The UAE is the third Arab nation to normalise relations with Israel after Jordan and Egypt, capping years of discreet contact between the two countries.

The abnormal ‘normalisation of relations’ is ostensibly in return for postponing the further unlawful annexation of Palestinian land. But the German-Israeli historian Moshe Zimmermann said in an interview with German broadcaster ARD that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had admitted that the annexation had only been postponed temporarily.

Hamas has reacted by saying: “The UAE's peace deal with Israel is a treacherous stab in the back of the Palestinian people. President Mahmoud Abbas called the agreement an "aggression" against the Palestinian people and a "betrayal of their cause." The Turkish Foreign Ministry was also sharp in its criticism: "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," it said in a statement."

The Palestinian Arabic-language daily Al-Quds described the agreement as a "dangerous development which symbolized the UAE's departure from the Arab-Islamic consensus", effectively giving Israel a green light to go ahead with its settlement policy and encouraging it to ignore the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. It said that although the UAE had declared that the agreement would put a stop to Israel's annexation plans, "the opposite was true." The so-called Abraham Accord is a betrayal not only of the Palestinian cause but a blow to the global Muslim ummah in subverting the defence of al-Aqsa Mosque. The ‘normalisation’ legitimises Zionist occupation, Israeli apartheid and the daily merciless persecution of women and children. It normalises state-sponsored terrorist activities which systematically create homelessness through daily eviction of Palestinian families from their homes. It reinforces the worst human rights violations on the planet.

In the final analyses no supporter of Palestine can truly justify maintaining normalised relations with the Zionist entity given the illegal occupation and further annexation plans in violation of international law.

Yusuf Patel (Ml)
Secretary General
19 August 2020