When the United Arab Emirates, and then Bahrain, announced their decisions to normalize relations with Israel, the leaders both of the Palestinian Authority and of Hamas reacted with outrage. In the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, protestors burned UAE flags and pictures of Prince Mohammad bin Zayed. This reaction only heightened the increasing hostility of Arab nations toward the Palestinians, or at the very least to their politicians. But Khaled Abu Toameh argues that there could be positive outcomes in the long term:
For the first time ever, the Palestinian leadership now feels that it has been left out; that the Arab world is simply fed up and does not want to wait for [these leaders to make peace] anymore. Of course, this is good news for Israel and good news for all peace‑loving people in the region.
Mahmoud Abbas, [the Palestinian Authority’s president], is now being criticized because he is not being creative. He is not coming up with any plans or any alternative options. All you hear [from other Arabs] is condemnation, condemnation, condemnation. Those who were inciting against Israel all those years are now inciting against the Arab world. Those who were demonizing Israel are now trying to demonize their own Arab and Muslim brothers; this is serious. The gap between the Palestinians and the Arab world is growing.
This change may, by the way, bring something good in the end, because what the Palestinians need is new leadership. They need new thinking. We are talking about the same people, the same leaders who have been around for 40 and 50 years. We are talking about leaders who still think like Gamal Abdel Nasser, Moammar Ghadaffi, and all the Arab presidents we had in the past.
Palestinian leaders have failed to bring anything new to the Palestinians. Of course, the biggest losers are always the Palestinian people, whether they are in the West Bank, living under Palestinian Authority, or in Gaza, living under Hamas.
Read more on Gatestone: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16634/palestinians-what-needs-to-be-done