As Israelis debate over the treatment of senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat in Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, with some praising the move and others slamming it as immoral, some citizens of other countries are chiming in from the other perspective, slamming the Palestinians for their corruption and hypocrisy, namely those in Gulf states.
While the Palestinian media has remained mum about the story, media outlets in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudia Arabia aren’t practicing the same restraint. For them, it’s time for payback to the Palestinian Authority, who has been heaping criticism on the Gulf states for the recent normalization deals with Israel. Erekat himself slammed the peace deals between the UAE and Bahrain with Israel, saying: “I never expected this poisonous dagger to come from an Arab country.”
The Gulf states lost no time in slamming the Palestinian Authority for its hypocrisy and double standard behavior.
“The corruption in the Palestinian Authority that led to damage to the health system is what forced the Palestinians to hospitalize Erekat in an Israeli hospital,” wrote Amjad Taha, an Arab international affairs expert and confidant of UAE, WIN News reported. “It seems that Erekat does not trust the Palestinian doctors, who are his people, nor the hospitals in the PA.”
“Has Saeb Erekat’s health become more important than the Palestinian issue?” an Emirati activist asked. “Thanks to Allah that seeking treatment in Israeli hospitals is not considered a betrayal of the Palestinian issue.”
Erekat’s treatment in Israel is especially embarrassing for the PA in light of the fact that it cut security and diplomatic ties with Israel several months ago, which means that PA residents are unable to seek medical treatment in Israel, even for advanced medical care that is unavailable in the PA. But somehow, as always, the leadership in the PA and Gaza hold quite different standards for themselves than for the civilians they rule over.
Fatah, led by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, has tried to save face through various false statements, including that Erekat is only being treated at Hadassah due to its close location to his home in Yericho and the fact that treatment abroad is not currently available due to the pandemic, Ynet reported.
“The transfer of Saeb Erekat to Hadassah Medical Center [in Jerusalem] has nothing to do with him contracting coronavirus, but rather to complications related to a lung transplant he underwent three years ago,” a Fatah spokesperson tweeted.
“The hospital was chosen since it is the closest one, with the right equipment and team needed for the treatment. Erekat was transferred to Hadassah Medical Center because a treatment abroad is not possible during the pandemic.”
