The 1979 Camp David Accords are the starting point for normalization with Israel (French)

The term "normalization" emerged with its political payload after Egypt signed the Camp David peace accords with Israel in 1979, which stipulated that the two sides would establish "normal relations" similar to those established between states in peacetime.

Origin and definition of the term

The term "normalization" is derived from the English word normal, normal, and ordinary.

It did not appear in the dictionaries and dictionaries of the Arabic language in its political sense adopted today in the literature of international relations, while words such as nature, nature, printing and impression, all of which revolve around the meaning of the character on which man is mounted, until that nature becomes an "edition" or "stamp" inherent to him, which contradicts the concept of "normalization", which is intended to make relations between two parties normal and peaceful, contrary to their reality on the ground.

The French philosopher Michel Foucault was one of the first to talk about the term normalization in his book "Surveillance and Punishment" and in a lecture entitled "Security, Territory, Population" in 1978, where he argued that the concept of normalization "consists mainly of creating an ideal model that corresponds to a specific outcome."

He adds that the goal of what he calls "disciplinary normalization" is to "bring individuals, movements and procedures in line with this meticulously drawn model, as this model is the natural standard that must be complied with, and anything that deviates from this standard is considered abnormal and unacceptable."

The term normalization is also used in medical sociology and healthcare, and science and technology studies within the framework of what is known as the "theory of the normalization process" to provide a framework for understanding social processes, through which new ways of thinking, organizing, and working are integrated into daily work.

The weight of the term normalization (on the weight of activation) indicates that normalization is an extended process in time based on breaking barriers and taming until reaching the point of transforming a situation into a "normal" situation, indicating that it is a process that involves a certain compulsion, whether in language or reality, by seeking to make the abnormal by virtue of truth, history and geography natural without reasonable logic, the origin of normalization in the relations of two conflicting parties is to be the result of peace and not a reason for it, otherwise there is nothing One of the parties is bound by it if it is a cause and not a consequence.

Israel is trying to go beyond political normalization and what it entails to cultural, artistic and sports normalization (Shutterstock)

Forms of normalization

In addition to political, diplomatic, security, military, economic and commercial normalization, Israel is betting on other forms of normalization, the first of which is cultural, artistic and sports through cultural, literary and sports conferences and forums.

It also seeks to weave relations with Arab intellectuals and artists to gain relations with those who will be the "messengers" of normalization, who participate consciously or unconsciously in projects and plans to falsify historical facts, claim the existence of a right for Zionists in the Palestinian territories and the city of Jerusalem, based on Talmudic and religious convictions, and create a psychological environment that accepts the idea of displacing Palestinians and deporting them from their land.

Israel also relies on media normalization by hosting people on Arab channels, as well as religious normalization by organizing trips to Jerusalem under the pretext and justification of religious pilgrimage and visits to holy sites.

Normalization agreements signed with Israel

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967, calling for the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the territories it occupied in the '67 war, was the basis on which the so-called "peace" initiatives were built, and the following are the agreements between the Arab states and Israel:

  • The 1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, in which Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat agreed on a framework for achieving peace under which Israel would withdraw in stages from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and establish an interim Palestinian government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
  • The Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979, the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state. The treaty was met with Arab rejection and anger, to the extent of boycotting Egypt and transferring the headquarters of the Arab League to Tunisia.
  • The 1994 Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty in Wadi Araba.
  • The Oslo Accords were signed by the PLO with Israel in 1993 after secret talks in Norway that resulted in peace agreements providing for Palestinian autonomy and the election of a council in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for an interim period.
  • In 2002, Saudi Arabia submitted a peace plan endorsed by the League of Arab States, whereby Israel withdrew from all occupied territories and accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state in exchange for normal relations with Arab States.
  • Former US President Donald Trump announced on August 13, 2020, a surprise agreement to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE.
  • On September 11, 2020, Bahrain announced, in a joint statement with Israel and the United States, an agreement to normalize relations with Israel.
  • A tripartite agreement (Moroccan-American-Israeli) was announced on December 2020, 2002, providing for the resumption of official bilateral contacts and diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel, the facilitation of direct flights between them, and the "development of innovative relations" in the economic and technological fields. The agreement also provides for the reopening of liaison offices in the two countries, as was the case previously, for many years, until <>. The tripartite agreement stipulates that the United States will recognize "the full sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over the entire Moroccan Sahara region," a Moroccan royal court statement said at the time.
  • On October 23, 2020, a normalization agreement between Sudan and Israel was announced.
  • At the end of September 2023, a White House spokesman announced that there were negotiations aimed at "normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia," while the Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh said that the Kingdom is in no hurry to establish relations with Israel under American auspices until it gets what it wants.

Despite the escalation of normalization, Israel is uncomfortable, as the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs stated in October 2020 that 90% of Arab discourse on social media rejects normalization agreements.

Anti-normalization bodies, institutions and associations have also been formed in a number of Arab countries, calling for an end to its process, and warning of its danger to the values and fabric of Arab and Islamic societies.

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