Why do Iran, 'progressives,' fear Israel, the Abraham Accords?
IN CONTRADICTION to the sour and rejectionist remarks of the American “progressive” groups mentioned above, the Abraham Accords are not a Trump-tainted gimmick or a Netanyahu-stained end-run around the Palestinians. Rather, they are an authentic breakthrough for both peace and security in the Middle East; a transformation that evinces staying power and deepens by the day.Col Kemp: This is the EU's darkest hour
To assert that only Trumpian razzle-dazzle and arms deals were the basis for the Abraham Accords, as do the partisan grouches mentioned above, is a complete misread of Emirati, Bahraini and Moroccan purposes in pursuit of peace with Israel. The leaders of the countries want to redefine the self-identity and global image of Arab Muslims by blending tradition with enlightenment, anchored in an admirable discourse of religious moderation and broad-mindedness.
Affiliating with Israel fits perfectly into this agenda because this is exactly how they view Israel too – as a nation that successfully synthesizes strong ethnic and religious identity with modernity. Therefore, the Abraham Accords are deeply rooted in genuine ideological intentions (as well as urgent security realties) and are locked-in for the long term.
Alas, for the hard-left and anti-Israel mob it is hard to exult in the Abraham Accords. It means swallowing the fact Israel is demonstrably a force for good, knowledge, prosperity, and stability in the Middle East. After all, that is the reason the Gulf states and Morocco are jumping on the bandwagon with Israel!
It is even harder for these extremists to accept that, de facto, the Abraham Accords are a blunt refutation of the ongoing Palestinian campaign to deny and criminalize the Jewish People’s historic rights in Israel.
By referencing the Abrahamic common heritage of Muslims and Jews in the foundational document of the Abraham Accords, and repeatedly playing “Hatikvah” in their royal palaces, Arab countries implicitly are acknowledging that Jews are a Biblical people indigenous to the Land of Israel. This is a joyous revolution that overturns generations of Arab and Islamic ideological delegitimization of Israel.
It is truly tragic that the intransigent Palestinians and their backward backers in America are unable to appreciate the gargantuan opportunities made possible by the Abraham Accords.
As Russian forces continued to build along the Ukrainian border last month, Netflix released one of its most popular movies to date – Munich: The Edge of War. The film is set in 1938 as German troops prepare to attack the Sudetenland while Chamberlain and other European leaders negotiate away Czechoslovakia’s sovereignty. Today, it’s almost as if President Macron is reading from Chamberlain’s script. Since his meeting last week with Putin, he’s been pressing Ukraine to implement the Minsk accords, brokered by France and Germany in 2015 as Russian forces and their proxies fought in eastern Ukraine.Russia Continues Military Buildup, Expels US Diplomat
The imposition of the Minsk accords would see an end to Kyiv’s sovereignty. They would give Russia a say in running the country and its foreign policy and hand seats in parliament to Moscow’s proxies. A few days ago Putin made clear exactly what he wants, telling Ukraine, with undertones of rape: ‘Like it or not, you’ll have to tolerate it, my beauty.’
It is extraordinary that Macron, whose country now holds the EU Council presidency, should entertain such gunpoint bartering of a democratic nation’s integrity. He has a track record of failed conciliations with Russia and has recently suggested there is ‘legitimacy’ in the Kremlin’s concerns over a putative threat from Nato. It must be obvious to him that Putin will not be mollified by such appeasement and that even if President Zelenskiy were to accede to Minsk it would not end there. But Macron has elections in April and perhaps believes that a Chamberlain style proclamation of peace for our time might secure victory for him.
Germany too has looked happy to go along with this ‘grand bargain’. That is no surprise from a government that has blocked another Nato member from supplying defensive arms to Kyiv and is desperate to placate Putin, having allowed an increasing dependence on Russian energy supplies. The Nordstream 2 gas pipeline is designed to bypass Ukraine, removing the only bargaining chip against Russia in Kyiv’s hands. While some have proposed the pipeline’s termination if Russia invades, Chancellor Scholz has been reluctant to express such a warning, falling back on the unsustainable excuse that it is a ‘privately managed commercial project’.
Russia has added another 7,000 troops to the more than 150,000 forces already in place along the border with Ukraine.Khaled Abu Toameh: The Palestinian Leaders' Five-Star Jihad
The move comes in direct contradiction to claims by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin that forces were being withdrawn in the wake of a military drill with Belarus.
Russia Expels US Diplomat, Ukraine Reprimands Israeli Envoy
Russia on Thursday expelled deputy US Ambassador Bartle Gorman from the country, the RIA news agency reported, quoting the US Embassy in Moscow. Washington will “respond” to the move, the embassy said.
No reason was given for the expulsion.
Shortly after the announcement of Gorman’s expulsion, and the same day Russia submitted its response to Western security proposals, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website became “unavailable,” Reuters reported.
In a separate move, Ukraine has rebuked Israel’s Ambassdor Michael Brodsky in Kiev.
The reprimand came after following a request to Moscow from Israel’s Foreign Ministry director-general Alon Ushpiz asking for Russian assistance in the evacuation of Israelis from the war zone in the event of an invasion of Ukraine.
Hamas leaders are not sitting among their people in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. It is easier and safer for them to call on the Palestinians to send their children to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel while they are relaxing in the comfort of their hotel rooms, villas and gyms in the Qatari capital of Doha. The Hamas leaders are not going to send their own sons and daughters to engage in the jihad against Israel.
The Iranian-backed Hamas and PIJ are the two largest groups in the Gaza Strip. Instead of investing their resources and efforts in improving the living conditions of their people, the Hamas and PIJ leaders have brought on them one disaster after the other. They have brought war and destruction on the people of the Gaza Strip by firing thousands of rockets towards Israel, forcing Israel to fire back to defend itself.
Instead of building schools and hospitals, the Hamas and PIJ leaders have chosen to invest tens of millions of dollars in a network of tunnels along Gaza's border with Israel, to attack and kill Jews.
The leaders of Hamas and PIJ left scorched earth behind them and chose to lead luxurious lives in Doha, Istanbul and Beirut. Strangely, however, instead of hiding their faces in shame, they are calling from their gyms, jets, and jacuzzis for the Palestinians to pursue the fight against Israel.
Some Palestinians, it seems, refuse to be duped by the deception of the Hamas and PIJ leaders. These Palestinians have finally realized that their leaders care only about their personal interest and the well-being of their families and are enjoying the good life in Doha and Istanbul.
Above all, the Palestinians need to boot out the thieves who masquerade as their leaders, the butchers responsible for the deaths of the young men and women in the Hamas-incited jihad against Israel. The Palestinians will never move forward with their lives as long as their leaders are relaxing in hot tubs in Qatar and Turkey while sending them orders to bathe themselves in yet more Jewish blood.