Opuscula Peace and the Ahmedah

A thought on the "normalization" agreements.

They are NOT "peace treaties."

They are, primarily, trade agreements.

A good start toward peace, but not peace.

Bahrani Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan at signing of the Abraham Accords on September 15, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

 

In the weekday Ahmedah (אמידה) we — Sefardim — read

"ועושה לה תקוב טובה ואחרית שלום"

Give us good hope and afterwards peace.¹

What we have with the "normalization" agreements is hope.

Hope that the governments — as they stand now — won't make war on us or send troops against us.

It will be years before we have a true "peace" with these not-next-door neighbors.

"Peace" to this scrivener's mind means acceptance by all our neighbors, not just the governments.

Peace with governments AND people

We have a "peace" treaty with Egypt and another with Jordan.

But, except for officials, traveling to — or from — either country is less than casual; indeed, it can be dangerous.

An Israeli can travel to Jordan, but he must leave his sedur in Israel.

An Egyptian has difficulty LEAVING Egypt for Israel.

Once there was a direct flight between Cairo and Lod. A thing of the past.

There are flights from Amman to Lod, but via a third country, often Turkey. A half hour flight now takes about 18 hours.

It could be worse. Israelis are prohibited from entering the PLO/PFLA-controlled areas and entry into Gaza by a sane Israeli almost is suicide. (Hamas is holding two Israelis who voluntarily entered Gaza. Both are thought to be mentally deficient. Hamas refuses to return them to Israel.)

Long memories

The U.S. "civil war" was ended more than 150 years ago.

Yet, today — December 2020 — there are places where "damnYankees" still are not welcome. In the north, many Southerners still are automatically considered racists, bigots, even sans any evidence of this.

While it would be NICE to think that the people of Bahrain, the UAE, Sudan, et al will welcome us in friendship, the "man in the street" in the end counts more than those in the governments.

I did not include Morocco as it has a generally welcoming population, albeit there are those who oppose not only peace with Israel but the king as well.

Sad but true. A Jew may be

  ✡ Safer in Bahrain than in France.

  ✡ Safer in the UAE than in Germany.

  ✡ Safer in Morocco than England.

For now.

On the flip side, Israelis, particularly those whose parents came from Muslim lands, need to control their hate of Muslims, Israeli Muslims and visitors from the "normalized" countries. Again, government officials are one thing; the man in the street is altogether a different matter.

Notes

1 Ahmedah, winter prayer "ברך עלינו" which most Ashkenazim don't have.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

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Comment on eace and the Ahmedah

Opuscula A few thoughts About Israel-UAE Peace agreement

With a great deal of hoopla and self-congratulations, Trump’s son-in-law is taking bows for lining up the third Muslim country in the region to make a pact with Israel.

Peace almost always is a good thing.¹

The accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), regardless of what it actually entails, should be a good thing for the region. 

The Sunni-dominated UAE is a winner in the deal as it, like Israel, is threatened by Shiite-dominated Iran.

The UAE military is smaller (not being threatened by an immediate neighbor is helpful) than Israel’s Defense Force.

For 2020, United Arab Emirates is ranked 45 of 138 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. ²

Always in a state of readiness, the nation of Israel fields one of the most capable military forces in the world - despite its size. For 2020, Israel is ranked 18 of 138 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. ³

The UAE is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. The GCC was established in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 1981. The purpose of the GCC is to achieve unity among its members based on their common objectives and their similar political and cultural identities, which are rooted in Arab and Islamic cultures.⁴

 

Countries belonging to the GCC (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski @ https://tinyurl.com/y47oxzm5)

 

Because the UAE is a GCC member state, it is likely, albeit not assured, that the other member states will either follow UAE’s lead or at least use the UAE as a conduit to Israel.

Qatar currently is the main source of revenue for Hamas, until recently depositing US$15 million-a-month into the terrorists’ pockets. The funds were earmarked by the Qataris for humanitarian aid. Qatar also funds some PLO/PFLP activities.

Qatar recently sent two planeloads of medical supplies to the PLO/PFLP. Abu Mazen and friends rejected the aid since the supplies were landed in Israel sans Abu Mazen’s permission! (The PLO/PFLP lacks an airport to accommodate a modern jumbo jet.)⁵

Despite funding Hamas and the PLO/PFLP, Qatar apparently has, as do most of the GCC states, a pragmatic relationship with Israel. This is not new; as early as the 1970s Saudi were buying Israeli-made air conditioners; they worked better in Saudia’s climate than the European brands.

Israelis visit GCC states

Netanyahu visits Oman, Oct. 2018 ⁶

Communications Minister Ayoub Kara's trip to Dubai, Oct. 2018 ⁷

Sport & Culture Minister Miri Regev at UAE judo competition, Oct. 2018⁸ Regev, of Moroccan descent, also visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.⁹

 

Israeli Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev, middle, shakes hands with Mohamed Bin Tha'loob Al Derai, President of UAE Wrestling Judo & Kickboxing Federation, after one Israeli player won the bronze medal during the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Judo tournament in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018. (AP/Kamran Jebreili @ https://tinyurl.com/y266oxes)

 

Some concerns

The rapprochement between Israel and the GCC is not without concerns.

For example, Qatar had been at odds with other GCC members and Egypt for some time. ¹⁰

Direct Flights Emirates and Etihad already overfly Saudia to deliver aid to the PLO/PFLP. Will Israeli airlines (El Al, IsrAir) be allowed to overfly Saudia? Saudia is a GCC member.

Iran is troublesome for ALL middle eastern countries (and beyond).

Will agreements between Israel and individual GCC states include mutual military assistance? Israel has the strongest and best trained military in the region. While there is military cooperation with Egypt, a mutual assistance agreement to defend against a belligerent state (e.g., Libya) is not part of the public peace deal.

PLO/PFLP & Hamas Will the GCC states abandon the “Palestinians” and would that be good for Israel.

Both the PLO/PFLP and Hamas, with Islamic Jihad at its side, have proven their dependence on Israel, yet all are bent on Israel’s destruction. If the GCC quits funneling funds to the terrorists, if the GCC quits supporting the terrorists politically to the rest of the world (primarily the EU), will the terrorists finally be driven to abandon terrorism and make a true peace with Israel? One that does not have an “expiration date.” Or will the terrorists continue to receive support from the EU, and — like Pharaoh — “harden their hearts” and continue their sworn goal of a Jewish-free “Palestine.”

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Sources

1. Peace is not a good thing when it is faux pax^cq (see https://tinyurl.com/y4utkrv3) that allows a sworn enemy, e.g., Hamas or Hezbollah, to rearm and prepare for a new aggression.

2. UAE military: https://tinyurl.com/y45g4cy6

3. Israel military: https://tinyurl.com/ya9wppoa

4. GCC: https://tinyurl.com/y47oxzm5

5. Medical supplies to PLO/PFLP: https://tinyurl.com/y2dtsu37

6. Netanyahu in Oman: https://tinyurl.com/yd48z583

7. Ayoub Kara in Dubai: https://tinyurl.com/y6c9yput

8. Mimi Regev at judoka: https://tinyurl.com/yytd8buk

9: Miri Regev outside mosque: https://tinyurl.com/yarefvqx

10. Qatari conflicts: https://tinyurl.com/y4fd63ep

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

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