Turkey: Regional people will never forgive UAE for 'betraying' Palestinians

Turkey says history and the conscience of the people of the region will not forget and forgive the "hypocritical behavior" of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in agreeing a deal to normalize ties with Israel.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday, "While betraying the Palestinian cause to serve its narrow interests, the UAE is trying to present this as a kind of act of self-sacrifice for Palestine."

"History and the conscience of the people living in the region will not forget and never forgive this hypocritical behavior," it added.

A high-ranking Turkish official also condemned the deal, saying defeat and humiliation awaits all those who have betrayed the Palestinian nation and cause.

“History will definitely record the defeat of those who betrayed the Palestinian people and their cause,” Ibrahim Kalin, spokesperson for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wrote in a post published on his official Tweeter page on Thursday.

Filistin halkına ve davasına ihanet edenlerin hüsranını tarih elbette yazacaktır.

— Ibrahim Kalin (@ikalin1) August 13, 2020

Nabil Abu Rudeinah, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the agreement an aggression on the Palestinian people.

He termed the deal a “blow to the [so-called] Arab Peace Initiative and the decisions of the Arab and Islamic summits, as well as an aggression against the Palestinian people.”

The so-called Arab Peace Initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia, calls on Israel to agree to a “two-state solution” along the 1967 lines and a “just” solution to the Palestinian refugee issue.

“The Palestinian leadership rejects what the United Arab Emirates has done and considers it a betrayal of al-Quds Jerusalem, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause. This deal is a de facto recognition of al-Quds Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” he added, calling on UAE officials to immediately withdraw from such a “disgraceful” declaration.

Abu Rudeinah urged other Arab countries not to “bow” to US pressure to normalize relations with Israel at the expense of Palestinian rights.

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“Neither the UAE nor any other party has the right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian leadership does not allow anyone to interfere in the Palestinian affairs or decide on their behalf for their legitimate rights,” he said. 

The spokesman said Palestinian President Abbas has called for an immediate emergency session of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to reject the UAE-Israel deal.

Jordan: Israel-UAE deal should prod Israel to accept Palestinian state

Jordan said that the UAE-Israel deal could push forward the stalled talks and prod Tel Aviv to accept a Palestinian state on the land that Israel occupied in 1967.

The impact of the agreement “will be linked to what Israel will do: either ending the occupation and achieving a just and comprehensive peace or deepening the conflict that will explode as a threat to the security of the entire region,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a statement on state media.

Safadi said the UAE-Israel deal must be followed by Tel Aviv ending any unilateral moves to annex territory in the occupied West Bank that "obstruct peace prospects and violate Palestinian rights".

Jordan is the second Arab country after Egypt to sign a treaty with Israel in October 1994.

Britain, France, Bahrain welcome UAE-Israel deal

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the agreement between the UAE and Israel that will lead to a full normalization of diplomatic ties, with France also lauding the deal.

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Longstanding US/Israeli plans call for redrawing the Middle East by replacing regional governments with pro-Western puppet regimes they control — including their resources and populations, writes Stephen Lendman.

The UAE and Israel’s decision to normalise relations is hugely good news. It was my profound hope that annexation did not go ahead in the West Bank and today’s agreement to suspend those plans is a welcome step on the road to a more peaceful Middle East.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 13, 2020

“It was my profound hope that annexation did not go ahead in the West Bank and today’s agreement to suspend those plans is a welcome step on the road to a more peaceful Middle East,” he said.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called Israel's decision to suspend its annexation plans a “positive step.”

Le Drian on Thursday hoped the agreement could pave the way for a resumption of talks between Israelis and Palestinians on the basis of the so-called two-state solution.

Bahrain also welcomed the UAE-Israel deal to normalize relations.

“This historic step will contribute to strengthening stability and peace in the region,” the government said in a statement carried on the state-run BNA news agency.

Yemen's Supreme Political Council condemns deal

Yemen's Supreme Political Council denounced the deal as “a betrayal of the Palestinian nation and consent to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.”

