[News] Israel-Arab normalization has not eliminated the resistance

[Anti-Imperialist News]

electronicintifada.net
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israel-arab-normalization-has-not-eliminated-resistance>
Israel-Arab normalization has not eliminated the resistance

Tamara Nassar <https://electronicintifada.net/people/tamara-nassar> - 8
October 2023
------------------------------

Palestinians take control of an Israeli tank after crossing the boundary
fence with Israel from the southern Khan Younis area of the Gaza Strip on 7
October.

Palestinians were always understood to be the sacrificial lambs at the
normalization
feast <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/arab-normalization> between
Israel and Arab states.

The Palestinian question had been the thorn in the side of Arab states that
wished to forge economic, military and political alliances with Israel.

Some Arab states, in their effort to cloak
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/united-arab-emirates-sells-out-palestine-israel>
their narrow self-interest, have attempted to mollify Palestinians by
securing cosmetic “concessions” to them through those deals.

But Hamas’s surprise military operation
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/hundreds-killed-israel-gaza-after-surprise-resistance-raid>
against Israel on Saturday not only reshaped the strategic equation of
military confrontation with Israel, but also sent a message to states that
had chosen to normalize relations with the occupier.

This message was that any hopes of liquidating the Palestinian question
through normalization agreements are entirely in vain.

The Palestinian resistance is immune to economic incentives, bribes
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/trump-peace-deal-israels-apartheid-blueprint>
or sporadic statements to keep the fragile lie of a two-state solution
believable.

Palestinians want one thing and one thing only: liberation. No change in
the overt alliance between Israel and any country in the region has been
able to alter this fundamental truth.

There’s been no greater proof of that than the events of the past two days.
The first to normalize

The al-Aqsa Flood operation “is a message to the Arab and Islamic world and
the international community, especially those seeking normalization, that
the Palestinian issue is alive until liberation,” Hizballah, Lebanon’s de
facto defense and deterrent force against repeated Israeli threats and
aggressions, said
<https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2023/10/7/%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89>
on Saturday.

Israel and Hizballah reportedly exchanged fire
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/8/israel-hezbollah-exchange-fire-raising-regional-tensions>
on Sunday, stoking fears of a broader military confrontation.

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ politburo, similarly addressed
<https://www.almayadeen.net/latestnews/2023/10/7/%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A9--%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%87%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9--%D8%A3%D9%82%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%B4%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%86-%D9%87%D8%B0%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7>
the Arab normalizers in his speech
<https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2023/10/7/%D9%87%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%81%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%88%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%81%D9%86%D8%A7>
on Saturday.

“I say to our brethren countries that this occupation will not be of
benefit, and normalization will not be of benefit.”

There’s been no greater proof of that than in the Arab state that first
normalized relations with Israel: Egypt.

Egypt formalized diplomatic relations with Israel in 1979, and the deal
went into effect the following year.

Over the years, the country went on to become Israel’s partner in besieging
Gaza. Israel controls every entry and exit point with Gaza, except for the
Rafah crossing. That is controlled by Egypt, which uses it to tighten the
noose around the coastal enclave’s neck. Even when Rafah is open, crossing
can be difficult and dangerous
<https://gisha.org/en/rafah-crossing-closed-until-further-notice-stranding-thousands/>
.

In recent years, the US-backed, Israel-allied Egyptian military regime
has taken
extreme measures
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/sisi-destroys-thousands-egyptian-homes-anti-palestinian-campaign>
to reinforce Israel’s siege of Gaza, including the mass demolition of
thousands of Egyptian family homes along the border.

But predictably none of that, more than four decades on from the treaty,
was able to achieve a “warm peace” between Egyptians and Israelis.

Quite the contrary. On Sunday, an Egyptian policeman opened fire
<https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-egypt-attack-tourism-af8a02136c390721a0fdef647394154c>
on Israeli tourists in the coastal city of Alexandria, killing two Israelis
and one Egyptian national.

Sunday’s incident serves as an example of how the vast majority of Egyptian
nationals still view Israel as a collective regional enemy.

On Saturday, the Egyptian foreign ministry warned against further
escalation and called for “restraint” in a statement
<https://twitter.com/MfaEgypt/status/1710582901912338745>.

Egypt urged international efforts for urgent intervention to halt the
escalation and ensure that Israel “ceases the attacks and provocative
actions against the Palestinian people.”
Saudi wedding in jeopardy

So much for the first.

Saudi Arabia <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/saudi-arabia>, which had
been gearing up
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/omar-karmi/saudi-israeli-romance-its-complicated>
to become Israel’s newest bride, now finds itself facing a major obstacle.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia called
<https://twitter.com/KSAmofaEN/status/1710629609757086172> “for an
immediate halt to the escalation between the two sides.”

The Gulf state said the escalation was the result of “the continued
occupation, the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate
rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations against its
sanctities.”

The statement called for the activation of a “peace process that leads to
the two-state solution.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had presented the prospect of a
normalization agreement with Israel under the guise of offering concessions
for Palestinians, as he told <https://www.foxnews.com/video/6337512022112>
Fox News in an exclusive television interview last month.

