Codepink, the anti-war organization known for interrupting congressional hearings, opposed the new Israel-United Arab Emirates (UAE) peace deal announced by President Donald Trump on Thursday, saying it hurt Palestinians.
Under the terms of the deal, Israel and the UAE will establish “full normalization” in exchange for Israel suspending the extension of sovereignty over Jewish communities in Judea and Samara. Palestinian leaders opposed that “annexation” because they claim the territory, commonly known as the West Bank, as their own. The deal complies with that demand.
Codepink issued a press statement:
Peace group CODEPINK denounces the “historic peace deal” announced today that normalizes relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in exchange for Israel suspending plans to formally annex the West Bank. “We are not fooled by this fake diplomacy, which is nothing more than a way to maintain Israel’s status quo of land theft, home demolitions, arbitrary extrajudicial killings, apartheid laws, and other abuses of Palestinian rights,” said CODEPINK national co-director Ariel Gold. “Annexation is a daily reality on the ground. By normalizing relations with Israel without any gains for Palestinians, the UAE is pledging complicity with Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.”
The agreement between the UAE and Israel — facilitated by the Trump administration — comes on the heels of Trump 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. It also takes place within the context of the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, participating in a war in Yemen so brutal that it turned Yemen into the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet. Moreover, it must be seen in the context of the ongoing hostilities by all three countries with Iran and Trump’s failed policy of “maximum pressure” that was designed to force Iran back to the negotiating table.
“The ‘historic deal’ with the UAE and Israel does not move the Middle East any closer to peace,” said CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin. “On the contrary. It strengthens the Israel-US-Gulf alliance against Iran, which will further inflame tensions and cause more death and suffering, while maintaining Israel’s status quo of occupation and apartheid.”
The statement added that UAE should have withheld peace and diplomatic relations until there was “a just peace [with Palestinians].” It also said the peace deal served the political interests of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump, and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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