I am sure you’ve already heard the news: Israel and the United Arab Emirates reached a historic agreement today to set up full diplomatic relations between the two countries.
You’d think those on the Left would welcome a peace treaty, right?
Just kidding – I am sure you all know better than that.
They hate it.
Here are some of the reactions:
Rashida Tlaib
IfNotNow
https://twitter.com/IfNotNowOrg/status/1293966230265700353
Yonah Lieberman, co-founder of IfNotNow
Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor under President Barack Obama
August 13, 2020 — Peace group CODEPINK denounces the “historic peace deal” announced today that normalizes relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in exchange for Israel suspending plans to formally annex the West Bank. “We are not fooled by this fake diplomacy, which is nothing more than a way to maintain Israel’s status quo of land theft, home demolitions, arbitrary extrajudicial killings, apartheid laws, and other abuses of Palestinian rights,” said CODEPINK national co-director Ariel Gold. “Annexation is a daily reality on the ground. By normalizing relations with Israel without any gains for Palestinians, the UAE is pledging complicity with Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.”
The agreement between the UAE and Israel — facilitated by the Trump administration — comes on the heels of Trump moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, and creating a so-called peace plan with no Palestinian participation or input. It also takes place within the context of the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, participating in a war in Yemen so brutal that it turned Yemen into the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet. Moreover, it must be seen in the context of the ongoing hostilities by all three countries with Iran and Trump’s failed policy of “maximum pressure” that was designed to force Iran back to the negotiating table.
“The ‘historic deal’ with the UAE and Israel does not move the Middle East any closer to peace,” said CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin. “On the contrary. It strengthens the Israel-US-Gulf alliance against Iran, which will further inflame tensions and cause more death and suffering, while maintaining Israel’s status quo of occupation and apartheid.”
The UAE had previously held a position consistent with public opinion in Gulf and Middle East countries that the acceptance of formal diplomatic relations with Israel should only take place in exchange for a just peace and in accordance with international law. The UAE’s change from supporting Palestinian dignity and freedom to supporting Israel’s never-ending occupation cements the UAE’s alliance with the Trump administration, which allows the country to purchase weapons that are used against civilians in Yemen. UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed is a shrewd player in the Middle East, a dictator who uses his country’s military and financial resources to thwart moves towards democracy and respect for human rights.
The fact that this agreement between two Middle East countries was first announced thousands of miles away in Washington DC shows how it is more about improving Netanyahu’s battered image in Israel and shoring up Trump’s slumping electoral campaign than bringing peace to the Middle East. It also shows the interests of Netanyahu and bin Zayed in keeping Trump in the White House. To add insult to injury, newly appointed Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Gilad Erdan said today that Netanyahu has promised him that annexation is not in fact off the table.
The normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel, facilitated by the U.S., serves to prop up three repressive leaders — Trump, Netanyahu, and bin Zayed — and will cause further harm to Palestinians. It is both a shame and a sham.
CODEPINK Middle East Director Ariel Gold is available for interviews.
Leftist journo Lisa Goldman
https://twitter.com/lisang/status/1293934414834143234
Leftist journo Mairav Zonszein
https://twitter.com/MairavZ/status/1293966081455828992
Update: This:
It’s unanimous: the socialist Left hates peace.
They spent months talking about how awful “annexation” would be but they are not celebrating it getting off the table – because the price to be paid is a peace agreement between Israel and a major Arab country.
They talk about how important negotiations and diplomacy are for Iran but they are dead-set agaist negotiations and diplomacy between Israel and the UAE.
They say they are anti-war, but an agreement that makes another Arab-Israeli war virtually unthinkable gets nothing but condemnation.
They say that this agreement will hurt Palestinians, but they cannot quite say exactly why.
The true agenda of the far Left is revealed: anything that is good for Israel must be opposed. Anything that makes the Jewish State more secure as a permanent part of the Middle East is anathema.
Their goal was never peace, or justice, or a Palestinian state, or morality, or an end to “occupation,” or any of the other myriad excuses they give to justify their hate. Their goal was always, and remains, the destruction of Israel – perhaps in phases, perhaps in one nuclear blast, but that it all these hypocrites really want.