“Every day, we get closer,” MBS told the US broadcaster, but emphasized
that “for us, the Palestinian issue is very important.”

He added that if a breakthrough in negotiations involves meeting
Palestinians’ “needs” and fostering “calm” in the region, he is prepared to
collaborate with whoever governs the apartheid state.

Now, not only does that appear implausible in light of a Palestinian
uprising that is rewriting its own rulebook of engagement with the
Israelis, but after Saturday’s events, it will be a tough task for the
Biden administration to convince the Israelis to even pretend to want to
offer crumbs to the Palestinians.

US officials are reportedly
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-08/ty-article-live/over-250-israelis-killed-1-590-wounded-civilians-and-soldiers-held-hostage-in-gaza/0000018b-0cd2-d8fc-adff-6dfe855e0000>
working to try to keep efforts at achieving normalization between Saudi
Arabia and Israel alive.

“Look, who opposes normalization? Hamas, Hizballah, Iran. So it wouldn’t be
a surprise that part of the motivation may have been to disrupt efforts to
bring Saudi Arabia and Israel together,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken
told
<https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-with-dana-bash-of-cnns-state-of-the-union-3/>
CNN.

“It speaks to the fact that if we could achieve normalization, which is
incredibly difficult,” Blinken added, “it would bring greater stability to
the region.”

Blinken continued that “normalization cannot be a substitute for Israelis
and Palestinians resolving their differences.”

Before the beginning of the military confrontation on Saturday, Israeli
officials were already making no pretenses about their objectives in
entering a deal with Saudi Arabia.

“We will not make any concessions to the Palestinians, it’s a fiction,”
Israel’s ultra-far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich told
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-insists-no-concessions-to-palestinians-in-exchange-for-ties-with-saudis/>
Israeli army radio last month.

“Fiction” was right, and it debunked any assertion that these agreements
benefit Palestinians.

But now the facade of concessions has been unmasked for the smokescreen it
actually is.

The public relations messaging of the Abraham Accords
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/abraham-accords> has consistently
centered on false claims of achieving something for Palestinian rights,
when, in fact, the opposite is true. Palestinians always pay the price for
such agreements.

Jordan’s King Abdullah expressed caution
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-02/ty-article/.highlight/saudi-progress-with-israel-parachutes-over-palestine-frustrates-jordans-abdullah/0000018a-ec94-d12f-afbf-edd5acbe0000>
regarding any enthusiasm for a Saudi-Israeli deal when he spoke at the UN
General Assembly last month.

“This belief, by some in the region, that you can parachute over Palestine,
deal with the Arabs and work your way back – that does not work,” King
Abdullah said.

“And even those countries that have Abraham Accords with Israel have
difficulty moving publicly on those issues when Israelis and Palestinians
are dying,” he added. “So unless we solve this problem, there will never be
a true peace.”

Jordan is an integral component of US regional hegemony and shares Israel’s
longest border. But ever since the Abraham Accords, the kingdom no longer
enjoyed the distinction of being – along with Egypt – one of only two
countries in the region to have diplomatic relations with Israel,
diminishing its diplomatic status.
Whitewashing Israel’s responsibility

The United Arab Emirates, the initiator of those accords, whitewashed
<https://wam.ae/en/details/1395303206611> Israel’s responsibility and
simply “expressed great concern regarding the escalation of violence
between Israelis and Palestinians.”

The Gulf state didn’t address Israel’s actions at Palestinian holy sites,
despite Hamas leaders citing these provocations at al-Aqsa as a cause for
the surprise attack.

Similarly, Bahrain’s foreign ministry also issued
<https://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=7824&language=en-US&ItemId=22652>
a muted statement, downplaying Israel’s involvement and urging restraint.

Qatar, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel but often mediates
ceasefires between it and Palestinian resistance fighters, minced less
words in its takedown of Israel, saying that Israel’s provocations are what
led to this escalation.

Qatar said <https://twitter.com/MofaQatar_EN/status/1710629952830234729> it
“holds Israel solely responsible for the ongoing escalation due to its
ongoing violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.”

Qatar called on Israel to “stop its flagrant violations of international
law, respect the resolutions of international legitimacy and the historical
rights of the Palestinian people, and to prevent these events from being
used as a pretext to ignite a new asymmetric war against Palestinian
civilians in Gaza.”

The Gulf state’s statement similarly invoked the two-state solution without
explicitly mentioning it, calling for the establishment of a Palestinian
state on “the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Not-so-silent majority

Unlike the timid responses of most of their leaders, the majority of the
Arab population clearly stands with the Palestinian people in their
struggle for liberation from Israeli occupation and settler-colonialism.

Thousands of Yemenis gathered in the streets of their capital, Sanaa, to
express their support for Palestinians.

Many came out in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, in support of Palestinians,
despite their government’s relationship with Israel.
Demonstrators gathered in the vicinity of the Israeli embassy in Amman on
Saturday to show solidarity with Palestinians and reject their country’s
relations with Israel. Others protested in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait
and Iran as well, underlining their support for Palestinians.
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