Kuwaiti columnist calls on Muslim nations to recognize Israel

Kuwaiti media personality Yousuf Abd Al-Karim Al-Zinkawi called on all Muslim countries to recognize Israel immediately in an article for the Kuwait-based Al-Seyassah newspaper, according to a report released by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

The article also called on Muslim countries to stop referring to Israel as the “Zionist entity” or the “Israeli occupation.”

“Israel became a member of the U.N. on May 11, 1949, namely 67 years ago, before most of the Arab and Islamic states became independent, ” Al-Zinkawi wrote. “At the time, the U.N. had only 57 member states, which means that over 62 percent favored Israel’s admittance. Today, when the [U.N.] General Assembly has swelled to include 193 states, I believe that the proportion of states that support Israel is even greater, and is over 83 percent. This, especially after some five Arab states and quite a few Muslim ones have recognized the State of Israel….It came to the point where the Arab League itself proposed in 2002 that the Arab states normalize their relations with Israel as part of the Arab peace initiative and as part of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

Al-Zinkawi wrote that, in practice, Arab and Muslim nations already recognize Israel because they work “under the same roof as the Israeli delegation” at the U.N. General Assembly.

Calling the constant efforts to delegitimize Israel despite unofficial and indirect ties with the Jewish state a “political charade, ” he wrote that Arab and Muslim leaders should accept reality and recognize Israel.

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org)

