The Palestinian Authority called Thursday for the United Arab Emirates to “immediately retract” its agreement to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, which it called a “despicable decision.”
PA President Mahmoud Abbas called an emergency meeting in response to the agreement, while the PA recalled its ambassador to the UAE in protest over the deal.
“The Palestinian leadership rejects the actions of the Emirati government, considering it to be a betrayal of the Palestinian people and Jerusalem and al-Aqsa,” PA spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement read aloud on Palestine TV.
Abu Rudeineh accused the Emirates of “conducting normalization [with Israel] in the guise of supporting the Palestinian cause.”
Abu Dhabi has sought to portray its action as first and foremost benefiting the Palestinians, as it puts off and possibly cancels Israel’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank.
“The leadership affirms that the UAE, or any other party, has no right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people, and does not allow anyone to intervene in the Palestinian affairs or speak on their behalf about their legitimate rights in their homeland,” Abu Rudeineh said.
Abu Rudeineh said that the Palestinian Authority demanded an emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to denounce the agreement.
Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad also denounced the agreement, which was mediated by the United States.
“The US-Israeli-Emirati agreement is dangerous and represents a ‘free reward’ for the Israeli occupation for its crimes and violations of the Palestinian people’s human rights,” said Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum, who added that the Gaza-based terror group saw the agreement as “a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause.”
“He who has never supported Palestine with a bullet ought to be ashamed of himself as he is submitting to the basest of creatures,” Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement.
A new Arabic-language hashtag began trending on social media – “normalization is betrayal” – reaching hundreds of thousands of shares.
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