Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, September 03, 2020

A brief taxonomy of the collapse of Arab intransigence towards, by an angry Palestinian

At Rai al-Youm, Ibrahim Abdullah Sarsour - former head of the Islamic movement in Israel - whines about how awful it is that the UAE and probably Bahrain will accept Israel.

The beginning of his harangue includes an interesting list of the changing Arab attitudes over the years, from hate to acceptance. It is worthwhile to see how the Palestinians are viewing their brethren who have given them billions over the years.

“The complete liberation of Palestine and the occupied Arab land” and

“What was taken by force can only be recovered by force.”

"Eliminating the effects of aggression"

"Save what can be saved"

"Land for Peace"

“Take, then negotiate.”

“Negotiations are the strategic choice.”

“Peace for peace”

“We are tired of the Palestinian cause”

“The Jews have all the right to Palestine, and the Palestinians have no right to it”

"The Palestinians should accept any Israeli offer before there is nothing left.”

“Israel is a natural part in the region”

“We urgently need Israel to develop our Arab countries, as it is superior to the Arabs in all fields”

“Israel is our only entrance to the heart of the inhabitant of the White House, and his satisfaction is important.”

This is written with great bitterness and things aren't nearly as good as described here - but it might actually happen.

(I do not know how closely related the author is with Linda Sarsour.)

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Report: Every Good Thing Bad If Other Political Side Does It (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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double standards Jerusalem, September 3 - Scientific research has confirmed a long-held assumption prevalent among the civically engaged, a new study claims, to the effect that constructive, beneficial acts, policies, or decisions that a government adopts become wrong when that government is run by your ideological opponents.

An article in next week's issue of the journal Hypocrisy Today lays out the details of the research, which examined numerous instances of the wrong people supporting the right things, thereby making the right things the wrong things even though they would remain the right things were the right people to do those things. The study arrived at what the authors call a workable model to explain the phenomenon, which observers are calling an important milestone in the age-old endeavor to comprehend what makes people such schmucks.

"Many of us had sensed the truth of this hypothesis intuitively," explained lead author Dr. Sel Fintrizt of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "We knew it was unremarkable when the Obama administration kept illegal immigrant children in cages, but when the Trump administration revived the policy, it became evil. In a similar vein, Obama administration attempts to influence elections in Israel through a series of NGOs caused little stir in Washington, but the charge of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections in the US sent the Democratic Party and mainstream media into a frenzy. We discovered it's less about the what and almost all about the who."

The phenomenon occurred with the greatest frequency, the article notes, in international treatment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Arrangements from the 1990s that granted Palestinians limited self-rule in certain disputed areas also barred either side from a number of unilateral actions that might prejudice the outcome of a still-elusive final status agreement; nevertheless, European and other foreign governments either turn a blind eye to, or directly fund, Palestinian efforts to establish such facts on the ground even as those governments and NGOs rail against Israel for pursuing the same type of behavior.

Similarly, making the desert bloom generally registers as a positive among humans, but for opponents of Jewish sovereignty in the Jewish homeland, when Jews do it there it becomes rape of the landscape and the upsetting of important ecological balance.

Scientists agree the mechanism of the phenomenon remains in large part a mystery, but some tantalizing hints have emerged, revealed Dr. Fintrizt. "We know as soon as Jews appear in the picture somewhere, the probability of this phenomenon occurring quadruples," he noted. "That's likely a huge clue, one we do not yet understand. But it's probably the Jews' fault."

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09/03 Links Pt1: UAE's crown prince wants visit to Jerusalem after historic deal; Col. Kemp: A Great Step Forward for World Peace - and Who Seems Determined to Ignore It

From Ian:

BESA: The Israel-UAE Agreement’s Greatest Achievement: Little Arab Protest

To the surprise of Iranian and Palestinian leaders, the Arab public did not protest the Israel-UAE peace agreement—but they continue to protest Iranian meddling in Iraqi and Lebanese affairs. The lack of protest against the Israel-UAE breakthrough is a sign of political maturity as Arab and Muslim populations clamor for reform at home rather than destructive ideological visions.

Lively analysis has taken place over the possible ramifications of the Israel-UAE peace agreement. Some have rightly noted that while this is the third peace treaty Israel has signed with an Arab state, it is the first to contain the promise of a warm peace. This is in sharp contrast to Israel’s relations with prior accord partners Egypt and Jordan, which are limited to very narrow personal, diplomatic, and security relations. With Egypt, the peace treaty has rarely reached even that threshold.

Hosni Mubarak, throughout his 30 years of ruling Egypt, never made an official visit to Israel, which is less than an hour’s flight away. Nor has King Abdullah of Jordan. In over a decade of rule, Abdullah has abstained from visiting Israel despite meeting several times with PA head Mahmoud Abbas in nearby Ramallah.

Israel has been at peace with Egypt for nearly a half a century, but not one Egyptian soccer team has ever played against an Israeli team either in Israel or anywhere else. Not one delegation from an Egyptian university has ever visited an Israeli counterpart, let alone engaged in a joint program. Not one Egyptian cultural ensemble or group has ever visited Israel. On the rare occasions when individual Egyptian artists have come to Israel, they did so primarily to appear before Israel’s Arab citizens. For that gesture they were met with opprobrium and threats. Such was the power of the Arab world’s boycott against “normalization.”

