Arabs: An Extremely Important Voice for Peace

by Khaled Abu Toameh • January 4, 2021 at 5:00 am

When someone with George Kurdahi's weight and stature openly states that it is up to the Arab countries to decide whether they want to make peace with Israel, this sends a message to millions of Arabs that the idea of establishing relations with Israel may not be a bad one after all.
This, needless to say, is a refreshing change, especially because it is coming from a country such as Lebanon, which is effectively ruled by Hezbollah and the mullahs in Iran.
"If the weapons [of Hezbollah] undermine the State of Lebanon and are an obstacle to the return of many Arabs to Lebanon, then there needs to be re-examination of the situation. Hezbollah must reconsider its positions so that we can ensure a prosperous future for Lebanon." — George Kurdahi, one of the Arab world's most influential TV presenters, YouTube, December 26, 2020, Lebanon.
Kurdahi may have "shocked" his audience by speaking out in favor of peace with Israel and by criticizing the Palestinians and Hezbollah. His words, however, hardly surprised those who read and listen to what many Arabs in the Gulf have been saying about the Palestinians and Hezbollah, as well as peace with Israel.
These Arabs also have a clear and powerful opinion of Hezbollah: a manipulative and murderous terrorist group that serves as proxy for the mullahs in Iran and poses a real threat not only to Israel, but to Lebanon and other Arab countries as well.

When someone with the weight and stature of George Kurdahi, one of the Arab world's most influential TV presenters, openly states that it is up to the Arab countries to decide whether they want to make peace with Israel, this sends a message to millions of Arabs that the idea of establishing relations with Israel may not be a bad one after all. (Image source: Yahya Al Qahtani/Flickr/CC by 2.0)

George Kurdahi is one of the Arab world's most influential TV presenters. On December 26, 2020, he surprised many of his fans by stating that Arab countries are entitled to normalize their relations with Israel.

The Lebanese-born Kurdahi, ex-host of the Arabic version of the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" also angered many Arabs and Muslims by criticizing the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization and the Palestinians. Until recently, Kurdahi was considered a supporter of Hezbollah and an opponent of relations with Israel.

Kurdahi's statements, during an interview with Lebanon's Sawt Beirut International TV, reflect the views of a growing number of Lebanese and Arabs regarding the issues of normalization with Israel, Hezbollah's destructive policies and actions, and widespread disillusionment with the Palestinians residing in Arab countries.

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Peace Agreements between Israel and Morocco: The Wisdom of a King

by Pierre Rehov • January 4, 2021 at 4:00 am

"30 years is long enough to place ballot boxes." — Sami Gailani, blaming the UN for the conflict in the Western Sahara that had been frozen for 30 years; Euronews; November 17, 2020.
"There is no Sahrawi people as there is a French, American or Moroccan people," stated the political scientist Alexandre Greenberg. "The only institution that claims to represent the Sahrawi people is the Polisario Front, a Marxist guerrilla group armed by Algeria."
Through these agreements, stemming from the Trump doctrine, which redraw the map of an Arab world more united in the face of Iranian threats and Turkish ambitions, a modern myth is shattering -- that of "international law" represented by the false omnipotence of the United Nations.
The agreement forged by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the United States is a feat of great statesmanship -- a firm diplomatic triumph for peace in the Middle East.

The agreement to normalize relations with Israel, forged by Morocco's King Mohammed VI and the United States, is a feat of great statesmanship -- a firm diplomatic triumph for peace in the Middle East. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

In December 2020, Morocco became the fourth Arab-Muslim country -- after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan -- to announce the normalization of relations with Israel, including direct flights from Tel Aviv to Rabat.

The relationship between the two countries has long been rooted the large number of Jews who had lived in Morocco before and after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Moroccans who immigrated to Israel in the two decades following its establishment became one of the most important components of the new state's population. Today, they and their descendants comprise nearly one million people, whom Morocco's King Mohammad VI can consider distant supportive sympathizers.

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