Muslim scholars union forbids normalization with Israel

ANKARA

The International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) on Sunday forbade any normalization of relations with the Israeli occupation authorities.

In a statement, IUMS Secretary-General Ali al-Qaradaghi said normalization emboldens Israel to continue its decades-long occupation of the Palestinian lands.

“Normalization with the occupiers of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem is forbidden and is considered a treason,” he said.

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

On Friday, Bahrain and Israel announced a US-brokered agreement to normalize their relations, in a move that came one month after a similar deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Bahrain became the fourth Arab country to have diplomatic relations with Israel, after Egypt in 1979, Jordan 1994 and the UAE in August 2020.

The normalization deals have drawn widespread condemnations from the Palestinians, who say that such agreements do not serve the Palestinian cause and ignore the rights of Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority said any deal with Israel should be based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative on the principle of "land for peace" and not "peace for peace" as Israel claims.