Dore Gold interviewed by Jenni Frazer: Israeli and Arab Interests "Have Begun to Coalesce"

In 2015, Dr. Dore Gold, a former director-general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, opened a small Israeli economic office in the UAE and is better placed than most to judge the pace of Israel's outreach to the Arab world. He told the Jewish Chronicle this week that other Arab countries are quietly falling into line behind the UAE, driven not only by fear of Iran, but also by concern at the machinations of Turkey, where President Erdogan is trying to revive the status of the Ottoman Empire.

As far back as 1996, when he first came into government as foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu, "I visited a number of countries, including Qatar and Oman," Gold said. He also went to Paris that year for a meeting with a senior Saudi diplomat.

When he served as Israel's ambassador to the UN between 1997 and 1999, "there was an African country with a Muslim majority, whose ambassador was head of the committee for the inalienable rights of the Palestinians." After a fire-and-brimstone speech to the General Assembly, "he came up to me and asked, 'Dore, maybe you could take me for lunch at one of your kosher restaurants?'" Today, Israel and the country have full diplomatic relations.

"The point here is that countries are driven by a keen understanding of their interests. If their interests lead them to closer ties with Israel, they will pursue them. First perhaps in a hidden way, but later in an overt way....Our vital interests and those of the Arab world have begun to really coalesce. And that makes great opportunity for dramatic breakthroughs. I am optimistic with respect to what can be done."

Col. Richard Kemp: A Great Step Forward for World Peace - and Who Seems Determined to Ignore It

Some months ago, in talks with leaders in Saudi Arabia as part of a delegation from former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Friends of Israel Initiative, together with their Executive Director and former Spanish National Security Adviser Rafael Bardaji, I heard first-hand how open the Saudis were to the prospect of embracing Israel in the future.

Of far greater significance, however, is the looming threat to the region from Iran and, to a lesser extent, Turkey. Most Arab countries see common interests with Israel in the face of the mullahs in Tehran with their imperial aggression in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and beyond, coupled with insatiable nuclear ambition.

Notwithstanding the economic, technological and security imperatives that lie behind the evolving Middle East relationships, great credit must go to the men behind the Abraham Accord.... Mohammed bin Zayed... [and] Benjamin Netanyahu... know only too well that such actions carry with them serious risks to themselves personally and to their nations.

Palestinian Media Watch translated an interview with Saeb Erakat where the accomplished liar tries mightily to come up with reasons why Arab nations shouldn't make peace with Israel - something that he and Hanan Ashrawi have been trying to do without much success.

They try different tacks to see if anything will resonate with the Arab world, but they aren't doing too well.

Erakat said:

There are [Arab] groups that say: ‘Palestine is not my cause.’ Groups say that ‘the Palestinians are ungrateful and we are employing them [the refugees]. We’ve helped them, but Israel is a beautiful, successful state.’ [Some] speak in Hebrew at universities to speak with Israel… This is a public birth for the Arab Zionists. There is no Arab Zionism, there are Arab Zionists… I have contacted Bahrain and sent official letters. I sent official letters and asked for two things: Not to follow the UAE [but] stick to the Arab Peace Initiative. And to convince the UAE to recant [the agreement with Israel]… I did the same with all the Arab states… It is not insignificant when an Arab photographs his son who puts the Israeli flag on his chest… This is Zionist thinking. Forbidden. This is forbidden.“

What exactly is his argument? He really doesn't have one. In the end, the best Erakat can do is to use the word "Zionist" as a general expletive and insult and say how unacceptable it is for an Arab to engage in "Zionist thinking."

What is Zionist thinking? That to build a nation you have to do the hard work yourself and not rely on outsiders to do all the work for you?

No wonder the Palestinians are allergic to it.

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Al-Omah, an Egypt-based pan-Muslim news site, has a most revealing op-ed about the Israel/UAE accord that shows how systemic Arab antisemitism is.

The article, by Dr. Abdul Latif, is so dripping with anger at the UAE for partnering with Jews that it doesn't even mention the UAE by name.

It is entitled, "Loyalty to the Jews is the epitome of hypocrisy." In this case, the word "hypocrisy" is not a mere value judgment but a specific Quranic term describing someone who appears on the outside to be a Muslim but who is actively working to destroy the Muslim world from the inside.

Latif employs two well-known Quranic verses:

Quran 5:51:

O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.

Quran 4:145:

Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire - and never will you find for them a helper.

Dr. Latif is saying that UAE leaders who cooperate with Jews will go to the worst depths of Hell, beyond the spaces reserved for mere unbelievers.

Remarkably, Latif doesn't even pretend to care about Palestinians in his criticism of the Emiratis, which is the usual fig-leaf used by Arab critics of the deal. His enmity is based purely on old fashioned Muslim Jew-hatred. Cooperating with Jews on any level is a major sin and those who do it are condemned to hellfire.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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Daoud al-Khatib, 45, an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was sentenced to 18 years of prison in 2003, died of a heart attack with six months left in his sentence.

