Al-Qalam 
[Photo source: Times of Israel]
As long as Israel continues with repression of the Palestinian people, any attempts by Arab rulers to normalize ties with Israel is doomed to fail, writes Dr Mustafa Mheta.
The current on-going FIFA Soccer World Cup has really exposed the cracks that exist between Arab citizens and their rulers in the Gulf countries. Judging by the sentiments we have seen on TV being expressed by Arabs in the Gulf countries, it can only be fair to conclude that the majority of the Gulf countries’ citizens do not see the normalization of relations with Israel in the same way as their rulers.
The citizens in many of these Gulf countries that have normalised with Israel, or are about to normalise, are opposed to what we are told in mainstream media. The outpouring of sympathy and solidarity with the Palestinians that we are seeing in Qatar raises a lot of hope that the Arab public has not abandoned the Palestinian cause as previously thought.
This development actually pours cold water on those who wanted us to believe that there is absolutely no solidarity with Palestine whatsoever in the Arab world. Arab citizens are openly showing it to the entire world that they are still with the Palestinians in their struggle against Apartheid/Zionist Israel occupation, throwing an egg on the faces of the proponents of the so-called Abrahamic Accords.
There can be no normalization while the Palestinian brothers are killed by the occupying force, have their houses demolished and humiliated everyday of their lives. What kind of Abrahamic brotherhood is this? Israel continues to do the opposite of what they want to make the world believe. And with the so-called Abrahamic Accords, Israel wanted to score against Islam by projecting an image that it’s the Muslims who are refusing peace.
However, the whole world and indeed the entire Arab citizenry have seen through this façade and are now openly denouncing these hypocritical accords as a Public Relations exercise that has gone wrong, thanks to Apartheid/Zionist Israel’s hypocrisy.
Judging by the sentiments that are being openly displayed by the Gulf Arab citizenry, Israel is not yet welcome in that part of the world clearly leaving the Arab leaders – who are the proponents of this project – extremely worried by the behavior of their subjects whom they thought would be that naïve and accept the so-called Abrahamic Accords piecemeal without question.
Furthermore, as long as Israel does not change its behavior on the ground and continues with its repression of the Palestinian people, the so-called normalization will not work. The end results might have repercussions in both Israel and in these Gulf countries. Instability could extend to their doorsteps in most Gulf countries in the not too distant future. Some of these Arab rulers are actually gambling with their political future as instability could rise leading to change of government.
What makes it interesting is the fact that, if the ordinary citizens in these countries are with the Palestinians, then there is no need to mind what the leadership in these Gulf countries think because what matters is what the people think anyway.
Israelis thought it would be a walk in the park now with the treacherous Abrahamic Accords in place; they are being told openly that they are not welcome there. Aluta Continua!
*Dr. Mustafa Mheta is a senior researcher/Head of Africa Desk, Media Review Network SA; Dean: School of Languages at Somali National University (SNU) Mogadishu, Federal Republic of Somalia
