Since the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco signed the Abraham Accords, onlookers have wondered whether Arab states with formal diplomatic ties with the Jewish state would, in the event of an escalation in conflict in Israel, be more subdued or leverage the Accords and their long-standing ties with Palestine to curb the violence. To this point, amidst ongoing violence in the region that has thus far resulted in the death of over 227 people in Gaza, including 64 children, a number of Arab states have come forward and condemned Israel’s actions.
Following the eruption of conflict earlier this month, Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the Israeli government to stop the provocations against the people of Jerusalem and condemned “the Israeli plan to evict the citizens of Jerusalem from their homes and impose Israeli sovereignty over them, as it violates the resolutions of international legitimacy, and undermines the chances of resuming the peace process to achieve security and stability in the region.” The sentiment was echoed in statements put out by the UAE, who called on “Israeli authorities to assume their responsibilities - in accordance with the rules of international law - to protect Palestinian civilians’ right to practice their religion,” and Morocco, who called it “an inadmissible act.” Similarly, Sudan labelled Israeli measures in Jerusalem against Palestinians as “repression” and “coercive action”. Along these same lines, Saudi Arabia, which does not have formal relations with Israel but is generally thought to share close clandestine ties with the country, has also been vocal in rejecting Israel’s violence.
Furthermore, Morocco has ordered 40 tonnes of aid to be sent to the West Bank and Gaza, which includes food, medicine and blankets. Likewise, Egypt, which has maintained diplomatic relations with Israel since 1980, has said that it will send humanitarian aid to Gaza and devote $500 million towards reconstruction aid. This includes a shipment of medical aid worth $890,000, with 65 tonnes of surgical supplies, including oxygen cylinders, syringes, antibiotics, and ointment for burns; 26 trucks of food aid and 50 ambulances have also been mobilised to transport the wounded. In addition, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has sent security officials to try to mediate between Israel and Hamas.
However, these public statements of support ultimately amount to nothing more than PR exercises and do little to stop the violence or protect the victims of this conflict. While the delivery of humanitarian aid is indeed welcome, it is an entirely reactionary measure that is not complemented by parallel efforts to contain the source of the conflict itself. Moreover, actors like Egypt have been accused of misusing the conflict to reposition themselves as regionally dominant players without any genuine concern for the plight and aspirations of the Palestinian people.
In fact, a similar chain of reactions followed the 2014 conflict as well, when Arab states claimed to stand in solidarity with Palestine but did little to support its cause. At the time, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the UAE all condemned Israel’s escalation of violence and advised the international community to compel Israel to comply with international law and end its violations. Yet, when all was said and done, the only tangible assistance offered by Arab states was the delivery of 500 tonnes of food and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip by Egypt and various forms of humanitarian aid by Saudi Arabia and Morocco to Palestine.
While Egypt successfully brokered a ceasefire on Friday between Hamas and Israel, which do not talk directly, the reality on the ground in Cairo has been reported to be quite different. Last month, journalist Nourelhoda Zaki recounted her experience of raising the Palestinian flag in downtown Cairo’s Tahrir Square along with a friend. She alleged being detained, verbally harassed, and humiliated by the police for hours, before being forced to drop the flag, leave the premises, and pledge never to return for another show of pro-Palestinian support. This crackdown on the ground is in sharp contrast to Egypt’s official response to the violence in Israel-Palestine and has led to accusations of Cairo’s hypocrisy. This sincerity is further questioned by allegations that Egypt leveraged the conflict to remind the new US administration of its regional relevance, as the Biden administration did not make contact with Cairo for its first four months of office. Admittedly, however, while the ceasefire does not advance the Palestinian cause in any way, it does bring some form of respite to the Palestinian people. Therefore, Egypt’s contribution cannot be entirely dismissed out of hand.
Speaking to Statecraft about how Gulf countries can further help to improve the situation, Talmiz Ahmad, India’s former Ambassador to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, said that further development assistance, particularly for the rebuilding effort in Gaza, can be expected from Qatar and other Gulf countries. However, the diplomat expressed concern that Arab countries might not be able to do much beyond donating financial assistance and issuing statements of condemnation, as Israel’s claim to the disputed territory is, in its view, “divinely sanctioned.” “As far as long-lasting peace is concerned, given the influence of extremist religious groups in its political order, Israel is in no position to make any concessions, nor are the Arab states able to exercise any influence upon Israel. Long-lasting peace will only come about on the basis of direct discussions between Israel and Palestine to settle the “final status” issues— which relate to creating a sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital and the question of the return of refugees,” he said.
These countries’ already non-committal stances have been further amplified by the signing of the Abraham Accords, which has given them further license to issue superficial responses to surges in violence. In fact, even the minimal level of aid that was previously on offer has now been slashed, as evidenced by UAE and Palestine both reducing their contributions to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. While the UAE sent the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) $53 million in 2018 and $51 million in 2019, it provided the agency with a mere $1 million in 2020.
This inaction hasn’t gone unnoticed by the citizens of these countries, who have come together to form far-reaching social media movements and protests that have both raised awareness about the Israel-Palestine conflict and pushed their governments to take a strong stand. Against this backdrop, the Arab Centre for the Advancement of Social Media, known as 7amleh, has tracked more than 500 instances of digital rights offences, wherein content and accounts were removed, reduced, and restricted across most major platforms, with 50% of the incidents happening on Instagram, 35% on Facebook, 11% on Twitter, and 1% on Tik Tok. To trick algorithms from flagging such content, several social media users in Arab countries have reportedly manipulated Arabic while posting about the conflict so that pro-Palestinian content could stay online. Yet, despite these determined calls to action, Arab states have been careful to ensure that their public condemnations of Israel, which are ostensibly issued to appease their own disgruntled citizens, do not endanger their burgeoning ties with Israel.
In this regard, it is clear that the Abraham Accords were never intended to serve their publicly stated objective of stabilising the Middle East and controlling Israeli expansionist policies in Palestine. The ongoing conflict demonstrates as long suspected that the Accords were solely intended to be business transactions and have in fact weakened the signatory states’ support for Palestine, all of which has served to embolden Israel at the expense of the Palestinian people.
The Abraham Accords Have Amplified Arab States’ Already Shaky Commitment to Palestine
Reactions of signatories to the recent Israel-Palestine conflict have proven that the Abraham Accords, which were supposed to bring regional stability, were solely a business transaction.
May 25, 2021
SOURCE: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/REUTERS