As always happens when prisoners die, the Palestinians across the board are accusing Israel of "medical negligence."

The Samidoun Prisoners Network says so. The Palestinian Prisoners Club says so. Islamic Jihad says so. The PLO says so.

The Human Rights and Civil Society Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization called on the international community and its bodies to break their silence about the occupation crimes against Palestinian and Arab prisoners and put an end to the violations committed against them, foremost of which is the policy of medical negligence, which has become a tool in the hands of the occupation authorities to practice a policy of slow killing for them.

Based on the articles on al-Khatib's death, he suffered a stroke several years ago, and he was treated for that at the time. Afterwards he underwent open heart surgery - paid for by the Israeli taxpayer. After his latest heart attack the Israeli prison authorities attempted to revive him with defibrillation.

In other words, the "negligent" Israelis did everything they could to keep this terrorist alive.

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09/02 Links Pt2: The dumb Jewish supporters of BLM; Senior BBC journalist used pseudonym account to back attacks on Emma Barnett after Shoah speech

From Ian:

The dumb Jewish supporters of BLM

Jonathan S. Tobin of JNS wrote a reasoned article panning the recent ad in the NYTimes supporting Black Lives Matter and signed by 600 Jewish groups. There were no Orthodox umbrella groups, haredi or centrist, such as OU, Igud Harabanim or the RCA among the signers.

I, in contrast, will be less polite.

What is the Jewish street terminology for those who egregiously give support and comfort to their enemies? One word.....well, Arutz Sheva won't print it (those with a penchant for rhymes can figure it out at the end of this article.)

And so, trusting to your imagination, I'll apply this adjective to the 600 Jewish groups that signed on to a full-page ad in this past week's New York Times supporting and gushing over the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) and its leaders.

We'd expect such radical self hating Jewish groups such as T'ruah, Jewish Voice for Peace, J Street and Bend the Arc to stand strong with any Jew/Israel hating bunch of common street thugs. But to have the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the national umbrella group and spokesperson for such normally credible organizations as Hadassah, Jewish War Veterans, ORT, B'nai B'rith, and our Jewish Federations, join in the parade to glorify the horrific platform of the BLM, blows one's mind.

To begin with, recall please, the demonstrations down the streets of NYC, led by thousands of BLM supporters chanting, "Kill the cops!" along with shouts of "What do we want? Dead pigs in blankets!" and "Fry 'em in bacon!"

Those signed Jewish groups support such outrageous, dangerous, calls-for-murder-of-cops statements? And what of the 2016 BLM platform accusing Israel of being an "apartheid" state committing "genocide" against Palestinian Arabs and claiming that Jewish supporters pushed the U.S. into wars in the Middle East?

The BLM platform also officially joined forces with the BDS campaign to "free Palestine from the River to the sea" and to "dismantle (destroy) the State of Israel." They said it, they mean it and they will stick to it.

David Collier: Toxic. BBC journalists as antisemitic trolls and the battle for academia

The sickness of the PSC

This week exposed the weakness and failure of the anti-Israel movements more than most. The deal between the UAE and Israel is a historic one. Whilst the lies of the PSC may persuade a foolish pensioner in Newcastle to stop buying Israeli avocados, the Arab boycott itself is crumbling. So it was no surprise that the latest online event put on by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign was a depressing affair.

The online ‘demonstration’ was hosted by Director Ben Jamal and lasted 90 minutes. Yes, of course Jeremy Corbyn was a keynote speaker. Two other MPs made an appearance, along with a couple of trade unionists. As PSC events go, it was relatively tame. They had a few political propagandists speak from Gaza and coincidentally, there was no problem with Gaza’s electricity supply when they did so. There were the usual smears but nothing too outlandish. The only surprising thing was that the ageing crowd did not fall asleep.

One of the hardest parts of my research is putting names to faces, so for me an online Zoom event like this which does the work for me, is like receiving an early Chanukah present:

They claimed over 1000 people watching, which is a bit silly when these online apps give an accurate headcount. There were roughly 430 on Zoom and 50 on Facebook. What made it even sadder is that every Zionist activist I know was in the crowd too. What was also clear was the demographic of the online viewers. One of the cases that I have been making for years is that ‘PSC’ people are mainly older, majority female and very white. For most of these sad individuals ‘Palestine’ is the cause they picked up as they would a bridge or chess club. Something that gets them out of the house to meet people at a local coffee evening.

Their online weakness was also exposed. During the event they ran two ‘online’ campaigns using #hashtags. #endthesiege and #stoparmingisrael. They both only received a few dozen tweets and almost all of these were a direct copy and paste comment from empty trolls. The same type of thing we see coming from online Gazan troll factories. This exact comment, word for word, made up over 90% of the tweets made:

There was almost no original input whatsoever.

It is time to undress the toxic BBC
Far more worrying is what is taking place elsewhere. Yesterday the news broke that a senior BBC journalist had been running an antisemitic sock account. Nimesh Thaker used the Twitter account ‘Not That Bothered‘ to belittle antisemitism and promote posts by people such as Jackie Walker and Kerry-Anne Mendoza. The account was also used to ‘support attacks on the organisation’s Jewish presenter Emma Barnett after she spoke out about the personal impact of antisemitism on her life’. By the time I went looking, the journalist appeared to have completely disabled all his social media accounts.

