{"id":307001,"date":"2025-11-10T12:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T12:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=307001"},"modified":"2025-11-07T05:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T05:39:10","slug":"the-beasts-bargain-arab-states-israel-and-the-price-of-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/11\/the-beasts-bargain-arab-states-israel-and-the-price-of-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beast\u2019s Bargain: Arab States, Israel, and the Price of \u2018Peace\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Photo Credit: The Cradle<\/p><\/div>\n

When peace is demanded from the weak and defined by the strong, it ceases to be peace at all \u2013 it becomes submission disguised as justice.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5 Nov 2025\u00a0<\/em>– In the aftermath of the Israeli war on Lebanon, a whisper began circulating in political corridors: the\u00a0possibility<\/a> that Lebanon might join the Abraham Accords. This surfaced even before US envoy Tom Barrack floated direct negotiations with Israel \u2013 a proposition Beirut\u00a0rejected<\/a> in favor of the established \u201cmechanism\u201d of\u00a0indirect talks<\/a> mediated by Washington.<\/p>\n

\n

Today, the evidence shows that Washington is not pushing for immediate normalization with Tel Aviv, but rather for direct negotiations over an \u201cAmerican paper\u201d as a first step on the so\u2011called \u201cpeace\u201d road. The paradox is stark; these calls for peace ignore the\u00a0reality on the ground<\/a> with continued acts of aggression.<\/p>\n

Israel has yet to\u00a0honor a ceasefire<\/a>, while voices in Lebanon are calling for peace with a party that remains at war. That contradiction traps advocates of \u201cdiplomatic solutions\u201d in a genuine dilemma.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Lebanon\u2019s army commander, Rudolphe Haikal, found himself forced to order fire on Israeli drones violating Lebanese airspace, before the president\u00a0instructed<\/a> him to respond to any ground incursion following the incident in which Israeli troops stormed the southern village of Blida, and killed<\/a> a civilian municipality employee in his sleep.<\/p>\n

When \u2018peace\u2019 equals \u2018surrender\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two years on from the launch of Operation Al\u2011Aqsa Flood in October 2023, after Israel’s atrocious massacres and genocidal war on Gaza that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, and the war on Lebanon that also killed thousands of Lebanese, the question of peace resurfaces in Arab discourse. Amid renewed calls for peace with Israel from Arab states and media, one truth is unavoidable: peace from a position of weakness does not end domination; rather, it often enshrines it.<\/p>\n

Peace under those terms does not reverse the equation of power unless the strong acknowledges a partner of equal standing. That is not Israel\u2019s agenda. Tel Aviv does not seek equal peace; it seeks\u00a0domination and expansion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The late, martyred Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani captured this succinctly when asked why he rejected dialogue with Israel. His response:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the point of dialogue between the sword and the neck?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What kind of dialogue exists when the strong alone hold the decision\u2011making power while the weak simply ask?<\/p>\n

The more accurate question is: is Israel even seeking a just settlement that ends occupation and establishes sustainable peace \u2013 or is it instead forging security\u2013economic arrangements that cement its superiority and require Arab and Palestinian submission in return for what is misleadingly called \u201cpeace\u201d?<\/p>\n

On 21 January 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u00a0declared<\/a>, \u201cI will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River],\u201d which directly contradicts the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

This political posture coincides with unprecedented settlement acceleration. Reports by European and UN agencies show that 2023\u20132024 recorded record levels of settlement and land seizure in the occupied\u00a0West Bank<\/a>, erasing even the possibility of the two\u2011state solution.<\/p>\n

In the Arab world today \u2013 especially in Lebanon \u2013 media lines now say: \u201cWe want peace\u201d; \u201cIt\u2019s not a crime to ask for peace\u201d; \u201cBreaking the taboos is a duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lebanese broadcaster Marcel Ghanem declared in his program opener: \u201cBreak the taboos \u2026 we cannot endure more procrastination \u2026 Yes, we demand peace. It\u2019s not a crime to demand peace.\u201d Makram Rabah,\u00a0managing editor at Now Lebanon<\/i> and an Assistant Professor at the American University of Beirut (AUB),\u00a0opined<\/a> that \u201cThere is no shame in peace when peace is made by a sovereign people. The only shame is to keep dying for the wars of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The desire for peace is not in itself misguided. But what if the other party views peace only as a tool to deepen its dominance, further subjugate the region\u2019s people, and seize their wealth and land? When \u2018peace agreements\u2019 are signed by a weak actor conceding massively while the strong retains its colonial structure, then peace becomes absolute\u00a0surrender<\/a>. That dynamic reinforces the notion that Israel loses far more in peace than in war \u2013 hence \u201cpeace,\u201d properly defined, is a threat to Israel.<\/p>\n

