As you might have seen in the world news, a diplomatic tie between the UAE, Bahrain, and Israel has initiated and thus, celebrated globally. Prior to this arrangement, these countries have already made connections with Israel so, finally making this alliance formal is seen as a “win” of some sort.
I must argue, however, that the term “peace deal” is actually quite deceptive in this case. It lures people into joining in the celebrations for the sake of loving harmony and justice. You’d better think twice about that – whose victory is this really?
Firstly, the deal is clearly in favor of our president, Donald Trump. He could use this substantial alliance as leverage in the upcoming presidential election (as far as his Middle East policy goes anyway).
Secondly, it is an obvious win for the US-Israeli-Saudi alliance. Since the beginning of the tension and division in the Middle East, this operation has sought to shift the general focus of the people to the “Iranian threat” rather than what is really important to solving the constant unrest of their region – the Palestinian question. The intention seems pure on the surface however, it is destined to widen the divide in the Arab world between the rulers and the masses of their citizens.
Let’s look a bit closer now: usually in politics, an alliance of the economic and political leaders is kept in power usually by their ability to enact and enforce a certain foreign policy that seems beneficial to a country, rather than by their ability to represent the masses of their nation. This has created a problem where those in power take more of an interest in the maintenance of geopolitical matters as opposed to local and regional matters. A country’s ruler should hold its citizens and the issues they have on a pedestal yet, the geopolitical agenda is what the Arab government presses forward. Is this not convincing enough?
Frequently, it is observed that Arab authorities work hard to repress the attitude of the foreign policy on their population as opposed to working on their internal aspirations for equality and democracy. Hence, this deal will make countries like Bahrain – which already has inadequate human rights – become more repressed.
This deal will also elevate the importance of geopolitical matters to authorities – who should be looking out for their citizens and their wellbeing in all aspects – that aren’t important to the everyday lives of the nation’s people. Both Jordan and Egypt has had a “peace deal” with Israel for a long time now. However, it is clear to everyone that these arrangements have not translated into peace between people – this will only occur when a just solution to the Palestinian question is found.
So, before supporting this alliance and celebrating its establishment, you need to know what exactly they are celebrating – negligence to the suffering of the Palestinians. I, myself, stand with this defeated party. This is just another “peace process” that ignores the elephant in the room. People are going to get fed up and sooner or later, the real issue will have to be dealt with.
