Comment: Arab ‘olive branch’ will be used to brutalise occupied Palestine

The deal signed by two tiny Arabian Gulf states underwrites Israel’s colonial power over Palestine, and will facilitate an even harder line on its beleaguered citizens, writes Daoud Kuttab

Israeli troops clash with the Palestinian demonstrators following a weekly demonstration against Israeli Jewish settlements, in the West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum near Nablus Picture: AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

It is normal for countries with deep disagreements nonetheless to maintain diplomatic, trade, and commercial relations. Yet there are also circumstances when such relations are regarded as non-starters. 

That is certainly the case for most countries vis-à-vis North Korea, but it also describes America’s previous stance on Cuba, and now Venezuela, as well as Israel’s policy on Iran, Saudi Arabia’s on Qatar, and much of the Arab world’s on Israel.