Arab Normalization withthe Israeli Occupation

1. The Concept of Normalization

The root word ” طبع ” (ṭaba’) in Arabic carries many meanings, including normalization and

acclimatization, implying that a person becomes accustomed to something until it becomes second nature, or a matter becomes widely accepted in society until it is considered normal, i.e., familiar and ordinary. The word “ṭaba'” also conveys meanings of corruption and debasement. For example, we say, “the child has been tarnished” to indicate moral or physical corruption. We say, “the metal has rusted” or “the cloth has been soiled.” Similarly, “someone has been corrupted” refers to a person who lacks virtue and noble qualities.

Normalization, derived from the verb ” طَبَّعَ ” (ṭabba’a), means “calling for the normalization of relations with the enemy and making them ordinary.” This is directly relevant to the issue of normalization with the Zionist entity. The term “normalization” is laden with various meanings, interpretations, and analyses, which some view as an unforgivable crime. But what exactly is the precise definition of this  term, particularly in the context of Palestine and dealing with the occupation of its territories?

2. The Meaning of Normalization with the Zionist Entity

Normalization refers to the establishment of partnerships, initiatives, or joint projects, either locally or internationally, in a direct or indirect manner between Palestinians or Arabs and the Israeli entity, whether involving Zionist individuals or Israeli institutions.

Political and economic normalization is the “restructuring of relationships between two countries so that they become normal relations.” However, there is a flaw in the concept and in the attempt to impose and promote it, as political and economic normalization should occur between two natural countries, which is not the case with the Israeli occupation due to its structural abnormality. Israel remains a settler-colonial entity, not a state, and it will never be one, Allah willing.

It is also evident that those engaging in normalization do not address the brutal aggression, killings, torture, and persecution practiced against the Palestinian people. In short, normalization refers to dealing with an abnormal situation (such as the Israeli entity) as if it were natural and accepted.

3. Historical Background of Normalization

Arab governments previously refused to recognize the Israeli entity after the declaration of the establishment of Israel in 1948, in protest of the decision to partition Palestine. This rejection led to a series of Arab-Israeli wars in the following decades.

After the Six-Day War in 1967 and the October War in 1973, Egypt signed a treaty with the Israeli occupation in 1979, becoming the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with “Israel,” known as the Camp David Accords.

In 1994, Jordan also signed a peace agreement with “Israel,” known as the Wadi Araba Treaty, following Israel’s acceptance of the two-state solution with the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993. This was aimed at defusing any potential for renewed conflict through regional solutions, such as “Israel” leasing borderlands for 25 years.

4. Normalization with the Zionist Entity Entails Legal Responsibility

Normalization, according to specialized legal studies, is considered a form of criminal complicity in an ongoing crime that has persisted for 75 years: the military occupation of Palestine. These studies are based on international legal rulings and agreements, most notably UN Resolution 194, which concerns the right of return for Palestinians and compensation, emphasizing the civil responsibility of the occupying state. The issue is not limited to the crime of military occupation. A review of Israel’s occupation history reveals a record of crimes, including ethnic cleansing, massacres, terrorizing civilians, displacement, illegal settlement, the Judaization of Al-Quds, settler crimes, and the construction of the separation wall. International condemnation has been issued for each of these crimes, but none have resonated with the Zionist occupier. All these crimes are seen as “normal” under the concept of normalization! Every behavior by the Zionist entity that normalization seeks to normalize is, in fact, a crime under international law.

5. Legal Consequences of Normalization

• Normalization will grant the Zionist entity recognition of its sovereignty over Palestine, removing it from the circle of hostility among the normalizing countries, as if granting the right to continue the occupation, maintain settlements, and commit more crimes. Normalization would reward the Zionist entity for its actions.

• It will obscure the truth that Palestine belongs to its indigenous people and that its seizure contradicts international law, which defines mechanisms for state succession and territorial inheritance. The natural and legal outcome should be the right of the people and the original inhabitants of areas that were part of the Ottoman Caliphate, such as Palestine, to control their lands.

• The occupation is an ongoing crime, accompanied by crimes of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Thus, normalization is a complicit crime, and signing agreements with this ongoing criminal situation since 1948 — whether in security, military, trade, cultural, political, or tourism sectors — constitutes direct or indirect criminal partnership and encourages impunity.

• Normalization will not halt the Zionist entity’s criminal behavior, nor will it stop the threat of settlement expansion.

• One of the purposes of normalization is to sign agreements with the Zionist entity, which entrenches recognition of the entity. This entrenches the occupation as a permanent condition, contrary to international law, which does not permit occupation to become permanent. Occupation is a temporary condition created by force majeure and has no legal foundation.

• Normalization with Israel supports and legitimizes its dangerous practices and serious violations of international humanitarian law, especially regarding Jerusalem, including the decision to declare it as the “eternal capital” of the entity, which is a clear violation of United Nations resolutions.

6. Normalization in the Time of Genocide

In addition to what was mentioned above, normalization could also be a violation of the Genocide Convention. Article 1 of the convention states that “the contracting parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in times of peace or war, is a crime under international law, and they undertake to prevent and punish it.” Have the countries normalizing with Israel taken any steps to prevent Israel from committing genocide?

As Israel faces a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice for violating the Genocide Convention, and with expected arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court against its prime minister and defense minister for heinous crimes committed in Gaza over the past nine months, violating all international treaties and UN resolutions demanding a ceasefire — including temporary measures from the ICJ ordering Israel to halt military operations in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid — and with several countries severing diplomatic ties in protest of its crimes, discussing the resumption of normalization with this entity is unnatural and unacceptable.

7. Conclusion

Every form of cooperation that serves the interests of the Zionists poses a significant threat to Arab and Islamic nations. The Israeli entity strives relentlessly to establish relationships, agreements, treaties, activities, and projects with various Arab countries to affirm the Arab endorsement of what is now referred to as the so-called “Israeli state” — which, in reality, has no legitimate existence on the true world map.

The spread of normalization will gradually render what is unnatural seem normal and will further strengthen the Zionist entity as long as there are Arabs and Muslims who support it, directly or indirectly. Therefore, they must fully understand the importance of resisting the Israeli offers for normalization, which only benefits this oppressive entity.

The Israeli occupation’s attempts to normalize relations with Palestinians and Arab nations are

desperate efforts that clash with Israel’s abnormal and unnatural structure, evident in its deviant and unorthodox actions.

Source: Dr. Ahmad Al-Idrisi (Member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars) & Luna Farhat (Al- Akhbar) & Al Jazeera & Online Websites