Palestinians removed United Arab Emirates (UAE) delegation from Muslims third holiest site Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem over UAE normalization deal with the Jewish state. The Palestinians believed the UAE-Israel deal is a betrayal.
The occasion of the visit was Bahrain and Israel signing a deal formalizing their diplomatic relations. The Prime Minister of Palestine Muhammad Shtayyeh defined the deal as “free reward to the Israeli occupation to encourage it to confiscate more Palestinian land and build more settlements.”
The UAE delegation entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque along with Israeli police protection but the UAE delegation was dismissed by the Palestinians from the mosque. A video was also shared on the Facebook page of the Palestinian Wadi Hilweh Information Center from where you can see the footage.
In the shared footage, a Palestinian man alleges the UAE delegation about the deal and asks them to leave instantly. After arguments from both sides, the UAE delegation is seen leaving the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“Al-Aqsa Mosque shall be entered through the gate of its owners, not through the gate of the Israeli occupation,” Shtayyeh said during the weekly Cabinet meeting on Monday. “It is sad to see some Arab delegations entering the compound through the Israeli gate, while worshippers are denied access to it to perform their prayers,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Bahrain signed a U.S backed agreement on September 15 in order to begin ambassadorial ties with Tel Aviv. However, the pro-Palestinian groups have criticized the pact and stated that the contract ignores the rights of Palestinians and does not help the Palestinian cause.
The deals broke with decades of Arab accord that there would be no regularization of relations with the Jewish state until they made peace with the Palestinians and drew charges of treachery against the western sponsored Gulf states.
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