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Wednesday, September 16, 2020

09/16 Links Pt1: Michael Oren: An achievement that will be taught in the diplomacy books; The UAE-Israel accord is a win for every Muslim; Italian MP nominates Netanyahu for Nobel Prize

From Ian:
Michael Oren: An achievement that will be taught in the diplomacy books
The peace agreements between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain are an economic, diplomatic and strategic breakthrough.

On the economic front, it is a connection between the most innovative country in the world, Israel, and two of the wealthiest countries in the world; an encounter that may be transformative not only for the Middle East, but for the whole world. Even before the agreement was signed, Israeli and Arab businessmen hurried to sign deals of cooperation and mutual investments. On the diplomatic front, this is an agreement that refutes all the theses concerning the peace process that have existed for 30, 50, even 70 years. Even in the early 1950s the Americans and British suggested a format that was based on the principle of land for peace, which included the demand from Israel to give Egypt almost all of the Negev. The belief that Israel must buy peace with the Arabs continued fervently after the 1967 Six-Day War as part of the peace accords with Egypt and Jordan. Israel had to give up many territories, and here – as opposed to that, the current deals were achieved without giving up one millimeter of land.

Another belief was that the Israeli-Arab conflict was central and fundamental in the Middle East, and that its origin is in the conflict with the Palestinians. By that same belief, the core of the conflict surrounds the settlements in Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem. Yet here, the present deal was achieved with no advance whatsoever with the Palestinians, and without removing Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, without even a settlement freeze. Finally, for many years there was a belief that the Palestinians, because of their weakness, need incentives to enter negotiations, even after they left the table. So they received billions, an embassy in Washington and recognition from most countries of the world. This time, as opposed to the past, the Palestinians left, they ran away from the talks, and they were punished. Therefore, beyond the economic and diplomatic achievements, the peace agreements have a significant strategic importance.

The Arab governments over the past years dealt with insufferable dangers from Iran and Erdogan's Turkey, who support Hamas and Islamists. At the same time, as the US began a process of removing itself from the region and supporting those Arab countries, the Bahrainis and Saudis had no choice but to turn to Israel, the only superpower in the Middle East that doesn't threaten them, in fact quite the opposite, is willing to help them defend themselves.

These peace deals will allow us and the moderate Arab states to forge an open front against the Iranian-Syrian axis, and against Turkish aggression.
Abraham Accords: Full text

Caroline Glick: A tale of 2 White House signing ceremonies
Attending the White House signing ceremony on Tuesday of the Abraham Accords – which normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – was both moving and jarring. Standing at the South Lawn, just meters from the Rose Garden where the Oslo Accord were signed 27 years ago on September 13, 1993, the comparison between the two agreements was inescapable.

That ceremony was an act of political theater unsurpassed in the history of Israel. Yasser Arafat, chairman of the PLO, and architect of modern terrorism, grinned ear to ear as he received the royal treatment on the White House Lawn.

Seeking peace, Israel's then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin promised the PLO land, money and weaponry, which Arafat used to build a terror state on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Arafat in turn promised to end terrorism, accept Israel's right to exist and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. Arafat was lying.

I wanted to believe in the fake peace of 1993. But the grim facts made it impossible. For the past 27 years, first as a member of Israel's negotiating team during my service in the IDF and then as a writer and a lecturer, like thousands of other Israelis and friends of Israel in the US and around the world, I devoted myself to exposing the lies and warning about the danger of empowering those who seek Israel's destruction. I wrote hundreds of articles, briefed hundreds of politicians and community leaders in the US and worldwide. I wrote a book.

And as I sat in the garden at the White House today, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Mahyan and Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani standing in the portico before me, the names of the victims of that previous peace agreement rushed through my head. David Biri, Nachson Waxman, Kochava Biton, Ohad Bachrach, Ori Shachor, the Lapids, the Ungars, the Fogels, the Schijveschuurders, Madhat Yusuf, Shalhevet Pas and on and on and on.

I have been demonized as an "extremist" a "far right-winger," an "enemy of peace," and a "fascist" by members of the so-called "peace camp." Think tanks and professionals with ties to the EU – the co-sponsor of the fake peace process – were afraid to invite me to speak, cite my articles or to review my book.
The UAE-Israel accord is a win for every Muslim
For almost twenty years, Muslims across the world have been on the defensive. Muslim identity has been largely under attack. The terrorist incidents of September 11, 2001 on New York and Washington DC cast – in many a popular imagination – every Muslim as suspect in some way. In almost every continent, a dark cloud hung over us. The security checks at airports are only a manifestation of that deep distrust.

Osama bin Laden and a range of extremist organisations hijacked the Palestinian cause: they created nothing but more loss, terrorism and humiliation for the noble Palestinian people. Now, with the visionary accord between the UAE and Israel, three new horizons open: reinstating Muslim dignity, reviving a two-state solution opportunity and creating regional economic prosperity.

I am a British Muslim. In my teens, I helped raise money in London for Hamas. My peers and I believed suicide bombers were martyrs heading for paradise. We were wrong.

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus 2,500 years ago taught that there is only one constant in life: change. Life flows ever onwards. After 9/11, I recognised the blunder of my beliefs. I changed. In my twenties, I lived in Damascus next to a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. In my thirties, I lived in New York and Washington where I advised the US government. I saw the suspicion of Muslims in the eyes of American officials. It always boiled down to something unspoken: show us peace in Islam; stop talking about it.

And that is exactly what the Abraham Accord is doing: showing peace between peoples, not only preaching it. The accord represents an important opportunity to further reject “Islamophobic” accusations of terrorism and anti-Semitism. We can say: “We believe in one God. Peace is possible. A new way of co-existence is achievable. We are not pawns for the mullahs of Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood. Look at the UAE.”

More than 70 countries have applauded the agreement with Israel and today, the UAE enjoys unprecedented support on both sides of the US political divide. The Pope’s visit to the Emirates in 2019 won the hearts of 2 billion Christians to the prospect of a pluralist, peaceful Middle East.



Amb. Dore Gold: The Abraham Accords May Herald New Security Structures for the Middle East
From a virtual Policy Forum of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Sep. 14, 2020.

The Abraham Accords are a turning point in the Middle East. The UAE has become an important power not just in the Persian Gulf, but around the Horn of Africa. Israel touches on the same geographic region, creating many areas for cooperation. Both countries can use their alliance with the United States to shape responses to the Iranian threat. The Emiratis are very enthusiastic about the breakthrough, which Israel can surely appreciate as previous peace partners did not feel the same way. In turn, Israel will advocate for their peace partners in Washington, as they did with the Jordanians.

The Abraham Accords create new possible security structures for the Middle East in the future. Israel is currently in a position similar to that of Europe at the end of World War II, when the United States was planning to pull out and Russia would fill the vacuum. In response, the United States created NATO. Security structures are very important in light of changes in the region, and partners can help design a different Middle East based on stable players. Israel has a legitimate argument about its qualitative military edge, but it is not against the Emiratis. If Israel suddenly decides to go easy on QME, the ultimate effect will be on other Arab states who are not at peace with Israel and would try to exploit such a QME pullback.

In terms of the Palestinians, the key is whether they are ready to consider reasonable proposals. President Mahmoud Abbas was not ripe for a deal toward the end of the Obama years, and the same situation holds today. Since the time of Israeli strategist Yigal Allon, it has been widely accepted that certain portions of the West Bank would be retained by Israel and certain territories would be returned. When Israel accepted the Trump peace plan, it accepted the territorial divisions in the proposal as being relevant for the future. Israel has the opportunity to work with Arab state partners on how to use normalization to impact the territorial configuration in a peace settlement with the Palestinians.

