Pro-Palestine solidarity and capitalist double-speak
By Michael Pröbsting, Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 5 February 2024, www.thecommunists.net
All governments in the Middle East denounce Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza. However, when some countries suggested at the last meetings of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in November 2023 that all member states should rupture their economic relations with the Zionist state, this proposal was rejected since some governments were strongly opposed to it.
What is the reason for such a gap between the verbal denunciation of Israel’s war crimes and the refusal to translate such words into deeds? The answer is simple: it’s about money.
This becomes evident when we take the figures from an economic report which the Bank of Israel published in March 2023. [1] According to this report, “Israel’s trade in goods with Middle Eastern countries, long limited, has been growing rapidly in the past two years. Imports from Turkey are surging and so are imports from and via the United Arab Emirates following the Abraham Accords. Israeli exports to these two countries have increased, as have natural gas exports to Egypt and Jordan. Total goods imports from the region’s countries exceed exports to them.”
The Bank of Israel provides detailed figures about Israel’s trade with Middle East countries with which it has official relations. These countries are Türkiye, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and Bahrain. (See the Table below)
Growing trade ties
According to the report, imports to Israel have substantially increased. The most important among the Middle East countries is Türkiye. Effectively, Israel’s imports from this country grew by 150% between 2011-15 and 2022 – from $2.3 billion to $5.7 billion. Imports from the UAE increased even more dramatically – in particular after the so-called “normalisation” between the two countries in 2020. While Israel imported commodities worth $116 million in 2020, these figures increased by more than 16 times within two years to $1,891 million! Imports from the other mentioned Middle Eastern countries increased also, albeit less spectacularly.
We see the same process when it comes to Israel’s exports to these Middle Eastern countries. Exports to Türkiye grew by 50% between the years 2020 and 2022 – from $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion. And exports to the UAE increased by 900% in the same period – from $74 million to $670 million. Likewise did Israel’s exports to Egypt grow from $12 million to $127 million.
As a result, the share of these Middle Eastern countries in Israel’s imports increased from 3.9% (2011-15) to 7.7% and the share in its exports from 3.7% to 4.4%.
Likewise, the above-mentioned Middle Eastern countries have become popular destinations for Israeli tourists. The Bank of Israel reports: “Israeli tourism to the region’s countries – mainly Turkey, Egypt, and the new destinations of the UAE and Morocco – expanded to more than 1.8 million visits in 2022 and increased relative to 2019 as well. The number of passengers flying to countries in the region (including back to Israel) was 3.9 million in 2022—about one-fifth of international air travelers through Ben-Gurion International Airport.”
Hence, it becomes clear that Israel has become an important economic partner for several Middle Eastern countries – in particular for Türkiye, the UAE and Egypt. If the governments of these states would impose a boycott against Israel, they would lose a lot of money!
Double-Speak
This, of course, is a shame since, in fact, the Middle Eastern countries could seriously hurt Israel’s economy if they would impose a boycott against the Zionist state. Look what the Houthis in Yemen have achieved with their strikes against Israel-linked cargo ships! [2] According to reports, the Houthis actions have resulted in virtually closure of Israel’s port of Eilat, and its income fell by 80%. [3]
If all governments would implement such a consistent policy in solidarity with the Palestinian people, Israel would quickly be brought to its knees!
Türkiye’s Erdoğan government plays a particular shameful role. It (correctly) denounced Israel’s genocidal war and said that Hamas is not a “terrorist organisation” but a national liberation movement. However, at the same time, as we did show above, it is the Middle East country with the largest trade volume with the Zionist state!
Not only this. Ankara also plays a crucial role in supplying Israel with oil. Azerbaijan contributes 40% of Israel’s annual oil consumption and this fuel is transported through Türkiye! When Hamas succeeded on 7 October to damage Israel’ primary oil dock in Ashkelon, Erdoğan allowed an oil tanker to transport 1 million barrels of Azerbaijani crude from Türkiye’s Ceyhan Port to Israel’s Eilat Port. [4]
There is a word for this: double-speak. The ruling class of these Middle East countries have Palestine in their mouth – but money in their heart and in their pocket!
