COMMENTING on the landing of an Israeli plane at Abu Dhabi airport, the Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said, “It is very painful to see today the landing of an Israeli plane in the United Arab Emirates with the name ‘Kiryat Gat’, which is the colony built in the town of Fallujah where Jamal Abdel Nasser was cornered”.

Perhaps Mr Shtayyeh and the Palestinian officials who slammed the UAE should review the modern Palestinian history and ponder on why their case has devolved into this deliberate sabotage, and what their role has been in that aspect before Shtayyeh expresses pain over this tremendous UAE step.

Shtayyeh should realize that the intellectual terrorism practiced against the Arab people since the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948 is no longer a valid tool; in fact, the Arabs have long realized that all this has made the Middle East a region of missed opportunities.

There are many lessons that the Arabs did not learn from, including during the 1948 war when some Arab armies rushed to Palestine to liberate it, under their refusal to accept the partition agreement. These armies were defeated by militias, not an organized army. While some claimed they were given doctored weapons, others justified the defeat by claiming they did not receive orders; the latter was mentioned by officials of the Iraqi military at that time.

The Palestinians, who were promised they would return to their homes within two or three weeks at the most, found themselves blowing sand with bitterness as they waited; while their leaders have been moving between palaces and luxurious homes, distributing national bonds to those who were willing to support them and provide them with money to enjoy prosperity.

These leaders end up calling their opponents the agents of Zionism, treachery and imperialism, while Arab leaders and some of the opportunistic radical regional leaders started to trade in these people, making Palestine their place to achieve their own goals, the latest of which is the mentor of the Mullahs’ regime, Ali Khamenei, who accused the UAE of treason, forgetting his own country’s secret relations with Israel.

We do not exaggerate when we say the division among the Palestinians helped the Israelis realize Levi Eshkol’s theory – “We fight a war after every ten years with the Arabs, and instead of demanding the liberation of Palestine, they will demand the liberation of the occupied land. This is how they will forget Palestine.”

This is due to the fact that, instead of being united and strong in their land, the Palestinian organizations turned to Jordan where they ended up in chaos, as documented in the events of “September 1970” when they sought to overthrow the monarchy that was their primary support for resisting the occupation.

After they failed in Jordan, they went on to Lebanon and carved out for themselves an area of its land which they named “Fatah Land”. They continued to encroach on the Lebanese until the Lebanese civil war ignited and lasted for 15 years.

Through their division and the abandonment of their cause, the Palestinians brought all suspicious interests into their homes. In Arab conflicts, they turned into guns for hire, and they walked behind illusions, whether it was with Ahmed Al-Shugairi or Jamal Abdel Nasser who said they would throw the Jews into the sea.

Jamal Abdel Nasser was defeated in all the wars he fought; in fact, the Israelis reached the borders of Cairo in 1967, but it was only Sadat’s smart and bold initiative that saved Egypt. The same happened with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, who boasted of forming the Jerusalem Army of seven million fighters, but instead of moving it towards Israel, he occupied Kuwait.

When the Palestinian Prime Minister declares his pain over the tremendous step taken by the UAE leaders, he is not crying for Palestine, but for the money that will be lost by the factions fighting from hotels, and for the comfortable life he lives at the expense of the poor. He should have been realistic and thanked the leaders of the UAE who sought to protect what remains of the rights that the Palestinians themselves lost.

What struck us most as we listen to the Palestinian prime minister is seeing how dashy he was, which suggests that he lives an opulent and luxurious lifestyle, and has no shortage of clothes and food.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times