Cancer in West Asia

Cancer in West Asia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia published a statement on Feb. 7 refusing to normalise ties with Israel, declaring that:

“The Kingdom has communicated its firm position to the U.S. administration that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and that the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and all Israeli occupation forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip…”

This followed comments by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a press conference in Qatar a day after his trip to Saudi Arabia, when he said “with regards specifically to normalisation, the Crown Prince reiterated Saudi Arabia’s strong interest in pursuing that” with Israel if the war in Gaza ends and there is “a clear, credible time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.” 

What is normalisation?

Normalisation is the pursuance of trade and diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab states in the region. First considered in 2002 with the Arab Peace Initiative, it was ultimately rejected by Israel because the proposal included the establishment of a Palestinian state, something the Israelis have always opposed.

Washington has made several attempts to broker peace between Israel and Arab states. In 2020, the Trump administration pushed through the “Abraham Accords” which forged ties between Israel and Bahrain, Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Sudan. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took credit for the deal in a speech to the United Nations last September:

“..under the approach that I advocated, we tried something different. And in no time, we achieved an amazing breakthrough..Israel forged four peace treaties, in four months, with four Arab countries.

The Abraham accords were a pivot of history. And today, we all see the blessings of those accords. Trade and investment with our new peace partners are booming. Our nations cooperate in commerce, energy, water, agriculture, medicine, climate, and many, many other fields.” 

To date, no other Arab or Muslim state has agreed - officially - to normalise ties with Israel. 

Israeli media reported on a visit by Netanyahu to Saudi Arabia to discuss normalisation two months after the Abraham Accords were implemented in 2020. The Saudis deny the visit took place. 

Discussions of normalisation between the Israelis and Saudis peaked last September after officials of both states made exchange visits. For its part, Saudi Arabia would secure a defence pact with the United States, a civilian nuclear programme and the purchase of more arms. 

Blinken - who earlier this month made his fifth visit to the region since Oct. 7 - stated that normalisation would offer Israel legitimacy, allow it and the West a stronger regional position and would isolate states rejecting normalisation; specific reference was given to Iran .

Then, Oct. 7 happened, when Palestinian freedom fighters in Gaza rose up against their occupiers in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Amongst the objectives of the revolt was opposition to normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab states. Israel’s response to the Palestinian operation - genocide - resulted in citizens of the states engaged in  normalisation, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan, protesting against the agreements. Protesting normalisation with Israel was not simply in response to Israel’s barbarism against Gaza, it had been a common occurrence ever since the Abraham Accords were announced, with some states attempting to ban the protests.

The U.S. and Israel’s interest in isolating Iran appears to be rather ambitious considering Iran’s increasing integration and numerous allies in the region. Included amongst them are the Syrian government and resistance organisations in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine. These organisations have been dubbed the “Axis of Resistance” by their defenders, in reference (and in jab) to the second Bush administration, who during its war of terror, labelled states who refused to conform to its dictates  - Iran, Iraq and the DPRK (North Korea) - the “Axis of Evil”.  

Not only have Iran’s allies grown, but last year, Saudi Arabia departed from seven years of enmity with Iran - following the Saudi execution of a Shia cleric - towards diplomacy, after a Chinese-brokered agreement came into effect last May and trade between the countries began, including the International North-South Trade Corridor. Weeks ago, the Saudis congratulated Iran on the 44th anniversary of its revolution (against British and U.S. imperialism). 

Israel’s Rejection of a Palestinian State

The Israelis have never seriously considered the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.

At best, the Israelis offered a subcontracting deal with an unelected leadership in the West Bank - to Palestinian traitor Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority - to provide “security” for the Israelis; a euphemism for maintaining the occupation and oppression of Palestinians and those who resist, in alliance with, and in service to Israel. Palestinians under this set-up have no sovereignty and live under Israel’s military rule, while their land continues to be stolen from under their feet. Today, over 700,000 Israeli settlers illegally live in the West Bank - many are armed by Israel while it is illegal for Palestinians to own guns - and the building of settlements and expropriation of Palestinian land continues, with no end in sight.

The charade of a Palestinian state side by side with Israel is not new. Netanyahu’s Likud Party’s founding document - in 1977 - made clear its opposition to a Palestinian state. Last month, Netanyahu reiterated this when speaking on the question of self-determination for Palestinians:

“With an accord or without an accord, Israel must have security control over the entire territory West of the Jordan River. That's a necessary condition. It clashes with the principle of sovereignty but what can you do.”

On Feb. 15, Netanyahu took to social media to repeat this opposition to a Palestinian state following discussions at a cabinet meeting. He said “Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians” after reports of Western states considering unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

Along with Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and others reaffirmed their opposition to an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, responding to Saudi opposition to normalisation without Israel ending its war, stated: 

“If the Saudis insist on stopping the war on Gaza as a condition for normalization, then we tell them ‘No’, and here is another ‘No’ for a Palestinian state.”

Netanyahu’s ruling coalition - which includes religious extremists and fascists - have been explicit in their opposition to a Palestinian state since gaining power. Their objectives have included an increase in settlements in the West Bank and calls to annex this area expected to make up a Palestinian state.

The rulers of Israel are not alone in their opposition. In a survey conducted last year on this question, 65 percent of Israelis said they oppose a Palestinian state.

