LETTER:S We refer to the article written by the UAE ambassador to Malaysia entitled " UAE-Israel deal will advance the cause of regional peace, security" which was published by the New Straits Times on the Sept 4, 2020.
It is a very pathetic and hypocritical attempt to defend what is indefensible and justify what is clearly not justifiable. The article makes much of how the deal has supposedly helped or will help Palestinians, the clear victims at the hand of the oppressive criminal apartheid Zionist state.
This claim deserves instant dismissal. It pretends that the world is blind to three monumentally glaring facts which are evidence that such a claim has no foundation in reality.
First, not a single Palestinian entity was consulted by the UAE government before the deal was announced. It is totally ridiculous to claim to be helping the victims without first asking them if the action is helpful or otherwise.
Second, the unanimous rejection and denunciation of the deal by Palestinians of all political stripes is a clear sign that they know, and the UAE government should have known, that it is NOT going to bring about an end to Israeli oppression and occupation of Palestinian lands.
Third, the claim that the deal was instrumental in halting annexation of the West Bank has no credibility at all. Even as news of the deal hit the world's media, the Israelis have made it clear that annexation is only suspended and still very much on the cards. The ambassador's article ignores that fact altogether.
The indisputable fact remains that the best way to help the Palestinian people is to refrain from normalising relations with Israel and to continue to boycott and impose sanctions against the apartheid state which has disregarded countless international laws, conventions, and resolutions calling on them to respect the human rights of Palestinians.
If even such help the UAE government cannot offer, then the honest and honourable thing to do is to drop any selfless pretence, as encapsulated in the article, that its actions were motivated by a desire to help Palestinians.
The ambassador and the UAE government are in absolutely no position to declare that "the boycott of the past years did not fulfill the aspirations of the Arab peoples in general and the Palestinian people in particular."
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which was started by Palestinians themselves and modelled after the anti-apartheid movement of South Africa, is a means to pressure Israel to cease its apartheid treatment and violations of Palestinian human rights. It is a grassroots, peaceful and non-violent movement which has found support the world over including in, it must be added, Israel itself.
Its effectiveness is evidenced by the fact that the Israeli government has created a whole ministry to counter BDS campaigns and the Zionist propaganda machinery has been busy trying to criminalise an all-inclusive movement which espouses anti-racism, non-violence, and only lawful means in all its campaigns.
When the boycott movement is gaining momentum internationally, it is indeed most shameful for an Arab government to declare that it does not fulfill Palestinian aspirations and to use it as an excuse for normalising relations with Israel.
It is only right therefore that the whole world, in turn, ask the UAE government as to whether the Israel-UAE deal fulfills the aspirations of the citizens of the UAE. Indeed, to ask whether the UAE government has conducted due consultations with its own citizens on whether they would like to see their country have diplomatic and other ties with a regime which oppresses and brutalizes fellow Arabs and shows no signs whatsoever of stopping.
We await an article by the ambassador detailing the referendum, plebiscite, or honest nationwide survey proving that his government's decision to normalise relations with Israel has solid popular support among the UAE population and that it fulfills their aspirations.
Until then, let's call a spade a spade.
The decision by the UAE government was taken with the sole motive of cosying up to the Zionists and the ultimate objective of being in the good books of the American government in order to enhance the security and longevity of a ruling clique without due regard to the wishes and opinions of its own citizens.
To the extent that the fate of Palestinians did not enter the ruling clique's calculations, it is undeniably a betrayal and a stab in the back to the Palestinian cause. No letter or article by any UAE ambassador will be able to hide that fact.
1. BDS MALAYSIA
2. MUSLIM CARE MALAYSIA
3. MyCARE
4. MUSLIMAH INTEREST ZONE & NETWORKING ASSOCIATIONS (MIZAN)
5. PERTUBUHAN MAWADDAH MALAYSIA
6. PERTUBUHAN CAKNA PALESTIN MALAYSIA
7. MALAYSIAN WOMEN COALITION FOR AL QUDS AND PALESTINE
8. VIVA PALESTINA MALAYSIA
9. ANGKATAN BELIA ISLAM MALAYSIA (ABIM)
10. GLOBAL PEACE MISSION (GPM) MALAYSIA
11. PERTUBUHAN IKRAM MALAYSIA
12. PERTUBUHAN SEJAGAT MALAYSIA
13. Al-QUDS FOUNDATION MALAYSIA
14. MAPIM - MUSLIM ASSOCIATION CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL
15. MOVEMENT FOR MONETARY JUSTICE MALAYSIA
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
