Why are so many western progressives who posture as Advocates for Peace so upset by the Israel-UAE peace deal? You'd think they’d be happy right now – haven’t they always called for Arab-Israeli peace? Short thread 1/
Well, they never mean it. The progressive/BDS wing of the Democrats – the Squad/Bernie crowd, plus Israel-obsessed activists like Peter Beinart, Codepink, Matt Duss – made themselves bedfellows of Hamas, the PLO, Iran, Turkey, and the Houthis in attacking the deal. 2/
Some progressives are enormously skeptical of Israel’s right to exist and they justify this position with exaggerated and made-up claims about the “occupation” and “war crimes” in order to make it all Israel’s fault, and their hostility seem warranted. 3/
But their real problem is that a pro-American free-market democracy is happy and thriving in a part of the world progressives don’t think a western country should be. 4/
But progressives can’t be for war, ethnic cleansing, or anti-semitism. Those are bad. Thus as Israel grows closer to the Arab states, progressives increasingly must rely on the Palestinians, and advocacy on their behalf, as the legitimizer for their anti-Israel politics. 5/
This is why they've settled on the talking point that the peace deal is a “betrayal” of the Palestinians, or it “gives cover” to Israeli misdeeds, or it’s a shiny object and actually meaningless. I’ve read several of these pieces and they’re amazingly weak and grasping. 6/
Two things are genuinely bothering them: Peace with Israel -- i.e. accepting Israel's permanence and legitimacy -- as Iran said yesterday, is treasonous. 7/
More importantly, progressives feel how their decades-long effort to isolate & weaken Israel through political hostility is failing, & it fills them with bitterness. This is a zero-sum contest, and progressives are being betrayed by the Arabs, who used to be on their side. 8/
Progressives are shedding crocodile tears for Palestine over the peace deal, but they’ve never cared about Palestinians. It’s an act to make their anti-Israel grievances seem admirable. I wish the Palestinians understood this. /end
