DOHA: The justification offered by the UAE for normalising relations with Israel is flimsy and meant to fool the public but Arabs are intelligent enough to understand the true intentions of Abu Dhabi which have nothing to do with Middle East peace, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, has said.
In a series of tweets, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem said that peace must be based on clear foundations and not on empty words.
He also said that when Qatar opened an Israeli trade office and established relations in public with Israel after the Madrid Peace Conference, Doha was relentlessly attacked for its position. “Despite the clarity of our position and its consistency with the comprehensive Arab and international position, we are attacked to this day on every occasion because of that relationship,” he said.
“When we opened the Israeli trade office, our goal was to encourage Israel to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories to the borders of June 4, 1967, including occupied East Jerusalem, according to international decisions and the Arab Peace Initiative,” he tweeted.
“What caught my attention was the justification that accompanied the announcement of the agreement between the UAE and Israel, which is that Israel froze, in exchange for this agreement, the decision to annex Palestinian land in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley,” he said.
“What a funny and frail excuse,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem said. “What about the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which was annexed? What about the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms?”
“Or, did the announcement of the agreement come in support of the US President in the upcoming elections? Or is it the price to be paid for approval of the F35 aircraft deal that the UAE requested from Washington and which Netanyahu promised to support? Or is it to improve the image of Abu Dhabi in America?”
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim asked if Abu Dhabi had become the new capital of the Islamic caliphate. “The owners of the agreement say that those wishing to pray in Jerusalem can travel to it (the holy place) via Abu Dhabi airport, and they said earlier that travel to the Yemeni island of Socotra is also done via Abu Dhabi, knowing that there are Saudi forces on the island. However it is not possible to travel to it via Riyadh.”
“So did Abu Dhabi become the new capital of the caliphate so that Qataris and other Muslims can travel to Jerusalem to pray in Al-Aqsa through it only?” he asked.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim said that Arab people are too clever to fall for Abu Dhabi’s silly excuses, adding Palestinians haven’t given the right to anyone to decide their future.
“I have many friends in America and Israel, and I communicate with them regularly, and I regret to say that they don’t value our leaders. They have clear goals which others respect, but do we Arabs have goals other than intrigues and adventures?” he asked.