For instance, Palestinians need an arrangement to increase their gross national product; perhaps the new regional partnerships could facilitate routes for trucking and trains from Haifa to the West Bank to Jordan to the Gulf. The Palestinians would financially benefit as conduits for trade. It is important to consider how peace between Israel and Arab states can interact to create better outcomes for the region.
David Collier: 12 ways the ‘left’ handled the Israel, UAE, Bahrain peace deals
The last Arab state to make peace with Israel was Jordan, in 1994. Egypt was the first, in 1979. 15 September 2020 was a historic day. At the White House, Donald Trump, Bibi Netanyahu, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Abdullatif Al Zayani signed agreements between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain.

Yesterday’s momentous event could only take place with the blessing of Saudi Arabia. In December 1945, the Arab states began a boycott of the Jewish Yishuv. On 15 September 2020, the Arab boycott was firmly buried. These days Amnesty International, terrorist groups and extremists in the west are the only ones pushing the Arab boycott. It is deader than the Monty Python’s parrot.

Last night the walls of Israel’s capital city Jerusalem were showing the flags of the United States, Israel, the UAE and Bahrain. A historic and moving sight.

With another five or more Arab states apparently queing up to sign treaties with Israel, the term ‘new Middle East’ finally has some meaning. What right minded person wouldn’t be celebrating?

Of course in today’s world, where Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu are both potrayed as demons in a failing media, there were many on the left side of the political spectrum who found clever ways to avoid joining the party. Here are a few choice ones:

The ‘they werent at war’ method
This attempts to say that because UAE / Bahraini soldiers are not facing Israeli soldiers on a battlefield, then it doesn’t count. Many leftist cranks pushed this line.

When Israel made ‘peace’ with Jordan I can recall no such opposition, but by the 1990s Israel and Jordan had been cooperating closely for decades. That’s what often happens, conflict thaws over time until eventually – peace arrives.

In any event, this entirely misreads the history and geo-politics of the region. The Gulf region has been the financial heart of the entire conflict. The centre of the Arab boycott and the source of real political clout against the west. The 1970s oil crisis anyone? On 15 September the Arab boycott was totally buried. No cause for celebration?

The ‘human rights’ method
When peace comes to a war-stricken region, people rejoice. Unless it is Israel.

A Sky News interviewer even tried this method live on air with veteran Israeli politician Tzachi Hanegbi. Mark Austin asked Hanegbi “so you are happy to sign deals with Saudi, Bahrain despite the human rights issues?” to which Hanegbi replied “They are the same deals that your country signed aren’t they Mark?”

Suggesting Israel alone, from all the world’s nations should not sign a deal with the Gulf States is ludicrous in the extreme. If every nation in the world has a diplomatic relationship with the UAE, why does it only bother them when Israel reaches out?

This is just a group of people, annoyed that Trump is involved and who are trying to pour poison into the party punch. Pure, simple, spite.

The oddest part about this one is that it tends to come from people desperate for Israel to make peace with the Palestinians. Does Mark Austin oppose Israel making peace with the Palestinians? After all, the Palestinians certainly ‘trample on human rights’.
Italian MP nominates Netanyahu for Nobel Prize
An Italian lawmaker nominated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize on Tuesday in recognition of his efforts to achieve peace with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The nomination was submitted by Paolo Grimoldi, an Italian member of Parliament who is considered a friend of Israel and who has visited many times, but he has never met Netanyahu. Grimoldi got confirmation from the prize committee that his nomination had been received. In his proposal, Grimoldi said Netanyahu deserved to win because of the agreements he had fostered with the two countries and because he developed ties with Saudi Arabia.

Two Likud MKs also worked on a nomination on Tuesday but Grimoldi beat them to it.

The Young Likud group on Monday wrote to the 2005 Nobel economics laureate, Yisrael Aumann, who is known for his right-wing views, asking him to nominate Netanyahu.

“We in Young Likud believe it would be fitting for the prime minister to receive the recognition he deserves for working hard to achieve regional peace and create a new Middle East,” Young Likud chairman Moshiko Passal wrote in his letter to Aumann, the eighth Israeli to win a Nobel Prize.

Aumann told The Jerusalem Post he had received the letter and considered it “a fine idea.”
Abraham Accords are a paradigm shift of biblical proportions
The signing of normalization agreements between Israel and Muslim-majority Sunni Gulf States the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain represents the end of an era of pan-Arab belligerence towards the Jewish state, and the formal acknowledgment that it is a permanent fixture in the Middle East.

Before boarding a plane to attend the historic signings at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “This is a new era of peace, for which I’ve worked for 25 years. These agreements will be a fusion of diplomatic and economic peace and will bring in billions of dollars to the Israeli economy.”

According to Netanyahu’s strategic advisor Aaron Klein, “for too many years, regional peace has been stalled by the tried and failed paradigm of Israeli territorial concessions in exchange for promises of peace.”

“Now we have peace from strength between Gulf states and an Israel that under Netanyahu has become an even greater global economic and military powerhouse,” he told JNS.

The Netanyahu Doctrine
For Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, these accords represent the intersection of multiple parallel strategic initiatives in the realms of economics, diplomacy and security.

Klein says this merger represents “the culmination of the Netanyahu Doctrine, which can be summarized as peace in exchange for peace and peace from a position of strength.”

Netanyahu has successfully pivoted Israel’s economy from a resource-poor developing nation with socialist principles into a bustling free market that now operates at a dramatic trade surplus. GDP has grown exponentially, and a small country with less than 10 million citizens has grown into a top 10 global economy.


Ruthie Blum: Hell hath no fury like peaceniks upstaged
This brings us to similar sour grapes on the part of “progressive” Americans, who cheered the nuclear deal with Iran—orchestrated by former U.S. President Barack Obama and ripped up by his successor—yet turn their noses up at the actual peace agreements brokered by Donald Trump.

Take House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), for example. When asked on Friday by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer how much “credit” she gives Trump for the agreements, she stammered that she hoped they’d be “beneficial for the region,” but promptly pooh-poohed them by raising the issue of the Palestinians.

“We’ve been waiting for a very long time for the president’s proposal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement that honored the two-state solution,” she said. “It was coming in two weeks; it was coming in two months; it was coming in six months—it still hasn’t come in any way that has brought peace.”

She concluded sarcastically, “So, good for him for having a distraction on a day when the numbers of people who are affected and the numbers of people who are dying from this virus only increases [sic].”

Like her left-wing counterparts in the Jewish state, Pelosi and her crew are in a funk over the historic events unfolding at this very moment, courtesy of Netanyahu’s long-term plan and the Trump administration’s crucial backing.

She would be most welcome at the anti-Netanyahu demonstrations organized by the ex-pat Israeli movement “UnXeptable” to put a damper on Tuesday’s treaty-signing ceremony. After all, the group is none too fond of Trump either.

Whether they keep a safe distance from one another at the rally remains to be seen. One thing is clear, however: Hell hath no fury like peaceniks upstaged by their nemeses.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on Israel-UAE-Bahrain Agreements


Algemeiner Editor-in-Chief: Those Opposing Historic Peace Deal Between Israel, Bahrain and UAE Are Enabling Palestinian Rejectionism
Those who are voicing opposition to the historic peace accords signed between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are enabling Palestinian “rejectionism,” the editor-in-chief of The Algemeiner said during a Tuesday appearance on i24 News.

“This deal does not harm the Palestinians at all, in fact it should only help them,” Dovid Efune told “Global Eye” host Natasha Kirtchuk. “What it does is, it harms the Palestinian strategy of intransigence and rejectionism. So those that want to see peace and those that want to move peace forward, shouldn’t encourage the Palestinians to take that position, and yes, unfortunately, we have seen quite a few that take that position.”

