'Why do such powerful men kill such relatively powerless ones? Because being a despot is a nervous business. Who knows when your own population is going to decide it is tired of being dictated to?' | OPINION
The Bahraini regime has shot more bullets at its own people than it ever has at Israel. The UAE and Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen has killed more people in five years than Israel has lost in all the wars it has fought since 1948. But these regimes are always looking for help with surveillance and running their security states.
For many years now they have covertly looked to Israel, which in addition to being "the only democracy in the Middle East" also rules over millions of Palestinians who aren't its citizens in a super-securitised archipelago of checkpoints, jails and besieged towns. But the Gulf kings have also been courted by Beijing, with Chinese President Xi Jinping offering them 1 billion yuan to "build capacity for stability maintenance". It is not hard to imagine what this means when we look at the situation in Hong Kong or the treatment of the Muslim population in Xinjiang – a population about which the Gulf monarchs, though Muslims themselves, have maintained a studied silence..
But Trump can collect as many despots as he likes and stick them in his little scrapbook. This isn't a Pokemon game – it's a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians over Palestinians' basic human rights. Until the voices of those Palestinians are heard and enfranchised, rather than ignored and marginalised while rich men drink to each other's health, all talk of ass-saving and of historic breakthroughs is premature.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'Dawn of a new Middle East': Trump presides over historic peace deal | Sky News AustraliaUS President Donald Trump has declared the 'dawn of a new Middle East' as he facilitated the official signing of an historic Middle-Eastern peace compact between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. \n\nLeaders signed the declarations during a ceremony at the White House with the UAE and Bahrain the first Arab nations to sign diplomatic accords in almost three decades.\n\n'This is peace in the Middle East without blood all over the sand,' President Trump said.\n\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 'the blessings of the peace' would be enormous, calling on people to 'set aside all cynicism'.\n\nMass protests were held in the West Bank and Gaza where Palestinians set fire to images of Trump and Netanyahu and other Gulf leaders.\n\nThe Abraham Accords is intended to formalise the normalisation of relations between Israel and the two Gulf nations.\n\nThe agreements do not address the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.\n\nImage: AP\n\n
Read more »
'Dawn of a new Middle East': UAE and Bahrain sign US-brokered deals with IsraelIsrael signs historic diplomatic pacts with two Gulf Arab states at a White House ceremony as US President Donald Trump casts himself as an international peacemaker at the height of his re-election campaign.
Read more »
Donald Trump hails 'dawn of a new Middle East' as Israel signs landmark deals with UAE and BahrainIsrael normalised relations with long-time foes Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at a White House ceremony on Tuesday as President Donald Trump said similar US-brokered deals were close between the Jewish state and 'five or six' other nations.
Read more »
Trump presides as Israel, two Arab states sign historic pactsDeclaring 'the dawn of a new Middle East', President Donald Trump has presided over the signing of historic diplomatic pacts between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE.
Read more »
'Dawn of a new Middle East': Trump presides over historic peace deal | Sky News AustraliaUS President Donald Trump has declared the 'dawn of a new Middle East' as he facilitated the official signing of an historic Middle-Eastern peace compact between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. \n\nLeaders signed the declarations during a ceremony at the White House with the UAE and Bahrain the first Arab nations to sign diplomatic accords in almost three decades.\n\n'This is peace in the Middle East without blood all over the sand,' President Trump said.\n\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 'the blessings of the peace' would be enormous, calling on people to 'set aside all cynicism'.\n\nMass protests were held in the West Bank and Gaza where Palestinians set fire to images of Trump and Netanyahu and other Gulf leaders.\n\nThe Abraham Accords is intended to formalise the normalisation of relations between Israel and the two Gulf nations.\n\nThe agreements do not address the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.\n\nImage: AP\n\n
Read more »
'Dawn of a new Middle East': UAE and Bahrain sign US-brokered deals with IsraelIsrael signs historic diplomatic pacts with two Gulf Arab states at a White House ceremony as US President Donald Trump casts himself as an international peacemaker at the height of his re-election campaign.
Read more »