Iqbal Jassat
It is neither shocking nor surprising that one of the Arabian Gulf despots has finally succumbed to Zionist pressure by openly declaring its abandonment of Palestine.
In a carefully choreographed public announcement, Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, released details of the UAE’s capitulation to Israel.
In contrast to the misplaced selling point of a “historic breakthrough to advance peace in the Middle East” which is clearly designed to shape public opinion, it is a betrayal of Palestine’s freedom struggle.
That the UAE and its unelected ruler had cultivated secret ties with the settler colonial regime, particularly in the field of security and intelligence is no secret.
What has emerged now is thus confirmation of the decades-old relationship between the UAE’s corrupt family fiefdom and the illegitimate occupiers of Palestine.
Mohammed Bin Zayed (MbZ) has earned nothing but condemnation for his treachery and treason.
His authoritarian conduct does not in any way represent the Arab street.
Dragging the Gulf emirates to “normalize” ties with Israel is in reality an absurd symptom of the extent of abnormality which defines the UAE.
The excuse that by succumbing to the racist Zionist ideology is a “win for diplomacy” is in fact a shameful display of impotency, cowardice and corruption.
Trump’s re-election campaign is on shaky ground and Netanyahu’s failure to escape domestic anger fuelled by his corrupt policies needed a scapegoat to boost their political fortunes.
By concluding this act of treason against Palestine, MbZ served as a useful prop.
The claim that Israel has agreed to suspend plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank is utterly preposterous.
Netanyahu announced today (August 14) that West Bank annexation plans have not been abandoned.
Besides, Zionist illegal settlement activities are continuing and Palestinian homes are being demolished.
We anticipate deep-seated anger across Arab streets in solidarity with Palestine but fear that the tyrannical rulers will use brutal power to silence and suppress outpourings of dismay and disgust.
Though the Arab League has been called upon to convene an urgent meeting, the tragedy is that most if not all Arab regimes are unprincipled, weak cowards with a horrendous record of betrayal of Palestine.
Justice-loving people everywhere are fully committed to the Palestinians’ just struggle to free themselves from an oppressive tyranny which has not only occupied them but continues to subject them to relentless persecution.
That the UAE has officially begun the process to normalize ties in defiance of the aspirations of Palestinians, makes them directly complicit in Israel’s war crimes.
The UAE’s outrageous choice to partner with Israel’s violations of fundamental human rights and practice of dehumanizing policies is abhorrent.
Human rights organizations and freedom loving people worldwide must reject this betrayal of Palestine’s struggle for freedom.
Iqbal Jassat is Executive Director of the Media Review Network, Johannesburg, South Africa
The Zionists are continuing to create facts on the ground by a furious campaign of illegal settlements on lands stolen from the Palestinian ...
