Iraq intellectuals, activists denounce normalising delegation to UAE

Iraqi intellectuals and activists yesterday denounced the visit of an Israeli-American normalisation delegation. They considered it a “stab” in the back of the Palestinian cause and insisted that the visit is not welcome in the Arab world.

The first Israeli plane publicly landed on Tuesday in the UAE’s Abu Dhabi airport, three weeks after official relations were established between the two countries, carrying a joint US-Israeli delegation.

For two days, the delegation held meetings with prominent Emirati officials, which ended with the signing of cooperation agreements between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.

Commenting on the visit, Nassim Al-Rubaie, a professor of political science in Dhi Quar, said: “Normalisation with Israel is a violation of Arab nationalism and a confiscation of the Palestinian cause.”

He added that the visit of the American-Israeli delegation is considered a stab against the Palestinian cause, which for decades has been the cause of the Islamic and Arab nation.

He also emphasised that “there is a major problem consisting of Arabs racing to establish relations with Israel, and a huge media campaign is being conducted by Israel targeting the Arab peoples via marketing that Israeli society is peaceful, to gain more support for the normalisation.”

READ: Will Iraq be the next to jump on the normalisation bandwagon?

In turn, Iraqi writer Maher Judah said: “The visit of the American-Israeli delegation is unsuccessful, seeing that normalisation is widely refused.”

Judah warned of “the negative implications of the Israeli existence in Arab countries over the situation in the Middle East, which is already considered a hot region that does not bear more crises.”

On 13 August, US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal between the UAE and Israel brokered by Washington.

Abu Dhabi said the deal was an effort to stave off Tel Aviv’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, however, opponents believe normalisation efforts have been in the offing for many years as Israeli officials have made official visits to the UAE and attended conferences in the country which had no diplomatic or other ties with the occupation state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu however denied this saying annexation is not off the table, but has simply been delayed.