The horror of this should not be understated. This news brutally exposes the mindset we know exists at the BBC – childish, supremacist and Jew-baiting. For years we have complained about the bias and clearly distorted reporting taking place. We don’t need to wonder anymore about why the fringe group JVL were so often given BBC airtime. People like Thaker write the news that millions of people read each day. They’ve been doing so for decades. Nothing in the UK bears more responsibility for the spread of the false anti-Israel narrative than the BBC.

I have never been of the ‘defundthebbc’ bloc, but I am finding it harder and harder to justify that stance. I used to argue it needed reform rather than a complete rebuild, but I no longer oppose those that think the entire structure should be taken down. Pay the license fee – why on earth should I pay for this. BBC journalists have become antisemitic trolls. How do you repair that?

Senior BBC journalist used pseudonym account to back attacks on Emma Barnett after Shoah speech

A senior BBC World News journalist used an anonymous social media account to support attacks on the organisation’s Jewish presenter Emma Barnett after she spoke out about the personal impact of antisemitism on her life.

Nimesh Thaker also used the Twitter account set up under the pseudonym Not That Bothered to support posts written by Kerry-Anne Mendoza and Jackie Walker, both of whom have been at the centre of antisemitism allegations themselves.

In posts from the account, the BBC reporter also suggested Israel was a “racist” and “white supremacist state”. He also branded the BBC Director General a “white male Tory”.

The JC has been given evidence showing that Mr Thaker had used the Not That Bothered account to attempt to make contact with individuals for reports he was making for the BBC – exposing the fact that he was behind the account.

New BBC Director General Tim Davie is expected to outline his disapproval of partisan journalists as he sets out his plans for the Corporation later this week.

Mr Thaker – who has reported for BBC World News for over ten years - was openly critical of BBC 5 Live presenter Ms Barnett after she delivered a widely praised speech about the impact of the Holocaust on her family on the day that Twitter was being boycotted over its failure to act against rapper Wiley’s antisemitic outbursts.

The JC has been sent screenshots showing that the Not That Bothered account retweeted a post sent to Ms Barnett which accused her of using “the same old ‘antisemitism’ excuse whenever people criticise Israel”.

Normalization Could Create a Real “New Middle East” (Vic Rosenthal)

Vic Rosenthal's weekly column

The main thing you need to know about the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is that Iran, Turkey, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace, and other enemies of the Jewish state oppose it.

Opponents of the deal like to call it a “betrayal of the Palestinians.” It isn’t: rather, it’s a betrayal of the PLO and Hamas, organizations which are the worst thing to happen to Palestinian Arabs since the Nazi Mufti Amin al-Husseini.

Countries don’t have feelings and don’t form friendships. They have interests and form alliances in support of them. The PLO was created in 1964 by Nasser’s regime in order to promote Egyptian objectives, which were to conquer and annex as much as possible of the new state of Israel; later it came under the influence of the KGB, which employed it on behalf of Soviet interests in the region.

Neither Egypt, which forced Palestinian refugees into camps in 1948 (and to this day does not grant full Egyptian citizenship to Palestinians living in Egypt), nor the other Arab states and the Soviet Union, viewed Palestinian Arabs as anything other than a weapon to use against Israel, and the PLO, their creature, reflected this.

In 1982, the PLO was defeated by Israel and Maronite Christian forces in the First Lebanon War. But instead of being treated like the war criminals they were, the leadership of the PLO was allowed to flee under UN auspices to Tunisia. One would have thought that the PLO, removed from close contact with Palestinian Arabs, would lose influence and die out. But in 1987 there was a popular Palestinian uprising in the territories, the First Intifada, and PLO-connected groups managed to coopt and control it, brutally suppressing anti-PLO Palestinians as “collaborators.” The PLO made itself the de facto representative of the Palestinians in the territories.

And now Israel made one of her greatest mistakes since 1948, the Oslo Accords. Oslo created a “temporary” Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern the territories until a final status agreement could be made, which of course never happened. But the PA, in essence the PLO, still controls the parts of Judea and Samaria where most Palestinians live. In Gaza, the PLO was overthrown by a violent coup by Hamas in 2005.

Both the PA and Hamas function as dictatorships (the PA is supposed to be democratic, but hasn’t held an election since 2005). Both are supported by large amounts of foreign money via UNRWA and other sources. They are both massively corrupt; “connected” Palestinians live like kings, while most of the population lacks basic needs. Both maintain their maximalist demands against Israel, which have kept the conflict simmering with intermittent boiling over into large-scale violence – the Second Intifada and multiple Gaza conflicts. And both have created educational and media systems that teach their youth to hate Jews and Israelis enough that even children have become capable of murdering Jews at random in the streets.

The PLO and Hamas depend on the conflict as an excuse for their dictatorial control, and for much of their foreign money. It’s their reason for being. So there can be no “normalization” of relations between Palestinian Arabs and Jews on their watch. The conflict must go on. And this has been bolstered by almost universal Arab and Muslim solidarity – until today.

The peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan called for some degree of normalization, but these aspects have not been realized. The peace has been “cold” from the beginning. This isn’t an accident. Indeed the growth of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel expression in Egypt and Jordan – which sometimes bursts out in murderous incidents – ensures that there will not be normalization in the near future. Like the PLO, the leadership of these countries has been prepared to compromise to some extent to achieve the practical benefits of non-belligerence; but they have not rejected the destruction of Jewish sovereignty as an ultimate objective.

The negotiations with the UAE, on the other hand, at least at this point, seem to express a wholly different spirit, one in which actual normalization and not just non-belligerence seems to be the goal. Nothing could infuriate the Palestinian leadership more, since their unhappy subjects will see, for the first time, that the option of unending hostility is not the only choice. If other Arab nations join in as expected, it will be even more persuasive.

Naturally, the Iranian and Turkish regimes (correctly) see these developments as the creation of an economic and military alliance that opposes their geopolitical ambitions. But what about Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and similar Western leftist groups? How can we understand their opposition to what is, after all, a movement in the direction of reducing conflict, perhaps a movement that will ultimately lead to the long-desired end of the Israeli-Arab conflict?

It’s simple. They say they are concerned for the welfare of the Palestinian people, but that is not true, and never has been true. The welfare of the Palestinians would best be served by the replacement of the PLO and Hamas by less corrupt leaders that would favor normalization and closer cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis. There is no doubt that if instead of paying terrorists to murder Jews, Palestinian leaders worked together with Israelis to develop economic alternatives to the international dole, the lives of ordinary Palestinians would be greatly improved. I am sure that many Palestinians already think so, but are afraid to publicly say it in the face of PLO and Hamas repression.

IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace – and countless other such organizations – have as their objective the elimination of the Jewish state, not the welfare of Palestinians. For that reason, they support BDS, the PLO and Hamas. They are supported financially by anti-Israel sources (see here and here) like the massive Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Their opposition to normalization exposes them for what they are.

One doesn’t want to be too optimistic at this early stage. It can be noted that there will probably be a backlash from religiously conservative elements against Jewish sovereignty anywhere in the region. It can be argued that the apparent rapprochement between Israel and some Sunni Arab states is nothing more than a temporary alliance against Iran. But I don’t think so. I think there is beginning to be an understanding, at least on the part of some Arabs, that the continued demonization of Israel does not serve their long-term interests. And the possibilities for the future are breathtaking.

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Israel haters often say that Zionism is racism, saying that the entire idea of Zionism is anti-Arab.

This week we saw an outpouring of love from Israeli Jews to the Arabs of the United Arab Emirates. Israelis are excited to start new business initiatives, to visit the UAE with their families. Zionists worldwide are enthusiastic over the possibilities. Israelis and Emiratis are exchanging admiring posts on social media.

Aren't the citizens of the United Arab Emirates - Arabs?

If Zionists are racist and Zionism is racism, how can these racist Jews so fully embrace peace with not just an Arab country but with so many Arab people?

With Jordan and Egypt as well, it was the Zionist Jews who wanted true normalized relations on every level. It was the Arabs who resisted doing this.

There are some racist attitudes in the Middle East, but both Israel and the UAE are far more tolerant than most other nations in the region.

(h/t Yisrael Medad)

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09/02 Links Pt1: A tectonic shift in the relations between Israel and Arab world; Soldier, cop lightly injured in suspected car-ramming and attempted stabbing

From Ian:

A tectonic shift in the relations between Israel and Arab world

Over the past decade or so I have reported from around 100 countries. I have been in the White House during the good moments (with US President Donald Trump) and during the bad moments (with then-President Barack Obama).

I have witnessed the return of the remains of an Israeli MIA through Moscow, and traveled with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Uganda, Brazil Ethiopia and Beijing for his diplomatic visits. But the flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi was something completely different.

It underscores the major breakthrough between the UAE and Israel. The fact that El Al's Star of David flew over Saudi Arabia symbolizes the tectonic shift underway in relations between Israel and the Arab world. Israel made a giant leap forward on Monday in its effort to integrate in the region and be like any other normal country. The hostility and the boycotts are now a thing of the past, a new era of cooperation and friendship has begun.

The enormity of these developments was palpable among all those who were on board, not just the Israeli and US officials but also the flight crew and reporters. Everyone talked about how it was such a great privilege to be taking part in this historic event. Special face masks decorated with the flags of the US, the UAE and Israel were handed out; the boarding passes also had a special design.

It's also worth noting that throughout the three-hour flight, Israeli and US officials sat next to each other as if they were family or citizens of the same nation. Such closeness among the senior members of both governments is unprecedented. This intimacy in and of itself is an accomplishment that stands out.

JPost Editorial: The UAE-Israel deal could mark a new dawn for relations in the Middle East

The new dawn that is the UAE-Israel relationship is not just built on practical issues such as economics and security. It is already being built on human relationships. Whether it is stories about kosher deli service for the Expo in the Emirates, or the small but thriving Jewish community, we can see that there is a very real human warmth that is emerging in Abu Dhabi and Dubai towards Israel.

This warmth goes both ways. Israelis have lit up their buildings with the UAE flag, and opened their hearts to the possibilities of peace. This is welcome news during the COVID-19 crisis and the way that the world’s nations and citizens have become isolated and cut off from one another.

