After dumping Hamas, Abbas seeks to restore ties with Gulf states
Abbas and many Palestinian officials and factions had strongly condemned the rulers of Bahrain and the UAE for reaching the peace deals with Israel.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHA PALESTINIAN leadership genuinely committed to the welfare of their people, unlike PA President Mahmoud Abbas, could take the proposals in ‘Vision for Peace’ as a starting point for negotiations.(photo credit: FLASH90)
A recent phone call from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas came as a pleasant surprise to Palestinian officials in Ramallah, who say it is a sign of a thaw in their relations with the Gulf state.The Bahraini monarch called Abbas to offer his condolences over the death of PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat, who died last month at Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem after being diagnosed with COVID-19.Abbas, for his part, offered his condolences to the Bahraini king over the death of Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s long-serving prime minister, who also died last month at the age of 84.This was their first phone conversation since the announcement that Bahrain had established relations with Israel following that of the United Arab Emirates, the first Gulf state to normalize its relations with the Jewish state.Abbas and many Palestinian officials and factions strongly condemned the rulers of Bahrain and the UAE for normalizing relations with Israel, accusing the two Gulf states of betraying the Palestinians and stabbing them in the back. In addition, Abbas withdrew Palestinian ambassadors from Abu Dhabi and Bahrain’s capital, Manama.Recently, however, Abbas has sought to restore his relations with the two countries. He quietly returned the two envoys and ordered Palestinian officials to cease criticizing Arab states that normalize their relations with Israel. He has asked Egypt and Jordan, the first two Arab states to end their state of war with Israel, to help ease tensions between the Palestinians and the Gulf states.Abbas has also banned public protests against the UAE and Bahrain. A number of Palestinians who posted derogatory comments about the rulers of the two countries were either arrested or summoned for interrogation by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.Abbas’s decision to woo the Gulf states follows the collapse of efforts to reconcile his ruling Fatah faction with Hamas.Since July, Fatah leaders, at the behest of Abbas, have been talking to Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, Turkey, Qatar and Lebanon about ways of ending their dispute and achieving national unity, as well as holding long-overdue elections for the Palestinian presidency and parliament.Last week, Fatah and Hamas officials announced that the unity talks had failed. Hamas says the talks failed because of Abbas’s decision to resume civil and security coordination with Israel. Fatah says the talks failed because Hamas is not serious about ending the division between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
“Abbas has chosen reconciliation with the Arab countries over unity with Hamas,” a senior Palestinian official told The Jerusalem Post. “Abbas understands that improving his relations with the Arab countries is more important than making peace with Hamas.”The official told the Post that Abbas’s visit to Jordan and Egypt earlier this week was part of his effort to patch up his differences with the UAE and Bahrain.“We are hoping that Egypt and Jordan will help us fix our relationship with the brothers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,” the official remarked.Abbas, on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus earlier this year, met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.Palestinian officials said that Abbas sought the support of the two Arab leaders for his initiative to convene an international conference for peace in the Middle East shortly after US President-elect Joe Biden enters the White House.Abbas is also considering a visit to the Gulf states to apologize for “insulting” their rulers and citizens in the wake of their peace agreements with Israel, officials revealed.
