Gaza City Palestinians react with shock and outrage after US President Donald Trump unveiled an agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize ties.
The deal calls for complete normalization of relations between the two countries in the areas of security, tourism, technology and trade in exchange for stopping Israel’s annexation plans on the West Bank.
Both the Palestinian leadership and the public were taken by surprise when the announcement came on Thursday.
“We had absolutely no prior knowledge of this agreement,” said Ahmed Majdalani, the Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister of Social Affairs, told Al Jazeera. “The timing and speed of achievement of this agreement were surprising, especially since it came at a critical moment in the Palestinian struggle.”
Former PA Prime Minister Munib al-Masri has stated that Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who ruled Abu Dhabi for more than 30 years before his death in 2004, has always been a strong supporter of the Palestinians.
“The late Sheikh Zayed was an expensive brother to me, I knew how proud he was of his support for Palestine … I never imagined that in my life I would see the day when the UAE would just leave the Palestinians sell for the sake of normalization, “al-Masri said. “It’s very shameful. I can not believe it so far.”
Other Palestinian officials said although the news came abruptly, it was not much of a surprise.
“We were not so surprised because the Emirati army was never on the border ready to fight Israel,” said Mustafa al-Barghouti, leader of the Palestinian National Initiative and member of the PA parliament.
“We have seen recent foreign movements by the UAE, such as sending direct flights to Israel, and there have been leaks of secret agreements between the two in terms of scientific and economic cooperation. It is clear that these were preliminary steps to the shock of yesterday. “
Reject the agreement
The PA and all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have issued official statements denying the UAE-Israel agreement. Palestinian leaders who spoke with Al Jazeera called it a “stab in the back.”
“We already knew there was normalization under the table, but formalizing and legalizing it at this critical moment is shocking at this critical moment. It is a stick in our backs and the backs of all Arab nations,” Majida al- Masri, former PA Minister of Social Affairs.
Al-Barghouti stressed the deal “does not bring about change or progress, it is far from real peace”.
“This is an attempt to handle the ‘deal of the century’ aimed at liquidating Palestinian national rights. It represents a denial of Palestinian, Arab and Islamic rights,” he said.
Palestinian leaders said the deal was “a free gift to Israel” and was made to aid the re-election of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The UAE’s position, in terms of its timing and essence, can only be understood as giving Israel free tax,” said Wasel Abu Yousef, member of the PLO executive committee and leader of the Palestinian Liberation Front. “There is no reasonable justification for this, except that it gives more power to the occupation and increases its crimes against the Palestinians.”
Normalize the de facto annexation
Although, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed Bin Zayed said the agreement “was reached to further halt the annexation of Israel”, Palestinians did not see much credibility for this claim.
“The UAE is trying to deceive and mislead the public by packaging this disgraceful agreement as a service to the Palestinians and claiming that it stops annexation, but that is just throwing dust in the eye,” Majdalani said.
Al-Masri said annexation “is not happening at all now because the whole world was on it”.
“That using annexation as a precaution is an exploitation of Palestinians to cover up what has been done here,” al-Masri said. “But neither the UAE nor other countries have the right to speak on behalf of Palestinians.
“The termination of the agreement implicitly approves the annexation of Jerusalem. It only opposes ‘further annexation’, while the approval of what has already been annexed is approved.”
Palestinian leaders claimed that the agreement would not stop Israel from extending sovereignty to the West Bank.
“Instead of the Jure annexation, Israel increases its creeping annexation. It accelerates and increases its aggression on the ground in terms of settlement construction, demolition of houses and what happens in the Ibrahimi and Al-Aqsa mosques, and in countries that ‘. t fall in Area C, “al-Masri said.
Palestinians noted that Netanyahu had opened the door for annexation and only said it was temporarily delayed.
“Netanyahu responded immediately to this point and said that annexation is still on the agenda,” al-Masri said. “This is a slap in the face to the UAE – to prove them wrong and humiliate them.”
Breaking Arab positions
Al-Barghouti called the agreement “a departure from the Arab peace initiative” and “a stab at the back of Arab positions.”
“It even goes against the interests of the Emirati people themselves and goes against the historical position of former UAE rulers such as Sheikh Zaid,” he said.
Majdalani said the deal aims to reform the Arab approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “It makes Netanyahu say he can achieve peace in exchange for peace with the Arabs without withdrawing from one area.”
Al-Barghouti said he feared the agreement would give a condition to countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom – which welcome the deal – to look away from the situation.
“But we are surprised that Arab governments like Bahrain and others would openly express support for this deal. Did they forget the Palestinian people and their rights? Have they forgotten Jerusalem and Islam?” he said.
Abu Yousef added: “The world needs to see the accelerated and increased crimes of Israel on the ground in the occupied territories, not just the threat of annexation.”
‘Struggle will continue’
Despite the disappointment, Palestinians insisted Thursday’s announcement will not affect their determination to end the occupation.
“Our sacrifices we made in confronting this occupation will not waste, we will strongly adhere to our rights and principles, supported by all the free people of the world,” said Abu Yousef.
Majdalani, the Palestinian leadership was looking for ways to respond. “We have taken an immediate decision to recall our ambassador in Abu Dhabi and we currently have all options on the table to consider.”
Palestinian officials urged the Arab world and the international community to step in. “The best response to the deal can only come from other Arab nations,” al-Masri noted.
Abu Yousef said the PLO “calls on Arab states to adopt a uniform position against the UAE decision so that there would be no room for other Arab countries to follow its lead in weakening Arab positions” and support for the Palestinians “.
He said the UN International Criminal Court (ICC), which could soon announce an investigation into Israeli actions in occupied Palestine, should now act.
“The international community, in particular international organizations such as the United Nations, are now more than ever called upon to take responsibility for stopping these crimes and empowering our people. We therefore call on the ICC to expedite its decision on occupying the occupation, ”Abu Yousef said.
Al-Masri concluded: “We still have hope for the Arab people, including the Emirati people, who unfortunately are unable to express their thoughts due to terrible state repression. The Arab public still rejects such normalization.”
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