The Qatar model of mediator-enabled domination<\/strong><\/p>\n

Far from the frontlines, the state of Qatar invested in its role as an international broker with ties to Washington and indirectly to Israel. The UN in March 2022\u00a0designated<\/a> Qatar as a \u201cMajor Non\u2011NATO Ally\u201d (MNNA).<\/p>\n

On paper, such a status grants Doha special defense and security privileges. Qatar sponsored talks, funded aid to Gaza,\u00a0invested<\/a> in Israeli business ventures, and maintained strong relations with the US, which uses\u00a0Al\u2011Udeid Air Base<\/a> as a major forward hub.<\/p>\n

The irony: despite this strategic positioning, Qatar still found itself\u00a0targeted by Israel<\/a>. On 9 September 2025, Israel carried out a\u00a0strike<\/a> in Doha targeting members of a Hamas negotiation delegation inside Qatar. That raises a foundational question: as long as Israel attacks even a mediator with no record of fighting it, can its aggressive nature ever change?<\/p>\n

Qatar\u2019s experience shows: for \u201cpeace\u201d to have meaning, it cannot simply be the weaker party\u2019s initiative \u2013 it must be sought and accepted by the strong. Otherwise, it is meaningless.<\/p>\n

Consider the example of the Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Mahmoud Abbas. Over decades, it has become a security partner to Israel \u2013 coordinating in the occupied West Bank<\/a>, detaining resistance cadres, handing over lists, and cooperating under the label of \u201csecurity coordination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet Israel accuses it of \u201cfunding terrorism\u201d because of prisoner stipends. Even full collaboration, it seems, does not guarantee peace; submission remains the default.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the model of the UAE shows a different dynamic: normalization with Israel based on\u00a0economy and investment<\/a>, not justice or the end of hegemony. When the weaker becomes an economic partner, \u201cpeace\u201d turns into a\u00a0lucrative commodity<\/a> for the strong \u2013 peace defined as \u201ca service to the strong in return for temporary stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Sudan<\/a>, the third Arab state to join the Abraham Accords, Israel never saw Khartoum as a strategic partner; it was a security outpost to monitor the Red Sea and trafficking routes. Normalization came \u201cfrom above,\u201d not from equal partners.<\/p>\n

This shows that Israel is not opposed to peace \u2013 but it is opposed to\u00a0\u2018equal\u2019 peace, or peace that transforms power relations.<\/p>\n

Historic peace treaties, but no justice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in March 1979, which mandated Israel\u2019s full withdrawal from the Sinai within three years, and created security arrangements and demilitarized zones. Despite formal normalization since 1980, the relationship is widely described as a \u201ccold peace<\/a>.\u201d The maxim remains: Arab state signatures do not equate to popular normalization.<\/p>\n

On the ground, rare but illuminating security incidents illustrate the fragility, such as\u00a0June 2023<\/a> and\u00a0May 2024<\/a> near Rafah. Meanwhile, energy cooperation deepened: Egypt, Israel, and the EU signed an agreement on 15 June 2022 to expand Egyptian\u00a0gas exports<\/a> via liquefaction plants.<\/p>\n

The reality is a dual image of security\u2013energy partnership coupled with popular resistance. That balance illustrates how \u201cpeace\u201d as currently structured serves Tel Aviv\u2019s security and energy needs \u2013 not Palestinian justice.<\/p>\n

Jordan offers another case. Its 26 October 1994 treaty set water and border frameworks. But 30 years on, peace<\/a> remains elusive. In November 2023, Amman recalled its ambassador over the Gaza war; it froze the signing of a \u201cWater-for-Energy\u201d project.<\/p>\n

Yet practical cooperation continues: water, gas, security channels remain open. Jordan even opened its airspace to the Israeli Air Force to intercept<\/a> Iranian drone\/missile threats \u2013showing Israel offers token arrangements to capitals that serve its interests, without political resolution of the Palestinian issue.<\/p>\n

