They claimed that Khartoum has been facing heavy pressure and “blackmail” from the US administration in return for removing Sudan the list of state sponsors of terror.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHA Sudanese protester carries their national flag as they march in a demonstration to mark the anniversary of a transitional power-sharing deal with demands for quicker political reforms in Khartoum, Sudan August 17, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH)
The possible normalization of relations between Israel and Sudan will have a negative impact on the Palestinian issue, Palestinian officials said Thursday.Responding to reports that Sudan may become the third country in recent weeks to establish relations with Israel, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, they said it would be another severe blow to the Palestinians.Khartoum has been facing heavy pressure and “blackmail” from the US administration to normalize relations with Israel in return for removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the officials said.“If Sudan joins the train of normalization with Israel, it will be another setback for the Palestinian issue,” a Palestinian Authority official told The Jerusalem Post. “It won’t come as a surprise, but Sudan will become the third Arab country to stab the Palestinians in the back and act in violation of Arab consensus and resolutions.”Earlier this year, Palestinians condemned a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Uganda.The meeting was held in the context of US President Donald Trump’s plan for Middle East peace, also known as the “Deal of the Century,” PA officials said.The meeting between Netanyahu and Burhan would facilitate Israel’s “penetration” of Africa, the PA Foreign Ministry said. It would pave the way for the establishment of relations between Israel and Sudan, several Palestinian factions, including Hamas, warned then.On Thursday, some Palestinians expressed fear that an Israeli-Sudanese peace deal would pave the way for settling Palestinians in Sudan.“Sudan is not only acting against the interests of its people, but the Palestinians as well,” Fatah activist Haytham al-Hajj said. “We have seen reports suggesting that the Trump plan includes a scheme to settle Palestinian refugees in Arab countries, including Sudan. If true, this would be a very dangerous development.”In August, PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki praised Sudan for refusing to normalize relations with Israel. He was responding to statements by some Sudanese government officials after a visit to Khartoum by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.Pompeo reportedly failed in his effort to persuade the Sudanese government to establish ties with Israel.In response, Malki praised Sudan for “resisting American pressure and blackmail.”The Palestinians are “watching as one Arab country after the other turns its back on them and submits to US and Israeli pressure and extortion,” Palestinian political analyst Zakaria Natshe told the Post.The Palestinians “no longer believe” what the Arab countries and leaders tell them, he said.“Bahrain told the Palestinians it would not follow suit with the United Arab Emirates and establish ties with Israel,” Natshe said. “A few days later, Bahrain announced its decision to normalize relations with Israel. Our Arab brothers are not only betraying us; they are also lying to us. They make you praise them for saying they are opposed to normalization; then they do the opposite.”Ahmed al-Mudalal, a senior official with the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization, said: “The loss of Sudan as a supporter of the Palestinian issue would be a big disaster for the Palestinians.”Despite the various regime changes, “Sudan has always represented the true Arab and Islamic backing of the Palestinians over the past decades,” he said.Sudan hosted PLO fighters after they left Lebanon in 1982 and allowed them to set up training camps on its land, Mudalal said.
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