The American Floating Pier Unveiled: What Are Its Impacts on the Future of Palestinians in Gaza?

The UAE, a Gulf state that has normalized relations with “Israel,” seized the opportunity to demonize student protests in American universities against the Gaza genocide by labeling the students as victims of "Islamic extremism."

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, amidst Abu Dhabi's battle with the Muslim Brotherhood, reposted an old video from 2017. In this video, shared at a Western forum in Saudi Arabia, he warns and incites against Muslims in the West, labeling them as radical extremists.

Immediately after bin Zayed reposted the provocative video against European Muslims, implicitly accusing them of being behind the student protests against “Israel” in the U.S. and Western countries, Zionist and American media picked up the video, promoting it widely

The video was reposted by Visegrad 24, known for promoting anti-Islam, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian content, along with false Israeli propaganda, which has increased particularly with the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Elon Musk, the American billionaire owner of the X platform, also shared it, placing the video prominently among propaganda videos against American university students and raising questions about the UAE's intentions.

Why Now?

Abdullah bin Zayed's reposting of his previous opinions against Western Muslims, describing them as extremists, coincided with a Zionist campaign to demonize university students and portray them as anti-Semitic, despite most protesters not being Arab or Muslim.

The reposting by the Zionist Visegrad 24 account of the old video and its wide sharing was part of this Zionist plan, in which the UAE appears to be actively and officially participating.

Bin Zayed's video, originally posted in 2017, was reposted with a caption, “I told you so.” 

In the video, he said that not tightening the laws on Islamists enough in Europe will produce a new generation of terrorists and extremists.

Addressing the session's chairperson in the video, Abdullah bin Zayed said, "Let me say this in English so you can understand what I am saying. I know you have [a] translation, but I just want to make sure you get it right.”

"There will come a day that we will see far more radical extremists and terrorists coming out of Europe because of lack of decision-making, trying to be politically correct or assuming that they know the Middle East and Islam and the others far better than we do,” as if to describe the protesters in American and European universities against “Israel” as extremists.

Elon Musk also promoted the video of the UAE Foreign Minister, adding a comment that said, "He knows exactly what he’s talking about."

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz naturally welcomed the video's publication, stating, "This is a wake-up call to the leaders of the free world facing the threat of radical Islam. What was true seven years ago is even more true now. We must stop Iran and the axis of evil before it's too late.”

Zionist writers also seized on Musk's tweet, claiming he supports Abdullah bin Zayed's remarks about Islamic extremism.

The reposting of the video by Israeli propaganda accounts and pro-normalization commentators coincided with protests in many American and European universities condemning Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Some comments viewed the video's reposting as part of an organized campaign to portray the events in Western societies as driven by "Islamists behind the pro-Palestinian demonstrations."

The truth is that the majority of the protesters are non-Muslims, including many Westerners of all religions, and a significant number of Jews who openly declare their stance.

These individuals criticize “Israel” and Zionism for their actions in Palestine, with slogans like "Not in my name," indicating that Israeli Occupation’s actions do not represent them as Jews.

Demonization and Distortion

On November 26, 2023, as movements in the West against the Gaza aggression and university student participation began, Yedioth Ahronoth revealed a strategy by the Israeli government to target university students in America.

The plan aims to demonize, distort, and defame protesting university students in America and Europe, alleging they incite hatred against Jews and are anti-Semitic.

The newspaper explained that the plan involves imposing economic and employment consequences on students accused of anti-Semitism, and pressuring universities to expel them.

Notably, the plan, reported by Yedioth Ahronoth and the Jewish agency, The Telegraph, identified U.S. campuses as key action points.

They claimed funding for these students comes from countries like Qatar and attributed the rise of Islamic student organizations to challenging Western values on American campuses.

This raises questions about the synergy between Emirati and Israeli plans to discredit American university students, portraying them as driven by "extremist" Islamic organizations.

The Israeli plan includes defaming Gaza supporters by publishing names of pro-Gaza students and faculty, preventing them from getting jobs.

Jewish-American billionaire Bill Ackman played a role in the economic aspect of this strategy, tracking and threatening protesting students, leading efforts to prevent their employment post-graduation. His influence was noted in the resignation of Harvard's president.

