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Leading Saudi Journalist Defends the UAE-Israel Agreement (Part 1)

Aug 24, 2020 10:00 am By Hugh Fitzgerald

The leading Saudi journalist Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed has forcefully rejected criticism from other Arab and Muslim states, and from the Palestinians themselves, of the new agreement between Israel and the UAE.

At MEMRI.org a summary of his main points, followed by a transcript, are here.

In his August 15, 2020 column in the Saudi London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, senior Saudi journalist Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, the daily’s former editor-in-chief and former director-general of the Saudi Al-Arabiya channel, expressed his support for the UAE-Israel normalization agreement and for every Arab country’s right to establish relations with Israel. He stated that just as no Arab element or state can impose its decisions about the Palestinian cause and Palestinian matters on the Palestinians, the Palestinians and Arabs cannot decide whether any Arab state should establish relations with Israel or not, because this is a sovereign matter concerning that state’s supreme interests and unique circumstances.

The days when Arab states marched in lockstep on the “Palestinian cause” have long gone. President Anwar Sadat of Egypt ignored the criticism of other Arab states when he signed a peace treaty with Israel, the Camp David Accords, that resulted in Egypt’s recovery of the entire Sinai. Jordan’s King Hussein signed a peace treaty with Israel, having first been assured by President Clinton that Jordan’s debts would be forgiven. According to the peace treaty, Jordan would receive 50 million cubic meters of water from Israel, would reap the benefits from the establishment of a free trade zone with Israel, and would have Israeli cooperation in fighting terrorism, which in Jordan meant the operatives of Black September, the terror group that at that time most threatened the monarchy. Both parties also recognized that the international boundary between Israel and Jordan would follow the Jordan and Yarmouk Rivers, the Dead Sea, the Emek Ha’Arava/Wadi Araba, and the Gulf of Aqaba, which decreased border disputes and tensions.

Al-Rashed is reminding his readers that the UAE is by no means the first Arab state to sign agreements. Aside from the peace treaties that Egypt and Jordan signed with Israel, Qatar, which has been most critical of the UAE’s action, itself established economic relations with Israel almost a quarter-century ago when it allowed an Israeli trade office to open in Doha.. Turkey, another severe critic of the UAE for its agreement with Israel, prior to the rule of Erdogan enjoyed decades of good relations, including close cooperation on security matters, with Israel.

Rejecting the Qatari, Turkish, and Palestinian criticism of the UAE-Israel agreement, he wrote that this criticism is not connected to the agreement itself but has to do with internal disputes between various Arab states. He accused Qatar of hypocrisy, noting that it was the first to establish relations with Israel – in 1996 – and to allow an Israeli legation on its soil, and that it had even hosted then-Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres when it served its political purposes. About the Palestinians, he said that instead of benefiting from the Arab world’s progress in establishing relations with Israel, they had chosen instead to sit on the sidelines as observers, and emphasized that they were missing out.

According to Al-Rashed, the hysterical criticism of the UAE by the Palestinians will get them nowhere. It is the UAE that has managed to achieve for the Palestinians something they could never have obtained on their own: a pledge by Prime Minister Netanyahu to suspend the extension of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank. The Palestinians rail against their Arab benefactors, without considering what it is that has been achieved on their behalf. They are ungrateful. They are unwilling to negotiate themselves – “they chose to sit on the sidelines,” according to Al-Rashed, and they have no business criticizing the UAE, which has furthered the Palestinians’ interest — though the UAE was under no obligation to do so — by obtaining Netanyahu’s promise to suspend annexation of territory in the West Bank.

There are 193 countries in the world. [Together,] they comprise the international community of UN [member states], 163 of whom recognize Israel. These figures clearly show that what happened the day before yesterday [i.e. the announcement of the UAE-Israel agreement] is not too grave, despite all the [criticism] you have heard about it. The [establishment] of ties between the UAE and Israel comes 27 years after the Oslo Accords, 40 years after [the appointment of] Sa’d Murtada, Egypt’s first ambassador to Tel Aviv, and 24 years after the appointment of the first Israeli [representative] in Qatar and the raising of the Israeli flag over the building of the [Israeli] mission in Doha.

For Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, when it comes to diplomatic recognition of Israel, the horse left the barn long ago. Israel is recognized by 163 of 193 countries. These include the Arab states of Egypt and Jordan. Qatar allowed Israel to open a trade mission in Doha as early as 1996. Turkey, a non-Arab Muslim state also bitterly critical of the UAE, still maintains diplomatic relations with Israel, has extensive trade with the Jewish state, and promotes Israeli tourism in Turkey.

