UAE recognizes Israel, countries normalize relations 🇦🇪🇮🇱

[EastAnglianLefty]

This has got to be crushing for Palestinian morale, that despite making no real concessions at all the UAE and likely Oman & Bahrain are normalising ties with Israel. The unified Arab anti-Israel front is clearly gone forever.

Of course, this latest news just formally confirms a reality that has been the case for a while now.

But the fact that the UAE feel confident enough to do it openly (ie they don’t fear a large backlash from their own citizens or other Arab states) demonstrates how precarious - almost hopeless- the Palestinians position is.

Though that's only partly due to a lack of popular interest in Palestine as an issue. The other part is that the successful repression of the Arab Spring in the Gulf and US disinterest in pretending to care about democracy means that they have less reason to fear antagonising their population.

[EastAnglianLefty]

The Gulf states, in viewing Iran as a far bigger enemy, are finally putting aside their differences and aligning together with Israel. It’s just a matter of time before the remainder do so as well among Arab monarchies.

Feudal monarchies allying with the apartheid state against a theocracy, sidelining a stateless people stabbed in the back and used as a pretext once again. That's the Middle East, you know

I don't think you can fairly describe the Gulf States as feudal, given that land has so little value there. They're petrodespotisms.