In recent weeks, the Qatari media has been slamming the Trump administration's efforts to advance a regional peace plan that has come to be known as the "Deal of the Century." Qatari media reports and articles about this plan have described it as serving Israel's interests while eliminating the Palestinian cause. Furthermore, following reports in the non-Arab media that Saudi Arabia has been involved in formulating this plan, and against the backdrop of the growing crisis between Qatar and the "Arab Quartet" – i.e. the four countries, led by Saudi Arabia, which have been boycotting Qatar for the last year – the Qatari media has been accusing Saudi Arabia and other Arab regimes of collaborating with the Trump administration and betraying the Palestinians.[1]
On June 28, the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, directed by former Israeli Knesset Member 'Azmi Bishara, who is close to the Qatari regime, likewise published a report about the Trump peace plan, stating that it is the worst Middle East peace plan presented by the U.S. to date, that it completely disregards the Palestinian rights and the fact that the root of the problem is the Israeli occupation, that it resembles the plan of the Israeli right for ending the conflict with the Palestinians and constitutes an attempt to impose this Israeli position on the Arabs. The report also attacked certain Arab countries, chiefly Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Emirates, for cooperating with this plan, and assessed that it would not go forward as long as the Palestinians opposed it and continued to resist the pressures exerted upon them.[2]
This criticism of the Trump deal found expression also in cartoons published in the Qatari and pro-Qatar media. Many of the cartoons presented Arab support for the deal as a betrayal of the Palestinians and collaboration with the U.S. and Israel, while others addressed the deal itself, presenting it as serving nobody but Israel. Some cartoons expressed that the Palestinians' commitment to the right of return will not enable the deal to go forward. This was often represented by the symbol of the key, which represents the Palestinian refugees' insistence on the right to return to their former homes within the 1948 territories.
The following is a sampling of the cartoons.
Criticism Against Arabs Countries For Collaborating With U.S., Supporting The Deal Of The Century
Arab countries help the U.S. force the poisous "Deal of the Century" down the Arabs' throats (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, July 2, 2018)
"The Arab regimes" shake hands with Trump, who is pointing the gun of the "Deal of the Century" at them (Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, London, June 26, 2018)
"The Arab regimes" pretend to refuse "The Deal of the Century" while signing it under the table (Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, London, June 24, 2018)
"The Deal of the Century": The Arabs are in "Kushner's" pocket as he skips over the Jerusalem problem (arabi21.com, June 23, 2018)
Blinded by the U.S. and by false hopes for peace, the Arabs do not see that "the way to [liberate] Palestine" is via the gun, and are about to fall into the trap of the "Deal of the Century" prepared for them by Trump and Netanyahu (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, May 25, 2018)
"The Deal [of the Century]!": The U.S. gets money, Israel gets "Jerusalem" and the Arabs get a ticking bomb (Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, London, May 24, 2018)
The Deal Of The Century Favors Israel
"The Deal of the Century" as a star of david (aljazeera.net, March 9, 2018)
"The Deal of the Century" is an Israeli product in an American guise (arabi21.com, July 9, 2018)
The pro-Israel "Jared Kushner"(Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, London, June 14, 2018)
The Palestinian Adherence To Right Of Return Will Thwart The Deal Of The Century
"The Marches of Return and the Deal of the Century": the Palestinian marcher turns the table on the deal (arabi21.com, May 23, 2018)
"A Right Demanded Will Never Be Lost": The Palestinians' adherence to the right of return, symbolized by the key, is erasing the "Deal of the Century" (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, June 23, 2018)
A Palestinian erases "the Deal of the Century" with the key of the right of return (aljazeera.net, May 12, 2018)
The right of return shatters "the Deal of the Century" (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, July 19, 2018)