“It’s damaging, and really, to use psychological terms, it’s what I would call enabling, and certainly keeping this ongoing conflict alive for as long as possible,” Efune added.

Efune also addressed the American Jewish community’s response to the agreement, which was signed on the White House lawn by leaders of the three countries, as well as President Donald Trump.

The interview also covered how the deal might impact the Jewish vote in the upcoming presidential election in November.
Algemeiner Editor-in-Chief and CEO Dovid Efune on Abraham Accords Significance


Roundtable Discussion: Which Arab States Will Be Next to Make Peace with Israel?


UN Watch: UN rights chief ignores peace accords, denounces Israel
Hillel Neuer takes the floor at the United Nations to call out the world body's human rights chief for completely ignoring today's Arab-Israeli peace agreements, and instead just repeating her ritual, rote and rotten denunciation of the Jewish state. "Does the U.N. truly cares about peace and human rights?"


Sky News presenter joins the anti-peace brigade
As you see, Hanegbi effectively refuted Austin’s suggestion that it’s morally unacceptable for Israel to normalise relations with human rights abusing countries, as the London-based presenter somehow needed to be reminded that the UK maintains normal relations with countries like UAE – as do the overwhelming majority of nations.

Also, as Tablet’s Armin Rosen points out, Israel is making peace with autocracies because they’re the only states left in the world who currently don’t already have diplomatic relations with Israel.


Indeed, if you take the Sky News presenter’s logic to its natural conclusion, it would be wrong for Israel to make peace with the Palestinians due to the horrible human rights records of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Moreover, as we’ve shown previously in our critique of the Guardian’s warped Arab-Israeli normalisation rejectionism, Sky News isn’t alone in their insistence on seeing the cloud in the silver lining. Both outlets insist that Israel’s peace deal with UAE and Bahrain isn’t important because the ‘core issue’ is the Palestinian issue. However, this gets it exactly wrong, since the fact that Arab states are willing to make peace with Israel regardless of the I-P conflict in fact demonstrates that the question of ‘Palestine’ is NOT the core issue.

It seems that some journalists only care about peace if it’s achieved in a way which affirms their ideology.

Since Israel’s normalisation with UAE and Bahrain shows the fallacy of the MSM’s conventional “road to Mid-East peace runs through Jerusalem” theory, they’re unmoved by it – sadly suggesting that narcissism, not the desire for peace or justice, guides their thinking.

















New shipping line between Eilat and Dubai to open in October
A new shipping line between the port of Eilat and Dubai will open in October, shortening the amount of time needed to deliver Israeli goods to the Gulf state to just ten days, a press release on behalf of DoverTower reported on Wednesday, one day after the Abraham Accord was signed at the White House.

“Up until now, Israeli-made goods had to be shipped to a different country and taken to Dubai from that location,” DoverTower owner Shlomi Fogel told The Jerusalem Post. “Now, Israeli dates and peppers, for example, could arrive in the Gulf in just ten days.”

The line will begin with two container ships, each able to carry 600 containers. The voyage back is expected to last 20 days and could deliver Gulf-produced goods, such as Saudi-made raw material for plastic production in Israel, or sports shoes for Israeli clients, made in one of the 7,500 factories located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafaza).

Fogel hints that even more trading options would be possible in the future, should the promises of US President Donald Trump about five other countries who might join the deal become a reality.

Fogel points to the option of loading more goods along the route, for example in Sudan, for the Israeli market.

“Sudan produces sesame seeds,” he says, “something Israel needs.”
DP World and Dubai Customs to explore trade links with Israel
DP World, one of the world’s biggest port operators, and Dubai Customs will explore opportunities to develop trade links between the UAE and Israel as the countries normalise relations.

The two sides have already signed a series of agreements to discuss the possibilities of developing trade infrastructure, the company said on Wednesday.

DP World group chairman and chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem signed the preliminary agreements with DoverTower, a company owned by Shlomi Fogel, the co-owner of Israel Shipyards and Port of Eilat.

