“If anyone imagines they just witnessed a Trump-led ceremony ushering in a new, more peaceful Middle East, then I have a magical cure for COVID to sell you; it’s based on a recipe of chickpea, tahini, lemon, and olive oil …”

“Israel’s treaties with the UAE and Bahrain lack any explicit recognition of Israel as a Jewish state or endorsement of the two-state solution, but rather says parties will be ‘guided in their relations’ by UN resolutions and international law.”

“For the signatories of the Abraham Accords, peace means squashing people’s freedoms to unlock unfettered exchanges of technology and weapons.”

“The biggest threat to the Arab world’s authoritarians and occupiers is popular demands for democracy and freedom. The Abraham Accords aim to eliminate this threat forever.”

“The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that the normalisation agreements signed between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain will not bring stability to the Middle East in the absence of a just settlement to the Palestinian issue.”

“Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz reiterated his nation’s firm stance on the Palestinian cause, warning Thursday that a ‘comprehensive peace’ is impossible as long as Israel continues acting unilaterally, Anadolu Agency reported the Jordan News Agency as saying. A comprehensive and just peace will not be achieved unless the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are met,’ he said in a statement.’ ‘We will not reach a just and comprehensive peace if Israel continues with its unilateral measures, which undermines the rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on their national soil, with Jerusalem as its capital.’”

“Qatar has no problem with normalizing relations with Israel but will not do so before a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is reached, the Gulf nation’s ambassador to the US has said. Mishaal bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani told Voice of America on Wednesday that Qatar remains committed to the Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi-backed proposal from 2002 that promises Israel full diplomatic ties with the entire Muslim world in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines. ‘We believe in a two-state solution for the Palestinians and in securing Israel’s borders, and if these conditions are fulfilled, then we don’t see any reason for Qatar to not normalize relations with Israel,’ Al-Thani said.”

“Israelis should ‘feel at home, feel accepted’ in Abu Dhabi, says head of emirate’s Department of Culture and Tourism in video call with Israeli FM chief Alon Ushpiz.”

Also see:

Haaretz: Bahrain’s Repressed Opposition Moved by Israel Normalization Deal
Al Bawaba: Bahrainis Continue to Protest Manama’s Normalization Deal With Israel For The 6th Night
Al Araby: Bahrain’s normalisation deal with Israel is lots of risk for little gain
Al Araby: More than a million sign petition against UAE-Israel normalisation

Al Bawaba: Emiratis, Bahrainis Reject New Ties With Israel

“The official normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a rare victory for the United States’ overall political and military strategy in the Middle East and has significant global implications. Should Israel elect to accept a measure of risk by supporting the sale of F-35 fighters to the UAE, both parties could see immediate as well as longer-term benefits.”

“The Israeli intelligence firm Cellebrite sent an employee to Riyadh at the request of the Saudi government in order to hack into a phone in the possession of the kingdom’s justice ministry, according to an investigation by Haaretz. The report claims that in November 2019, the Cellebrite representative flew from London to the Saudi capital where he was picked up by a government official. At Cellebrite’s request, the employee did not have his passport stamped at the border or have the electric equipment he was carrying checked.”

“The peace agreements signed on Tuesday between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain promise Israelis an exotic new destination for business and tourism. However, hours after the announcement came out last month regarding the ‘Abraham Accords,’ as the agreement with the UAE was dubbed, accounts began emerging of Israeli tech and cyber companies who had already signed contracts with the Muslim state years ago, under strict confidentiality. As long as those contracts were signed with representatives of states that are considered moderate and tolerant towards Israel, such as the UAE, we could all sleep easily. However, that was not always the case. Former senior officials from the Israeli defense sector attest that the Israeli government and the defense establishment either didn’t know about, or chose to ignore, the fact that for many years, Israeli companies had been doing business with other Persian Gulf states with whom Israel does not have diplomatic ties, and likely won’t have any in the future due to their alliances with enemy states like Iran, or an ideological affinity to it as it relates to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.”

“Agribusiness, retail, housing, and hospitality look like good bets for Israel-Gulf trade.”

“The accord between Israel and the UAE will help the latter shift its reliance on oil production and exportation to other industries in the near future, Emirati Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al-Mari told a gathering hosted by the Atlantic Council and attended by Arab News.”