The symbolic visit to the Western Wall by Kushner prior to the historic flight and the morning prayers in the UAE bookend this phenomenal trip.
However, we must not glory only in success and fanfare. Too often our presumptions, and sometimes arrogance, have clouded reality. There is a long road ahead in the UAE, just as there have been hurdles in the Jordanian and Egyptian peace agreements.

There are questions about US F-35 sales to the Emirates. Israel is divided on whether the sales would erode its qualitative military advantage. It will take years for F-35 sales to materialize, even if approved in the US. By that time, Israel will have several squadrons of the advanced aircraft.

There may be other hurdles as well, such as the UAE wanting to see some progress on issues in the West Bank, or Iran and Turkey seeking to throw a spanner into the process. Israel and the UAE have dangerous enemies, from Tehran to the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is a part. Navigating the US election and Washington’s increasingly partisan foreign policy will be difficult.

We can face the future together with the UAE. This week began what should be a beautiful friendship.

David Singer: Saudi Arabia is impeding Trump's effort to end the conflict

Israel’s then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Israel’s readiness to resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority “based on previous agreements between us, U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, the road map and the April 14, 2004 letter of President Bush to the Prime Minister of Israel.”

No mention was made of the API forming part of those renewed negotiations – nor could it be - since its total territorial withdrawal demands had been undercut by the Bush Congress-endorsed letter.

Those Arab nations and entities – indeed all parties present at the Conference - failed to object or demur to the new territorial reality of partial Israeli withdrawal which the Bush letter had engendered.

Saudi Arabia’s insistence on Israel’s total territorial withdrawal stipulated by the API as the price to be paid for Saudi Arabia signing a peace treaty with Israel has been seemingly backed by Sudan,Bahrain and Oman to prolong the 100 years-old Arab-Jewish conflict.

The Trump vision for peace is a plan that can end that conflict. It needs to be embraced by all who attended the Annapolis Conference – especially by Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Bahrain and Oman now joining the UAE as real trailblazers for peace.

Trump did not present his meticulously detailed deal of the century to see it rejected before its implementation was even attempted.

Pressure by top Trump aides in the region this week to get Saudi Arabia to endorse Trump’s plan is certain.

Failure to do so could see Trump administering his proven shockwave therapy to jolt Sudan,Bahrain and Oman from backing Saudi Arabia’s continuing rejection of Trump’s plan.

Gerald Steinberg of NGO Monitor makes some excellent points about the irrelevance of Europe to the Israel/Arab conflict and how their outdated views of the region are actually anti-peace.

The EU was notably absent on the El Al plane from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi. There were no EU officials and no EU flags, either on the plane or on the face masks of the Arabs who greeted the Israelis. Why not?

As Steinberg writes,

Almost all EU diplomats, foreign policy officials and 'experts', operate through simplistic misguided prisms based on post-1945 images of normative (soft) power, rules-based international order, and other thinking that is .totally inapplicable to the Middle East. As a result, Europe has little credibility.

The Israel-UAE agreement is based on realpolitik and national interests -- security (the Iran threat), economic, cyber threats and others. European diplomacy in 21st century has no capacity for contributing in these dimensions.

Europe's foreign policy on Israel offers nothing positive and tangible. Their main tools are threats of sanctions (aimed at Israel only), ritual anti-Israel UN votes, and massive funding to fringe anti-Israel NGOs under the facade of aid and human rights. This is in total contrast to the US.

For Palestinians, Europe is a very reliable cash cow and amplifier of slogans, including their supposed powerlessness and victimhood. No matter what Palestinians do - terror, incitement, ICC lawfare - European money keeps flowing. But for substance, Palestinian leaders have (until very recently - EoZ) turned to the US.

Europe is narrowly focused on the Palestinian issue (and stuck in the 1970s); they treat Israel condescendingly, and their "peace proposals" and frequent declarations consist entirely of empty slogans. Systematically stuck in the 1970s (or 1950s), Europe is blind to Israel's role as a major regional actor, interacting with other countries on the basis of significant capabilities and shared interests.

Opposition to the Iranian strategic threat is a major catalyst for Israel-Gulf cooperation. In contrast, Europe's policy on Iran is based on slogans and reviving the ill-conceived JCPOA, allowing the regime to acquire nuclear weapons. These policies are non-starters.

To play any useful role in the region, Europe needs an entirely new approach to Israel, Iran, the UAE and other Gulf states. The people and myths that have dominated Europe's approach for decades need to retired and replaced by diplomats and experts with both feet on the ground.

Steinberg is correct. It is no coincidence that each one of Israel's peace agreements with Arab countries have been facilitated by the US with no European involvement. The Europeans treat the Palestinians as spoiled children with no responsibility for their actions, and one cannot make peace with irresponsible toddlers.

Gulf countries have, in recent years, given the Palestinians the message that they are not the center of the universe and they can no longer assume reflexive support and unlimited cash from their fellow Arabs. They live better lives under "occupation" than most Arabs do in independent countries. Their fate is in their hands but they have rejected every peace plan that doesn't leave open the possibility of Israel's destruction.

