Among those objecting, aside from the UAE, were Bahrain, Oman, and the most important Arab state of all, Egypt. Other states, including Saudi Arabia, were studiously neutral. Not a single Arab state appeared to be an enthusiast for the Palestinians. This must have stung the PA’s Foreign Minister Malki to the quick.
After the Israel-UAE deal was announced, the Palestinian Authority called on Arab states to reject the agreement and said it had not authorized anyone to speak on its behalf.
A false worry: no Arab state has presumed to speak on behalf of the PA. But the reverse is not true. The PA has repeatedly tried to speak on behalf of the Arab states, and when those states decide to speak for themselves, and pursue their own national interests, as the UAE did, all hell breaks loose in Ramallah.
PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki, speaking to the ministers’ meeting by videoconference, thanked some Arab countries for not moving toward establishing ties with Israel. He also labeled the efforts of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US senior adviser Jared Kushner to forge the Israel-UAE deal as “blackmail.”
When the PA has reached the point where it feels it must thank Arab countries simply for not establishing ties with Israel, we know it’s in trouble.
As for the PA’s charge that the Israel-UAE deal was “blackmail,” it’s hard to understand what Riad Malki is talking about. Who is being blackmailed? And how? The Palestinians are not part of that UAE-Israel deal, but they might at least recognize that the UAE, far from engaging in “blackmail,” managed to obtain from Prime Minister Netanyahu a promise to “suspend” the extension of Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank. Is that not a considerable concession extracted by the UAE from Israel? But there is no Palestinian gratitude, only insults, and some in the UAE must surely be thinking that now it is time for them to wash their hands completely of the Palestinians, and no need to any longer care very much what Israel does or does not do in the West Bank. Emiratis on social media suggest that the Palestinians ought now to be completely on their own.
Tensions between the Palestinians and some Gulf states have risen sharply following the agreement’s announcement.
Last month, the Arab League turned down a PA request to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the deal. The Palestinians have denounced it as a “stab in the back” and a “betrayal of al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem and the Palestinian issue.”
The Arab League then said the accord, along with other issues, would be discussed by the foreign ministers at their ordinary meeting, which took place on Wednesday.
Palestinian officials have accused some Gulf states of foiling the plan to hold the emergency meeting and also accused them of thwarting a Palestinian draft resolution to condemn the UAE for normalizing ties with Israel. They called on other Arab countries not to follow suit.
Accuse away, Palestinian Authority, but the Gulf states really do have their own interests that are not the same as yours, and in any future showdown between the rich-as-Croesus UAE and the poor-as-a-churchmouse PA, the PA will lose, just as it did at this latest meeting of the Arab League.
The foreign ministers also discussed Iranian and Turkish interventions in the internal affairs of Arab countries.
This article doesn’t spell it out, but much more time was devoted to both Iran and, especially, to Turkey, than to the Palestinians, whose ambassador, Riad Malki, had only a few minutes to speak. No other ambassador warmed to his theme, or came to his defense. It was a nightmare moment for the PA, one that it will not forget, but can do nothing about.
Much of the League’s foreign ministers’ meeting was devoted to the neo-Ottoman schemes and dreams – in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Somalia – of Turkish President Erdogan. Turkey has become a threat to the Arabs, who have not forgotten how their ancestors were mistreated by the Ottoman Turks.
In his speech, Malki said that some Arab states had cut financial aid to the Palestinians at the behest of the US administration. In reference to the Israel-UAE deal, he said it “legalizes normalization for free and revives the ‘Deal of the Century’ after we thwarted it.”…
No Arab states had to be urged by the Americans to cut financial aid to the Palestinians. The Arab states that had at one time contributed the most to them were the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The UAE, understandably, no longer has the slightest desire to give aid to the Palestinians, who attack its policies, mock and curse its leaders, deface and stomp on its flag. As for Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as long ago as 2018 became fed up with Mahmoud Abbas and, in a fit of exasperation, told him to “come to the negotiating table and try to make whatever deal you can” with the Americans. The Saudis continue to contribute, modestly, to UNRWA, but what Saeb Erekat wants is something different: direct payments to the PA itself. Abbas and his cronies, like Erekat, can help themselves to a share of those funds, but not to money given to UNRWA. Erekat didn’t get his wish.
Indeed, the only recent fundraising for the Palestinians has been done by Israel, which sent its Mossad chief Yossi Cohen to Qatar to persuade the Qatari emir to restore his monthly payments of $30 million to Hamas, in order that the Gazan economy not completely collapse. Were that to happen, Israel would then be forced to deal with the ensuing chaos which, the Israelis calculate, would be an even greater threat to their well-being than continued rule by Hamas.
Malki also stated that the Israel-UAE deal “recognizes occupied Jerusalem as Israeli territory.” The deal, he said, was an “earthquake that undermines joint Arab action” and put the Palestinians on the defensive.