The agreements create a framework for the companies to work together in assessing opportunities to develop infrastructure for trade between Israel and the UAE, as well as within Israel and the region.

DP World will assess the development of Israeli ports and free zones and the potential establishment of a direct shipping route between Eilat and Jebel Ali port, the biggest in the Middle East.

Dubai Customs will facilitate trade between private entities in the two countries. Drydocks World will explore business opportunities with Israel shipyards, the company said.

“The MoUs will contribute to the efforts to tap economic and trade cooperation opportunities, and facilitate development-oriented linkages between the two countries,” Mr bin Sulayem said.

“DP World’s mission is to enable global trade – our work to build trade routes between the UAE, Israel and beyond will help our customers to do business in the region more easily and efficiently.”

Separately Dubai’s Emirates NBD signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel’s two largest lenders.
Rapper Kanye West Praises Jared Kushner for Role in Historic Middle East Accords: ‘He’s Done More for Peace Than Anyone in 30 Years’
Rapper Kanye West praised senior White House adviser Jared Kushner on Tuesday, hours after historic peace accords were signed between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

“Jared Kushner will have done more for peace in the Middle East than anyone in 30 years,” wrote the superstar entertainer on Twitter.


Kushner played a key role in orchestrating the agreement, establishing close ties with the leaders of all three countries.

West has been supportive of President Donald Trump’s administration in the past. More recently, he’s launched his own presidential campaign.






NBC's Andrea Mitchell says Israel-UAE-Bahrain agreement 'is not Middle East peace'
NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell insisted in her reporting on Tuesday evening that the Abraham Accords signed by Israel, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain don't amount to "Middle East peace."

President Trump was joined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalif to sign the Abraham Accords, something the president hailed as the "dawn of a new Middle East."

On "NBC Nightly News," however, anchor Lester Holt began the segment alluding to Mitchell's reporting, saying that while the agreement will "normalize nations and bring them closer together," a "broader Middle East peace is still an elusive goal."

"With pomp and circumstance, the president is heralding the first Arab nations to recognize Israel since 1994," Mitchell reported. "Both countries have quietly dealt with Israel for years, sharing intelligence against Iran, a common enemy."

She continued, "But today's agreements open the doors for trade, travel, and tourism. But it is not Middle East peace."

She went on to describe how Palestinians were "abandoned by their Arab neighbors" and how they were left "powerless to do anything except protest."
Honest Reporting: As Israel Makes Peace, Gaza Terrorists Choose Rockets
International headlines highlighted the peace agreements signed between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain. But the media neglected to report that Islamic terrorists in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip fired missiles into Israel as the ceremony at the White House was taking place.

Why does the international media celebrate the incredible accomplishments being made toward Middle East peace while ignoring those terrorists who continue to choose war and violence?






The ‘Coffee Boy’ Makes Peace in the Middle East
Avi Berkowitz's elevation to a top negotiating position on President Donald Trump's Middle East peace team was met with near-universal derision by so-called experts and the mainstream press.

Martin Indyk, who served as ambassador to Israel under President Bill Clinton, mocked the appointment of Jared Kushner's onetime "assistant." The Brookings Institution’s Natan Sachs declared the then 29-year-old Berkowitz "young and inexperienced." The media were less diplomatic: Politico derided Berkowitz as Kushner's "mini-me"; Vanity Fair dubbed him a "coffee boy."

On Tuesday, Trump oversaw the signing of the Kushner- and Berkowitz-orchestrated Abraham Accords that officially normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, as well as an agreement between Israel and Bahrain—the first such deals in over four decades. Pretty good for a coffee boy.

Criticisms of Berkowitz and Kushner were never about their age or experience, given that they came from the same crowd that celebrated the ascendance of the 30-something failed novelist Ben Rhodes to the highest reaches of power in the previous administration.