In Syria, the new Al-Qaeda-rooted government offered \u201cgoodwill\u201d gestures, returning the remains of Israeli spy\u00a0Eli Cohen<\/a>, declaring hostility to Iran, and intercepting weapons bound for Hezbollah\u2019s fight with Israel.<\/p>\n

Yet Israel never engaged in real peace talks. Instead, it\u00a0occupied more territory<\/a>, struck Damascus airport, seized Mount Hermon,\u00a0water resources,<\/a>\u00a0and declared it would never leave. Israel does not want strong states \u2013 it wants them weak enough to act as border police for its own security, not to defend their land.<\/p>\n

In Lebanon, the\u00a0daily killings<\/a>, massacres, and occupation will not be forgotten easily. How can Lebanon be asked to sign a peace that ignores justice? Israel killed thousands of Lebanese and continues bombing villages and assassinating people daily.<\/p>\n

How can peace be demanded on soil where war crimes remain unaddressed and the blood still flows? How can arms be surrendered to an enemy that has never shown goodwill?<\/p>\n

Though Lebanon\u2019s prime minister, president, and most ministers share a stance against\u00a0non-state weapons<\/a>, they also confirm that Israel never honored what Lebanon did. How then can negotiations be discussed while the enemy has not even respected the ceasefire that Lebanon upheld?<\/p>\n

And what of the voices now advocating peace as if it is a possible salvation, coming only after the Lebanese state wins full sovereignty and monopolizes arms? These voices ignore that the presidency and government in Lebanon, despite internal dispute, agree: Israel is not after peace but limitless gains.<\/p>\n

Syria was ravaged,\u00a0sans firing a single bullet<\/a> at Israel \u2013 and yet Israeli assaults persist. What is the difference then between Lebanon and Syria? The issue is not about the resistance movement, Hezbollah, but Israel\u2019s continual appetite for expansion and control.<\/p>\n

These ambitions were revealed in the\u00a0maritime border deal,<\/a> where Tel Aviv aimed to maximize gains, then cancelled it after the assassination of Hezbollah secretary-general\u00a0Hassan Nasrallah<\/a>. Territorial greed surfaced again when Netanyahu held up a \u201cnew Middle East\u201d map at the UN that omitted Lebanon and Syria.<\/p>\n

That map belonged to the \u201cGreater Israel<\/a>\u201d fantasy \u2013 not political reality. Echoing this, Tom Barrack in Damascus claimed Lebanon and Syria are \u201cone country, not two\u201d in eerie synchrony with Israeli discourse that erases borders and redraws the region to its liking.<\/p>\n

Those demanding peace today arrived decades late, over 30 years after the 1991 Madrid Conference, which Israel rejected.<\/p>\n

What does Israel mean by \u201cpeace\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Combine the preceding elements \u2013 perpetual security control west of the Jordan, accelerated settlements, pushing Arab capitals into bilateral cooperation detached from final resolution or the Palestinian question \u2013 and you arrive at the definition of \u201cpeace\u201d as Israel sees it. A system of deterrence and subjugation that neutralizes states while perpetuating control over Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s own statements rejecting<\/a> a Palestinian state after the war and his government\u2019s West Bank policies confirm<\/a> this conclusion politically and practically.<\/p>\n

Peace demanded from a position of weakness is not sufficient. Real peace begins when the strong is compelled to treat the other side as an equal \u2013 not a subordinate. Israel sees itself as the \u201cmaster,\u201d and the rest as its\u00a0created subordinates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is the core of its thinking \u2013 driven by the myth of a Greater Israel. Weak states cannot rely merely on claiming peace; they must create power equations that enforce respect and force recognition of their rights.<\/p>\n

The risk here is that Arab appeals for peace become a pact of submission \u2013 branded \u201cpeace,\u201d yet in reality a continuation of hegemony.<\/p>\n

The first step toward genuine peace is not a signature or press release \u2013 but this simple question:
\nDoes this \u201cpeace\u201d change reality \u2013 or does it legitimize ongoing submission? Is the strong side willing to surrender occupation and aggression?<\/p>\n

It is not enough for us only to say \u201cwe don\u2019t want peace.\u201d If the other side wants only domination in the name of peace, then our calling for peace is from one side a mere wish, from another side a reward for genocide.<\/p>\n

Demonizing the resistance<\/strong><\/p>\n

For years, a massive Arab and western\u00a0media machine<\/a> has generated methodical propaganda to reframe the moral map in Arab consciousness. Iran, Hezbollah, and anyone who resists the US-Israeli project are presented as the root of regional collapse \u2013 while invaders and their allied regimes are portrayed as champions of peace and stability.<\/p>\n

