RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/the-flight-path-to-hope?

In a momentous development, the first direct commercial flight between Israel and a Gulf state took place today. El Al flight 971, bearing a greeting of peace painted on its fuselage in Arabic, Hebrew and English and carrying White House adviser and First Son-in-Law Jared Kushner,  US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien and Israel’s National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, flew from Ben Gurion airport to Abu Dhabi.

For those eagerly tracking the flight, there was a particularly emotional moment when the Israeli plane passed through Saudi Arabian airspace, at one point over Riyadh. 

For so long, Saudi Arabia has been the epicentre of Sunni Islamic hostility to Israel. Until now, Israeli aircraft were denied passage through its airspace. But the normalisation agreement with the UAE which gave rise to flight 971 could not have happened without  the Saudis’ approval. Might one now dare to hope that a new and positive chapter is now opening in the century-old war against Israel’s existence by the Arab world?

On the Ben Gurion tarmac, Kushner said:

I prayed yesterday at the Western Wall [in Jerusalem] that Muslims and Arabs from throughout the world will be watching this flight recognising that we are all children of God and that the future does not have to be predetermined by the past. 

Before the flight, the UAE repealed its 1972 law boycotting products from Israel and economic contacts with Israelis. The proposed full normalisation of diplomatic ties between the two countries is of course highly significant, opening up huge trading and diplomatic possibilities that could potentially transform Israel’s relationship with the Arab world. But the normalisation agreement has not yet been signed, and despite today’s celebrations the path ahead may not be without drama.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-emirates-usa/israeli-u-s-officials-arrive-in-uae-on-historic-trip-to-finalize-accord-idUSKBN25R0LX

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Top aides to U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the United Arab Emirates on a historic flight from Tel Aviv on Monday to finalize a pact marking open relations between the Gulf power and Israel. Even before discussions start in Abu Dhabi, the delegates made aviation history when the Israeli commercial airliner flew over Saudi territory on the direct flight from Tel Aviv to the UAE capital.

“That’s what peace for peace looks like,” Netanyahu tweeted, describing a deal for formal ties with an Arab state that does not entail handover of land that Israel captured in a 1967 war.

Announced on Aug. 13, the normalization deal is the first such accommodation between an Arab country and Israel in more than 20 years and was catalyzed largely by shared fears of Iran.

Palestinians were dismayed by the UAE’s move, worried that it would weaken a long-standing pan-Arab position that called for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory – and acceptance of Palestinian statehood – in return for normal relations with Arab countries.

Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and national security adviser Robert O’Brien head the U.S. delegation. The Israeli team is led by O’Brien’s counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat. Officials will explore bilateral cooperation in areas such as commerce and tourism, and Israeli defense envoys are due to visit the UAE separately.

https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/remembering-other-historic-flights/

While many critics of the Trump administration were focused laser-like on the second day of the Republican National Convention in their criticism of Secretary Mike Pompeo for speaking to the convention from Jerusalem, part of his own focus seemed to be on a different historical aspect of the day.

The secretary tweeted on August 25th that he was “Happy to announce that we are on the FIRST official NONSTOP flight from Israel to Sudan!”

The word that may have stood out to some readers of the tweet was “official.” When were there any “unofficial” flights? Were there any illegal flights?

The very popular and star-studded Netflix movie The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019) featured just such a Sudan to Israel flight at its dramatic conclusion.

The Chris Evans / Ben Kingsley film reveals the amazing true story of the 1984-1985 covert op when Mossad agents with members of the Israel Defense Forces rescued hundreds of Ethiopian Jews. The Ethiopian Jew had sought shelter in Sudan from both a devastating famine and a bloody Marxist insurgency that ravaged Ethiopia leaving over a million dead. Sudan itself was in the midst of a Civil War.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16417/israel-uae-palestinian-support

Some Palestinians do not share their leaders’ rage toward the United Arab Emirates. These Palestinians say they are worried that the Palestinian leadership’s overreaction to the UAE-Israel deal is counterproductive and will cause further harm to the Palestinian cause.

