UAE always working to solve 'bleak' situation for Palestinians, says Zaki Nusseibeh

The UAE minister of state, himself born in Jerusalem, says that the countries must be clear on where they stand

The “bleak” situation in Palestine looks worse every day, UAE Minister of State Zaki Nusseibeh, but the Emirates will continue to do everything it can to find a positive outcome for the Palestinian people.

Speaking to Tonight's Chat by The National, hosted by Ricardo Karam, the Jerusalem-born Mr Nusseibeh said he believes the UAE will continue to do all it can to "to help mitigate this situation" just days before Israel plans to begin annexation of large areas in the West Bank and Jordan Valley.

Palestinian, Arab and international officials have warned that the move would effectively kill off any hope for a two-state solution to the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict.

“Let me start by saying that the situation looks bleak,” Mr Nusseibeh said. “Let us not kid ourselves… we are in a situation that is worsening every day. And we see this happening before our very own eyes.”

Palestinian protesters wave flags as Israeli troops take position during a protest against Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah. Reuters

Now that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secured a new term in office, there’s little to prevent him from annexing large parts of the West Bank as early as this summer. AP

An Israeli soldier stands guard during a tour made by Israeli parliament members in the Jordan Valley near the Jewish settlement of Maale Efrayim. Reuters

Israeli soldiers take position as Palestinian demonstrators gather during a protest against expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. AP

King Abdullah (r) of Transjordan on May 13, 1948 in Amman with Abed Al Rahman Azzam, the secretary general of the Arab League and Abd Al Elah Ibn Ali, the Prince Regent of Iraq, the day before the beginning of the first Arab-Israeli War. AFP

Palestinians surrender to Israeli soldiers in June 1967 in the occupied territory of the West Bank after Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on Egypt and Syria and seized the Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights in Syria as well as the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem. AFP

A Palestinian child plays in a refugee camp in Jordan on June 23, 1967. AFP

PLO chairman Yasser Arafat delivers a speech to the Palestine National Council meeting to make the historic proclamation of a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied territories and to recognize Israel in the Palace of Nations conference hall on November 12, 1988, in Algiers. AFP

US President Bill Clinton stands between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzahk Rabin as they shake hands for the first time on September 13, 1993 at the White House. AFP

Hussein Ibn Talal, King of Jordan and Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin shake hands after they exchanged the documents of the Peace Treaty at Beit Gabriel conference centre on November 10, 1994 on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee. AFP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during the Palestinian leadership meeting and threatened to end security coordination with Israel and the United States, saying Israeli annexation would ruin chances for peace. AFP

Houses in the Israeli settlement of settlement of Kedumim are seen in the foreground as part of the Palestinian city of Nablus is seen in the background (far left) in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters

Israel's controversial concrete barrier (C) separating the Jewish settlement of Neve Yaakov (foreground) in the northern part of east Jerusalem and the Palestinian area of al-Ram (background) in the occupied West Bank. AFP

An Israeli activist holds a banner during a protest against the US peace plan for the Middle East, in front of the US ambassador's residence in Jerusalem, on May 15, 2020, as Palestinians commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the 1948 Nakba or "catastrophe". AFP

A Palestinian shepherd tends to his camels on arid land considered to be in "Area C" (under Israeli security and administrative control), southeast of Yatta town in the southern West Bank district of Hebron. AFP

A general view of the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh, as seen from the Palestinian village of Azmout near the West Bank City of Nablus. EPA

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Michmash. AP

He pointed to recent statements and interviews by numerous UAE officials – including an op-ed by US Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba in Israeli media warning of the risks of annexation.

“In the end, you need to communicate, you cannot just hide your hand… The UAE as usual, tries everything it can to be positive, to be proactive to try to help and let us not forget, we need to help people in the end.”

The minister of state urged people to remember that the issue is about people and livelihoods, not geo-politics.

“We are not talking about an abstract issue of occupying further land, of occupying water resources, of bringing in immigrants to live in the place of the indigenous population. We are talking about the suffering that these people have to go through, and I am confident that the Emirates will continue these efforts, notwithstanding the fact that the outlook is very bleak.”

Watch Zaki Nusseibeh on Tonight's Chat

Mr Nusseibeh also touched on the view of Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, when it came to Palestine.

“The leader I worked with was fully committed and passionate about helping the Palestinian people and about delivering justice, redressing the injustice that they have gone through.”

Mr Nusseibeh’s family have been leading voices in Palestine for generations. His father, Anwar Nusseibeh, was a prominent Palestinian official in the middle of the 20th century and a man Mr Nusseibeh described as “always upheld the values of public service” while his mother Nuzha Al Ghussein a leading women’s rights campaigner.

The UAE minister of state said that he had always tried to instill the same values in his own children.

During the conversation with Mr Karam, Mr Nusseibeh also responded to questions regarding the treatment of migrant and foreign labourers in the UAE.

“Throughout the decades of development, one of the major contributions was brought by Indian Pakistani, South East Asian labourers who came here, worked here and spent the lives here, building our cities … but at the same time, I can assure [you] that the government has always had the interests of these people at heart,” he said.

Of reports of poor conditions or abuses, he said “we listen, we hear about them, about the mistreatment of labour in the Gulf countries, about the kafala system, about the rights of labour, about the payment of their salaries. And I know that the UAE government is doing everything it can in order to bring legislation that will provide help to this labour.”