This is no surprise since these governments are all capitalist. They serve the financial interests of a small group of domestic and foreign corporations. They are ready to do business with everyone – including with Israel and the Sheitan!
It is the workers and the popular masses which must organise a boycott movement against Israel and those corporations which collaborate with this terror and Apartheid state. Only workers and peasant governments which expropriate the capitalist corporations and oppose all imperialist Great Powers – those in the West as well as in the East – can ensure a consistent policy of solidarity with the Palestinian people! [5]
Victory to the Palestinian resistance! Defeat Israel!
Appendix
Table: Israel’s Goods Trade with Middle Eastern Economies, 2011-22 (in Million US-Dollars in Current Prices)
Imports to Israel by Country of Purchase
2011-15 2016-18 2019 2020 2021 2022
Türkiye 2,348 2,794 3,208 3,498 4,764 5,700
United Arab Emirates 15 31 – 116 837 1,891
Jordan 287 314 293 210 392 469
Egypt 80 65 76 80 127 180
Morocco 8 14 10 10 11 18
Bahrain 0 – – – 3 11
Total 2,738 3,218 3,587 3,914 6,134 8,269
Share of total goods imported 3.9% 4.6% 4.7% 5.6% 6.7% 7.7%
Exports from Israel
2011-15 2016-18 2019 2020 2021 2022
Türkiye 2,050 1,546 1,758 1,431 1,919 2,272
United Arab Emirates 25 17 11 74 354 670
Jordan 134 60 99 39 64 67
Egypt 27 22 4 12 31 127
Morocco 164 92 111 91 121 38
Bahrain 0 0 – – 4 2
Total 2,400 1,737 1,983 1,647 2,493 3,176
Share of total goods imported 3.7% 2.8% 3.4% 3.3% 4.1% 4.4%
[1] Bank of Israel: No Longer an Island Economy? Growing trade and tourism relations between Israel and Middle Eastern countries, 28.03.2023 https://boi.org.il/en/communication-and-publications/press-releases/no-longer-an-island-economy-growing-trade-and-tourism-relations-between-israel-and-middle-eastern-countries/. All figures are from this article if not indicated otherwise.
[2] See on this e.g. RCIT: U.S & Allies Send Naval Force to Red Sea to Support Terrorist Israel against Houthis, 18 December 2023, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/u-s-allies-send-naval-force-to-red-sea-to-support-terrorist-israel-against-houthis/; Gaza War: The Houthis and the Looming Imperialist Intervention in the Red Sea, 14 December 2023, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/the-houthis-and-the-looming-imperialist-intervention-in-the-red-sea/; see also Michael Pröbsting: Gaza War: The Houthis Have Opened the Second Front. Major international shipping companies stop their operations through the Red Sea after a series of attacks by the Yemeni rebels, 16 December 2023, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/gaza-war-the-houthis-have-opened-the-second-front/; Yemen’s Houthis Seize Israeli Cargo Ship: A Legitimate Act of Solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance, 20 November 2023, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/houthis-seize-israeli-cargo-ship/
[3] Pepe Escobar: Yemen Ready to Stare Down a New Imperial Coalition, December 20 2023, https://www.unz.com/pescobar/yemen-ready-to-stare-down-a-new-imperial-coalition/; see also Michael Pröbsting: War and Revolution in the Middle East. The transformation of the Zionist War on Gaza into an Israeli-American war against Arab peoples brings the region as well as the world closer to revolutionary explosions, 1 February 2024, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/war-and-revolution-in-the-middle-east/
[4] Turkish Minute: Israel’s oil imports continue to pass through Turkey despite Erdoğan’s pro-Palestinian rhetoric, October 30, 2023, https://www.turkishminute.com/2023/10/30/israel-oil-import-continue-pass-through-turkey-despite-erdogan-palestinian-rhetoric/
[5] We refer readers to a special page on our website where more a number of RCIT documents on the 2023-24 Gaza War are compiled, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/compilation-of-articles-on-the-gaza-uprising-2023/.