Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Saudi Arabia isn't ready to normalize with Israelis - but is trying to normalize with Jews

AFP reports:

From scrubbing hate-filled school textbooks to a taboo-defying religious sermon, Saudi Arabia is pushing for another kind of normalisation after declining to establish formal relations with Israel -- co-existence with Jews.

Saudi Arabia has said it will not follow its allies Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in establishing diplomatic relations without a resolution to the Palestinian issue, even as it cultivates clandestine ties with the Jewish state.

Having Saudi Arabia, an Arab powerhouse and epicentre of Islam, forge a similar deal would be the ultimate diplomatic prize for Israel, but the kingdom is wary that its citizens -- sympathetic to the Palestinian cause -- may not be ready for a full embrace.

Saudi Arabia, however, is pushing to change public perceptions about Jews with a risky outreach to a community that has long been vilified by the kingdom's clerical establishment and media, laying the groundwork for an eventual recognition.

School textbooks, once well-known for denigrating Jews and other non-Muslims as "swines" and "apes", are undergoing revision as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's campaign to combat extremism in education, officials say.

"The Saudi government has also decided to prohibit the disparagement of Jews and Christians in mosques," said Saudi analyst Najah al-Otaibi.

"Anti-Jewish rhetoric was common at Friday prayers of the imams in mosques used to address Muslims around the world."

In a stunning U-turn, a preacher in the holy city of Mecca triggered a social media storm this month when he spoke of Prophet Mohammed's friendly relations with Jews to advocate religious tolerance.

The sermon was by Abdulrahman al-Sudais, the imam of Mecca's Grand Mosque who courted controversy in the past for strongly anti-Semitic views.

It is ironic that explicit Arab antisemitism has been ignored by the mainstream media for decades, but now that Saudi Arabia has decided to combat it the article highlights it as if everyone knows about it. Explicitly anti-Jewish and anti-Christian sermons are staples in the mainstream Arab world but they have been ignored by mainstream media - this is the first time I can recall seeing it acknowledged by a wire service, and even now it is only in the context of getting rid of them.

This new wave of seeming philosemitism is emerging not only in Saudi Arabia but in Arab media altogether, along with a smaller backlash of more explicitly antisemitic rhetoric as some of the more conservative news sites have based their opposition to the Abraham Accords on antisemitic Quranic sources. The trend is definitely more towards tolerance than intolerance, though.

This is why those who try to downplay the Israel/UAE peace are completely off base. There are stunning changes happening in the Arab world that have been sparked by, but go way beyond, the accords. It affects how Arab countries deal with the West, with multinational corporations, with the Palestinian issue, with Iran and Hezbollah, with their own minorities and foreign workers, as well as the very concept of an honor/shame mentality and its corollaries that have up until now looked down upon win-win solutions.

The road will be bumpy and there will be some setbacks but things will never go back to the way they were before.

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Leila Khaled in her own words

For the people who claim that Leila Khaled isn't a terrorist, just listen to - Leila Khaled.

In her autobiography written in 1971 titled "My People Shall Live," she mentions poems she wrote while in Syria after hijacking TWA 840.

I shall return repeatedly to

spread terror in the heart of the enemy.

I shall flag the enemy;

I shall pulverise him.

And why not?

Be with me, my beloved, remember our martyrs,

remember the stolen lands.

Take all difficulties with steadfast revolutionary

violence!

Also:

In Damascus we indeed exploded the cockpit of the imperialist plane as an expression of our strategy, which aims at hitting the imperialist interests wherever they may be. The Popular Front will destroy the treasonous enemy-the enemy of humanity, right and justice. Blessed be the arms that carry out deeds and the revolutionary brains that conceive of deeds and plan them. We shall be victorious.

She described her feelings during the hijacking:

It was a momentous second in my life when I put my fingers on the trigger and ordered the enemy to obey my command. All my life I dreamt of carrying arms to aim at the enemy-that vengeful enemy who raped our land and has expropriated our homes without compensation.

The "enemy" here are the innocent passengers going to Israel from Rome.

THE PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS OF EVERY MEMBER IN THE Popular Front are politically orientated military activities, the spreading of revolutionary propaganda and fund-raising. While these functions are often closely associated, none the less each comrade specialises in the area to which his or her talents are best suited.

No moral distinction between armed terror and the propaganda that the PFLP is so skilled at nowadays, hiding in "human rights" NGOs.

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The Corona Disaster in Israel (Vic Rosenthal)

Vic Rosenthal's weekly column

This morning (Wednesday) Israel’s Health Ministry announced that in the past 24 hours there were 6,861 new cases of Covid-19 detected in 59,169 tests, an 11.5% positive ratio. This ratio has been steadily increasing, which is an indication of the explosive spread of the disease.

This is the worst ever for Israel, which has had the greatest average number of new cases per day per million population in the world for several weeks now. The Health Ministry’s “point man” on Corona, Dr. Ronni Gamzu, predicted that within a week the number of serious cases that require hospitalization will exceed the capacity of the system. When that happens, the system will stretch a bit. One hospital converted a parking garage into a Corona facility in a remarkably short time; the IDF is setting up field hospitals. But if the numbers continue to increase, soon there will be no more flexibility. Doctors will have to decide whom to treat and whom not. People will die who could have been saved.

Last week Israel began a second partial lockdown. Its effect will not be felt for another week, but it’s doubtful – based on the various loopholes left in it for political reasons and a general lack of observance of the rules – that it will be enough to reduce the spread of the disease significantly.

There is a lack of good information available about how to reduce the number of infections, but it seems clear that crowds are bad, crowds indoors are worse, and masks – if properly worn – help, especially if both the infectious person and the one at risk wear them. It also seems that the amount of virus that a person picks up can affect whether they will be infected and how seriously; so the amount of time spent in a dangerous situation is important.

The strategy (as it appears today) of the Health Ministry is to apply restrictions to reduce the daily number of new cases to the point that it will be possible to track the contacts of each infected person, test them, and quarantine anyone who is positive or who has had direct contact with someone who tests positive. That is called “breaking the chain of infection.” But that can only happen if the number of new cases is manageable. Once that is achieved, it should be possible to gradually release the restrictions and return the society to normal without causing a new spike in infections. Estimates of how low it must go vary widely, between 100 and 1000 new cases per day.

The objective in applying restrictions is to restrict those behaviors that facilitate the spread of the virus as much as possible, while doing the smallest possible damage to the economy. And here we run into the problems of politics and attitudes.

Yesterday and today the “Corona Cabinet” – a committee of government ministers from relevant ministries – has been discussing the tightening of restrictions that will be needed. One of the biggest conflicts concerns two activities which involve large crowds, including numerous people without masks who do not observe “social distancing,” and which have zero impact on the economy. It would seem obvious that these would be the first to be restricted.

