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Former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem al-Quds, Sheikh Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, has denounced attempts by a number of Arab states to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, warning that such measures would encourage the Tel Aviv regime to further press ahead with its criminal acts of aggression against the Palestinian nation.
“We were not surprised by the agreement between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Occupation (Israeli regime) as contacts and normalization channels have been in progress for 50 years,” Sheikh Sabri said in an online conference on Palestine on Saturday.
The cleric, who is currently heading the Higher Islamic Council in Occupied Jerusalem [al-Quds], stressed that the Palestinian cause would always remain on the table, and that the Palestinian people would not allow anyone to conspire against it.
African leaders, activists condemn UAE-Israel deal
Separately, activists and political leaders from across Africa have condemned the normalization pact between Abu Dhabi and the Tel Aviv regimes.
The South African government, in a statement, expressed remorse over the absence of Palestinians in yet another agreement related to their fate.
Head of Public Diplomacy in the International Relations Department, Clayson Monyela, said Israel’s suspension of its annexation plans in the occupied West Bank should not be celebrated as a diplomatic breakthrough for the UAE-Israel deal.
“Most of world countries have called for a stop to the threats of annexation of the West Bank, as it would have been an act in contravention of the international law. The agreement, however, does not commit Israel to halting plans to further extend its sovereignty over Palestinian territories and local people. The agreement also does not commit … Israel to negotiations guided by the internationally agreed parameters,” Monyela said in a statement released on Friday.
Bahrain’s al-Wefaq slams normalization of ties with Israel
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s main opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has condemned attempts by some Arab countries to normalize full diplomatic ties with Israel as “treason.”
Wefaq, in a statement released on Saturday, said such moves contravene Islamic values and human principles and are tantamount to concession to a new colonialism that knows no language other than oppression and conspiracy.
It called on the UAE to reconsider its decision to move toward normalizing ties with Israel, emphasizing that such a measure runs counter to the will of Emirati people as well as other Arab and Muslim nations.
Various Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip have roundly condemned the normalization announcement.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas voiced his “strong rejection and condemnation” and called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
In a statement, Abbas called the deal an “aggression” against the Palestinian people and a “betrayal” of their cause.
The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, also rejected the Israel-UAE pact as a “stab in the back of the Palestinian people and a desperate attempt to undermine the resistance front, which aims to defeat the Israeli occupation and restore Palestinians’ rights” in a statement.
The movement highlighted that “Emirati rulers will gain nothing but shame and loss [out of the agreement], as they will sooner or later realize that the replacement of Arab allies with the Israeli occupation equals to political suicide.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement also condemned the deal, noting that normalization of ties between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi marks a moral and strategic collapse in the UAE’s policies.
source:presstv
