Israeli occupation must end: UAE diplomat on Palestinian crisis

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The Arab region must find a way to deal with Israel politically, a senior Emirati politician has said. Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Senior Diplomatic Advisor to the UAE president elaborated.

“We have to find a political track to end Israeli occupation,” he said. “Such kind of Israeli actions that marginalise human loss should have an end.”

Dr Anwar was speaking at the closing session of the Arab Strategy Forum that took place in Dubai on Wednesday. He also said that the UAE stands in solidarity with the people of Gaza and that the country is focused on two parallel missions.

“The present war of Gaza is at the forefront of our priorities,” he said. “Our first mission is that we look at this brutal and inhumane attack that is happening on Gaza and we are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people. But we are also we are looking at the future. We are equipping ourselves with science and building our economy so that we can be a part of a bright future.”

Unity in the Arab world

Speaking alongside him, Prince Turki Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Chairman of the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, said that the most important thing was for the Arab world to remain united in order to attain lasting peace in the region.

“If our position in the region is strong enough, the relations between other countries will not affect us,” he said, on being asked about the growing closeness between US, Israel and Iran. “The Gaza war is a failure of all countries in the region. We need to stand together. Even among Palestinians, there shouldn’t be differences. Hamas and the Palestinian authorities should stand together. We can only overcome this if we remain united.”

Nabeel Fahmy, former Egyptian foreign minister, supported this and called on Arab nations to stop depending on anyone else. “The hegemony of power is now separate from all international laws,” he said.

“We should never count on others to come to our rescue. We need to build our own capabilities and international cooperation. To depend on one power and expecting them to bail us out is wrong.”

UAE’s role in regional peace

Meanwhile, other speakers at the event said that the UAE could play a very influential role in ensuring that there is lasting peace in the region.

“The vision of what role the Arab nations want to play in this world is being developed right here in the United Arab Emirates, along with Saudi Arabia,” said Parag Khanna, Founder & Managing Partner of FutureMap. “There is a clear understanding that is coming into place. If the confidence the Gulf state now has would have existed 20 or 30 years ago, the outcome of the Palestine issue would have been very different.”

The UAE has been a vocal supporter of the Palestine cause, drafting a ceasefire resolution at the UN and sending aid to the besieged Gaza strip since the latest Israeli offensive began in October.