Gulf Cooperation Council demands apology over insult at Palestinian conference

The Gulf Cooperation Council is demanding a formal apology for comments made by a leader of a minor Palestinian faction at a conference of Palestinian groups.

“It was Palestinian workers who took charge in the Gulf… everyone agrees that Palestinian workers are the most productive in the Gulf. The Gulf people learned from them, and [Palestinians] taught them to read and write and drive and everything,” Maeen Hamid, who leads a Palestinian faction known as the As-Sa’iqa brigades, said at the conference.

“Your existence will be but a week of days should you give us up,” Hamid told the United Arab Emirates.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas convened the conference in Ramallah last Thursday night to discuss plans for national unity in the aftermath of the normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

After decades of under-the-table ties between Israel and the Gulf, there is much speculation about which Gulf country will be next to normalize with Israel. So far, the remaining members of the GCC have committed themselves to the Arab Peace Initiative, which requires the establishment of a Palestinian state before normalization with Israel.

Reaction from not only the UAE, but other countries in the Gulf has been swift. GCC Secretary General Nayef al-Hajraf not only condemns Hamid, but demands an apology from Abbas for what he calls “transgressions,” “incitement” and “erroneous statements.”

“The proceedings of the meeting were broadcast on Palestinian official television channels, so there must be an official apology for the abuse, incitement, and suspicion that some mentioned,” al-Hajraf says.

“We have a historical and emotional bond with the Palestinian people, in every sense of the word. No insipid person shall claim to teach us how to read and write,” tweets former Bahraini foreign minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa.

— Aaron Boxerman