Instead of growing up, the puerile Palestinians have come to rely on the Western Left to provide them with unlimited moral and financial support. Europe, pretending to be relevant, is happy to fund organizations that actually hurt any chances for peace. This massive funding has perverted the Palestinian economy itself - the best paying jobs outside Israel come from these anti-Israel NGOs, which contribute nothing towards actual productivity and make it unappealing for Palestinians to become productive and independent citizens, creating and exporting useful goods and services.

The UAE deal reveals the European approach to the Middle East to be corrupt and counterproductive.

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Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO to meet with heads of other terror groups Thursday

From the official Palestinian Wafa news agency:

Preparations are underway to hold a meeting headed by President Mahmoud Abbas and with the participation of the heads of all the Palestinian political factions at home and abroad, today said Ahmad Majdalani, Secretary-General of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front and Minister of Social Affairs in the Palestinian Authority.

He told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the meeting, which will be held between Ramallah, for the home-based leaders, and at the Palestine Embassy in Beirut, for the leaders in exile, seeks to reach a consensus on a national program to confront the US so-called deal of the century, Israel’s annexation plans and the normalization of Arab relations with Israel.

He stressed that this meeting is expected to strengthen the home front and pave the way for ending the inter-Palestinian division.

The meeting is scheduled to be held on Thursday.

This means that Mahmoud Abbas' PLO is meeting with internationally recognized terror organizations to come up with a response to Israeli peace with the UAE and potential peace with other Arab countries.

In fact, the head of Hamas' "political wing," Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Lebanon on Monday to attend the Beirut meetings with the PLO and other factions. He already met with Hezbollah terrorists.

The group eschewed wearing masks as they stood shoulder to shoulder for this photo op, so perhaps some good will come from that meeting.

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From AFP:

French President Emmanuel Macron said Lebanon's embattled leaders had pledged Tuesday to form a crisis cabinet within two weeks to push forward with key reforms, as he visited the disaster-hit country.

Macron was in Beirut for a second time since an August 4 explosion there which killed more than 180 people, laid waste to entire city districts and fueled popular rage against the country's political elite.

Speaking at a press conference following talks with the heads of Lebanon's parliamentary blocs, Macron said Hizbullah "is probably in parliament because of intimidation but also because other forces have failed to run the country well."

"But it has a popular base and that is the reality," he added.

Nonetheless, "with Hizbullah there is a discussion that needs to be initiated," with regards to disarmament, Macron added.

"This is exactly the discussion we had an hour ago (and) it should not be a taboo," he said.

It won't happen, but even discussing the issue out loud is something that was not done before the explosion. The Lebanese people are becoming more public in their criticism of Hezbollah, and Nasrallah's speeches cannot make a dent in that.

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09/01 Links Pt2: What are Jews who embrace Black Lives Matter movement endorsing?; Israel Advocacy Movement: Linda Sarsour believes in Israel

From Ian:

What are Jews who embrace Black Lives Matter movement endorsing?

Some Jews have fallen for the delusion that they need to join BLM in order to help moderate its radicals. Others have convinced themselves that this is their opportunity to be considered worthy successors to those Jews who worked to end “Jim Crow” laws and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. They think focusing on the attacks on Israel or even the growing number of incidents of anti-Semitism in the African-American community is to miss the point. They believe that Jews are obligated to go along with BLM because they accept the notion that the United States is irredeemably racist in nature and that there is an epidemic of murders of African-Americans by the police.

The problem with this formulation is that it is simply wrong. Despite a troubled past, America is not a racist nation today. The statistical evidence also contradicts the widely accepted claims about a police war on blacks.

It’s also worth exploring what is in the summary of the new BLM platform. Rather than an easily supported agenda around which all Americans of good will could rally, it is a laundry list of far-left radical and Marxist proposals antithetical to the idea that BLM deserves mainstream support.

Supporters will say their demands are irrelevant, and what matters is a statement supporting the struggle against racism.

But the letter from the 600 groups is more than a restatement of idealistic notions about tikkun olam or amorphous and highly dubious claims about alleged police brutality. It goes out of its way to mischaracterize skepticism about BLM and the vicious cancel culture it has helped to spawn as morally equivalent to attacks on King from segregationists and racists.

It doesn’t merely ignore the fact that so many “peaceful protests” turned into violent riots and the way BLM activists have sought to intimidate anyone who will not bow to their agenda. It also seeks to link opposition to the movement to anti-Semitism. That isn’t just wrong. It’s outrageous since intersectional radicals who form the shock troops of the BLM movement, including cheerleaders for the Nation of Islam and its leader, Louis Farrakhan, as well as race-baiter Al Sharpton, are themselves guilty of anti-Semitism.

We can only shake our heads at the chutzpah of anti-Zionist groups like IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace, which have consistently been guilty of anti-Semitism, condemning it in others. But you have to wonder how groups that are avowedly Zionist—like JCPA, the ADL, and the mainstream religious movements and synagogues—can justify legitimizing these groups by signing the BLM manifesto along with them.

Tony Baltimore School Buckles to Anti-Semitic Demands of Black Lives Matter Activists

An elite private school in Baltimore founded by Jews is revamping its curriculum in response to a pressure campaign by Black Lives Matter activists demanding an examination of the school's "wealth hoarding" and "tolerance of Zionism."

