Emirati activists announced their rejection of the agreement to normalize relations between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, and stressed that it violates the constitution of the UAE.
This came in a statement issued by 20 Emirati activists, including the academic Youssef Khalifa Al-Youssef, Saeed Nasser Al-Taniji, head of the Gulf Center for Dialogue and Studies, businessman Ali Hassan Al-Hammadi, and the Secretary-General of the Emirati Umma Party, Hassan Ahmed Hassan Al-Dokki.
"We, the bloggers, announce our names below, on the authenticity of ourselves and the free people of the UAE, the complete rejection of this agreement with the Zionist enemy, and we affirm that it does not represent the Emirati people," the statement said.
He added, "The agreement ignores Federal Law No. 15 of 1972 regarding boycotting Israel (...) and contravenes what was stipulated in Article 12 of the UAE constitution, which states: The Union's foreign policy aims to support Arab and Islamic causes and interests."
The signatories of the statement considered that "what the official Emirati media are marketing to is that the agreement will prevent Israel from expanding, and will provide the opportunity for Muslims to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, not only as a justification for flimsy arguments, and that normalization in reality is nothing but recognition of Israel's right to land."
They stressed that the silence of the Emirati people does not mean their acceptance of this agreement and their approval of it, "as it is known to everyone that there is no margin in the UAE for freedom of expression of opinion, and whoever opposes the state's policy is subject to abuse, imprisonment, and false charges."
I signed with a group of Emiratis a statement denouncing the Emirati normalization with the Zionist entity # Emiratis Against Normalization
Statement link https://t.co/x7n5cGLAei pic.twitter.com/VZZu5FETJ0
- Hamad Al Shamsi (@ ALshamsi789) August 17, 2020
On Thursday, the United States, Israel and the UAE announced an agreement to fully normalize relations between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, in a step that is the first for a Gulf capital.
The UAE will become the third Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, after Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979.
The agreement on Emirati-Israeli normalization was met with widespread Arab popular rejection, and Palestinian condemnation by the factions and the leadership, which considered it a betrayal by the Emirates of Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa (Mosque) and the Palestinian cause.
Abu Dhabi says that the normalization of its relations with Israel is an Emirati sovereign decision, and considers the criticism directed at it an interference in its affairs.