Kuwaiti academic delegation withdraws from Bahrain conference over Israeli participation

A Kuwait academic delegation has decided to pull out of a conference hosted by the University of Bahrain after finding out that an Israeli delegation would participate in the event, as the Persian Gulf kingdom has frequently reiterated its support for Palestine.

The Kuwaiti Youth Association for al-Quds announced in a post published on Twitter that organizers of the conference at the largest public university in Bahrain had announced the occasion, but had not included the Israeli participants in the delegates page.

"The withdrawal of the Kuwaiti academics from the conference reflects Kuwait's official position as to rejection of any form of normalization of relations with the Zionist regime,” Musab al-Mutawa, head of the association, said.

He told Quds Press News Agency that such positions serve as a lever of pressure against the occupying Tel Aviv regime.

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Mutawa also underscored that Kuwait's support for the Palestinian cause and Palestinians’ struggle for liberation from the Israeli occupation will remain fairly solid and unswerving.

Hamas lauds Kuwaiti withdrawal from conference attended by Israeli delegates

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement has praised the decision by a Kuwaiti academic delegation to pull out of a conference in Bahrain because of the participation of Israelis.

“Such valued positions by the Kuwaiti leadership and people go in harmony with the Muslim world’s conscience, and are recorded in the lists of honor and pride,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem said in a statement on Saturday.

He added that the decision to withdraw from an academic event attended by Israeli delegates reflected Kuwait’s unflagging support for the Palestinian nation, and their struggle to free their lands and holy sites.

Kuwait is staunchly opposed to normalizing ties with Israel, unlike some Arab countries in the region, which have signed normalization agreements with the occupying regime in recent years.

In May last year, Kuwait’s National Assembly unanimously approved bills that outlaw any deals or normalization of ties with the Tel Aviv regime.

On August 18, 2020, 37 Kuwaiti lawmakers called on their government to reject a normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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Anti-Israeli sentiments run high in Kuwait. A poll conducted in 2019 by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an American think tank, showed that 85 percent of Kuwaitis oppose normalizing ties with Israel.

Back in September 2020, the United Aram Emirates and Bahrain signed normalization deals with Israel. Morocco and Sudan later signed similar agreements with the Israeli regime as well.

The so-called Abraham Accords were pushed by the United States under former president Donald Trump.

Palestinians have denounced the normalization deals, describing them as a “stab in the back” and a “betrayal” to their cause.

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