Rather, the criticisms were about the unwillingness of the two men, publicly Jewish and proudly Zionist, to kowtow to the same tired experts who have made their careers pushing the same conventional wisdom that produced nothing but stalemate. The success of the youthful Berkowitz on a project where the so-called experts have met little success is all the more proof of the intellectual bankruptcy of the experts President Donald Trump has so often dismissed—in this case, rightly so.







BDS calls on Arab content creators to boycott Arab-Israeli Nas Daily
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has directed Arab content creators to avoid working with popular Israeli-Palestinian video blogger Nas Daily, according to an official BDS statement.

Nuseir Yassin, 28, a native of Arrabe in the Lower Galilee, operates a Facebook page with over 17 million subscribers. He rose to popularity featuring one-minute daily videos of his travels around the globe.

Yassin, a Harvard graduate, was living and working in New York in 2016 when he decided to quit his job and travel the globe for 1,000 days. The self-identified Israeli-Palestinian has visited almost every corner of the globe, from China to Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Canada, Iceland, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Kenya, Rwanda and many more countries.

Sprinkled among his 1,000 videos were also many missives relating to his home country, and to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

On the official BDS website, the movement released a statement in Arabic stating that "the Palestinian National Committee for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) calls – [in] the widest coalition in Palestinian society in the homeland and diaspora – [for] content makers and influencers in the Arab region to boycott the upcoming 'Nas Daily' program, which aims to implicate them in normalizing relations with Israel and cover up its crimes. (h/t Zvi)


‘Gift of Treason’: Pro-Erdogan Turkish Paper Attacks Presentation of Torah Scroll to Bahrain’s King
Turkey’s pro-government media cemented the country’s status as an outlier in a new era of Middle East peace as it angrily attacked the historic US-brokered peace accords signed by Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday.

One prominent story in the tabloid daily Takvim focused on the gift of a Torah scroll to the King of Bahrain from White House adviser Jared Kushner, who played a key role in the agreements.

Denouncing what it called “the scandalous deal,” the paper accused Bahrain’s King Khalifa of accepting a “gift of treason” from Kushner.

Takvim is owned by Turkish billionaire Ahmet Çalık, a close friend of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Çalık is known in Turkey for his involvement in business dealings with the Erdogan family that have attracted charges of corruption and nepotism.

Erdogan has bitterly opposed the rapprochement between Israel and the Gulf Arab states, damning the rapprochement as a betrayal of the Palestinians. At the end of August, he demonstratively hosted two Hamas leaders in Ankara, leading the US State Department to issue a condemnation of its NATO ally.
Anti-Peace Protesters Liken Netanyahu to Hitler at Rally Outside White House
Anti-peace protesters outside the White House in Washington, DC, shouted chants equating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler during the signing ceremony of the Israel-UAE-Bahrain normalization agreements on Tuesday.

Nicholas Rowan, a staff writer for the Washington Examiner, tweeted several videos of the demonstrators, who can be clearly heard chanting, “Bibi and Hitler are the same, the only difference is the name.”

Comparing Israel, Israelis and Jews to Nazis is considered antisemitism under the widely-adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.

Protesters can also be heard abusing pro-Israel, pro-peace counter-demonstrators, shouting, “Go back to Russia!”
Following Abraham Accords, UN Issues Resolution Condemning Peace (satire)
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday condemning the concept of peace after leaders from the US, Israel, the UAE and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Israel and the Arab Gulf countries.

The resolution, which passed 157 to 7 with 15 abstentions, called peace a “crime against humanity and a Zionist tool.”

“Peace is a vastly overrated state of affairs that produces weak men and leads to overpopulation,” the resolution states. “We condemn peace, as well as peace treaties and those who sign them, in the strongest terms.”

The UN Resolution was met with shrugs in the US, where most Americans view peace positively. But former Secretary of State John Kerry has urged the Trump administration to accept the resolution and withdraw from the peace accords immediately.




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