Yes but
Other presidents have seen dictators as allies and have fomented coups to
unseat democratically elected leaders. Just because FDR chose to save Great
Britain and fight Hitler, doesn't mean that our country has always supported
Democracies and opposed Autocracies.
Isn't it infuriating that we destroyed democracy in Iran, supported an autocrat
there, and have been angry at Iran ever since the people revolted against the
autocrat we backed and chose a different kind of autocratic government that we
didn't back? And they added insult to injury by holding some of our citizens
hostage. We've never forgiven them for that.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2020 3:39 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: The Deceptive Trump, UAE-Israel 'Peace Deal'
There is truth to the old adage, Birds of a feather flock together.
But I cling to another old saying, There is no honor among thieves.
And one that my mother constantly preached, You are known by the company you
keep.
All are qualities possessed by Donald Trump. He admires and hangs out with
Dictators, he has demonstrated both by word and deed that he has no honor, and
the company he keeps looks, talks, and is just like him.
If anyone still wonders where Donald Trump is steering our Ship of State, just
remember the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is a microcosm of the once proud USA.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/16/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Deceptive Trump, UAE-Israel 'Peace Deal'
August 14, 2020
Among the most brutal realities for Palestinians is loss of support
from Arab states, who pay lip service to their own populations, while
drawing closer to Israel with economic interests and Iran in mind,
write Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold.
Kalandia checkpoint from West Bank into Jerusalem. (Joe Lauria)
By Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold
"HUGE breakthrough today," crowed Donald Trump on twitter as he
announced the new peace deal between Israel and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE). The deal makes the UAE the first Gulf Arab state and
the third Arab nation, after Egypt and Jordan, to have diplomatic ties
with Israel. But the new Israel-UAE partnership should fool no one.
Though it will supposedly stave off Israeli annexation of the West
Bank and encourage tourism and trade between both countries, in
reality, it is nothing more than a scheme to give an Arab stamp of
approval to Israel's status quo of land theft, home demolitions,
arbitrary extrajudicial killings, apartheid laws, and other abuses of
Palestinian rights.
The deal should be seen in the context of over three years of Trump
administration policies that have tightened Israel's grip on the
Palestinians: moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,
recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, and creating a
so-called peace plan with no Palestinian participation or input.
While no U.S. administration has successfully brokered a resolution to
Israel's now 53-year-long occupation, the Trump years have been
especially detrimental to the Palestinian cause. Palestinian leader
Hanan Ashrawi wrote on Twitter that with this deal, "Israel got
rewarded for not declaring openly what it's been doing to Palestine
illegally & persistently since the beginning of the occupation."
Indeed, with Donald Trump at the helm and son-in-law Jared Kushner as
the primary strategist, even concessions for Palestinians have been
done away with. To add insult to injury, while the deal had been
couched in terms of a commitment by Israel to suspend annexation of
Palestinian territories, in his Israeli press conference announcing
the deal, Netanyahu said annexation was "still on the table" and that
it was something he is "committed to."
UAE in 'Enemy Camp'
Among the most brutal aspects of this period for Palestinians have
been the loss of support for their cause in neighboring Arab states.
The Arab political party in Israel, Balad, said that by signing this
pact, "the UAE has officially joined Israel against Palestine, and
placed itself in the camp of the enemies of the Palestinian people."
The UAE has previously held a position consistent with public opinion
in Gulf and Middle East countries that the acceptance of formal
diplomatic relations with Israel should only take place in exchange
for a just peace and in accordance with international law. Back in
June, Emirati ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba penned an an
op-ed in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, the Israeli equivalent to USA
Today, appealing directly in Hebrew for Israel not to annex the West
Bank.
However, by working out an agreement with Trump and Netanyahu to
normalize relations, the country has now made itself Israel's partner
in cementing de facto annexation and ongoing apartheid.
The UAE's change from supporting Palestinian dignity and freedom to
supporting Israel's never-ending occupation is a calculated move by
UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, a shrewd Middle East dictator who
uses his country's military and financial resources to thwart moves
towards democracy and respect for human rights under the guise of
fighting Islamic terrorism.
His support for Israel cements his relationship with the Trump
administration.
Trump has already gone out of his way to push billions of dollars in
arms sales to the UAE, despite opposition from Congress because of
high number of civilian casualties associated with the use of those
weapons in Yemen.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also defended the UAE from credible
reports that U.S. weapons sold to the UAE have been transferred in
Yemen to groups linked to Al Qaeda, hardline Salafi militias and Yemeni
separatists.
The UAE was also stung by revelations of secret prisons it had been
operating in Yemen where prisoners were subjected to horrific forms of
torture, including "the grill," where victims were "tied to a spit
like a roast and spun in a circle of fire."
In Libya, the UAE has been criticized for violating a 2011 UN Security
Council arms embargo by supplying combat equipment to the LAAF, the
armed group commanded by General Khalifa Haftar with a
well-established record of human right abuses. So this deal with
Israel gives the UAE a much-needed veneer of respectability.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Jan.
12, 2019. (State Department photo/ Public Domain)
But it is impossible to understand the impetus for this deal without
putting it in the context of the ongoing hostilities between all three
countries and Iran. Following the old adage that "the enemy of my
enemy is my friend," in recent years Israel has been negotiating with
various Gulf states, including the UAE, to push back against Iran's
growing influence in the region.
As the communique announcing the Israeli-UAE deal asserted, the U.S.,
Israel and the UAE "share a similar outlook regarding threats in the
region." This dovetails with Trump's anti-Iran obsession, which
includes withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and his "maximum
pressure" campaign designed to force Iran back to the negotiating
table to make a "better deal."
In announcing the UAE-Israeli pact, Trump declared with ridiculous
bravado that if he wins the elections, he'll have a new deal with Iran
within 30 days. Anyone who believes this must be almost as delusional as
Trump.
Biden Boasts
The fact that this agreement between two Middle East countries was
first announced thousands of miles away in Washington DC shows how it
is more about shoring up Trump's slumping electoral campaign and
improving Netanyahu's battered image in Israel than bringing peace to
the Middle East.
It also shows that Netanyahu and bin Zayed have a stake in seeing
Trump win a second term in the White House.
Instead of pointing out the hollowness of the pact, Joe Biden's
response was unfortunately to congratulate Israel and the UAE and try
to take credit for the deal. "I personally spent time with leaders of
both Israel and the U.A.E. during our administration, building the
case for cooperation and broader engagement," he said. "I am gratified
by today's announcement."
The normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel, facilitated
by the U.S., serves to prop up three repressive leaders - Trump,
Netanyahu, and bin Zayed - and will cause further harm to
Palestinians. It is both a shame and a sham.
Medea Benjamin is cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace, and author of
several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of
the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Ariel Gold is the national co-director and Senior Middle East Policy
Analyst with CODEPINK for Peace.