But the activities we are talking about are the weekly raucous, theatrical, and sometimes obscene demonstrations outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem, and his home in Caesarea; and the coming synagogue services on Yom Kippur.

The Left believes that there is nothing more sacred than the right to demonstrate. An attempt to shut down or even limit the numbers of demonstrators is met with fury on the street and from opposition politicians. It’s claimed that would “destroy democracy.” The Attorney General, who in Israel is more a functionary of the legal establishment and the Supreme Court than of the government, says that the government would have to get the Knesset to pass a special law if it wants to stop demonstrations.

Observant Jewish Israelis, of course, insist that it is unacceptable to forbid Jewish prayer in a Jewish state. And both sides are right, but they are both wrong in their insistence that they get their way in the face of the fact that both demonstrations and packed synagogues are known to effectively spread the virus.

The tracking mechanism of the Internal Security Service (Shabak) that is being used to track exposure and locate people violating quarantine is ineffective in these cases, since both demonstrators – just for that reason – and synagogue-goers leave their cellphones at home.

The government could not stand against the pressure, so it punted and appointed a “professional” committee to come up with limitations on demonstrations and public prayer that would allow both to continue. Unfortunately, these rules will be broken, because a large segment of each group does not respect any rules that come from the government. The police are outnumbered, and even though they can impose fines, have a hard time enforcing rules – and the more complicated they are, the harder it is.

Much of the Haredi educational system is operating, including schools for children and yeshivot and kollelim for adults, despite the closings decreed in “red zones.” Limits on the number of congregants in synagogues were widely broken during Rosh Hashana. Dozens of anti-Bibi and anti-lockdown protestors set up tables in front of the PM’s residence and had a festive meal. Over the weekend, a large group held what was essentially a beach party, allegedly under the rules permitting “demonstrations.”

In the Arab towns on both sides of the Green Line, the problem has been massive weddings, which sometimes go on for several days with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of participants. Mayors of Israeli Arab towns imposed nighttime curfews, which may have helped, although weddings are then sometimes held during the day.

In anything less than a Chinese-style totalitarian system, laws are upheld primarily by the willingness of citizens to obey them, with enforcement only needed for egregious violators. That mechanism is breaking down in Israel. A recent survey showed that 68% did not trust PM Netanyahu to manage the response to the virus, and 41% did not trust Dr. Gamzu. And Israelis tend to ignore people and rules that they don’t respect.

This is literally a question of life and death, both for Israelis and for their economy. A two-or-three week lockdown is bad enough, but two or three months would be intolerable. Either we get a handle on this epidemic, or we will be facing the choice between economic disaster or hundreds of deaths every day (today there were 31). Or if we are indecisive enough, maybe we’ll get both.

What needs to happen is that the government has to make simple rules, stick to them, and enforce them with severe penalties. No demonstrations, period. Close the synagogues, period. No weddings, period. And the people, Arabs and Jews both, need to follow the rules. In a few weeks, we can break the back of the epidemic, and then return to something closer to normalcy.

Continuing to take two steps forward and three steps back as we’ve been doing will only earn us a bunch of funerals – and no economy, either.

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09/23 Links Pt2: Ex-Nazi Hunter Seeks US Entry Ban on Saeb Erekat Teaching at Harvard Over Alleged Terror Incitement; Ilhan Omar: It’s important to understand how antisemitism is experienced

From Ian:

Ex-Nazi Hunter Seeks US Entry Ban on Top Palestinian Official Teaching at Harvard Over Alleged Terror Incitement

A well-known Palestinian official is facing a potential legal challenge to his current role as an academic at Harvard University.

Saeb Erekat — the veteran chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) — was appointed as Fisher Family Fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project housed at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs for the 2020-21 academic year.

But one former American government official is seeking to hinder Erekat’s activities, arguing that he is an apologist for terrorism and therefore legally ineligible to enter the US.

In a letter to US Attorney General William Barr, Neal Sher — a former director of the Office of Special Investigations in the Department of Justice, which pursues Nazi war criminals — asserted that there was “an overwhelming amount of publicly available evidence” demonstrating that Erekat had both incited terrorism and used his public position to endorse it.

“Specifically, Erekat is the architect and most visible advocate and apologist for the so called ‘Martyrs Fund,’ a diabolical policy of the PLO which handsomely pays terrorists and surviving ‘martyrs’ families, including those of suicide bombers who were killed during their acts of terror,” Sher charged.

Erekat used “his position of prominence to endorse terrorist activity in a way that undermines United States efforts to reduce or eliminate terrorist activities,” Sher continued. “Accordingly, he is ineligible to enter the U.S. under Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

The Belfer Center’s website includes Erekat’s appearances on virtual Zoom seminars held for Harvard faculty and students.

Jonathan Spyer: I’m banned from the US for ‘association with a terrorist organization’

My work as a journalist and Middle East analyst has in recent years brought me into the company of members and operatives of various organizations designated as terror groups by a number of countries. These contacts have taken place, however, in the regular course of work as a reporter. In no case were my contacts with these organizations indicative of any sympathy of any kind on my part with their aims and goals. Among the organizations in question are Lebanese Hezbollah, Islamic State, Hamas, Kta’ib Hezbollah, the Badr Organization and a few others.

There is a single exception in my case to this normal and unremarkable pattern in which a journalist or researcher maintains contacts with individuals from organizations of public note for the purpose of information gathering.

The single, partial exception is the Kurdish PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party. Those who are familiar with my writing will be aware that I am a supporter of the Kurdish cause, and regard the struggle of the PKK organization against the Turkish regime to belong to the class of justified insurgencies. This does not mean that I think this organization should be above criticism. Indeed, many of its tactics, especially in the earlier phase of its campaign, deserve I think to be strongly criticized. But I believe the Kurdish national cause to be one of the most unambiguously justified political endeavors currently in existence anywhere in the world. I regard the PKK to be one of a number of organizations in different parts of Kurdistan seeking to advance this cause.

In this regard, it is my view that this organization deserves to be removed from the list of terror organizations maintained by both the US and the European Union, on which it is currently included. My convictions in this regard are strengthened by the nature of the current Turkish regime, which is anti-Semitic and anti-western in its political outlook, and brutal and repressive in its behavior. They are also strengthened by my personal witnessing of the actions of the Kurdish YPG organization in north-east Syria in 2014. On that occasion, the swift response and determined efforts of the YPG against Islamic State forces was instrumental in preventing the genocide of a defenseless population.

