Gulf Arab Citizens Are No Longer Silent And Expressed Their Anger At Israel

Gaza strip is ripped by the ongoing bloodshed and it has unleashed a chorus of voice across the states of Gulf Arab who have fiercely criticized Israel and shown their empathetic support towards Palestine.

The vocal opposition to Israel is expressed on social media, through street protests, and also in newspaper columns and it has come just months after various pacts were signed for establishing ties with the Jewish state. This complicates matters and also government efforts to rally Arab citizens around the acceptance of the deals.

According to analysts, the conflict is also going to be a setback in the Israeli efforts for securing more normalization of the deals with many other Arab states like Saudi Arabia.

The criticism has put the Arab states that signed diplomatic accords with Israel in a very difficult position with their citizens and it has also affirmed that the cause of Palestine will continue to resonate deeply with all the people across the Middle East.

According to a renowned political analyst, the issue of Palestine will come back and hit everybody no matter what the regional and national priorities are at this moment.

Countless Gulf Arab citizens have put out open calls for the rights of the Palestinians and the condemnation of Israel and it is largely mirrored by the official statements from the government. Some of the countries have also gone further and hoped that the United Arab Emirates will call on all parties and tried to cease the fighting. They should have also named Israel as the aggressor.

The Gulf citizens have also challenged the official narrative to bring about normalization with Israel.

Civil society groups in Bahrain have signed a letter that has urged the government to expel the Israeli ambassador. Protestors have also held two rallies in Kuwait and are demanding permission to hold more such rallies. The government has allowed hundreds to protest over the weekend in Qatar as the top leader of Hamas has delivered a speech. Some of the people in UAE have openly donned black and white checkered keffiyeh of Palestine on Instagram and others have tweeted supporting Palestine under hashtags.

The UAE is the first Arab country who has tried to establish ties with Israel last year in more than two decades after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 respectively. The move was a brazen one as it has bypassed the Palestinians and it is slammed as treason and also stabbed in the back.

The move by UAE has also paved the way for three other countries –Sudan, Bahrain, and Morocco to announce similar kinds of pacts with Israel in rapid succession.

In September, immediately after ties are formalized by UAE with Israel, the state propaganda has framed it as a new era of peace, security for the region, and religious tolerance. There was no visible pushback for the citizens of UAE as the government has announced ties with Israel.