Palestine Bypassed in Tiran
and Sanafir Deal
By Iqbal Jassat
Will media blackout on Tiran and Sanafir now be lifted
following Saudi monarch’s recent high profile visit to Egypt?
This appears to be the expectation if Arab media is to be
believed given the fuss over these islands in Cairo, Riyadh
and Tel Aviv.
Some reports indicate that the fuss is fast developing into a
storm as more details emerge over the four-way deal involving
America, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
So what is Tiran and Sanafir?
These are islands located in the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba
which seperates the Red Sea from Aqaba, providing access to
Eilat, Israel’s southern port.
The islands were occupied by Israel after the late King Faisal
had given control of them to Egypt to prevent Israeli ships
being able to get to Eilat during the Six-Day War. After the
ceasefire, Saudi Arabia and Egypt each claimed that the
islands belonged to the other, leaving them free for the
Israeli occupation to begin. When Egypt made peace with Israel
in 1978, President Anwar Sadat refused to include them in the
peace agreement, arguing that they belong to Saudi Arabia. A
computer search reveals that even Google labels them as “Saudi
Arabia” and maps of the country in governmental offices show
clearly that they are Saudi territory, so why the reluctance
to challenge Israel, and why is there a media blackout?
If indeed Tiran and Sanafir belong to Saudi Arabia and the
current agreement which saw King Salman grease Egypt’s coup
leader al-Sisi’s palm with aid pledges amounting to USD 20
billion, to have sovereignty returned to Riyadh, the matter of
“Occupation” raises fresh concerns.
Amongst the foremost is that Israel’s military presence on the
islands which has been in place since it captured them during
the 1967 six-day war, is not likely to be reversed. The deal
refers to Saudi Arabia consenting to the status quo. This
amounts to Saudi territory remaining occupied by Israel,
notwithstanding Egypt passing sovereignty to the Saud kingdom.
Secondary but equally important is the fact that the deal
requires of the Saudi regime to allow Israel unhindered and
worse, unchecked sea traffic, which obviously will continue
ferrying military cargo to Eilat.
Egypt may try to argue that the 1979 Camp David treaty
restored the islands to it as a proxy for Saudi Arabia, but
whether the wider Arab population in the region buys into it
is left to be seen.
The equation thus resulting from the agreement leaves Israel
as the only one which benefits without any concession
extracted by either of the parties. Of course for the
Netanyahu regime, whether ownership of Tiran and Sanafir is
vested in Cairo or Riyadh, makes no difference: Occupation
reigns supreme!
As Haaretz reports: “Formally there is no section in the Camp
David Accords that forbids Egypt from transferring territories
from its sovereignty to that of another state, all the more so
when the islands are already recognized as a part of Saudi
Arabia. However, Saudi control causes some worry wrinkles
regarding the future of the freedom of passage defined in the
Camp David Accords, to which Egypt, but not Saudi Arabia, is
bound.
“In order to calm Israel, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel alJubeir announced that the kingdom would fulfill all
obligations to which Egypt was signed regarding freedom of
passage, but would not hold direct contacts with Israel. Such
a general declaration, even if not aimed directly at Israel,
can suffice. Moreover, Saudi Arabia is considered an ally of
the west and of the United States in particular. The Saudi
declaration also can be considered informal recognition of
the Camp David Accords, the signing of which had caused Egypt
to be ostracized by the Arab States”.
One can expect disquiet in Palestinian streets. Almost 70
years after the Naqba, neither of the two dominant Arab powers
have factored in Palestine’s legitimate demands for freedom
and justice while striking this deal, merely a stones throw
from the devastation caused by Israel in Gaza.
Tiran and Sanafir represent the ease whereby unelected Arab
despots are able to bypass Palestine’s freedom struggle
without blinking an eye.
– Iqbal Jassat is an Executive Member of Media Review Network
in Johannesburg. He contributed this article to
PalestineChronicle.com. Visit: www.mediareviewnet.com. Follow
Iqbal: @ijassat