Published: 28 August 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
LAST WEEK THE UAE Ambassador and its Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, was rapturously greeted by the American Jewish Committee in New York.
It was a celebration of the decision of Israel and the United Arab Emirates to proceed towards a normalisation of diplomatic relations.
While it was clearly different from the decisions of the frontline states, Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 to establish ties with their neighbour, the decision by the UAE to make official already-existing links is undoubtedly an historic event of symbolic importance.
The UAE’s move was in tandem with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s U-turn regarding his plan to annex a section of the West Bank. It persuaded the White House to shelve the Trump plan in which it had invested such considerable time and energy.
For Lana Nusseibeh, who was instrumental in bringing about the agreement, it was the end of a long road which started many years ago at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies when she took a newly instituted MA in Israeli Studies.
She was a brilliant student who wrote some wonderfully insightful and incisive essays on Zionism and Israeli history.
At that time, Israel Studies at SOAS was buffeted on one side by the proponents of public advocacy who saw it as an arm of hasbarah and on the other by the supporters of BDS who viewed it as an integral part of the Zionist conspiracy.
Yet Lana Nusseibeh and many others saw beyond the slogans and soundbites from outsiders — Israel in all its aspects was a fascinating subject to study.
FULL STORY The Emirati power family steeped in Jewish learning (Jewish Chronicle)
Photo: Lana Nusseibeh (Flickr)