The Israel-UAE deal does not say anything about Jerusalem being “Israeli territory.” It is silent on the subject. But Malki was correct: this deal was an “earthquake.” The UAE has made clear that its policies toward Israel will not be dictated by the Palestinians, or anyone else for that matter, that it has found Israel to be a trusted ally in security matters, and has reason to believe that closer ties – “normalization” – with Israel will be of benefit to the UAE, in technology, trade, and tourism, in agriculture, medicine, defense, solar energy, water reclamation, cybersecurity, and many other areas.
And what can the Palestinians offer the UAE? Nothing but curses, defacing the image of Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince, and stomping on the Emirati flag.
The view of the Emiratis was summed up by the Deputy Police Chief of Dubai, Lt. Gen.Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, who told a Kuwaiti paper: “Israel never threatened us. Erdogan has. Iran is threatening us.”
Tamim also seemed to be astounded by the Palestinian perception that any Arab government needs to seek approval from them in order to forge a peace agreement with Israel.
“Is it conceivable that the decision of heads of state whether or not to sign an agreement with a certain country depends on the approval [Palestinian Authority chairman] Mahmoud Abbas?” Tamim said. As for Hamas, Tamim said “[Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh, when you are hostile to Saudi Arabia and open your arms to Iran, who do you think you are? Go to Iran and let them help you. Go to hell!”
This message was picked up and spread on social media by the Emiratis, many of whom seemed to derive great satisfaction from it.
The Arab League meeting – held virtually – on September 9 proved to be a disaster for the Palestinians. Their attempts to have a resolution voted on that would have condemned the UAE for its decision to normalize relations with Israel failed. No pledges of financial aid for the Palestinians were forthcoming. There was rancor in the air, an atmosphere of palpable hostility toward the Palestinians, that was picked up on by the PA’s foreign minister, Riad Malki.
“Instead of placating us… we have found ourselves in a situation where we have had to defend ourselves and our cause. We have even become the troublemakers,” Malki said.
Yes, it’s been a horrible realization for Malki and the other Palestinians: they are no longer the center of the Arab universe. Their constant complaining and neediness, and refusal to negotiate – after having, in the past,repeatedly walked away from generous offers of land made in the past by Israel — have lost them support among the other Arabs. And when they heap scorn on those other Arabs, as they have been doing with the UAE, merely for pursuing their own national interests, as defined by them and not the Palestinians – the Arabs naturally lose patience, and whatever sympathy for the “Palestinian cause” they may once have had dissipates.
He [Riad Malki] was apparently referring to Bahrain when he said that an Arab country had objected to the PA request to hold the emergency meeting.
The Gulf kingdom, which objected to the wording of the Palestinian draft, is believed to be close to also deciding to establish ties with Israel.
“Isn’t what happened an earthquake that requires an emergency meeting? We were surprised that an Arab country objected to our request. Did the State of Palestine go too far in asking to hold an emergency meeting? Did it cross redlines?”
This long pitiful whine by Malki was to no avail. Bahrain has certainly made up its mind, not just to defend the UAE from attack for its normalization of relations with Israel, but to follow suit. And there are other Arab states that have been mentioned as possibly doing so as well – Oman, Chad.
Malki demanded to know whether Arab countries remain committed to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which says that the Arab states will normalize relations with Israel after a Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 lines. The PA has accused the UAE of violating the terms of the initiative by engaging in normalization with Israel in exchange for nothing.
“In exchange for nothing”? There was apparently a promise by the U.S., on the side of the agreement, to allow the UAE to buy the Stealth fighter jet, the F-35. There was also the promise by Prime Minister Netanyahu that he would “suspend” the extension of Israeli sovereignty to part of the West Bank. Those are not “nothing.”
A lot has happened since that 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. Circumstances have drastically changed. Three civil wars – in Syria, Libya, and Yemen — began long after, and continue to rock the Arab world. Iran has extended its tentacles into Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, and is trying to create a “Shiite crescent” from the Gulf to the Mediterranean. The price of oil has sharply decreased because of the Saudi-Russia price war, and demand for oil has also plummeted, the result of the coronavirus pandemic that has more than a billion former commuters now working at home. This has naturally damaged the oil-based economies of the Arab Gulf. And since 2002, Israel has become a close ally in security matters with Egypt, helping that country fight Jihadis in the Sinai, and sharing intelligence about Iran with the UAE and Saudi Arabia that has helped them to foil Iranian plots. Israel has also proven invaluable in setting back Iran’s nuclear project, that threatens the Gulf Sunni states as well as Israel, by several years.