BLM activists' latest academic target is Baltimore’s Park School, which was founded in 1912 by Jews who were barred entry into the city’s existing private schools. In a letter to the school, an anonymous group identifying itself as the "Black at Park Organizing Collective" calls for "an examination of Park’s history: its inception, early exclusions, culture of whiteness and wealth hoarding, its tolerance of Zionism, and its parasitic relationship to Baltimore City."

The Collective, which claims to be composed of "recent and distant alumni," accused the school of promoting "anti-blackness" and "anti-black violence." It seeks radical changes to the school's curriculum, admissions, and hiring. The school, they claim, is home to "white supremacist structures and environments of learning, teaching, and community-making," and Park "has established this culture of anti-blackness as normal and permissible." The administration, they wrote, must "atone for the deep and painful anti-black violence our black peers have experienced."

The language in the letter highlights the prevalence of anti-Semitism in Black Lives Matter activism. Across the country, protesters associated with the movement have defaced Jewish institutions, demanded that American Jews denounce Israel, and embraced anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has condemned American Jews for years.

Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg, spiritual leader for more than 40 years at Baltimore’s Beth Tfiloh synagogue, expressed concern about the Collective’s rhetoric.

"There are a lot of code words here that have been associated with anti-Semitic tropes," Wohlberg told the Washington Free Beacon. "But I don’t like calling people anti-Semitic unless I know them and know that to be true. However, [with] those tropes of ‘parasites’ and ‘wealth hoarding,' combined with ‘tolerance of Zionism,' you have to question the motives of these people."

Park administrators declined to address the Collective’s use of anti-Semitic language, but officials told the Free Beacon the school is working with the group to implement a series of reforms, including changes to its "diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives."

Ambassador Michael Oren on His New Book and the Presidential Election

In a brief, erudite introduction to the short stories, and in our phone call, Oren says that the short story, imagination constrained by the structure of brevity, is a characteristically Jewish combination of freedom and discipline.

“The freedom-limit paradox can be confounding but also intoxicating,” Oren writes in the introduction, telling the story of “a friend who was born Jewish but hated his heritage.”

The friend accompanied Oren to synagogue for Simchat Torah, the holiday “when Jews dance and sing while embracing the scrolls.”

The friend, Oren writes, “was flummoxed. ‘They’re celebrating a book that tells them all these things they can’t do?’”

Reports Oren, “unable to grasp the contradiction,” the friend “finally, in desperation…began to study the Bible and then the Talmud, and eventually became observant.”

Before Oren rings off, I ask him, as the former ambassador and the author of Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide, how he views the upcoming American election and its potential effects on US‐Israel relations.

“Both candidates running are very pro-Israel,” Oren says. A Biden administration might bring policy differences over “the Palestinian issue,” West Bank settlements and the Iran nuclear deal, Oren points out. He notes, though, that Trump has also offered to negotiate a deal with Iran. Oren suggests that Israel could help by spelling out clearly “what would be a good deal” with Iran.

The bigger picture, he says, is that “Israel depends on a strong and self-confident America.”

It was concerning instead to see what appeared like “a superpower that is not quite certain how to police itself, much less police the world,” Oren adds.

For some 15 years I've been reading Arabic media where the Quran is often used as a justification for hating Jews and Israel.

Suddenly, articles are appearing out of the UAE that say the opposite - they are using the Quran to justify making peace with Israel.

Al Bayan today has an article by Ahmed Mohammed Al Shehhi where he methodically goes through the arguments against peace with Israel and uses the Quran to demolish them.

Among their arguments is the claim that reconciliation with Israel is a breach of belief, and this is a false claim that is contained in the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah that say that reconciliation with non-Muslims is permissible, and that this comes under the heading of dealings entrusted to the guardians of the matter.

Another argument against Jews, distorting the verses from what they want, such as their inference by the Almighty saying: "So that you find the most hostile people to those who believe the Jews." This inference is invalid. The Quraysh were among the most hostile people to Muslims, and they were idol worshipers, and despite that the Prophet, peace be upon him, favored them out of consideration for public interests. Therefore, the scholars deduced from this that reconciliation with the Jews is permissible, for they are the People of the Book...

They argue that there are no private interests of states under the pretext of taking into account the interests of the entire Ummah. This is a false understanding of legitimate policy. Sheikh Ibn Baz said: “Every state considers its own interest, and if it sees that it is in the interest of Muslims in its country to reconcile with the Jews in exchanging ambassadors, buying and selling, and other transactions. That which is permitted by the purified law of God, there is nothing wrong with that."

Those who reject peace among those who oppose peace have no argument. Rather, they are far from the spirit of Sharia and the light of reason.

There are a few other arguments that I don't quite understand, but the upshot is that the UAE is going on the offensive and saying that those who oppose peace with Israel are in fact the ones who are not following the Quran.

This is truly remarkable. For decades, there was only one narrative in the Arab Muslim world about Israel and any other side was hushed up. Now the other side is being trumpeted, and this is what is truly upsetting to the Palestinians and their terrorist supporting allies.

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