Middle East Monitor / March 29, 2022
Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, condemned the recent summit between Israel and the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and the UAE, held in the southern city of Negev, saying such meetings while Tel Aviv continues its occupation is just an “illusion.”
“We’re following with concern Israel’s movement in the region,” said the Prime Minister at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah, Wafa news agency reported.
“Arab normalization meetings without ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine are just an illusion, a mirage and a free reward for Israel,” he added.
The three Arab countries controversially normalized diplomatic ties with the occupation state in 2020 during the administration of Donald Trump, while Egypt was the first Arab State to sign a peace treaty with Israel, in 1979.
Arab governments in attendance maintained that the summit must make progress on implementing a two-state solution for the Palestinians, with Israeli occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.
Shtayyeh further noted that “Israel is ignoring the causes of our people, half of whom are under occupation and the other half in refugee camps, in exile and the Diaspora.”
However, despite Israel’s attempts to ignore Palestinian rights, expand its colonial settlements and destroy any chance of peace, he added that “the Palestinians have never been more determined to confront this Israeli machine that is destroying our land, people and sanctities.”
“Those who do not want to see the truth know that we will remain loyal to our land, to our sanctities, the Arab nation, our history, the present of our nation and the freedom of our heroic people who are determined to thwart all schemes aimed at undermining our right to independence, sovereignty and freedom,” Shtayyeh added.
Speaking at a press conference in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian factions described the summit as “the summit of shame in the occupied Negev” and a “stab in the back” of the Palestinian people, who have been enduring “savage” Israeli attacks for more than seven decades.
“The real threat to the Arab people is the Zionist occupation,” insisted the factions. The summit, they said, was aimed at marketing the formation of an Arab-Zionist alliance as an extension to NATO, which is facing its biggest challenge in recent history following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
