Massive Campaign And Warnings Underway To Thwart U.S. Peace Plan

What Is Behind the Opposition to Peace with Israel?

by Bassam Tawil

• The anti-Israel campaign in the Arab and Islamic world sees peace with Israel -- and not failed leadership, bad economic policies and corruption -- as the biggest threat to Arabs and Muslims. Recognizing Israel's right to exist is also seen by many Arabs and Muslims as a humiliation to their values, their culture, their political power and their economic traditions. They seem concerned that Arabs and Muslims might wake up one morning and start demanding freedom of expression and free and democratic elections like the ones held every few years in Israel.
  
  
• The anti-peace camp seems to want its people to continue living in misery and under dictatorships, so that it is easier to recruit people to jihad against Israel and the West. Also, if people are lifted from poverty and misery and begin to enjoy the fruits of modern civilization, there is a chance that Arabs and Muslims will move away from Islam and even start endorsing the inadmissible values of the West.
  
  
• The Trump administration will soon discover what every child in the Arab and Islamic world already knows: that the Israeli-Arab conflict is not about a settlement or a checkpoint or a security fence, but about Israel's very right to exist in the Middle East. The Trump administration will also learn that peace with Israel is seen by many Arabs and Muslims as nothing but an unacceptable threat that must at all costs be stopped.
  
  

Peace with Israel is purportedly a form of surrender and submission that will harm the dignity of Arabs and Muslims.

This is the theme of a massive campaign being waged by Palestinians and other Arabs in preparation for the announcement of the US administration's plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the "deal of the century." The plan, according to US officials, is expected to be announced sometime after the general elections in Israel, slated for April 9.

The latest campaign is designed to thwart the "deal of the century" and terrorize Arabs and Muslims who may wish to accept the US administration's peace plan.

As part of an effort to raise awareness to the dangers of the "deal of the century," an increasing number of Palestinians and Arabs are now trying to explain to their people why peace and normalization of ties with Israel is totally unacceptable.

The latest effort came in the form of an online campaign called "The International Anti-Normalization Campaign."

The organizers of the campaign say they are worried that some Arab states and leaders may cooperate with the "deal of the century." They are concerned because they see that some Arab states and leaders are already engaged in various forms of normalization with Israel.

The campaign clearly aims to send a warning not only to ordinary Arabs and Muslims, but also to their leaders, about the "dangerous repercussions" of making peace with Israel.

In the past year, Abbas has also repeatedly announced his rejection of the unseen "deal of the century." He has referred to the plan as a "conspiracy" and the "slap of the century." How then can he turn to his people and suddenly accept it -- or any deal that might recognize Israel's right to exist?

"Normalization [with Israel] is tantamount to defeat," explained Mohammed al-Adloni, secretary-general of an anti-Israel group, "The International Coalition for Supporting Jerusalem and Palestine."

The anti-peace camp in the Arab and Islamic world appears not to want its people exposed to advanced Israeli technology, including medical care. This camp seems to want its people to continue living in misery and under dictatorships, so that it is easier to recruit people to jihad against Israel and the West. Also, if people are lifted from poverty and misery, and their living conditions are improved so they begin to enjoy the fruits of modern civilization, there is a chance that Arabs and Muslims will move away from Islam and even start endorsing the inadmissible values of the West.

This camp, extremists, seem not to care about lowering the high rate of unemployment among Arabs and Muslims, improving the living conditions of its people or offering young Arabs and Muslims hope for a better future. They seem instead to want their people to continue living in misery so that their anger, again, can be directed more easily towards Israel and the West.

The anti-Israel campaign in the Arab and Islamic world sees peace with Israel -- and not failed leadership, bad economic policies and corruption -- as the biggest threat to Arabs and Muslims. The message that the anti-peace activists are sending to their people says: "Peace with Israel is the worst thing that could happen to us Arabs and Muslims because these Jews will invade our minds and our culture."

The Trump administration will soon discover what every child in the Arab and Islamic world already knows: that the Israeli-Arab conflict is not about a settlement or a checkpoint or a security fence, but about Israel's very right to exist in the Middle East. The Trump administration will also learn that peace with Israel is seen by many Arabs and Muslims as nothing but an unacceptable threat that must at all costs be stopped.