![Palestinian protesters set aflame cut-outs showing the faces of (L to R) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan in the occupied West Bank on August 14, 2020 [Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-1228038754-scaled-e1597662733926.jpg?fit=1199%2C800&ssl=1)
The UAE State Security Agency has secretly arrested scores of Emiratis, Palestinians and Jordanians living in the UAE for opposing Abu-Dhabi’s peace deal with Israel.
The Emirates Leaks website quoted human rights sources as saying that the Emirati citizens were arrested after expressing their opposition to the deal either in private meetings or on social media.
Emirati opponents living in exile have categorically rejected the agreement and described it as “betrayal of the nation and the people” as well as “a stain on the regime’s face”.
An opinion poll conducted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy revealed that 80 per cent of the Emiratis oppose the establishment of relations with Israel.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal between the UAE and Israel brokered by Washington.
Abu Dhabi said the deal was an effort to stave of Tel Aviv’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, however, opponents believe normalisation efforts have been in the offing for many years as Israeli officials have made official visits to the UAE and attended conferences in the country which had no diplomatic of other ties with the occupation state.