By ignoring these voices, Mahmoud Abbas and his associates are again showing that they have no problem acting against the interests of their own people. Worse, by condemning the Israel-UAE deal on a daily basis, the leaders of the Palestinians have made it clear that they prefer to side with Iran and its Palestinian and Lebanese proxies — Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah — in rejecting any compromise with Israel.

“The peace treaty between the UAE and Israel comes as a significant breakthrough in the course of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations that have been stalled for 30 years. This important achievement reduces Arab expectations, which destroyed many of our lives and dreams and wasted billions of dollars that could have been invested in future generations and modern technology…. The Emirati move is an advanced step towards achieving a comprehensive peace.” — Sameh Kaoush, Palestinian poet and journalist, based in the UAE.

By arresting and threatening Palestinians who dare publicly to promote the Israel-UAE deal, the Palestinian leaders are again demonstrating that they, like all other Arab dictators, evidently consider basic human rights a privilege they reserve for themselves alone.

As Palestinian leaders continue to wage a massive campaign of incitement against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because of its normalization agreement with Israel, some Palestinians have come out in support of the deal and accused the Palestinian leadership of harming Palestinians’ relations with the Arab states.

In the past two weeks, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of his ruling Fatah faction have repeatedly accused the UAE and its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Zayed, of “stabbing the Palestinians in the back with a poisonous dagger” and betraying Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian cause.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/gang-rape-at-the-red-sea-hotel/

In a sign of societal health, Israelis expressed unified horror at the news of a gang rape that took place earlier this month in the southern resort town of Eilat. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and President Reuven Rivlin were joined by members of Knesset across the political spectrum in condemning the assault on a 16-year-old girl from Ashkelon and in denouncing sexual violence in general.

Demonstrators around the country have been taking to the streets to convey their solidarity with the victim and rail against the legal system for not doing enough to curb the phenomenon. Chanting slogans, such as, “We believe you!” and “I’m not your toy” (the title of Israel’s winning Eurovision Song Contest entry in 2018, performed by Netta Barzilai), protesters are demanding that the government allocate more money to programs aimed at combating violence against women. They are also calling for better medical and psychological care for sexual-abuse victims.

Every media outlet continues to follow and update the story of the girl, who allegedly was raped by multiple men (for what police describe as “many long hours”) at the Red Sea Hotel.

So far, more than 11 suspects have been arrested, among them two in their late 20s and the rest under the age of 18. According to police statements, testimony provided by a female friend who traveled to Eilat with the victim was corroborated by evidence found on the scene. Though law-enforcement officials have yet to release precise details of the event, the outline that has emerged is stomach-turning.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16394/turkey-erdogan-israel-uae

“Erdogan’s Turkey has been normalizing its relations with Israel since the establishment of Israel.” — Rawaf al-Soain, Saudi writer, Twitter, August 14, 2020.

“Erdogan is trading in the Palestinian cause. Turkey has had relations with Israel for more than 70 years, but it has done nothing good for the Palestinians all these years.” — Abdullah al-Bander, Saudi political activist, Twitter, August 18, 2020.

“The statement was actually issued by Erdogan, the official sponsor of terrorist groups in the region. He uses these groups to destabilize the Arab countries, including Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Egypt…. Only the terrorist groups see him as the Emir of the Faithful and Caliph of Muslims… Where is his support for the Palestinian cause when he directs all his support to Hamas and ignores the Palestinian Authority? He hosts wanted terrorists in Ankara and allows them to establish radio and television stations to preach the Muslim Brotherhood ideology.” — Adel al-Sanhoury, Egyptian columnist, youm7.com, August 21, 2020.

In a statement that has raised many eyebrows in the Arab world, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on August 14 that he is considering suspending diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and withdrawing the Turkish ambassador from Abu Dhabi.

Erdogan’s threat came in response to the agreement (“Abraham Accord”) between the UAE and Israel to establish normal relations between the two countries.

A joint statement issued by US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Zayed read:

“This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region.”