From the computer worm of Stuxnet, to the assassination of four Iranian nuclear scientists seriatim, to the removal of virtually the entire nuclear archive of Iran (some 50,000 documents), to the recent destruction of the centrifuge plant at Natanz, Israel has proven its worth. For the three most important Arab states – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — a strong Israel is no longer seen as a threat, but instead as highly desirable.
Noting that the Israel-UAE signing ceremony will take place shortly, Malki said: “The UAE is moving ahead with the normalization decision despite its violation of the Arab Peace Initiative and the resolutions of the Arab summits. Therefore, it has become imperative for us to take a stance rejecting this step. Otherwise, our meeting will be considered a blessing or collusion with it.”
There was no Arab League “rejection” of the UAE’s move. Too bad for the Palestinians. And Malki is right: the September 9 meeting of the Arab League will now be seen by many as a kind of endorsement of the UAE’s new policy toward Israel.
Before the Arab League foreign ministers met, PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat expressed his hope that Arab states would reaffirm their commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative and the decisions of past Arab summits.
“We do not want our Arab brothers to give us support that exceeds their capacity, we want them to stick to the initiative that they unanimously agreed upon, and to implement the decisions of successive Arab summits, including decisions related to the [Arab] financial safety net for the Palestinians,” Erekat said.
He expressed satisfaction with the position of countries that affirmed their commitment to the initiative, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Algeria, Kuwait and Qatar.
But among the countries that did not reaffirm their commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 were Bahrain, Oman, the UAE, and the most important and most populous Arab country, Egypt.
Most Arab countries have stopped funding to support the Palestinian budget according to past commitments, Erekat added.
One more slap in the face of the Palestinians by their quondam “Arab brothers” who no longer feel quite so brotherly or nearly as generous as they once did. After all, the Arab states have their own mounting expenses that they did not have back in 2002. There are three civil wars now going on in Libya, Syria, and Yemen. They cost men, money, materiel, not just to the countries immediately embroiled in those civil wars, but also to those outside that, like Saudi Arabia in Yemen, are taking part, directly or through proxies, in these wars. There are Sunni-Shi’a conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon. There is the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood, both to El-Sisi’s rule in Egypt and to the Gulf monarchies. All this fighting costs money. There are regrouped remnants of the Islamic State, in the Sinai, and in Syria and Iraq. Again, money, men, materiel. Iran’s aggression hangs like a pall over the Sunni states of the Middle East. The Islamic Republic has been aggressively trying to build, through its proxies and allies – the Houthis in Yemen, Iran-backed Shia militias in Iraq, Assad’s army in Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon – a “Shi’ite crescent” that would extend Iran’s power from the Gulf to the Mediterranean. That’s of much greater concern to the Arabs than that endless affair, and bottomless financial pit, of “Palestine.”
Another worry for the Arabs is Turkey, whose leader President Erdogan has intervened in several Arab states. Erdogan has moved Turkish troops, drones, and planes, and 25,000 mercenaries (including Syrians and former ISIS fighters) into western Libya to fight beside the Government of National Accord. He has also sent troops to northern Iraq to fight Kurdish forces, and to Syria, initially to fight the Kurdish YPG but now he says his troops will stay “until Syria is free,” which – since Assad controls only 70% of the country – means they will be there for a very long time. In fact, the Turkish neo-Ottoman threat has been the major topic of discussion at the latest meeting of the Arab League.
And then there is the effect of the pandemic, that has led to a colossal drop in demand for oil, and thus in oil revenues, which also dampens the desire and the ability of the Arab oil states to keep funding the Palestinians at previous levels. Besides, since 2002 the Arabs have learned a good deal about Palestinian finances, of how two Hamas leaders, Khaled Meshaal and Mousa Abu Marzouk, each managed to amass fortunes of at least $2.5 billion apiece from aid money meant for the people whose welfare they pretended to care about, while Mahmoud Abbas of the PA has accumulated, with his two sons Tareq and Nasser, the tidy sum of $400 million. One of his formerly close aides, after fleeing to safety in the West, has described how, as the aid money would arrive at Abbas’s office, where only Abbas himself and two trusted associates were allowed to handle the mail, they would immediately deposit much of what arrived in overseas accounts in the names of his grandchildren.
Arab League secretary-general Ahmad Aboul Ghiet said at the meeting that the Palestinian issue was, is, and will remain, at the core of Arab consensus.
This is whistling in the dark. Ghiet’s remark was merely meant to assuage the Palestinians, who ever since the UAE announced its normalization plans on August 13 have been both enraged and despondent. The latest Arab League meeting showed that the Palestinians are no longer being paid much heed. Some Arab states have rejected outright their attempt to sanction the UAE; others have been tellingly silent. As for the effort by Saeb Erekat, before the Arab League meeting, to remind the Arab states of their previous financial commitments to the ever-needy Palestinians, nothing came of it. No sums were pledged or forthcoming. And the Palestinians have no place else to go.a
