Palestinians relinquish Arab League role, angry over normalization

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki says that the PA will relinquish its role as temporary chairman of the current round of Arab League meetings in protest of the League’s refusal to condemn normalization with Israel.

Ramallah previously threatened to leave the pan-Arab body after it rejected a Palestinian resolution to condemn the United Arab Emirates for establishing open ties with Israel. PA President Mahmoud Abbas ordered a review of Palestinian membership in the organization.

A few days later, however, veteran diplomat Saeb Erekat said that Palestine would not withdraw from the Arab League after all. Al-Maliki explained the Palestinian response as a desire to avoid creating a “vacuum” that would create “different scenarios which we do not need right now in this stage.”

— Aaron Boxerman