenched by the establishment of settlements all over the West Bank. So, is the UAE rewarding Israel? Or, is it encouraging other Arab countries to do likewise, and further abandon the Palestinians? It is shameful indeed and no justification is acceptable.
My first reaction was that Israel won once again, and succeeded in driving a wedge in the midst of the Arab countries. All colonial countries are experts on the policy of “divide and rule”. As a Palestinian, I was old enough to remember this kind of policy during the British Mandate, and later on I learned that it happened wherever the British Empire ruled. So ever since the creation of the State of Israel which was a byproduct of the British Mandate, such a policy continued to prevail, except that the major player now supporting Israel is the USA. Without its unequivocal moral and financial support, Israel could not have been able to maintain the occupation of the Palestinian Territories. And during the term of Donald Trump, the USA has been exceptionally generous with Israel and rewarded it with a United Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Deal of the Century, and this latest UAE initiative. In the meantime, and very sadly the wedge between the Palestinians continues to prevail. However, the words of Condoleeza Rice, the US Secretary of the Sate from 2005-2009, and who was the National Security Adviser to President George Bush during the invasion of Iraq, become so pertinent at such a time as she had declared at that time that the USA wants to see a New Middle East. Who else but Israel, their ally in the region, who would help them attain that, being Israel’s wish as well? Since then we have seen what happened in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and all the region in general. So with this latest announcement, what else is new?
My second reaction to the deal was that the “wizard” Bibi Netanyahu, as he was referred to by one of the Hebrew papers, as well as the business man, Donald Trump, are facing problems and challenges in their political careers and upcoming elections in the US and another possible election in Israel. What better distraction and promotion could they get than striking such a deal at such a time. And especially that all three of them, the UAE, Israel, and the USA share a common enemy – IRAN-.
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