“Israel plans to persuade the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to promote the construction of a pipeline between Saudi Arabia and Israel for oil and distillates for shipping, from the Mediterranean coast onto Europe and the US. The intended construction plans to use the existing infrastructure of the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. Ltd. (EAPC). Such a plan would financially benefit Israel and be cheaper and safer for the Gulf states, by bypassing dangerous sea routes and the costly Suez Canal, Israel’s The Globes newspaper reported. This project would shorten the time and cost of shipping oil and distillates from the Gulf to the West via the Suez Canal, while Israel could earn an estimated several hundred million US dollars per year.”

“Netanyahu is an expert when it comes to deferring difficult choices.  Yet eventually a choice will have to be made between acquiescing to the erosion of Israel’s qualitative military edge and limiting how deep its ties with newfound friends in the Gulf will be allowed to go.”

“The tourism ministers of Israel and Bahrain held a first publicly acknowledged phone call on Thursday and discussed possible ventures including three-way travel packages involving the United Arab Emirates, an Israeli statement said. The conversation between Israel’s Asaf Zamir and Bahrain’s Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani followed a White House ceremony on Tuesday at which their countries pledged to establish relations. The UAE and Israel also formalized ties at the same event. In an interview with a local Emirati newspaper, Zamir said he hopes tourism between Israel and the UAE could start early next year.”

“The Palestinian Authority will resume negotiations with Israel fairly soon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes. In a closed-door conversation, Netanyahu said that the regional significance of the newly-signed peace deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain left the Palestinians no option other than to come back to the table. However, the prime minister said that talks with the PA would re-launch only after the US presidential election on Nov. 3, and only if US President Donald Trump is re-elected. In the case of a Trump victory, Netanyahu said, he would begin negotiations based on the Trump administration peace plan, as he promised to do.”

“One of the most perverse aspects of the Middle East conflict is the rejection of Jews’ right to pray on the Temple Mount. That must change if the Abraham Accords are to have any meaning.”

“A general closure will be imposed on the crossings from Judea, Samaria, and Gaza during the High Holidays, an IDF spokesperson announced Thursday night. The decision was made following an assessment of the security situation. The Rosh Hashanah closure will begin tonight at midnight and will end at midnight on Sunday after the conclusion of the festival. The Yom Kippur closure will begin at midnight the night of September 27 and will end the following midnight. The Sukkot closure will begin at midnight the night of October 1 and will end at midnight on the night of October 3. The Simchat Torah closure will begin at midnight on the night of October 8 and will end at midnight on the night of October 10. Exceptions will be made for humanitarian and medical cases, subject to the approval of COGAT.”

“Israeli settlers allegedly chopped down dozens of olive trees in the As-Sawiya village in the West Bank on Friday afternoon, WAFA – Palestinian News Agency reported. The settlers reportedly came from the nearby Rehelim settlement and chopped down dozens of olive trees, some of which were hundreds of years old. Olive farming is one of the largest sources of income for Palestinians living in the West Bank.”

“In the dead of night, Border Police stopped a car carrying three young Palestinians and without a word shot one of them in the head, point blank. Now he may lose his eyesight.”

“Three Palestinians — one man and two women — were shot and killed “meters away” from an Israeli checkpoint northeast of Bethlehem on Thursday, Palestinian Authority Police spokesperson Louay Irzeiqat said. According to a police statement, four people in an unmarked vehicle stopped the three Palestinians and shot them. Irzeiqat said that the identities of the shooters remain unknown, but that PA law enforcement are mobilizing in the area to investigate. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said that they did not know of any involvement by Israeli security forces. Irzeiqat also did not suggest that the assailants were Israelis.”

“Contradicting Netanyahu, Roni Alsheich says 2017 incident, in which law enforcement has been accused of suppressing evidence, was ‘certainly a terrorist attack.’”

“A poll published Wednesday showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failing to garner any significant boost in popularity from the previous day’s signing of accords with two Arab states, with rivals from the right and center threatening to mount a significant challenge as the government faces a backlash over the return to a national lockdown. The survey, published by Channel 13 news, showed Netanyahu’s Likud party leading with 30 seats, six fewer than it currently holds, and on par with other surveys in the last couple of months.”

