Hard times continue for Arabs, says League head

The Secretary-General of the Arab League said on Tuesday that hard times continue for the Arabs while the Palestinian cause is being exposed to American attack, Anadolu has reported.

Ahmad Aboul Gheit made his comments at the 150th meeting of the League’s foreign ministers, citing conflict zones such as Syria and Libya. Nevertheless, he insisted that the Arabs “have the will” to resist and win.

The Palestinian cause is being exposed to a fierce attack and an unprecedented American desire to be stripped of its political, historical and humanitarian content

, he added.

“The American goal is exposed and it aims to question the issue of the Palestinian refugees and try to destroy their right to return to their homeland.”

READ: Palestinian MKs discuss ‘Jewish nation-state’ law with Arab League chief 

All of this has been made clear, explained Aboul Gheit, by Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem, cuts to UNRWA funding and now the closure of the PLO’s office in Washington.

“Anyone who works to isolate the Palestinians will not succeed,” stressed the Arab League official. “The Arab stance regarding the issue of the Palestinians refugees is clear and we reject stripping the negotiations of their worth by abolishing issues one by one.”

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is suffering a severe budget crisis after the US first cut and then stopped its donations to the organisation worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Peace talks between Palestinians and Israel stopped in 2014 because the Zionist state refused to stop its illegal settlement building as a precondition to resuming negotiations.