Turkish Center: UAE is the Biggest Loser from the Palestinian Uprising

A Turkish center highlighted the "victory" of the Palestinians after 11 days of Israeli aggression, which included air, land and sea bombardments on the Gaza Strip, which lasted from May 11 to 21, 2021, resulting in dozens of martyrs and thousands of injuries.

The Center for Middle East Studies published an article by its president and researcher Ahmed Uysal in which he said: "After Israel tried to expel 12 Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem in the last days of Ramadan, chaos began."

As events escalated, there were attacks on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, sparkling the resistance that had begun in Jerusalem and spread throughout Palestine like wildfire.

Uysal said: "Of course, the biggest surprise was the resistance of Gaza, which turned into an open prison, and the uprising of the 48-Arabs (The Arab citizens of Israel) who were supposed to have lost their spirit, but Gaza did not surrender even after 11 days of bombardment and forced Israel to cease fire.

 

Terrible Defeat

"Israel's declaration of a ceasefire confirms that this was the result of U.S. pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who almost swore on Hamas's destruction and elimination," Uysal said.

Although Egypt, concerned about the escalating situation between the two sides, mediated, the cease-fire was the result of massive pressure from public opinion within state and abroad on U.S. President Joe Biden.

Uysal continued: "Despite Biden's strong support for Israel, Netanyahu was unable to get the open check he used to had under U.S. President Donald Trump”.

Uysal stressed that Israel's forced ceasefire means tacit recognition of "defeat," but the Israeli press and government are trying to portray it as a victory, while Hamas, which is already struggling under difficult circumstances, is naturally accepting a ceasefire.

"During the 11-day Israeli bombardment, people of Gaza, moaning under siege, were severely damaged, more than 200 martyrs were killed and thousands injured, and Gaza's infrastructure, which was already in a difficult situation, was destroyed by the destruction of electricity and drinking water infrastructure facilities", He said.

Similarly, demonstrators who went down to the streets in other Palestinian cities to denounce the Israeli occupation were killed and wounded.

But all this was not enough to break the spirit and resistance of the Palestinians despite the silence of "democratic" Western governments, but under increasing public pressure, they also put pressure on Israel and Biden, according to the Turkish writer.

He added: "On the other hand, Israel has not been able to silence Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have resisted the occupation, whom he described as (terrorists) throughout this period”.

On the contrary, missiles and rockets landed on Israeli cities, airports and military installations, and the "Iron Dome", on which Israel spent billions of dollars, was breached.

Uysul continued: "With all this, almost all flights to Israel have been cancelled, the latter has suffered significant economic losses, while Israelis have not been able to leave shelters, and may have felt very scared for the first time”.

Media organizations have received their share of Israeli aggression, which can be classified as "war crimes". While the Israeli army destroyed hundreds of homes, it also destroyed nearly 10 high-rise residential towers, including the tower where Al-Jazeera and The Associated Press offices are located. 

Unable to stop the internal media from broadcasting, Israel has tried to intimidate Gazans by targeting large buildings, but its targeting of the media has angered even its friends in the West because of the solidarity of the press workers and the fact that media freedom is sacred in the United States just as it did when Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed, according to the researcher.

 

Slow Fall

Uysul noted: "Although the Israeli lobby usually wins the media war, the social media platforms that are increasingly entering our lives have had a major impact, and although the Israeli lobby has also tried to censor these platforms, it has not been able to control the messages volcano".

On the other hand, it can be said that the ceasefire "can profoundly affect Israel's domestic policy, and Netanyahu's commitment to the cease-fire could destroy his political life, because it threatened the lives of Israelis while trying to advance his political career by taking away the lives and blood of Palestinians," the author said.

"This failure clearly shakes Netanyahu's credibility (especially among the radicals who support him), for failing to achieve his goal, and although he is trying to market this as a success and victory, he has allegedly not been able to eliminate Hamas or Islamic Jihad and protect the Israeli people."

"On the other hand, the Gulf states (especially the UAE), which were quick to normalize with Israel and form a friendship with it, were among the biggest losers in this battle, which was a third intifada," Uysul said.

Since this latest crisis shows that Israel will not be able to become a normal state, it is clear that the Arab states concerned "will not be able to resist the strong nationalist wave that rejects normalization". 

As a result, the wave of normalization will stop for a while in the absence of a power to force these countries to seek rapprochement with Israel, while Netanyahu stands at risk of losing the gains he thought he had made in the past, the author says.

Regional Gains

On the other hand, Uysal believes that the West Bank administration in Ramallah led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who cancelled the elections scheduled to be held in Palestine after a long pause, saying: "Elections cannot be held without East Jerusalem", was an actor confirmed to have failed in this crisis.

"Abbas' government was not even able to visit the capitals of major and important countries to convey what Israel had done, nor was it able to respond to brutal attacks," he said.

The Palestinian people therefore took the lead and defended their rights being "desperate" from the Government, whose president holds the title of "Head of State", even if it is a dead letter.

Of course, it would be desirable to give the Abbas government a role in the reconstruction of Gaza during the peace period, so that "Hamas's strength will not be strengthened”.

It is clear that Israel, which has been severely affected by the just-ended war, will not give way to Hamas, which is expected to win elections in the West Bank.

A "secret agreement" is suspected between Israel and Abbas, according to the Turkish writer.

He added: "In the Middle East, Hamas's success in the Palestinian resistance will also ease pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood, because the success of the resistance means the success of Islamist movements as well”.

He continued: "The new situation may also mean that Egypt, which does not want to be under the domination of the Gulf (UAE), will return to its regional role more constructively."

Biden thanked Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for mediating a Palestinian ceasefire. (Of course, he was not expected to thank President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was putting the greatest pressure on the United States to stop Israel).

He noted: "Here, the fact that Egypt, which has great regional importance, has taken a neutral or anti-Israel stance rather than standing by its side, is of vital importance to the region. Of course, this relatively independent position is also what Turkey prefers, so Egyptian pressure on Hamas and Gaza can be expected to decrease in part”.

Uysal said: "But the most important issue from now on is to heal the wounds under the leadership of Islamic countries such as Egypt and Turkey, increasing the pressure, and Israel, whose prestige has fallen, will be forced to lift the siege of Gaza and return the diplomatic gifts it received from Trump for free, as the price of repairing and rebuilding the collapsed infrastructure will be high”.

He clarified: “About 500 buildings collapsed, nearly 50,000 people were displaced, and about 10 clinics, hospitals, some mosques and 40 schools were destroyed”.

Thus, the United States and the Gulf states will have to take steps to rebuild it, while countries that embrace the Palestinian cause (such as Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman) will already play a role in the process of reconstruction.

Uysal concluded his article by saying: "This unexpected defeat will have serious consequences, whether inside Israel or abroad, which lost the field and media war, and while it was unable to repel Palestinian rebel rockets on the Iron Dome, Israel was unable to prevent and ban messages on social media platforms and control its volcano”.

The realization that Israel, which is trying to acquire Turkey's rights in the eastern Mediterranean - just as it’s eating Palestinians’ rights - is not as strong as it seems, can reduce the momentum and impact of anti-Turkish efforts, so we are facing a completely new situation - with a ceasefire - that would change all the balances in the region in the sense of the word, according to the Turkish researcher.