By Rami Ayyub
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Angry Palestinians in Jerusalem accused the United Arab Emirates of participating with Israel and endangering the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third hole in Islam, as they accumulated for Friday’s prayers the day after the Gulf State agreement with Israel.
As a component of an agreement negotiated through U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday that they would normalize diplomatic relations, combined through a confluence of interests opposed to Iran.
The agreement also plans to give Muslims a greater presence at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque by allowing them to fly directly from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
This was received with dismay by the Palestinian faithful who broke into the tree-lined compound of Jerusalem’s fortified Old City, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (noble sanctuary) and Jews such as the Temple Mount.
“Our brothers in the Emirates have put our blessed mosque on the brink of death,” said Kamal Attoun, 60, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem and the Old City.
When asked if he would welcome Muslims from the Emirates or the Gulf in such circumstances, Attoun said: “They have noticed how they have gained collaborators from Saudi Arabia in the past. The same fate awaits the Emirati.”
He refers to a pro-Israeli Saudi internet influencer who allegedly mocked the Old City compound last year.
Palestinians have long sought East Jerusalem, home to the Old City, as the capital of a long-term state and have turned to Arab nations to protect this position. If they normalize their relations with Israel, Palestinians are concerned about wasting any long-term sovereignty in the city and securing the Al Aqsa mosque.
Mohammad al-Sharif, 45, a member of Israel’s Arab minority, said he would not oppose Gulf Muslims “because their leaders made a mistake.”
But he’s scathing at his leaders.
“Collaboration with the United Arab Emirates is worse, one hundred times worse than collaboration with Israel. May Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and his unclean dogs look at themselves and their interests and that the rest of us can move to hell,” he said, referring to Abu Prince heir of Dhabi.
Jerusalem’s most sensible Islamic official, Sheikh Abdul-Azim Salhab of the Islamic Waqf, told Reuters that he “does not settle for the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque being the subject of political disputes. It’s more than a fight.”
The conviction also came here from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose spokesman read Thursday through Palestinian television leaders calling the deal a “betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa and the Palestinian cause.”
Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank spoke out Friday against the agreement. Protesters in the city of Nablus burned Trump’s effigies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
IsraeliS enchanted
Meanwhile, Israel has followed the agreement, along with the country’s best-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, calling it “bold advance.”
Some analysts said Netanyahu risked infuriating his supporters by reversing his promises to annex land in the West Bank – territory sought by the Palestinians for a state – to succeed in an agreement with a Persian Gulf country.
“He won some business with the center-left, who likes agreements with the Arabs, lost many more matters with his right-wing voter base,” Ben Caspit wrote to Maariv.
Netanyahu, who is being sued for corruption and criticized for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, praised the agreement as a good non-public fortune in Israel’s integration into the Middle East.
On his Arab Twitter account, he credited Israel’s foreign intelligence service, Mossad, for closing the deal.
Under the leadership of spy leader Yossi Cohen, Netanyahu said, Mossad helped expand Israel with the Gulf and “mature the peace agreement with the Emirates.”
(Additional report through Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; written through Stephen Farrell and Rami Ayyub; edited through Mark Heinrich)
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