Anybody notice that the Emirati foreign minister called the Palestinian authorities 'Ali Baba and the 40 thieves' in a shouting match?
In a most welcome display of candor, the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, which is a very credible well-run Arabic state with modern amenities, let the Palestinian authorities know that to them, they were "Ali Baba and the 40 thieves." He said that in an actual shouting match with
According to Axios:
A meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a group of Arab officials about a month ago flew off the rails after an unusual shouting match between the UAE foreign minister and a senior adviser to the Palestinian president, according to five sources with knowledge of the incident.
Why it matters: The heated spat reflects skepticism over the Palestinian Authority's planned reforms and disputes among Arab leaders, both of which could challenge the Biden administration's efforts to forge a post-war strategy for Gaza.
Driving the news: The April 29 meeting took place in Riyadh on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting.
That's the boring stuff, here's the juicy stuff:
Behind the scenes: According to the sources, during the meeting al-Sheikh said the Palestinian Authority is conducting reforms and created a new government as the U.S. and Arab countries asked, but it isn't getting enough political and financial support.
- Toward the end of the meeting the Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed pushed back and said he hasn't seen any significant reform inside the Palestinian Authority, the sources said.
- According to two sources, the Emirati foreign minister then called the Palestinian leadership "Ali Baba and the forty thieves" and claimed senior officials in the Palestinian Authority are "useless" and therefore "replacing them with one another will only lead to the same result."
- "Why would the UAE give assistance to the Palestinian Authority without real reforms?" he asked.
Al-Sheikh shouted back at the Emirati foreign minister and said nobody will dictate to the Palestinian Authority how to conduct its reforms, the sources said.
As I noted earlier, the United Arab Emirates are one of the best-run states in the world, with certainly the finest airline, Emirates, which I rode several years ago to Sri Lanka. They got at way because they don't steal everything that isn't nailed down the way the Palestinians do, and their wealth itself came about from earning it, providing things of value that others would like to buy.
The Palestinian leaders never do that. The only thing we ever hear about them is how much foreign aid they stole, and as for selling things of value to the world, what a sad story in a culture that is famous for its rug merchant bargainers and history of trade. If they had any brains at all, they'd learn from their neighbors in Israel, who would gladly show them their ways, or else the Emirates themselves.
The Emirati raised a question the rest of us have been wondering for a long time: If these creeps can't reform themselves and all they do is steal, why should they be allowed to remain in power at all? And why should any nation with money keep bankrolling them?
Image: New York Public Library / public domain collection