How to fight apartheid

Those who defend the formal establishment of relations between Israel and the UAE claim that more can be achieved through diplomacy than sanctions.

South Africa’s history, however, shows that peace deals and reconciliation can only come after liberation has been achieved. Reconciliation with Israel before it ends the occupation is simply a weapon of co-option to blunt the Palestinian liberation struggle.

It was boycott and resistance that defeated Pretoria – not appeasement. While their leaders may be ignoring this lesson of history, the Arab street isn’t.

Following the UAE-Israel announcement, several civil society actors and political groups in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar have issued statements calling for a unified Arab stance on boycotting Israel until it grants Palestinians full human and political rights.

As Africa’s Frontline States showed, peace in the region will come only after occupation and apartheid ends and all people enjoy full political and human rights.

In the deal of the last century, Emir Faisal relinquished Palestine. A century later, very little has changed as the UAE and other Arab states, claiming to be allies of the Palestinians, seem to learn nothing from history or from the mistakes of the past century.

(C) Suraya Dadoo is a freelance writer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. A version of this article first appeared in the Sunday Times