UAE Endorses Jewish Far-Right amid Gaza War
The UAE has publicly supported the Jewish extreme right in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and opposed the escalating student protests to stop the crime of genocide against the Palestinians.
Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed re-published an old clip warning Europeans about the influence of Islam and Islamists, signaling support for the Jewish extreme right in the Gaza conflict and justifying Western regimes’ suppression of pro-Gaza demonstrations.
Abdullah bin Zayed attached the video clip with the phrase, “I told you so,” in an attempt to politicize the student protests at American and European universities demanding an end to the war on Gaza.
Tweeters have indicated that the video’s re-publication is part of a deliberate campaign aiming to depict the unrest in Western societies as driven by “Islamists behind the pro-Palestinian demonstrations.” However, in reality, most protesters are non-Muslims, encompassing Westerners of various religions and beliefs, including Judaism.
Among the demonstrators are a significant number of Jews, who declare this clearly, and emphasize their criticism of the Israeli occupation, Zionism, and what it is doing in Palestine, and they raise slogans such as “Not in my name,” meaning that what the occupation is doing is not in their name as Jews.
The United States and European countries are experiencing what is being called a massive student uprising, protesting the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza and condemning American positions that appear to align with the Israeli narrative.
On the other hand, Emirati universities did not show any reaction to the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip, and at a time when several European universities suspended cooperation with Israeli universities, Emirati universities continued with their programs.
Instead, Emirati universities—expected to be most attuned to national issues like the Palestinian cause—seem to be strongholds of support for the Israeli occupation. They continue to normalize relations with Israeli institutions and openly embrace the occupation.
The opposition website (uae71) highlighted that since the start of normalization in 2020, Abu Dhabi has opened the doors of UAE universities to Israeli students, and students have been exchanged between universities.
Scientific research has been a primary area of cooperation between Abu Dhabi and the Israeli occupation. The Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi signed the first research collaboration agreement with Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science. The following year, the Ministries of Education and Higher Education also signed agreements with the occupation.
In June 2021, Tel Aviv University and Khalifa University of Science, Technology, and Research signed an agreement to establish a joint Israeli-Emirati institute for water research.
In May 2021, the UAE signed an agreement to initiate student scholarship exchange programs in education during the first meeting between the UAE’s ambassador to Israel, Muhammad Al Khaja, and then-Israeli Minister of Education, Yoav Galant (now the Minister of Defense and a key figure in the Zionist war on Gaza). This agreement enabled Israeli students to attend national universities alongside Emirati students.
In addition, Tel Aviv University, which Khalifa University has signed an agreement, is the institution that developed the “Dahiya Doctrine.” This doctrine advocates for the use of “brute force,” a tactic employed by the Israeli army involving excessive force against civilians and infrastructure in Palestine.
Technion University was involved in the planning and construction of the apartheid wall in the occupied West Bank. It was the earliest university established by Jews in Palestine, with its cornerstone laid in 1912, as reported by Emarat Al-Youm newspaper in 2011.
In November 2021, Zayed University signed an agreement with the Israeli University of Haifa, focusing on joint scientific research and the exchange of faculty members and university students.
The new partnership “will provide opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and the community, and will promote benefits that transcend borders,” the university’s president at the time said in an official statement.
In addition to collaborative research endeavors between Emirati entities and those associated with the Israeli occupation, there have been joint research initiatives. For instance, in October 2021, a joint research project was initiated between the International Fund for the Conservation of Houbara Birds in Abu Dhabi and the Israeli Foundation for Nature and Heritage.
In 2022, the UAE began sending students for education in Israel. The Emirati Association to Resist Normalization said that the enrollment of Emirati students in occupation universities is a “dangerous development” in the normalization file, commenting on the student “Sumaya Al Muhairi” starting her studies at the University of Haifa.
