‘Major treachery’: Palestinians condemn Israel-Bahrain agreement

“The Palestinian leadership rejects this step taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain and calls on it to immediately take it back.”

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is not happy with the recently announced normalization agreement between Israel and Bahrain, according to reports by the PA’s official Wafa news agency.

Mahmoud Aloul, deputy chairman of the ruling Fatah party, today called the agreement a stab in the back and a betrayal of the Palestinian cause, Jerusalem, and humanity.

“This normalization aims to liquidate the Palestinian cause and bolster the election campaign of U.S. President Donald Trump and the national situation of Benjamin Netanyahu,” Aloul said.

On Saturday, Fatah’s central committee vehemently condemned the normalization agreement and called on the Arab countries to adhere to the Arab Peace Initiative as proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002.

PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the normalization agreement legitimizes “the Israeli aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

“While we are open to the world and to any real international effort to end the occupation, establish the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and resolve the refugee issue in accordance with international resolutions, our steadfastness and resistance against the occupation and the attempts to eradicate our people and our cause are boundless,” Shtayyeh said.

Saeb Erekat, secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, labeled President Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner “a mixture of ignorance and an extremist Zionist,” and called the agreement a “major treachery.”

“The Palestinian leadership rejects this step taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain and calls on it to immediately take it back,” the PA said in a statement published Friday.

PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said, “The U.S. administration has used all its political and economic might to extort, pressure, and bully Arab and other states to normalize Israeli colonization and trample on foundational principles of international law.”

She said, “Normalization of states in the region with Israel will not change the essence of this conflict, which is the systemic denial of the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to freedom and sovereignty,” and vowed that “such an arrogant and ignorant approach will not bring the Palestinian people to their knees.”

PA Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki announced Friday that he had summoned the PA ambassador to Bahrain for consultations on the necessary steps in response to Bahrain’s decision.

Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabi Ashkenazi thanked President Trump and his government for “the unwavering efforts that have led to this achievement,” and said that the agreement “represents another meaningful landmark in the effort to foster normalization between Israel and nations of the region.”