Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign minister and deputy prime minister, met with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, and had a discussion on Sunday.
Photos of their meeting have sparked outrage on Pakistan's uncontrolled social media. People's sentiments about Arabs are fragile, and whenever something questionable is reported about an Arab country in the Gulf, a systematic effort is witnessed on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok to stir up these sentiments against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
Before we look at this phenomenon as media students, we need to evaluate its diplomatic aspect. It is the job of diplomats to smile past stressful environments and engage with difficult characters. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan is a diplomat.
He is not one of the diplomats we in Pakistan hire after taking a test based on a flawed system against a salary package. There is an awakening in the world now that the best job seekers and bureaucrats can do is create room for more like them to move in and fill up files.
Pakistan also stands in step with the world, revamping the system of hiring and appointing learned people with proven credentials like Tariq Fatimi, adopting an out-of-the-box approach to cure our diplomatic ills, and it is bearing fruit. Though all these things are interlinked, we shall evaluate them some other time.
Diplomacy is in the blood of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and the UAE has been a success story of diplomacy. His father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, brought together seven states and set the foundation for peace and prosperity for their union in the shape of the UAE.
The seven states that Sultan Al Nahyan brought together are known as the Trucial States in diplomatic parlance. They made truces with British invaders and preserved their sovereignty through diplomacy.
The statement released by the UAE Foreign Ministry after the meeting between Zayed Al-Nahyan and Gideon Saar states: "Both sides discussed regional and international efforts to resume a truce agreement, achieve a ceasefire and secure the release of hostages."
Now that we have an idea about the Trucial States, we can understand the stress the UAE has placed on the 'truce agreement.'
The 370-word strong statement presses for peace in Gaza multiple times. It says: "H.H. Sheikh Abdullah pointed to the dire humanitarian situation faced by civilians in Gaza... He reaffirmed the UAE’s longstanding fraternal and historic stance in support of the Palestinian people... and their right to self-determination."
Terms like self-determination indicate US President Donald J. Trump's consistent insistence on giving Gazans what he calls "a choice" to relocate somewhere else and live peacefully. Similarly, the use of terms 'hostages' and 'ceasefire' is also a deliberate attempt to accommodate the Israelis as much as possible.
Throughout mainstream and social media, this official statement was circulated.
However, when I checked the official website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, there was no statement about this meeting. Here it is: "Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar met with the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed at his official palace in Abu Dhabi. The two are expected to discuss regional developments and the bilateral relations between the countries. FM Sa’ar’s visit to the UAE is at the invitation of UAE FM bin Zayed."
These three sentences, deprived of all diplomatic decencies, are all Israel has to put up for this meeting with one qualification: "Please note, if there is any difference or conflict between the information on this page and the law, the provisions of the law will apply."
Sa'ar has offered similar remarks on X about the meeting. It shows that Israel is not in agreement with the UAE on the question of Gaza and Palestine. Under normal circumstances, the two leaders would have issued a joint statement after the meeting.
Netanyahu has seemingly stretched himself out brazenly to take up the roles of prime minister, defence minister, foreign minister, and also social media influencer. He reacted to a social media post by Zayed Al-Nahyan sharing an article by Ed Husain, a Muslim writer, whom more Muslims dislike and fewer Muslims like.
The article says that Arab countries want to be friends with Israel, and Iran does not, creating a chaotic blend of sectarianism. Since the colonial powers drew lines on the map of the Middle East, putting everyone against everyone else, Israel has lacerated Arab countries in the worst possible way.
It is not the Arab states that need to change their behaviour; it is Israel. The UAE has taken the initiative. Israel has to reciprocate.
These are the facts that Pakistani pressure groups conveniently forget while aiming their guns at Arab states. Castigation of Arabs became an industry when Muslims of the subcontinent got behind the banner of the Khilafat Movement to save the Ottoman Empire, competing at that time with colonisers to rip as much from the Gulf of Arabia as they could.
The second folly they commit is generalising all Arab states of the Gulf as Saudi Arabia. They do so on purpose. Saudi Arabia is the leader of the Gulf, with the potential to bring international powers like the US, China, and Russia to the table to solve disputes.
The pressure groups on the digital landscape of Pakistan sometimes use Gaza, puritanical ideologies, and at other times cultural differences, to discredit Saudi Arabia and basically try to compromise Pakistan's strategic strength.
We need to be aware of it.