PIJ condemns Saudi-US talks for normalization with Israeli occupation

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
7 Sep 2023 09:15

The PIJ condemns the Saudi-US negotiations aimed at concluding a new ominous deal for normalizing ties with "Israel".

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman meeting in Riyadh, on February 12, 2019 (WAFA)

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement condemned in the strongest terms the ongoing negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the United States in the course of concluding a deal that leads to the normalization of relations with "Israel" to the detriment of the Palestinian cause and Palestinian people, as well as the nation’s sanctities.

In a statement, the PIJ indicated that the goal behind these negotiations is to "conclude a new ominous deal, which makes Saudi Arabia a new partner of the Palestinian Authority in the course of restoring the US role in the region, which is against the interests of peoples, and gives the Zionist entity the upper hand in the region to the detriment of our national security."

"The role that the Palestinian Authority plays in providing cover for these negotiations and the possible resulting agreements … destroys what it [the Authority] has left at the Palestinian level."

These acts by the Palestinian Authority, according to the PIJ statement, amount to a new moral and national downfall, "for it to concede the rights of our nation and our sanctities in exchange for a handful of money from Arab nations."

The PIJ affirmed that "the Palestinian people will remain committed to their historical rights in Palestine, despite those eager to join the enemy camp, as they succumb to it and recognize it."

This comes after the US website Axios reported a few days ago that US President Joe Biden’s senior advisor for Middle East affairs, Brett McGurk, would travel this week to Saudi Arabia to meet with senior Palestinian officials and discuss the Palestinian role in a possible normalization agreement between Riyadh and "Israel" under the auspices of Washington.

Israeli media also reported that the security and military establishment is formulating a stance regarding the security framework of the normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia.

Political affairs commentator on the Israeli Kan channel, Gili Cohen, explained that "the normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, the most powerful and wealthiest Arab country, has the potential to reshape the region and strengthen Israel’s position in historic ways."