UAE policy fundamentals on Palestinian cause and al-Utaiba’s article

Hani Suleiman

The Palestinian issue is the centerpiece of Arab unanimity. It unifies Arab peoples, being a symbol of their struggle for justice and integrity.

Some Arab counties offered significant political, moral and financial support to this issue. They presented many sacrifices to back the issue, fully realizing their responsibilities towards the Palestinian people.

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia offered unlimited political and diplomatic support to the Palestinian issue in international forums. They sponsored peace initiatives and backed solutions that defend the rights of the Palestinians.

The same countries supported inter-Palestinian reconciliation and offered financial support to the Palestinians in their belief in the righteous cause of these people and in their realization that this cause is the key to stability and peace in the region.

These countries have been working hard to find a way out of the current stalemate and a solution to the problems of the Palestinians. They have been trying to find new mechanisms to solve the issue through the utilization of more realistic political solutions that preserve the Palestinians rights.

These solutions were stipulated in a number of initiatives, including in a recent article by the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States, Youssef al-Utaiba.

Some people tried to take the initiative out of context to achieve some political gains. This stirred up debate around the initiative, opening the door for attacks against Mr. al-Utaiba himself and the United Arab Emirates.

My belief is that nobody can doubt the sincerity of the United Arab Emirates or the efforts the late founder of the country, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, made in this regard.

Defending the Palestinian cause is a cornerstone of Emirati foreign policy. It is the same thing for some other Arab countries.

Nevertheless, I have some observations to make as far as Mr. al-Utaiba’s article is concerned. Some people might not have taken notice of these observations.

First, the main point in the article includes warnings to the Israeli side against the annexation of Palestinian territories. Al-Utaiba says this annexation would threaten peace in the Middle East region.

Second, the United Arab Emirates used diplomacy to serve the Palestinian cause. Al-Utaiba’s article invited the attention of many people in the West and in Israel. Together with other efforts, the article may have contributed to swaying the Israelis away from the annexation move. Some American writers even called for taking the Emirati warning into account.

Third, the populist rhetoric on the Palestinian issue has led to no results. It did not bring about any solutions to the issue. This is why the Arabs stand to lose nothing by applying a new smarter strategy, namely by adopting the Emirati policy of addressing the Israeli public directly so that it can put pressure on the Israeli government.

Fourth, the United Arab Emirates has utilized its diplomatic relations against plans by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex more Palestinian territories.

Fifth, the media affiliated to some groups took the article totally out of context, only to serve its own interests.

Sixth, politics is the art of the possible and the attainable. The United Arab Emirates tries to apply this rule. Israel wants to establish normal relations with Arab countries. However, the United Arab Emirates believes that this should not overlook either Palestinian rights or Israel’s expansionist plans.

Seventh, the United Arab Emirates is keen on the security of this region. It wants this restive region to turn into a spot of success and welfare.

Eighth, the country that offered the most sacrifices and the largest backing for the Palestinian cause has never bragged about this. It works in silence because it believes in what it does and knows that it has a moral obligation to back righteous causes. On the contrary, the countries that keep talking about the Palestinian issue, especially Iran and Turkey, have done almost nothing to help the Palestinians. Turkey has strong political and economic relations with Israel. It implements joint projects with Israel. It participated in the construction of the Israeli barrier. The Palestinian cause for Turkey is nothing more than a tool for winning over the Arab public opinion and inciting Arab citizens against the governments of their countries.

As for Iran, and like I wrote in a previous research, Iran does nothing but talk about the Palestinian cause on several occasions. It does this only to serve its ideological project of exporting the ideals of the Islamic Revolution to other countries. As a project, this contradicts the Arab project. Iran uses destructive militias to carry out its projects in Arab countries, such as Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.

Based on all this, I can say that we go through an important juncture in our history. We do not need to follow campaigns aiming at twisting the truths. These campaigns do nothing but harm the Palestinian cause.

Hani Suleiman is the Director of the Center for Arab Research and Studies in Cairo.