Since the UAE and Israel reached an agreement on bilateral relations, I have been keen in recent days to look at the regional and international reactions to the historic deal. This historic step will galvanize the Palestinian-Israeli situation.
To tell the truth, nothing has surprised me so far in the reactions of the Iranian mullahs, the Turkish Sultan and his cohorts, and even Palestinian officials and bodies. They all share the same guiding ideas we all know. They all converge in what is falsely referred to as the axis of resistance as well as in their antipathy to the UAE’s active and influential role in regional and international arenas.
Some reactions, however, have moved away from the norms and traditions of inter-state relations and into untenable contexts. These are rooted in the desire to patronize sovereign states driven by whims and thoughts that only exist in the minds of their authors.
But before we comment on them, let us ask ourselves: Why would some Arab and Palestinian blowhards and their Turkish and Iranian sponsors think that the UAE has crossed a line by establishing bilateral relations with Israel?
Have they forgotten that treaties and peace agreements between Arab countries and Israel have been in place for decades? Have they forgotten that catchphrase, “peace is a strategic option,” which never goes out of style in any official statement at Arab summits and meetings?
Does the fact that the UAE does not have a direct stake in the Arab-Israeli conflict mean that it has no strategic interest to assert, given the geostrategic reality in the region? Why do they deny that the UAE’s “carrot” may dissuade Israel from forcibly gobbling up more Palestinian territories, even if only temporarily, as they say?
Freezing or stopping the annexation of its territories is supposed to give the Palestinian side an opportunity to catch its breath and work out a solution, instead of stonewalling and other knee-jerk reactions. The situation has come up against setbacks for many years. That has only added further disappointments and failures.
Yes. The UAE sees its move as a breakthrough and thinking outside the box in which some want to trap everyone.
The Emirates are a state of action and materialization. The country has no time to waste, year after year, in the empty slogans that have flooded the Arab world for decades unheeded. Not much was done for the Palestinian cause, nor for its real protagonists, who suffer in refugee camps and in diaspora countries. As for their compatriots who claim to stand up for them, they enjoy the high life, careless to the slogans they profess.
The Emirates will always be biased towards the Palestinian cause and people. But it does not claim to speak for the Palestinians or to represent their interests in matters affecting their future.
The Emirati position is clear. Its area of action goes no further than creating a window of opportunity and an atmosphere conducive to resuming peace efforts and negotiations between the two major parties to the conflict, the Palestinians and the Israelis.
The verbal outbursts of some who have described the Emirati approach as a “backstabbing” or “treasonable act” carry on a failed demagogic line in dealing with a crucial issue that concerns an entire people. Any party able to come up with an unopinionated positive approach that is outside the box should come up with an alternative plan, instead of settling for mere media hype, leaving their people to suffer every time.
The UAE is well aware of the scope of its national commitments and the exigencies of its role in the Gulf and the Arab world. The country does not set itself up as a master of the Arab world and does not impose itself as a representative of other countries in charting their destiny.
The statements of its officials are quite clear. The Emirates exercises sovereignty over its foreign affairs and manages its relations with countries according to what it deems appropriate for its strategic interests and which can offer positive opportunities to others.
These decisions are taken unhesitatingly, even if they may be unpopular with some. That is why I have been clear from the beginning that the agreement is necessary to save the two-state solution, which was unworkable after Israel’s decision to annex the occupied Palestinian territories. So, once all the doors were closed, there was no real way out, other than an effort to break the deadlock with a much-needed shot in the arm.
The UAE called on the Palestinians to take the opportunity after annexation has been phased out, at least temporarily, and to “buy time,” which “will not last long,” as Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash said. Things are plain and simple. Let’s not fool others and ourselves.
Now, the problem is the lack of a conscious strategic vision and the obsession with demagogic discourse by some. Many opportunities have been squandered in the Arab world due to the lack of vision and good decision-making, even if this angers the power brokers and the merchants of peoples’ suffering. Yet, the UAE has had a habit of moving forward and meeting the most difficult challenges, so that it has become a model in which most Arab youth aspire to live.
The Arab world no longer has the luxury of wasting its time on slogans and rhetoric. In an environment of crises, conflicts and disasters, they are tens of millions of Arabs who see their future threatened. They need new visions and realistic thinking, without empty slogans and mere rhetoric.