None of this, of course, means that I was either engaged in activities on behalf of, or in a serious way ‘associated’ with this organization. It only means that my general sympathies with the Kurdish cause are the only possible explanation I can find for the decision to ban me, apparently permanently and without right of appeal, from the USA. My suspicions are that the decision is the result of the activities at some level of agencies of the Turkish government. The current Turkish regime’s harassment of its critics and of the journalistic profession in general are well documented. Its historic alliance with the US, now largely a matter of form rather than content, presumably affords it an attentive ear among those organs of the American state where such decisions are made.

Ilhan Omar: It’s important to understand how antisemitism is experienced

Many people have gaps in their understanding of what antisemitism is and how it works, according to Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been accused of fomenting antisemitism.

Omar, D-Minnesota, offered her perspective on the antisemitism experience in an interview published Sunday in The New York Times Magazine.

“In the process of writing a few of the op-eds I’ve written on the rise of antisemitism in comparison to the rise of Islamophobia, it has been interesting to see the ways in which so many people create a lens through which they see it,” she said. “It is important, when you are not of that community, to understand the different ways that bigotry shows up.”

Omar apologized last year for a tweet in which she said “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” referring to the Israel lobby’s influence on lawmakers. Critics from both parties condemned the tweets as echoing antisemitic stereotypes about Jews, money and power.

In July, the first-term congresswoman came under fire for a campaign mailer that named three donors, all Jewish, to her Democratic primary opponent.

She told The Times Magazine that “there are a lot of preconceived notions about what thoughts and ideologies I have that have no basis in reality” based on her religion, skin color or gender.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court justice, died on Rosh Hashanah. What gets lost in the sauce, in all the coverage of the more “Jewy” aspects of RBG’s passing, is the fact that it was also Shabbat, since the first day of Rosh Hashanah this year fell on the Jewish Sabbath. It’s understandable that people give more import, emotionally, to Rosh Hashanah, which, after all, is one of what we call the "High Holidays." But the fact is that Shabbat actually takes precedence over Rosh Hashanah, which is why Orthodox Jews don’t blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah when it coincides with the Jewish Sabbath, because it is forbidden to carry items from place to place on Shabbat. None of this stood in the way, however, of several prominent Jews marking RBG’s death by blowing the shofar on Shabbat Rosh Hashanah.

Rabbi Matt Soffer, of Judea Reform Congregation in Durham, North Carolina, heard the news Bader Ginsburg's death on Friday night. “The news brought me to my knees and I wept,” said Soffer, who determined to find a way to commemorate his icon, who according to the JTA, “had come to represent the liberal American feminist spirit for so many.”

From the JTA:

By the time Soffer signed on for services on Saturday morning, he had resolved to address Ginsburg’s death with his community. He did so by revising not the words he had prepared or the prayers he would lead, but by tweaking a core tradition of the High Holidays: the shofar blasts.

Just as the Supreme Court has nine members, one of the shofar blasts, teruah, has nine short notes. Soffer halted after just eight to symbolize the fact that the court has just lost a member who made it complete and, he said, “to honor the speechlessness of our communal grief.”

Actor Mandy Patinkin, who not so long ago made it onto my Comprehensive List of Antisemitic Celebrities, also blew the shofar, this time to underscore RBG’s deathbed wish, dictated to granddaughter Clara Spera: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."

Thus it was that Patinkin blew the shofar on MSNBC on Shabbat Rosh Hashanah. “And I want her wish to be heard, so I will blow the shofar for her,” said Patinkin with a lot of put-on pomp and circumstance, blowing a pretend tekiyah gedolah as a sort of dog whistle to Jewish Democrats. “And so now her wish will be heard,” announced the BDS-supporting anti-Trump actor, “and let it be heard throughout the land.”

Well, here's @PatinkinMandy blowing the shofar on @MSNBC to attempt to ensure that RBG's dying wish is heard. pic.twitter.com/T7jAa6SfKY
— Steph Haberman (@StephLauren) September 21, 2020

11-year-old Micah Blay was driven by his mom Dana Marlowe from their home in a Maryland suburb (on Shabbat Rosh Hashanah) to blow the shofar for 250 people outside the Supreme Court, in Washington, D.C., which he said was, “definitely like kind of scary.”

May her memory be a blessing...a revolution...a revelation...a call to action with the blast of the Shofar on the steps of the Supreme Court on Rosh Hashana. #rbg #RBGRIP #RuthBaderGinsburg pic.twitter.com/Fe7rACmJMa
— DanaMarlowe (@DanaMarlowe) September 19, 2020

From the JTA:

“[We] were literally dipping ceremonial apples into honey” at the start of the Rosh Hashanah holiday “when my phone started blowing up” with messages.

Marlowe tweeted that she was “devastated” to hear of Ginsburg’s passing and decided immediately to make a pilgrimage to the Supreme Court the following day, the first day of Rosh Hashanah.

“It was shock and heartbreak and I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

Micah added that the family was “doing the right thing” in deciding to spend one day of Rosh Hashanah in front of the Supreme Court honoring “a great person” like Ginsburg.

The blowing of the shofar at this time of year calls Jews to repentance. What is repentance? It is being sorry for sinning, and having done something contrary to Torah law, resolving not to do it again.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, honoring the people they admire, and making a point about the things they believe. But I wonder if these people realize how insensitive is this act, the act of blowing a shofar on Shabbat, to their coreligionists, those still faithful to Torah precepts upheld for thousands of years. I wonder how “liberal” it can be to cause so great an offense to the sensibilities of the Orthodox who watch on in dismay at the seeming disregard for God’s Torah without the least little care or concern for their beliefs, and the hurt these actions cause.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a giant by any measure. But it does no credit to RBG, no honor to her Jewishness, to expropriate a religious vessel and to use it in an inappropriate way to mark her passing. My hope in writing this here is not to shame anyone, God forbid, but in hopes that the shofar not be abused this way in future.

Gmar Chatima Tova. May you be inscribed for good.

UPDATE: A reader pointed out that the reason we don't blow the shofar on Shabbat is because it is forbidden to carry the item to the synagogue, similar to the reason we don't use the lulav and etrog on Shabbat Sukkot. The text has been updated to reflect this important correction.

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Arab media suddenly nostalgic for when Jews lived in their midst

The ripples from the UAE/Israel accords continue to spread in unmistakable yet unpredictable ways.

The latest example comes from Arab news site Akhbar Alaan, with an article and news report about how nice things were in Iraq before they expelled their Jews.

Despite the passage of 72 years since the expulsion of the Jews from Iraq, the neighborhoods they used to live in are still present, and the residents there still remember them and yearn for periods of coexistence.

The Jews in Iraq were not only living side by side with the Muslims, but they also shared with them all aspects of life. Even in the agricultural field, there was a partnership between the Jews and Muslims of Iraq.

Iraqi citizen Nour Shaker Lilo Jaber al-Abidi al-Baghdadi, who witnessed the presence of Jews in the city of Sulaymaniyah, said that the families in the city had very strong ties with the Jewish community, due to the work of these families in agriculture, since since the entry of the Jews to the Diwaniyah, they were proficient in trade, describing their dealings with the community as "Very good."

Iraqis say the Jewish community was peaceful, well-behaved and kind, and Iraqis still remember it.

For his part, Ghaleb Ibrahim Al-Kaabi, head of the Central Council for Heritage, Culture and Arts, said that the peaceful coexistence that existed between families in Diwaniyah and the Jewish community created very good industry, agriculture and trade, indicating that the Jews used to participate with the city’s residents in social and economic events.

The Jews considered themselves part of the social fabric, as they shared their joys and sorrows with Iraqis from other sects

When the Jews were deported, some wanted to sell their homes to the Muslims, but they refused because of the strong social ties between them as the people of one country, as the homes of the Jews remained open by Muslims who refused to accept the displacement of the Jews

Iraqis are pained today when they see the remaining evidence of the lives of Jews, even though the bulk of it was destroyed or robbed by the pro-Iranian militias.

The Jews of Iraq were subjected to forced displacement in 1948, while their Iraqi nationality was revoked after years, and today they are trying to obtain the nationality of their country, which was revoked from them, but they were not welcomed by the Iraqi governments

I don't know how well the Jews in Iraq were accepted by the 1940s - the Farhud was pretty horrific and couldn't have happened if there wasn't a serious strain of antisemitism. The important thing is that Arab media is suddenly interested in normal relations with Jews, and conditioning their readership to accept normalization with Israel.

I've seen articles like this in Egyptian media over the years, but I have never seen one like this about Iraq.

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09/23 Links Pt1: Zoom cancels academic event with Leila Khaled; David Singer: PLO and Hamas should let their citizens emigrate; First direct commercial flight from Israel lands in Bahrain

From Ian:

Michael Doran: The Emperor’s New Clothes

When President Donald Trump presided over the signing ceremony for the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain last week on the South Lawn of the White House, his critics cast the event as a real-life enactment of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” in which Trump played a minimal role in a meaningless accord involving two tiny Arab nations that had never made war on the Jewish state. “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is indeed an apt analogy, but it was Trump’s critics—not the president—who were shown to be naked.

The Abraham Accords are the most significant development in the Arab-Israeli conflict in the last 25 years. Not only have the Palestinians lost their veto over normalization between Israel and other Arab states, but the entire “Resistance Alliance,” led by Iran, has revealed itself as incapable of placing obstacles in the way of Israel’s integration into the Arab state system. True, the UAE and Bahrain are small powers, but behind them looms Saudi Arabia, which is by far the most influential Arab state. Without Riyadh’s tacit support, the celebration on the White House lawn would never have materialized. If Trump wins the election in November, there is a good chance that Riyadh will normalize relations with Israel—to say nothing of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Morocco, and Sudan, who are also waiting in the wings.

To be sure, the Palestinian seat at the next White House party will likely remain empty, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will simmer away for many years to come. But that is true of many dozens of sectarian and nationalistic conflicts around the world, including those in Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Ukraine—to confine the list only to Europe. No one in the world has a plausible solution to the Palestinian question, and the best diplomatic minds have devoted more time and effort on it than any other question on the planet for reasons that are now beginning to recede into history.

Trump’s diplomacy posited that the best way to manage this conflict was not to blow more hot air into a punctured balloon, but to reduce it to its true geostrategic proportions. Thanks to this strategy, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict seems likely in time to become the Eastern Mediterranean equivalent to the Western Sahara conflict: an insoluble but localized dilemma with a specific set of local human costs. The debilitating lock that it has placed on American strategic thinking for decades has been broken. In breaking that lock, Trump has created a process to end the Arab-Israeli conflict—which unlike the local Israeli conflict with the Palestinians, had real geostrategic significance.

It is equally notable that Trump’s masterstroke came by breaking the hold of the Washington foreign policy establishment on the Middle East peacemaking business. In denigrating his accomplishment, the leading lights of American foreign policy have also conveniently erased from memory their unblemished record of outrageously bad predictions. What will happen, former Secretary of State John Kerry was asked in a television interview in 2016, if President Trump would make good on his campaign promise to move the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem? “You’d have an explosion,” Kerry answered, “an absolute explosion in the region, not just in the West Bank, and perhaps even in Israel itself, but throughout the region.”

INSS: Seventy Years to UNRWA — Time for Structural and Functional Reforms

The year 2020 marks seventy years since UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), which serves Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, began operation. Since its establishment by virtue of the mandate given to it by the UN General Assembly, UNRWA has not succeeded in bringing about the true rehabilitation of the Palestinian refugees and in reducing their number, which has risen from approximately 700,000 on the eve of the State of Israel’s establishment to over 5.5 million refugees in 2020. The impact of the regional upheaval on the Palestinian refugees, the stagnation of the political process between Israel and the Palestinians, the split in the Palestinian arena, the humanitarian distress in the Gaza Strip, the centrality of the refugee issue in the Palestinian narrative, and the American administration’s 2018 decision to stop funding UNRWA pose even more complex challenges for the agency. In light of the understanding of the need for changing the agency’s modes of operation and adapting them to the challenges of the current reality, and given that all attempts and recommendations to significantly reform the agency’s modes of operation over the years having been thwarted, this memorandum discusses UNRWA’s operational concept and functioning and presents four alternative models of operation, along with a methodology for analyzing the different alternatives.

Click here to download the full Memorandum

New Palestinian curriculum shows no improvements, antisemitism remains

The Palestinian Authority's newly released educational curriculum shows no substantive changes for the better, despite assurances earlier this year that egregious examples of antisemitism and hate education would be eliminated.

An analysis by the new curriculum by IMPACT-se, a research and policy institute that analyzes schoolbooks and curricula through UNESCO-derived standards on peace and tolerance, has found that educational textbooks for use in Palestinian schools throughout the West Bank remain openly antisemitic, encourage violence, and promote jihad and martyrdom.

Some 82% of the books remain unchanged from last year, while 152 modifications were found within the remaining 40 books, according to IMPACT-se's analysis. However, 88% of those adjustments either keep the problematic material intact or amplify it.

In one such modification, a reading comprehension exercise on Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist who led the Coastal Road Massacre killing 38 Israelis, was replaced by text on Khalil al Sakakini, a notorious antisemite and Nazi sympathizer. Mughrabi meanwhile remains within the book, having been moved to a different section where she is lauded as the "crown of the nation."

In another, math is still being taught to 4th graders through the example of the number of "martyrs" who died in the intifadas, although this figure has been modified downwards from 2,026 to 1,392.

David Singer: PLO and Hamas should let their citizens emigrate

The PLO’s continuing refusal to negotiate with Israel on President Trump’s Peace Plan - whilst also denouncing the peace treaties signed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain with Israel - sees 'West Bank' and Gazan Arabs remaining captive to accepting these disastrous PLO decisions without any rights to vote or emigrate.

These disenfranchised, beleaguered and long-suffering populations have seen the PLO reject proposals for peace flowing from: 1993 Oslo Accords, 2000 Camp David Summit, 2003 Bush Road Map, Israel’s unilateral disengagement from Gaza 2005 2007 Annapolis Conference, 2014 Kerry negotiations and Trump’s 2020 deal of the century – reportedly endorsed by Qatar.

Financial assistance to improve their miserable lives has been lost – including: $750 million annually from direct American aid $360 million per annum in American aid to UNRWA America terminating its payment of 22% of UNESCO’s annual budget following UNESCO’s admission of the “State of Palestine” as a member contrary to American domestic law and in contravention of UNESCO’s own constitution $28.5 billion that would have flown from international donors at the Manama Conference held on 25/26 June 2019 if the Trump Peace Plan was implemented.

The UAE voiced its support for the Manama Conference and what it hoped would be achieved:

“The UAE supports all international efforts aimed at supporting economic progress and increasing opportunities in the region, and alleviating the suffering of people in the region, particularly our brothers in Palestine... It (the Conference) aims to lift the Palestinian people out of misery and to enable them for a stable and prosperous future,"

Hamas and the PLO violently opposed and boycotted the Manama Conference.

Contrary to Some Academics’ Claims, the UN does NOT Legitimize Terrorism (Tomer Ilan)

By Tomer Ilan

Some of Israel’s opponents justify Palestinian terrorism by claiming that “Palestinians have a legal right to armed struggle”.

Supporters of terrorism often cite Resolution 3314 passed by the UNGA in 1974, adopting the Definition of Aggression Article 7:

“Nothing in this Definition, and in particular article 3, could in any way prejudice the right to self-determination, freedom and independence, as derived from the Charter, of peoples forcibly deprived of that right and referred to in the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, particularly peoples under colonial and racist regimes or other forms of alien domination: nor the right of these peoples to struggle to that end and to seek and receive support, in accordance with the principles of the Charter and in conformity with the above-mentioned Declaration.”

Article 3 however refers to a State attacking and occupying the territory of another State, which is not the case in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Moreover, the resolution does not mention armed struggle, certainly not against civilians of the “occupying” state. Moreover, UN General Assembly resolutions are not binding international law, only UN Security Council resolutions are legally binding.

UN GA Resolution 37/43, dated 3 December 1982 went one step further by reaffirming

“the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle.”

Further, Resolution 37/43 mentions

“the denial of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, sovereignty, independence and return to Palestine and the repeated acts of aggression by Israel against the peoples of the region”.

Supporters of Palestinian terrorism, including some academics, interpret this as proof that international law permits terrorist attacks by Palestinians against Israelis.

For example, Dr Brendan Ciarán Browne, an Assistant Professor Conflict Resolution at Trinity College Dublin who has defended Bahaa Abu Al-Ata, who was responsible for terrorist rocket attacks against Israeli civilians opined that

“any critical legal scholar truly invested in the cause of Palestine must nurture space in their classroom to evaluate the right of colonised peoples to agitate for self-determination, including through armed struggle as outlined in UN resolution 37/43”.

UN has condemned terrorism

UN Security Council Resolution 1566 adopted unanimously on 8 October 2004, condemned terrorism as a serious threat to peace and strengthened anti-terrorism legislation. It reaffirmed that

“terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security.”

Further it recalls that:

“criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act, which constitute offences within the scope of and as defined in the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature, and calls upon all States to prevent such acts and, if not prevented, to ensure that such acts are punished by penalties consistent with their grave nature”.

“Terrorism” vs. “armed struggle”

There are many arguments about the definition of terrorism as expressed by the cliché “One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter” which suggests that the question of who is a terrorist, depends entirely on the subjective outlook of the definer. Of course, this is over simplistic.

Oxford Dictionaries defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.”

As UN SC 1566 clarifies, terrorism intends to provoke a state of terror in the general public and to intimidate a population and often does this by deliberately targeting civilians.

According to Prof. Ganor’s definition, the guerrilla fighter's targets are military ones, while the terrorist deliberately targets civilians. By this definition, a terrorist organization can no longer claim to be 'freedom fighters' because they are fighting for national liberation. Even if its declared ultimate goals are legitimate, an organization that deliberately targets civilians is a terrorist organization.

· Terrorism is prohibited by a legally binding UN SC resolution, while “armed struggle” is permitted by a non-binding UN GA resolution.

· Attacks against civilians or violence committed to provoke a state of terror in the general public and to intimidate a population are defined as terrorism.

· The non-binding UN GA resolution permitting “armed struggle” refers to occupation of one State’s territory by another State, which is not the case in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

ClClearly, the UN does not legitimize terrorism.

Attacks Against Security Forces Combating Terrorism are also Terrorism

Once an organization engages in terrorism against civilians, it can no longer pretend it is a legitimate guerrilla organization that engages in armed struggle against occupation and even its attacks against military targets lose legitimacy and become terrorism as well.

As UN SC 1566 states, it is the right and the duty of States to fight against terrorism. Attacks against security forces while they fight against terrorism, are therefore illegitimate.

When an IDF soldier is attacked while in an operation to arrest terrorists, the attackers become terrorists as well. One such case occurred in 2018 when St.-Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky (HYD), a commando in the elite Israeli counterterrorism Duvdevan unit was killed when a Palestinian dropped a marble slab on his head, while his unit was arresting terrorism suspects in Ramallah. Killing a soldier in such circumstances is murder in the context of aiding and abetting terrorism, not legitimate armed struggle as some, even in the Israeli Left, claim.

The Red Cross has confirmed that Article 2(1)(b) of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism means that the killing of non-combatant members of the armed forces or combatants hors de combat can be considered an act of terrorism, provided that it is done with the requisite intent, even if the act occurs during an armed conflict. The killing of military personnel outside the context of an armed conflict also could be considered a terrorist act under this provision, if done with the requisite intent, regardless of the means employed.

