The normalization pact recently declared between the UAE and Israel is a “betrayal” of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause, a political expert said.
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The US-brokered deal – which was purportedly described as an approach by the UAE to stop Israel’s annexation plan in the occupied West Bank – sparked wide condemnations by Palestinians worldwide.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia that the suspension of the annexation “for the time being” was a demand from the US. The Israeli premier noted that the US currently prioritizes the expansion of the peace circle in the region.
Israel-UAE Pact
The so-called peace agreement, not only puts the Palestinians and their rights on the sidelines but also fails to help the Palestinians attain their rights as the UAE bid only aims to secure its interests with the US through Israel.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Sami al-Arian, the director of the Istanbul-based Center for Islam and Global Affairs of Turkey, said the agreement was “of course a total capitulation on one of the most sacred mosques across the Muslim world”.
Al-Arian said such a situation applied by the UAE rulers or anyone else “grants Israel the keys to Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem”.
“This is betrayal, not only of the trust that has been given to the Muslim world over 1,400 years ago, but also of the Palestinian cause and people,” the Palestinian academic asserted.
In practical moves towards the implementation of the deal, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Monday sent an invitation to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan to visit Israel.
Also, the head of Israeli spy agency Mossad Yossi Cohen arrived in the UAE on the same day to hold talks on the normalization agreement between the two countries, according to Israeli media.
Despite the deal, the Palestinian people will remain defiant and vigilant against such attempts and “will never give up their secret right, not only in Jerusalem and al-Aqsa, but across Palestine,” al-Arian said.
Amid the condemnations of the deal, another camp of Arab states officially upheld it as Netanyahu on Friday thanked Egyptian President Adel-Fattah al-Sisi and the governments of Oman and Bahrain for their support to the normalization agreement.
Commenting on the political and sociological impact of the normalization deal on the region, the Palestinian professor said the move manifested two alliances that contradict each other in the Arab world.
“I think it’s very clear now that we have two alliances, one that has totally given up their role to safeguard the rights and dignity of the people across the region and they have allied themselves with Israel,” he said, asserting that such alliance is also against the people of the region.
“The United Arab Emirates has been involved in every aspect of evil-doing across the region,” he stressed. According to al-Arian, Abu Dhabi has been basically against the free will of the people in the region and against its historical heritage.
Commenting on the Emirati regional role, al-Arian said: “In many countries, they have been trying to support the forces of corruption and tyranny like what we’ve seen in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and Sudan, even in their attempt to support the coup plotters in Turkey a few years ago.”
Asserting that the people will oppose such attempts by the UAE, the political expert said: “You can try to manipulate the people, you can try to repress the people, you can try to persecute the people and try to make sure that they do not rise up but that cannot continue forever.”
Al-Arian indicated that the people of the region will revolt against that kind of activities and will have “another wave of an Arab Spring movement in which the people will have their final say.” “I believe that they will reject all kinds of surrender to the Zionist entity, and they will reject any kind of foreign hegemony, whether it’s coming from Israel, or coming from outside the region,” al-Arian added.