“The Axis of Assistance”

Despite Saudi Arabia’s statement opposing normalisation, earlier this month Israel’s Channel 13 reported on a land corridor to Israel; a trade route allowing goods from ships transiting the Persian Gulf to be transferred onto trucks in the United Arab Emirates, pass through Saudi Arabia and onto Jordan, before entering the Port of Haifa in Israel via the Allenby Bridge - also called the King Hussein Bridge - which connects Jordan and Israel. The report stated that the trade route is “the realization of the Abraham Accords”. The Saudis are yet to comment on their involvement.   

Israel’s Minister of Transport Miriam Regev reported on goods entering Israel from India's Port Mundra and offered credence to the claim that this trade route came in response to Yemen’s Red Sea blockade against Israel-linked ships entering the Bab el-Mandeb strait, also known as “The Gate of Grief”, where 12 percent of the world’s goods pass through on ships.

Yemen’s resistance organisation, Ansar Allah - commonly but erroneously called the Houthis in the West - maintains the naval blockade is directed at Israel-linked ships only. In an interview with MintPress News earlier this month, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council said:

“Navigation through the Red Sea is safe for all ships except those linked to Israel. Until recently, 4,874 ships have safely crossed since we announced our operations. Approximately 70 ships pass through Bab al-Mandab [Strait] daily without harm.”

“Cemetery of Invaders”

Ansar Allah have stated repeatedly the blockade against Israel-linked ships will end when aid enters Gaza and Israel ends its aggression and siege of Gaza, and say their actions uphold the United Nation’s Genocide Convention which “establishes” on all signatories “the obligation to take measures to prevent and to punish the crime of genocide”. Yemen and Israel are both signatory to the convention. So too are the United States and Britain, who in response to the blockade, launched Operation Prosperity Guardian in December; a bombing campaign which has killed tens of Yemenis. 

Western airstrikes in Yemen have continued daily for weeks, striking residential areas, parks and Hodeida International Airport. This follows nine years of a genocidal, famine-ridden war on Yemen - which included a naval blockade - by Saudi Arabia, the United States and Britain, which killed over 400,000 Yemenis.

Yemen’s Red Sea blockade against genocide has resulted in no casualties, but has damaged Israel-linked ships, increased shipping insurance by up to 50 percent and successfully suspended European shipping to Israel by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, as well as oil giants, Shell and British Petroleum, increasing shipping times for Israel-bound ships by up to four weeks. Once expected to dock at Israel’s Eilat Port - which has suffered an 85 percent drop in activity and a complete suspension of ships has been reported by maritime traffic website Vessel Finder - the ships to Israel are now forced to travel around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. 

Zionist Land Corridor

Contrary to some claims about the recently announced land corridor between Israel and Arab states, dubbed “The Land Connectivity by Trucks” project, it did not start after the October revolt in Palestine, Israel’s genocide and Yemen’s blockade. 

News of this project first surfaced in July last year. 

Said to be the brainchild of Israeli economist Shira Greenberg, it was reported this route would operate whether or not the Saudis normalised relations with Israel. The project was due to expand beyond Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Jordan at a later date, with routes expected through Oman and Bahrain. 

Since Israel’s genocide in Gaza, citizens of states involved in the project have been protesting their inclusion. In December, Jordanian media denied reports of involvement in the trade route as “absolutely false”. This did not convince Jordananians, who despite state repression have been praying and protesting at the crossing linked to Israel. Jordanian police were also seen blocking entrances to the bridge to prevent others from attending the protests. 

"A land bridge to Gaza is required, not for the Zionists".

In the last two weeks, Jordanian protestors formed a human chain on roads where Israel-bound trucks were expected to pass through and large demonstrations have taken place outside Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli and U.S. embassies in Amman. Further protests have erupted against the state continuing its policy of exporting food to Israel. Huge protests against normalisation have also been seen in Morocco, which have included the country’s politicians. 

In Saudi Arabia, following Oct. 7, reports surfaced of authorities censoring discussions about Palestine in mosques, with the Palestinian flag banned in public. This week, a female pilgrim raised the flag of Palestine inside the Great Mosque of Mecca and was quickly stopped by police. Her whereabouts are unknown.  

Al-mawt li-ʾAmrīkā, Al-mawt li-ʾIsrāʾīl

Despite all the aid - material and political - from its main benefactor, the U.S. and other Western states, Israel’s quest for legitimacy in the region does not look promising, particularly after the barbaric and ongoing attacks on the people of Gaza. In a poll conducted last month in 16 Arab states, the majority believe “..with certainty that there can be no possibility for peace with Israel,” and consider the United States “the biggest threat to national security”, with 94 percent viewing it negatively.

The dictators of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, who in public offer stern words against Israel, speak out of both sides of their mouths. They could do well to take a leaf out of the book of the poorest Arab state - Yemen - which resists the genocide in Palestine with actions as well as words, with full consideration to saving their own backs from their own populations.

The Arab street has always supported Palestinians in their right to self-determination, and while things appear relatively calm in the states which signed normalisation deals with Israel, the mood of the masses could quickly and drastically change. As outrage against Israel’s genocide only increases, how much longer can those leading these states - propped up by a declining Western empire - maintain their rule?

The Oct. 7 Palestinian revolt exemplifies how quickly and dramatically things can move. The protests against normalisation have not stopped. Prior to the Palestinian revolt, we saw some pay the price for seeking to normalise with Israel. And as Israel continues to commit its live streamed genocide, those seeking normalisation, should expect to suffer the consequences.