Having written earlier today that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opted for the promise of diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates at the expense of Israeli settlers’ aspirations for sovereignty (Kushner, Bin Zayed: Israeli Relations with UAE Depend on Palestinian State), it was not surprising that many Arab folks also hated the idea – for radically different reasons, obviously.
To start, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Malki announced on Thursday evening that “Palestine has decided to immediately summon its ambassador to the United Arab Emirates,” following the “US-brokered Israel-UAE deal on full normalization of the relations between the two countries.”
That’s one of the biggest advantages in having an embassy in a foreign country – you can summon your ambassador home whenever the host country does something that upsets you.
According to WAFA, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday night received a phone call from Ismail Haniyeh, Chairman of the Politburo of Hamas.
“Haniyeh stressed his support of the position of the Palestinian leadership” and said “his movement has decided to unite behind President Abbas in the struggle to build a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, as well as in rejecting all unilateral agreements that aim at liquidating the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”
To add some muscle to his statement, Haniyeh also said that Hamas was ready for “any joint action under the umbrella of the Palestinian leadership and President.”
In that context, during those joint actions, the PLO guys should be careful not to stand near the end of rooftops, seeing as Hamas is in the habit of throwing their kind off the ledge on occasion.
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) said the deal is part of a vast conspiracy against the Palestinian people, and the Islamic Jihad Movement declared it was a “surrender.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday condemning the agreement, calling it a “strategic stupidity” by the UAE and Israel, and a “dagger in the back of the Palestinians and all the Muslims.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers this ‘shameful’ action of Abu Dhabi in normalizing ties with the fake, anti-human and illegitimate Zionist regime a dangerous action and warns about any interference of the Zionist regime in equations in the Persian Gulf region and announces that the government of the Emirates and other accompanying governments must accept responsibility for consequences of this action,” said the Iranian statement.
OK, they are very unhappy to have a Zionist presence across their border. It’s comparable to Israel discovering an Iranian presence across its own border.
Turkey on Friday slammed the UAE and Israel peace deal and said it “ignores the willpower of Palestine.”
“The UAE, which is pursuing secret ambitions over a US plan that is stillborn and null and void, ignores the willpower of Palestine,” read a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
They do realize Turkey, too, has diplomatic relations with Israel, right? Oops…
The Turkish foreign ministry statement also noted that the UAE “has no authority to negotiate with Israel on behalf of Palestine without consent from its people and administration, regarding vital matters.”
Turkey, on the other hand, does, of course, represent the Arabs of the liberated territories – for instance, by sponsoring anti-Israel flotillas; and by meddling in political affairs in eastern Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount.
It’s a goose and gander horse and pony show in Ankara…
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi said in a statement that the success of the peace deal depends on Israel. “If Israel sees the agreement as an incentive for the end of the occupation and the return of the Palestinian people’s right to freedom and to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with Eastern Jerusalem as its capital, the region will move towards a just peace. However, if Israel does not do this, the conflict will deepen and threaten the whole region,” al-Safadi said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday welcomed the deal, saying, “I followed with interest and appreciation the joint statement between the United States, United Arab Emirates and Israel to halt the Israeli annexation of Palestinian lands and taking steps to bring peace in the Middle East,” Sisi tweeted. “I value the efforts of those in charge of the deal to achieve prosperity and stability for our region.”
Sisi phoned Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and congratulated him on his “historic peace step.”