“Whilst the Zionist regime [of Israel] continues to expropriate precious Palestinian lands, the UAE regime announces its agreement to fully normalize ties with the usurping regime. We in Yemen reiterate our adherence to the Palestinian cause, strongly believe in Palestinians’ right to liberate their homeland and its sacred sites, and denounce the so-called UAE-Israel agreement. We consider the deal a betrayal of the Palestinian nation and endorsement of the Israeli occupation of Palestine,” it said in a statement.

Iran: UAE-Israel normalization strategic folly that boosts resistance

Iran’s Foreign Ministry vehemently condemns the recent deal aimed at normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

The council added, “The silence of the Arab and Muslim world vis-à-vis the treacherous UAE move will encourage the United States to liquidate the Palestinian cause in the name of so-called peace. We stress that there would be no peace in the region unless the US-Israeli plot is confronted, and that there would be no security for regional peoples unless Palestinian people’s rights are fully restored.”

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, telephoned Ziyad al-Nakhalah, Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad movement, to stress the need for a unified Palestinian front in the face of the UAE-Israel deal.

Both leaders rejected the agreement and underlined that the measure contravenes all Arab and Islamic principles, and it must be reversed.

'A victory for Netanyahu to continue aggression’

Walid al-Awad, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian People's Party (PPP), decried the US-brokered deal as a “treacherous stab in the back of the Palestinian nation.”

Awad, in a radio statement published by the Arabic-language Palestine Today news agency, described the path taken by the UAE as dangerous and offensive, and in gross violation of the Arab League Charter.

UAE normalization with Israel poisonous stab in Palestinians’ back: Hamas

Hamas slams UAE’s attempts to normalize ties with Israel as a poisonous stab in the back of the Palestinian nation.

He warned other Arab countries against such an approach, saying it was unfair and would mark a victory for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his campaign of aggression against the Palestinian nation.

Awad called on the Arab League to take a clear and decisive decision against any country that violates the regional organization’s Charter and moves to normalize relations with the Israeli regime.

He also dismissed as a “major deception” that the UAE-Israel deal included Tel Aviv regime’s agreement to suspend annexation of the occupied West Bank, emphasizing that Israel’s plan, settlement expansion activities and acts of aggression will continue unabated.

Awad finally stressed the need for the revocation of all agreements with Israel, in addition to drafting a new mechanism for dealing with countries that normalize relations with the Tel Aviv regime.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement too condemned the deal. The movement noted that normalization of ties between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi marks a moral and strategic downfall in the UAE’s policies.

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“The attempt to justify this agreement by alleging that it stopped the annexation scheme [in the West Bank] is purely misleading and cannot fool anyone. This deal is a reward for the Occupation to press ahead with its crimes and acts of aggression, and serves as a cover for the advancement of [US President Donald Trump’s so-called] deal of century plot,” the Islamic Jihad noted.

Trump's so-called “peace” plan envisions Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the Tel Aviv regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The plan also denies the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland, among other controversial terms. The plan has triggered waves of protest rallies around the globe.

The Islamic Jihad called on resistance groups in the Arab and Islamic world besides parliaments and peoples to categorically reject the humiliating UAE-Israel agreement, saying the deal amounts to the recognition of the Zionist regime and that it threatens the identity of the Middle East region.

“The Palestinian people are determined to continue their resistance and struggle, and the agreement will not affect their path,” Islamic Jihad movement concluded.

Fatah: Abu Dhabi 'abandoned' national duties 

The Palestinian Fatah movement also said the UAE is flouting its national, religious, and humanitarian duties toward the Palestinian cause with the deal.

The normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE is a “bad bet,” showing “absolute dependence on the enemies of the Arab people,” Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, told Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency on Thursday.

The deal amounts to “a comprehensive abandonment of the decisions of Arab summits and of the national, religious, and humanitarian duties towards the Palestinian cause,” he added.

“I would not wish for an Arab to fall into this swamp,” Zaki pointed out.

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