“Israel’s new national coronavirus lockdown, the country’s second this year, entered into effect Friday at 2 p.m., marking the first time in the world an advanced country has imposed a repeat closure to curb the pandemic. The three-week shutdown, requiring the closure of many businesses and setting strict limits on movement and public gatherings, starts just hours before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and will extend through other key religious holidays, including Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Some 7,000 policemen and soldiers, backed up by local municipality personnel, were to deploy throughout the country to enforce the closure using roadblocks and patrols, amid concerns that an exhausted and exasperated Israeli public will be far less cooperative with the new sweeping restrictions than during the initial wave of the pandemic.”

“The political careers of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have become increasingly linked. The linkage goes well beyond the parallel personal interests they have in such things as the hyping of recent diplomatic developments involving Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. It extends to a similarity of political methods that over the long term works to the detriment of both Americans and Israelis.”

“U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that the Jewish state will be in trouble if he loses the presidential election. ‘Whatever you can do in terms of Nov. 3 is going to be very important because if we don’t win, Israel is in big trouble,’ he said during his annual call with Jewish leaders ahead of Rosh Hashanah, a recording of which was obtained by JNS. ‘If we don’t win, certain races are going to be lost; you lose control of the Senate and you’re going to lose control of Israel,’ he added. ‘Israel will never be the same. I don’t know if it can recover from” Democrats, including their presidential nominee, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.’”

“Some Jewish Americans are fiercely condemning President Donald Trump for repeating rhetoric they consider to be ‘textbook anti-Semitism.’ During an annual White House conference call to honor the upcoming High Holidays on Wednesday, Trump told American Jewish leaders, ‘we really appreciate you, we love your country also and thank you very much.’ The president’s apparent suggestion that Americans are Israelis is similar to previous remarks Trump has made and sparked outrage over, including when he told an audience of Jewish Americans that Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu is ‘your prime minister’ and called Jews who are Democrats ‘disloyal.’”

“Today B’nai B’rith International along with major Jewish organizations working with the EU institutions, launched a unified position on tackling anti-Semitism online, in response to the Digital Services Act consultation by the European Commission. Joining us as partner organizations are the American Jewish Committee Transatlantic Institute, B’nai B’rith Europe, CEJI – A Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe, the European Jewish Congress, the European Union of Jewish Students and the World Jewish Congress…Among the demands formulated are the push for platforms to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism as part of community standards, data collection and analysis to better understand the spread of anti-Semitism online, platform transparency with regard to algorithms, support for civil society actors to be effective parts of the conversation and a call to disincentivize profit stemming from harmful content.” Also see: letter to European Commission and dedicated website of the campaign.

“Amid growing controversy over a possible International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Israel, newly published results from a survey conducted by EKOS Research Associates show that Canadians do not want Israel to be treated differently than other countries when it comes to consequences for alleged war crimes or human rights violations. The survey found that Canadians support an ICC investigation of any country accused of war crimes, including Israel, and they do not want Canada to overlook Israel’s human rights violations. The survey further found that Canadians do not support recognizing Jerusalem as exclusively Israel’s capital.”

“The faculty advisory board of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law has resigned following a controversy over the hiring of a new director for the program. Edward Iacobucci, dean of the prestigious law school, has come under fire, accused of rescinding an offer of directorship to prominent international academic Valentina Azarova. Several national and international scholars wrote to the university to express their consternation that the reversal came after reports of pressure from a sitting judge — a major donor to the faculty. He reportedly expressed concerns in private over Azarova’s past work on the issue of Israel’s human rights abuses in Palestine. All the letters mentioned here have been seen by the Star….” Also see: The Globe & Mail – U of T law school under fire for opting not to hire human-rights scholar after pressure from sitting judge; Middle East Eye – University of Toronto rescinds job offer to academic over Israel criticism

“Dozens of organizations expressed outrage on Thursday after the president of San Francisco State University (SFSU) defended an upcoming online event featuring infamous Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled. Khaled — a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who took part in the hijacking of a Tel Aviv-bound commercial flight in 1969 — will take part in Zoom call titled, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice and Resistance: A Conversation with Leila Khaled,” on Sept. 23. The 76-year-old Khaled remains affiliated with the PFLP, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.” Also see: Jerusalem Post – Israeli law firm [Shurat HaDin] demands California uni. drop PLFP hijacker as speaker