Middle East Monitor / September 9, 2020
Secretary of PLO’s Executive Committee Saeb Erekat revealed yesterday that most Arab countries have stopped paying their dues towards the Palestinian budget, Al-Khaleej Online reported.
Marking the start of preparations for the 154th meeting of foreign ministers of Arab League member states, Erekat said that the meeting’s agenda includes eight issues the foremost is the joint Arab work, the Palestinian issue, Israeli-Arab conflict, the Arab affairs, and national security.
“Our message to the meeting of the ministerial council of the Arab League is that we hope you will take decisions to fill the gap made by the UAE-Israeli normalisation,” Erekat said.
He also expressed hope that the Arab League renew its commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative and the resolutions of the previous Arab League meetings held in 2018 and 2019.
Erekat thanked the Arab states which reiterated their commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Algeria, Kuwait, and Qatar.
“We do not want support from our Arab brothers that surpasses their abilities,” he said.
“All we need,” he said, “is to renew their commitment to the Peace Initiative which they proposed and agreed on and to carry out the resolutions of the successive meetings of the Arab League related to the financial safety network for Palestine.”
On 13 August, US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal between the UAE and Israel brokered by Washington.
Abu Dhabi said the deal was an effort to stave off Tel Aviv’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, however, opponents believe normalisation efforts have been in the offing for many years as Israeli officials have made official visits to the UAE and attended conferences in the country which had no diplomatic or other ties with the occupation state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu however denied this saying annexation is not off the table but has simply been delayed.