Not only is terrorism immoral, it is also specifically prohibited in international law. It is utterly shameful for academics and journalists to support terrorism and falsely claim that it is legally permitted.

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A rumor floated around recently that the UN is asking UNRWA to try to resettle Palestinian "refugees" in Europe after 72 years of statelessness.

Of course, resettlement would be the job of any real refugee agency dedicated to helping people who are languishing in camps for so long.

Of course, the rumors are false. The UN would never ask UNRWA to act like it cares about ending the Palestinian "refugee" problem.

Of course, the response to the rumor from the people who pretend to be the leaders of the Palestinians show what utter contempt they have for their own people.

Ahmed Abu Huli, head of the PLO's Refugee Affairs Department and member of the PLO's Executive Committee, issued a press statement Saturday, contacted UNRWA to verify that there was no truth to these rumors. He then said that these rumors are part of a plot by Israel and America to liquidate UNRWA because they accuse the Palestinian leaders of perpetuating the refugee issue, perpetuating the conflict and sponsoring terrorism. (Those accusations are, of course, empirically true.)

Abu Huli added that these rumors "target the steadfastness of the refugees in the camps and undermine their just and legitimate right to return to their homes from which they were displaced in 1948, according to what was stated in Resolution 194."

Dr. Bakr Abu Safia of the PFLP said that "the attempt to dispose of the refugee issue through resettlement has not ended, since the beginning of the Nakba, but the Palestinian people were able to stop these projects through their association with their land."

Did anyone ask the Palestinians who are in camps in Lebanon or Syria whether they would welcome resettling in Europe? No one really has to. Hundreds of thousands of them have already moved to Europe themselves. In Lebanon alone, some 300,000 "registered refugees" have moved out, and are yet still counted by UNRWA as being there so they can demand more funds.

The UN's only real refugee agency, UNHCR, works hard to find permanent homes for real refugees. UNWRA works hard to keep Palestinian refugees and their descendants in stateless limbo forever. Palestinian leaders have used the "refugees" as pawns for 72 years, and they aren't about to let anything stop them from continuing.

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Israeli Arab mayor of Taibeh has map of "Palestine" and "return keys" hanging on his wall

Makor Rishon reports that Shuaa Masarwa Mansour, the Arab mayor of Taibeh, in central Israel, was recently interviewed by that paper about COVID-19 and the reporter noticed that he has a map on his wall showing all of "Palestine" without Israel.

Also, above his head in his office space are the "keys" that symbolize the Palestinian "right of return" to destroy the Jewish state.

This is an Israeli mayor who is openly advocating a position of destroying Israel.

When Makor Rishon asked for explanations about the map, the mayor answered: "Qalqilya's governor and city council members came to greet me when I won the election, and brought me this gift of a map of Palestine. They see Taibeh residents as one people and an integral part of Palestine, so they brought it as a gift."

That's fine - but he chose to display it in his home.

Many Israeli Arabs are patriotic citizens of Israel. When a prominent Arab mayor openly shows his anti-Israel positions, he can give ammunition to those who claim that Arabs should not have full rights in Israel, and that hurts everybody.

(h/t Yoel)

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09/22 Links Pt2: Can Israelis See the Peace Through the Pandemic?; How Denmark, Sweden, the U.N., and the EU Got Suckered Into Funding a Terror Organization

From Ian:

Vivian Bercovici: Can Israelis See the Peace Through the Pandemic?

COVID will come and go, but the Abraham Accords have the potential to reshape the geopolitical reality of the Middle East and beyond. These accords further isolate Iran, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Hezballah, and other extremist states and groups in the Middle East.

The UAE has embraced this new relationship with unbridled enthusiasm, engaging every sector of Israeli society. Their boldness is forging a path forward, and other nations are following.

In these Days of Awe, I hope that all Israelis take note and make or do a “cheshbon nefesh.” We must see through our collective rage at the government, which is obscuring what should be celebrated: a new, promising era of peace.

I understand the anger and share it. A second medieval lockdown is infuriating and will wreak havoc on the well-being of too many Israelis. But it will pass. Perhaps this peace is permanent.

Among the matters I will contemplate when taking my personal cheshbon nefesh will be gratitude to all who worked to bring about this peace and recognition. And I will work hard to manage my anger at the transient people and things.

Gamar Chatima Tova, we say when greeting one another in these Days of Awe. May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for the coming year.

Amen.

How Denmark, Sweden, the U.N., and the EU Got Suckered Into Funding a Terror Organization

The arrests in December 2019 of 50 suspected members of the sizable terrorist infrastructure of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Ramallah, which was responsible for the terror attack in which teenager Rina Shnerb was murdered and her father and brother were injured last summer (Aug. 23, 2019), exposed the significant magnitude of PFLP terror networks and their capacity to strike within Israel. Perhaps more ominously, it also exposed the self-deception under which many left activists operate in Europe and the United States.

PFLP funders see or pretend to see the delegitimization activity performed by PFLP-affiliated organizations as peaceful/nonviolent actions that are unrelated to the terrorist operations of the PFLP. This hypocrisy reached a new peak in a letter sent recently by the European Union’s representative to the Palestinian Authority, who guaranteed the Palestinian NGOs, many of which are affiliated with the PFLP, that the EU will keep funding them in spite of their affiliation with organizations that have been formally designated by the EU as terror organizations—a promise that came after the NGOs refused to commit to avoid such affiliations.

The PFLP is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, EU, Australia, Canada, and Japan. Back when its terror unit was still called “The Red Eagles,” PFLP won world attention because of its involvement in plane hijackings (Leila Khaled, who took part in two such attacks, is a member of the PFLP politburo and of the Palestinian National Council), and the massacre it carried out in Israel’s Lod airport in 1972.

The PFLP’s current terror arm, the “Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades,” operates from a headquarters in Damascus, where it maintains operational cooperation with Iran and Hezbollah. The PFLP has active cells in many governorates of the Palestinian Authority with dozens of active members in Judea and Samaria. Through these terror arms, the PFLP perpetrated some of the most despicable terror attacks, including the murder of Israeli minister Rehavam Ze’evi (October 2001); six suicide bombing attacks during the Second Intifada that left 13 people dead including the Nov. 1, 2004, suicide bombing attack in the crowded Carmel Market in Tel Aviv that left three dead; and the attempt to murder Israel's former Chief Rabbi Ovadya Yosef in 2005 (Salah Hamouri, who played a key role in planning the attack is a prominent activist in the PFLP-affiliated, so-called “human rights” NGO Addameer).

In November 2014, the PFLP carried out the vicious murder with axes and guns of five Jewish worshippers while they were praying at the Har-Nof synagogue in Jerusalem, as well as a policeman who tried to stop the attack. The attack was carried out by two brothers who were related to a former PFLP terrorist and the PFLP took responsibility for and praised the attack, though some sources dispute this. The PFLP performed numerous rocket attacks from Gaza during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and participates in the operation room that led the terror attacks from Gaza in the many rounds of conflict that have taken place since.

For many left-wing organizations in the West, cooperation with the PFLP comes naturally. It is a reminder of the “glorious” era when the Soviet Union was a superpower competing for global dominance against “the corrupt capitalist West” (this vocabulary is still often used by PFLP). When the Soviet bloc collapsed, these groups had to find a new cause célèbre around which to unite. The PFLP was among the first groups to understand the potential of recruiting softer anti-Israel elements into its networks and to leverage those elements in order to gain financial support from naïve international donors.

I was on a plane hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. Why did a public university invite one of them to speak?

The most distressing and disheartening thing, 50 years after this horrible experience, is that the world has not eradicated this type of terrorism. As recently as January 2020, the PFLP (through Palestinian NGOs) receives financial support of millions of dollars from European countries, the United States, Canada, Japan, UN-OCHA and UNICEF.

In theory, San Francisco State University President Lynn Mahoney is correct in stating that a university is a place where different ideas are presented, discussed and analyzed so that individual conclusions can be drawn. But does that justify giving an unrepentant terrorist a forum to address the students?

What will she teach them? The proper way to hijack an aircraft, based on her success in 1969, and what mistakes to avoid based on her failure in 1970?

When I was a student in university, I often faced new ideas that ran contrary to my beliefs. But these perspectives were presented by knowledgeable, respectable academics. Some were Nobel Prize winners. None were terrorists.

Neither Mahoney, in her published response, nor the university indicated that anyone will be presenting an opposing view, one that is against terrorism and radicalization. I cannot imagine how Mahoney, or any decent person, can claim Khaled’s presentation will be an educational experience.

SFSU is no stranger to anti-Semitism. They have prevented the presentation of pro-Israel and Jewish ideas. In fact, SFSU had been recently sued by Jewish students who claimed that they were victims of systemic anti-Semitism. Not long ago, SFSU prevented then-Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat from speaking at a public event, and San Francisco Hillel was excluded from a fair on campus.

Inviting Leila Khaled to speak is a dishonor to all those who suffered at her and the PFLP’s hands – and glorifies terrorism, which is unacceptable. (h/t Zvi)

Gaza's Al Aqsa University: Holocaust museums are Zionist propaganda

On Instagram, Al Aqsa University of Gaza posted a video animation of a potential Palestinian museum.

The text accompanying it is more interesting than the video, though.

The Palestinian Memory Museum project designed by the students Fahmy Daher and Islam Al-Haddad in an interior design course at Al-Aqsa University. The project reviews the memory of the place in a visual narrative that employs drama to present the Palestinian narrative in an effective and convincing way to the world in confronting the Israeli narrative that our enemies succeeded in establishing through the Holocaust museums that are spreading In more than 60 countries in the world.

They actually seem jealous of the Holocaust, because they want to be the world's greatest victims. But they look at the Holocaust not as a historic genocide of millions of people but as an excuse for Jews to get a state.

(h/t Petra, Imshin)

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Dr. Abdul Sattar Qassem writes in Al Majd:

Is there anyone who argues that the Zionists will not establish a large, modern settlement with advanced industrial and scientific potential in the Khyber district, north of Medina? I see that the Zionists have completed plans for a modern and huge settlement city in place, and implementation is only a matter of time. Certainly, there are those who disagree with me in this regard, but time will suffice to reveal this secret if the Zionist entity remains on the political map of the world. I see the experts of the Zionists who specialize in planning cities and settlements have been busy developing their designs for years. The Zionist politicians looked ahead to where political matters are heading in the Arabian Peninsula, and that the rulers of Saudi Arabia must establish strong relations with them...

Is it reasonable for the Zionist entity to establish normalized relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia without the agreement between the two parties stipulating Zionist privileges in the old Jewish residential areas? Scenes of the ruins of Khaybar, Bani Al-Nadir, and Banu Qurayza are still in front of us today, despite the recent developments in Khaybar, and the Zionists certainly have accurate details about what remains of the Jewish fortresses and some of the farms that they owned. If they are demanding the Noble Sanctuary on the grounds that their father Abraham, according to their religious data, has laid his foundations, then they will certainly demand historical sites before them and the whole world.

The question that should be asked is: Why have the Saudis preserved these sites as they are and did not make changes to them that take an Islamic character? There is a mosque in Khaybar and a new market with many shops, but it is empty of residents, as if it is waiting for new invaders who are not of Islam or Arabism in anything.

Khaybar was the most important site for the Jews in the Arabian Peninsula, which is about 168 km north of Medina, and many of its buildings are still standing, especially the famous Marhab Castle, which was the seat of their famous strong leader Marhab, who was destroyed by Ali bin Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him. The Khayria palm plantations still exist until now, and it is considered one of the largest oases in the Arabian Peninsula. The eyes of the Zionist Jews are on the sites of the Jews of Medina and its environs, and they will work to rebuild it, and because of the slogan that Muslims constantly chant: “Khaybar Khaybar, O Jews, Muhammad’s army will return,” which is the slogan that Muhammad’s army will liberate Palestine from its sea to its river. When Khaybar is rebuilt, the Zionists will have responded to the slogan with a new painful reality. Then the Muslims must imagine that the army of Muhammad, peace be upon him, will come from Yemen as a conqueror, given that Yemen is the only Arab country in the Arabian Peninsula qualified to fight and restore the dignity of Arabs and Muslims.

The Zionists will work to reconstruct Khaybar and the various sites in which the Jews were present, to become tourist places that attract tourists from all over the world. There will be modern thriving tourist areas that will benefit the Zionists and Saudi rule. The present and destroyed monuments will remain, and the Zionists will restore what can be restored from the homes of the Jews and their security and military institutions, and the Marhab Castle will be a vital center for the new settlement, and the farms will turn into rich gardens that tourists like to access and reside in.

No one is surprised what I say. The Zionists had planned the city of Jerusalem and designed the parks, official and unofficial institutions, museums, bus and car stations, etc. before 1948. They used to summon experts in city planning from Europe at high wages to serve the purposes of settlement in the Holy City.

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09/22 Links Pt1: Reversing a century of Pan-Islamic anti-Zionism; Trump has changed conversation on Israel at last

From Ian:

MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen: UAE-Israel partnership will advance peace in Middle East

This moment also allows us to face common threats with a united front. Not surprisingly, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and members of the anti-Israel delegitimization campaign came out against peace and normalisation.

