(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - For the first time ever, the Palestinian leadership are now feeling that the Arab world is really fed up with them and does not want to wait for them anymore. The Arab world does not like the condemnations coming from the Palestinians and the accusations of treason. They do not like seeing pictures of their leaders being burned at Al-Aqsa Mosque. They also do not like to hear the PA Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, issuing a fatwa banning citizens of any Arab country that normalizes relations with Israel from praying at Al-Aqsa. I follow what is being said in the Arab world. It is unimaginable what Arabs in the Gulf are saying about the Palestinians: "You ungrateful people. We've given you billions of dollars all these years. In the end, you spit in our face and you burn our flag." One prominent Emirati academic tweeted pictures of UAE flags in the Israeli city of Netanya. Next to them, pictures of the UAE flag being burned by Palestinians in Ramallah and Gaza. He wrote: "My flag is being honored in Israel while these Palestinians are burning my flag." Other Arabs are asking Mahmoud Abbas: "Are you trying to punish an Arab country simply because they want normal relations with Israel? What about you, Abbas? In 1993, didn't you and Yasser Arafat allegedly recognize Israel's right to exist? Haven't you been negotiating with Israel all these years? Haven't you been conducting security coordination with Israel? Where is the problem, if an Arab country such as the United Arab Emirates wants to make peace with Israel?" The Palestinians are afraid that if you normalize relations with Israel, you are actually recognizing Israel's right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people in this part of the world. This whole conflict is really about Israel's very existence in the Middle East. There are still a large number of people in the Arab and Muslim world who continue to see Israel as a foreign body imposed on this region by Western powers, even though Jews have been here for more than 3,000 years.
2020-10-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive