Old enemies, new friends, Arab Israeli ties

Initiated under the Trump administration, the so-called “Abraham Accords” hit a significant milestone in the history of relations between Israel and the Arab world. Now some Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain as well as Sudan, and Morocco have normalized or at least publicized their relations with the Israeli regime, stabbing their Palestinian brethren in the back.

Where Saudi Arabia is concerned, which is still to normalize ties with Tel Aviv, its special relations with Israel is undeniable.

But how and how much have these Arab autocrats benefited from their friendship with the Israeli occupiers in return for their betrayal of the Palestinian cause?

Israel and new-found friends

Initiated under the Trump administration, the so-called “Abraham Accords” hit a significant milestone in the history of relations between Israel and the Arab world.

Perhaps the immediate result the Arab signatories of the normalization agreement were seeking was a more influential lobby to direct, or at least manage, Washington’s regional policies.

 As many of these regimes do not really represent the people they are ruling, they consider the United States as the main guarantor of their existence that can shield them from any grassroots revolution.

What kind of benefit those regimes they will have it’s the gates to Washington DC and some imaginable kind of security that they are going to be protected by the American government.

And this is how the Israeli sold themselves to the world, that you have to come through Tel Aviv to have relationship with the American policymakers in Congress or government, American government, regardless if it's Democrat or Republican.

Wafic Faour, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine

These Arab states hope to tap Israel’s influential network of lobbying in the US. 

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The United Arab Emirates, for example, has already embarked on establishing relationship with some influential organization connected to Tel Aviv such as the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

As early as 2018, the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations put the Emirati leadership on a pedestal.

Distorting the reality, Stephen Greenberg said, “In the UAE, I found a country that is tolerant, pluralistic, promoting women in government and the private sector, while committing to fight terrorism and extremism in every form.”

Definitely the most beneficiary of all that the elite Israeli who wants to do business with those regimes, and the regimes who don't care about their own people and the benefit of their people [sic].

But I can assure you that the vast majority of the Arabs and Muslims they don't see the normalization as beneficial.

Wafic Faour, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine

King Salman of Saudi Arabia called Donald Trump for permission to invade Qatar

More than three years since the blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, with no end in sight, a Saudi-led, UAE-funded plot to invade neighboring Qatar in the early days of the blockade has been disclosed.

In the wake of the normalization, AIPAC or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee which advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States strongly supported Abu Dhabi in acquiring the F-35 fighter jets. 

Not surprisingly, after Joe Biden won the presidency of the US, Israel planned to lobby the new administration not to pressure Saudi Arabia, the UAE as well as Egypt, on matters related to human rights.  

These regimes, its own existence, is by closing the American I mean, not only administration and the American media are closing their eyes on what the Arab regimes are contributing to their people from this regard of all the human rights and equal rights, individual rights, the freedom of press and freedom expressions, and jailing people.

I mean, you name Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, they are in violation of every article of human rights internationally, but you don't see it on major news media here, in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or CNN, NBC, CBS, they don't talk about it.

Wafic Faour, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine

At the same time, these Persian Gulf regimes are after cementing ties with Christian Evangelicals who have tremendous influence in the US policy-making circle.

UAE “normalization” of ties with the Israel regime: Hidden agenda

The UAE and Israel, having had clandestine dealings with one another for many years, have decided to make their relationship public under the guise of “normalization” of ties.

For example, in early 2020, a Muslim World League delegation - financed by the Saudi kingdom- paid a rare visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland- accompanied by representatives of the American Jewish Committee.

"I would like to express to all of you that myself and my colleagues the Islamic leaders are deeply touched, affected with these horrible crimes."

Mohammad bin Abdul Karim Issa, Leader, Muslim World League

In early October this year, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations hosted a Bahraini delegation in New York City. 

The aim was encouraging Jewish investment and tourism and fanning the flame of Iranophobia. 

UAE and Israel have been interacting for some time

Amid much fanfare the UAE and Israel have recently decided to formalize, or as they like to put it to “normalize” their relations, despite their longstanding interaction in various areas such as trade and cybersecurity.

The fact is one of the identical interests of these Arab states and the Israeli regime is to undermine the revival of the Iran nuclear deal.

Although the Saudi Kingdom has not joined the Abraham Accords yet, it’s an open secret that Riyadh and Tel Aviv have a close connection with each other and the Israelis don’t miss any opportunity to woo the kingdom.

Just after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Josh Block, the CEO of The Israel Project at the time rushed to whitewash the image of the Saudi Crown Prince, tweeting that Khashoggi was a “radical Islamist terrorist ally who was close to Osama bin Laden and Daesh”. 

Normalization comes from the word normal. I don't think there is anything normal about the state of Israel to put the word normalization on any relationship with Israel.

I don't know why people they use this word between the relationship between the state of Israel and some Arab dictatorships and regimes, the relationship between this occupation, this entity we call Israel, goes back to its own creation, and when they created Israel, they created those Arab regimes by dividing the Arab world and the Muslim world to create a Muslim world.

So the relationship always existed, the security and the safety of Israel was the safety of these regimes.

Wafic Faour, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine

UAE golden visas for celebrities attempt to clean image

Over the past few years the United Arab Emirates has tried to project itself as a land of wealth and luxury and has been luring many from across the world to this part of the world, giving a 10-year renewable residency to international celebrities.

The Arab signatories of the Abraham Accords have been trying to justify their decision as a promotion of peace in the region.

But the hard fact is their close ties with the darling of the United States in the Middle East might embolden them even further to continue with their grave violations of human rights at home and military adventurism in the region, while the US and its Western allies  are looking the other way.

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