The UAE’s decision to abolish its Boycott Law, as well as the Arab League’s decision not to condemn the peace deal, serve as strong messages: the days of boycotts are behind us; now we stand ready to join hands against terror, extremism and aggression.

History teaches us that mutual acceptance is indispensable to advancing reconciliation in our region. When recognised and given assurances for their security, Israelis feel more ready to take risks and make concessions for peace.

Those who genuinely wish to promote peace should invest in legitimisation, understanding, and dialogue. In contrast, those trying to divide us by building walls of hate, alienation and lies should be denounced for what they are: extremists or detractors of peace.

Last week’s ceremony was history in the making; now it is our shared goal to rise to the occasion. We must strive to build partnerships to advance our region, bring additional countries to join the circle of peace, including the Palestinians, and confront extremists and aggressors. Together we can do it.

MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen is Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs and a member of Israel’s National Security Cabinet

Following the #Peace signed between #Israel, #UAE and #Bahrain, had some fun with the data and created this map of Israeli diplomatic relations over the years.
Wishing more of our neighbors and friends to join next year's map. #shanatova pic.twitter.com/s0jWDV2jiG
— Nati Brooks 🇮🇱 (@NatiBrooks) September 17, 2020

Yisrael Medad: Reversing a century of Pan-Islamic anti-Zionism

There are several convincing factors as to why Israel, its supporters – both Jews and non-Jews, as well as all men and women of reason – should be satisfied with the signing of two arrangements for peaceful relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and Israeli and Bahrain.

One of them is the historical handicap the conflict between Arabs and the State of Israel and its Zionist character has been cast for a century. Indeed, the frame of reference of the "Palestine conflict" has always been one that includes the entire Muslim world. That world's identification with and sympathy for the "plight of Palestine" is now, in a sense, dissolving.

What was the historical backdrop to that phenomenon?

As Suleiman Mousa, writing in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, notes that already in July 1922, at the time of the Haj: "A Palestine delegation arrived in Mecca to explain to the king [Hussein ibn Ali] the dangers inherent in the policy of the Jewish National Home. The British government of Palestine, perturbed at the activities of the delegation, sent a letter to the Hijaz government refuting its complaints and claiming that the Arabs in Palestine were faring well and prospering. The Hijaz government refused to accept this statement and insisted that the Balfour Declaration should be canceled."

The head of that 1922 delegation was Abdelqader Al-Muzaffar, who had led previous Haj pilgrimages to Mecca. Its members sailed to Sudan and from there to Jeddah, arriving on July 11. It established pro-Arab Palestine committees at all the stops and sought meetings with leading political and religious personalities. Their theme was "Defend Al-Aqsa."

Alexander Downer: Trump has changed conversation on Israel at last

This change in the Middle East is, to say the least, dramatic. It is a geo-political realignment. The Arab states which recognise Israel and trade with Israel have the great advantage of being able to tap into the things that Israel does really well, not least innovative technology and medicine.

But there’s more to it than that. Those Arab states now working with Israel have changed the balance of power in the region away from Iran. This is a far more significant change in the architecture of the region than President Obama’s JCPOA agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. That agreement was temporary and, of course, could easily be breached by the Iranians. Whether it would be is another question. I doubt Iran would be so foolhardy under any circumstance to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

On the other hand, Israel, with a small population but a mighty defence force, will be an invaluable ally for those Arab states which fear the power of Tehran.

So where does this leave the Palestinians? This is not good news for them. It does demonstrate that for much of the Arab world there is a good deal more to worry about than the plight of the Palestinians. The Gulf States are deeply concerned about the power of Iran, they have to wrestle with COVID-19 and the global economic meltdown, and they have internal political challenges to deal with. A relationship with Israel, their ties with America and their broader links with the rest of the world are going to matter a great deal more to them than a Palestinian population not willing to engage constructively in negotiations with Israel.

So the conversation in the Middle East has changed. The Palestinian leadership would be wise to recognise that. Its strategy for the past few decades has run out of puff. Continual condemnation of Israel, resolutions through United Nations bodies, demonstrations outside Israeli embassies and so on have yielded nothing. It is time the Palestinians came up with their own peace plan, decided to engage in negotiations with the Israelis and take advantage of the new relationship between several Arab states and Israel.

Who knows whether the US administration will be able to pull that off after the elections in November? But if we’ve learnt anything over the past four years, it is a mistake to underestimate the Trump administration when it comes to creative diplomacy in the Middle East.

Sky News Arabia surveys Sudan's attitudes towards peace with Israel.

It notes that Khartoum was the warmest capital for the Jews in the Muslim world, bit that all changed in 1967 when it hosted the famous Three No's Conference. Only four years later it nationalized the properties of the Jews, forcing hundreds of them to emigrate in search of a new home, leaving behind families whose name was associated with industry, commerce and art.

In the past year there has been a heated debate about Sudan's relationship with Israel. The Sudanese were surprised when the head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, met Bibi Netanyahu last February. Since then, the debate about the interests that Khartoum could gain from peace with Israel has been a hot topic, despite Sudan's pro-Palestinian position.

Journalist Al-Nur Hamad views the issue of relations with Israel as a breaking of the psychological barrier that has been preventing Sudan from dealing in a realistic way with Israel, as it has seen in Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Bahrain. Establishing relationships is, for Hamad, "a major starting blow in the direction of restoring the lost Sudanese identity."

Hamad admits that "Israel has its transgressions, but some other countries have their transgressions, which if Sudan took it as a reason for hostility, then we would find ourselves with a long list of enemies."

While the Palestinian issue has been the focus of Sudanese attention for decades, the vast majority of the new generation of youth seemed indifferent to having a relationship with Israel, and some of them, such as Mahmoud, who is a second-year university student, did not even know the details of the Palestinian issue.

Mahmoud says that "the most important thing for me is for his country to establish foreign relations that achieve the interests that my generation of youth expects."

One of the remaining Jews in Sudan, Abu Bakr Mustafa Israel, was born in the 1990s. He expects peace to open new hopes for his generation of Sudanese Jews, and to restore to them the golden era that his ancestors had in different Sudanese cities, before things turned upside down.

Israel recounts part of his bitterness. He tells Sky News Arabia: “Despite the unique state of tolerance that characterizes the Sudanese society, political changes cast a negative shadow over the overall lives of the remaining Jews in Sudan. My father had to change his name in order to be able to join the Military Academy, and then became a senior officer in the Sudanese army before he retired and died later.

Israel hopes that peace will create a new reality for the future of its children, so that they do not have to change their names in order to enter a job, as their grandfather did before.

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