Palestinians strongly condemn Israel-Bahrain deal, withdraw ambassador

The Palestinian Authority leadership on Friday strongly condemned and rejected Bahrain’s decision to establish relations with Israel, calling it a “betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian issue.”The PA Foreign Ministry announced that it has decided to immediately recall its ambassador to Bahrain for consultations in protest of the normalization agreement.Last month, the Palestinian leadership issued a similar response to the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It also decided to recall the Palestinian ambassador to Abu Dhabi.The PA leadership said that the Bahraini decision would “support the legalization of the cruel crimes of the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian people at a time when the occupation state is continuing to control the Palestinian lands and annex them by military force, is working toward Judaizing Jerusalem and controlling the Islamic and Christian holy sites and is committing crimes against the Palestinian people.”The Palestinian leadership said in a statement that it views the Bahraini decision “with utmost seriousness because it destroys the Arab Peace Initiative, resolutions of Arab and Islamic summits and international legitimacy.” It said that the Palestinians reject the decision and call on Bahrain to immediately retract it because it causes huge damage to the national rights of the Palestinian people and joint Arab action.“The Palestinian leadership reaffirms its call for the Arab countries to adhere to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and urges the international community to adhere to international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy,” the statement read.“The Palestinian leadership reaffirms that it has not and will not authorize anyone to speak on its behalf. It also affirms that peace and stability in the region won’t be achieved unless the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is ended and Palestinians achieve an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the issue of the refugees is solved on the basis of United Nations resolution 194. Those who believe that concessions that come at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people will serve peace, security and stability in the region are deluding themselves.”Several Palestinian officials expressed outrage over the “disgraceful and treacherous” Israel-Bahrain agreement and accused Bahrain of betraying the Palestinian people.PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat accused the UAE and Bahrain of “contributing to [US President Donald] Trump’s presidential campaign at the expense of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”Ahmed Majdalani, member of the PLO Executive Committee, denounced the Israel-Bahrain agreement as a “stab to the national rights of the Palestinian people and their national cause. Majdalni said that the US administration’s “delusion that it can make peace between the occupying state and the Arab countries without the Palestinians and without an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories is political stupidity.”Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other extremist groups also condemned the Israel-Bahrain accord and said it was “the fruit of the failure of the Arab League.”Last week, the Arab League foreign ministers refused to endorse a Palestinian draft resolution that condemned the UAE for its agreement to establish relations with Israel.“What the Kingdom of Bahrain did is disgraceful and constitutes a political setback and a major downfall for the rulers of Bahrain,” Hamas said in a statement. “This series of steps, initiated by the Emiratis, and then the rulers of Bahrain, constitutes political crimes, contributes to the implementation of the Deal of the Century and undermines the foundations of Arab solidarity. Hamas rejects this announcement and considers it a stab in the back of the Palestinian people, a betrayal of Palestine and Jerusalem, and a step against the interests of the Arabs and Muslims.”
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