The Arab history of diplomatic, trade, and sports relations [with Israel] is flourishing, and has not yet ceased. Hence, the campaign of attacks and criticism waged by Qatar and some officials in the Palestinian Authority [against the UAE-Israel agreement] reflects [only] the strained relations between Arab countries, and has nothing to do with the [UAE’s] diplomatic move vis-à-vis Israel.

The severe criticism of the UAE by Qatar reflects preexisting tensions between the two states that have nothing to do with the UAE’s diplomatic demarche with Israel: the fact that Qatar feels keenly the land, sea, and air blockade by several Gulf Arab states, including the UAE,which is intended to punish Qatar both for its continued good relations with Iran and for its support of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is anathema to the Gulf Arab monarchies.

That said, it is vital to emphasize two important aspects that we tend to forget every time the issue of relations with Israel comes up. First, no Arab element, individual or state, has the right to tell the Palestinians what to do about their cause and their relations with Israel. These issues are exclusively the Palestinians’ [to decide], by means of their legitimate authority in Ramallah. It is they who must decide whether they want to agree with Israel on a one-state or a two-state solution, or on no state at all. Even when it comes to the broad details, the Palestinians alone have the right to decide [whether] their state will include Jerusalem or not, whether the refugees will return or not, and [whether there will be] war or peace. The Arab patronage over Palestinian decision-making ended half a century ago, with an Arab League resolution [to that effect]. Decisions about Palestine are up to the Palestinians, not the Qataris, the Syrians, the Iranians, or the Saudis.

Al-Rashed claims that the Palestinians should be free to make their own decisions as to what they will do about their relations with Israel, what they will demand, what they will accept or reject, what kind of a political future they are aiming for – a one-state or two-state solution. It is not up to any Arab state to interfere. And no Arab state has interfered with Palestinian decision-making. If the Palestinian Authority chooses not to negotiate with Israel, and consequently misses out on possible opportunities to attain an independent state, that is its own affair.

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Filed Under: Featured, Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates Tagged With: Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed


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Comments

  1. The Political Oracle says

    Aug 24, 2020 at 10:10 am

    This agreement does not mean that the UAE will become a Jewish nation. What is wrong with other islamic nations that don’t want intelligence cooperation? Wait, I have the answer! The sharia and quran sanctions hate toward Jewish societies. Is this agreement a wolf in sheep’s clothes? Is this the helpless serpent that promised not kill? Trust but verify!

    • FYI says

      Aug 24, 2020 at 12:37 pm

      Did you know the UAE has a project called MARS 2117 where they hope to build a city on Mars{you can Google it}?Seriously.It is for real.
      And no doubt a..mosque will need to be built on Mars to accomodate their false piety.
      Is nowhere safe from this perverse cult?
      What if there are Jewish /Hindu/atheist/Christian scientists?
      You would think muslims would be satisfied with destroying this planet but it seems they want to bring their moon god cult with their pedo ‘prophet’ into space to spread the evil and violence.
      muslims should go live on Venus:it has a more suitable climate for them.

  2. gravenimage says

    Aug 24, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    Leading Saudi Journalist Defends the UAE-Israel Agreement (Part 1)
    ……………

    I still think Israel needs to watch their back. I don’t trust any of these new “allies” very far.

    • Dov Berrol says

      Aug 24, 2020 at 6:12 pm

      I agree. The Jewish Nation can only depend on itself for survival. We can no longer rely on the good graces of others for the future survival of our tiny nation of 15 million people. It’s only because we finally – after 2000 years of exile – have our own independent country, government and military that we can risk having relations with the non-Jewish nations of the world. Too many of our people believed the Nazis when they said “these are only showers for delousing”. With Islamic nations, the Koran will always provide a source of Jew-hatred that can be turned on like a ticking time-bomb, so Israel will always be careful when an Arab nation agrees to have full diplomatic relations. If Turkey and Iran can go from friend to foe in one generation, so can the UAE.

      • gravenimage says

        Aug 25, 2020 at 9:55 pm

        The US is a pretty dependable ally–depending on who is in the White House, of course

        But the Muslim world is dicey *at best*.

    • L Mayor says

      Aug 25, 2020 at 6:15 am

      No worries, as, the palis will never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity….

  3. OLD GUY says

    Aug 25, 2020 at 11:44 am

    Islam is the FOE of the free world. Never forget their leader Muhammad, his teachings are hate for anyone that is not muslim and bowing to his crazy ideology. As long as the muslim world follow Muhammad and the Quran they will be the enemies of all other nations and people on this earth.

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