The plan also includes filing lawsuits against students and professors under anti-Semitism charges, alongside diplomatic actions between “Israel” and the U.S. to penalize these students.

The UAE's involvement in defending “Israel” against the genocide in Gaza and demonizing Western protesters, whether in universities or on the streets, as extremists driven by radical Islamists, fits into its longstanding campaign against Islamic movements, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood in the West.

This role was exposed by an investigative report, “Abu Dhabi Secrets: the Arabs of the Emirates targeted by the French and Swiss courts,” («Abu Dhabi Secrets»: les barbouzes des Émirats visés par les justices française et suisse) published by the French investigative site Mediapart on April 15, 2024, and noted in Al-Estiklal previous report.

The UAE's efforts include discrediting personalities, countries like Qatar, and the Muslim Brotherhood through influence operations and smear campaigns via fake articles published by mercenary journalists in European media.

The UAE's strategy of tracking and spying on European or American Muslims, some of Arab descent, to demonize them under the pretext of pursuing the Muslim Brotherhood dates back to 2017. Documents revealed in Belgium, Switzerland, and France confirmed Abu Dhabi's dubious role in discrediting its political opponents.

Abu Dhabi compiled names of around 1,000 Europeans and 400 European organizations from 18 countries to pursue and defame them, alleging their affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood or connections to it.

A key example of the UAE's role in discrediting prominent Muslim researchers in the West and demonizing university students opposing Israeli Occupation was the scandal known as Luxor in Austria.

Arab Concern

In late March 2024, American political science researcher Farid Hafez filed a lawsuit in Washington against the UAE and a Swiss intelligence company, accusing them of defamation and demonization during his tenure in Austria.

Hafez's lawsuit claimed they were responsible for the defamatory campaign that portrayed him as an extremist Islamist affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, leading to his arrest in Austria based on UAE's false allegations, which proved to be unfounded.

Due to the UAE's incitement and defamation, Hafez and many Austrian Muslims faced searches, investigations, and arrests during the Luxor operation conducted by the Austrian government in November 2020.

The operation was based on fabricated accusations and defamation led by the UAE, in collaboration with academic Lorenzo Vidino, who claims expertise in Islamic extremism. 

Mediapart investigation revealed he received payments as part of his mission for the Gulf state.

In 2021, relying on a study by an Italian researcher hostile to European Muslims, Austria's far-right government launched a campaign against homes, businesses, and associations of Austrian Muslims, alleging their affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.

It turned out that the campaign against 60 Islamic sites in Austria and the arrest of 30 Muslims were based on an intelligence report written by Lorenzo Vidino for the UAE, paid for demonizing Austrian Muslims, alleging they funded Hamas and Gaza.

Austrian Muslims accused the UAE of being behind this and other campaigns in countries like France, aiming to tighten the siege on the Brotherhood and Palestinians supporting Gaza against the Israeli blockade.

It seems the American and European university protests embarrassed Arab regimes that fear the contagion despite severe repression within universities.

A report by the New York Times on April 29, 2024, highlighted that Arab regimes are driven to suppress pro-Gaza demonstrations in their countries by the fear that these protests might turn against their leaders, accusing them of betraying Palestine.

The report stated that the Gaza war and what many Arabs see as complicity by their governments have reinvigorated an old wedge between rulers and the ruled with new intensity.

The New York Times interviewed citizens in Egypt, Morocco, and Gulf countries, who criticized “Israel” and Arab rulers alike for "repression."

In the past, some regional leaders allowed their frustrated populations to vent through pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli activities. But now, Arab citizens are focusing on their governments' involvement in Gaza's suffering, making protester slogans sensitive by criticizing Arab governments.

Former director of the Egyptian Armed Forces' Moral Affairs Department, Samir Farag, notably appeared on Sada el-Balad TV channel, stating that such "chaos" of student sit-ins on campus never happened in any Egyptian university.

Saheeh Masr on X responded, saying that there have been sit-ins and demonstrations dispersed in Egyptian universities over the past years, contrary to Farag's claims.