PFLP Chief Says Arab Leaders Subdued to US, Palestinian Division Weakens Cause

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2020) The Arab League, and the Arab leadership as a whole, are largely weak and subjugated to the whims of the United States, and act against the interests of the Arab people, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Maher al-Taher, told Sputnik on the back of the peace deal between the UAE and Israel.

"The so-called Arab League, it is clear that it does not hold meetings except on issues contrary to the national interests of the Arab nation. The so-called Arab official system is actually in a state of collapse and subjugated to the United States of America," al-Taher said to Sputnik on Friday, adding that only the Arab people can be counted on to reject the UAE-Israel deal to normalize relations.

Al-Taher, who heads the political department of the PFLP politburo, went on to say that the intra-Palestinian division has weakened the gravity of the Palestinian stance and has allowed Arab leaders to exploit the cause.

"It pains me to say this, but the internal Palestinian factor is shaken and weak because of the intra-Palestinian division... It emboldened some Arab regimes to confront the Palestinian cause and take traitorous steps," al-Taher emphasized.

The Palestinians have long been divided between Fatah and Hamas, the former who rules over the West Bank through the Palestinian Authority while the latter came to power in Gaza after the Palestinian Civil War in 2007. The two groups have different backers, ideologies and approaches to using violence against Israel.

On Thursday, Trump announced that the US has brokered a peace deal that will see Israel and the UAE fully normalize relations and establish diplomatic ties. In addition, Israel will suspend plans to declare sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territories. Palestine has decried the deal as aggression against its people. Iran and Turkey have also denounced it.