Every day, the memory of the people is cleansed through one-sided discourse about the \u201cIran threat,\u201d the \u201cHezbollah expansion,\u201d the \u201cShia crescent\u201d \u2013 while the crimes committed under the banners of \u201cfreedom\u201d and \u201cdemocracy\u201d by western alliances or Arab proxies are hidden.<\/p>\n

The truth remains, it was not the resistance that destroyed Lebanon, it was those who surrendered. Those who colluded with the siege, facilitated the invasion, and funded the media-political-military degradation that swept the region in the name of modernity and enlightenment.<\/p>\n

For two decades, Arab and western media have constructed a distorted narrative that made Iran and Hezbollah public enemy number one \u2013 and muffled the real causes of our tragedies.<\/p>\n

When Afghanistan<\/a> was devastated under US occupation, no one asked how many were killed or how many millions suffered under the \u201cwar on terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Iraq<\/a> was illegally invaded in 2003, hundreds of thousands died, infrastructure collapsed, and chaos reigned \u2013 all branded \u201ca march to democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lebanon is repeatedly targeted by Israeli aggression, and forbidden from building a genuine independent state \u2013 because its independence threatened Israel\u2019s \u201csuperiority.\u201d Yet media campaigns portrayed the resistance as the source of crises, ignoring those who imposed siege, funded division, and shot the economy.<\/p>\n

In Syria, the destruction was not caused by \u201cIranian influence\u201d as popularized, but by an international project that mobilized thousands of fighters from ISIS, the Nusra Front, and other groups with Persian Gulf funding and western complicity. Iran was one of the few powers that helped prevent Damascus\u2019s collapse. The government eventually fell under crushing economic siege, not from Iranian projection.<\/p>\n

As for Yemen<\/a>, the war was not a proxy conflict, as simplified by the media, but direct aggression by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, backed by Washington, turning the country into one enduring some of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

In Palestine, people have been slaughtered and killed by bombs and siege for decades, yet their resistance movements are demonized more than the perpetrators. The mainstream media denies the occupied people’s right to self\u2013defense, demonizing their rockets while ignoring the occupation’s fighter jets that annihilate families and destroy cities.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Sudan<\/a>, systematic ethnic cleansing is unfolding \u2013 led by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur, accused of\u00a0mass killings,<\/a>\u00a0forced displacement, and genocide. Militias regionally backed by the\u00a0UAE<\/a> and Israel are implicated. The mainstream treats the conflict as a marginal crisis.<\/p>\n

The propaganda effort has flipped the narrative on its head \u2013 those who invade and occupy are cast as peacemakers, while those who resist them are branded as threats. If Arab appeals for \u201cpeace\u201d continue on these terms, they will read not as a quest for justice, but as a quiet signal of submission.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>Radwan Murtada is a Beirut-based journalist who has written for <\/em>Al Akhbar since 2007 and has contributed to many foreign media outlets on political, criminal, social and judiciary affairs in Lebanon and the wider region. Radwan is a specialist on Islamic jihadist groups, and honed his connections and craft during the Syrian conflict, interviewing both Al Qaeda and ISIS leaders for various outlets. He is the founder of <\/em>Blue House Film, a Beirut production company specializing in documentaries, and is the author of the book “<\/em>How the Syrian Revolution Grew its Beard.” In 2020, he founded “<\/em>The Hub” with a group of regional journalists and producers that provides news and media services to foreign journalists covering West Asia.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Go to Original – thecradle.co<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5 Nov 2025\u00a0– When peace is demanded from the weak and defined by the strong, it ceases to be peace at all \u2013 it becomes submission disguised as justice. \u201cWhat is the point of dialogue between the sword and the neck?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":307003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[93,1669,2628,3438,87,865,1029,3339,88,2097,767,2571,427,1801,128,249,70,1025],"class_list":["post-307001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conflict-resolution-mediation","tag-afghanistan","tag-arabs","tag-conflict-mediation","tag-darfur","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-hamas","tag-hezbollah","tag-israel","tag-lebanon","tag-middle-east","tag-official-lies-and-narratives","tag-palestine","tag-qatar","tag-sudan","tag-trump","tag-usa","tag-west-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307001"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307007,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307001\/revisions\/307007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}