UAE Deal With Israel Betrayal of Islamic World

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei denounced the United Arab Emirates’ deal to normalize ties with Israel as a “betrayal” of the Islamic and the Arab world.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the statement in an online address to senior officials of the Education Ministry on Tuesday. 
Commenting on the recent US-brokered pact establishing open relations between Israel and the UAE, the Leader said, “This situation will not last for long, but it will leave a dark stain on those who forgot the occupation of Palestine and the plight of Palestinians,” according to the official website of the Leader.
Lamenting the fact that the thoughtless move by the Persian Gulf Arab state will give Israel a foothold in the region, he said, “The UAE’s move to normalize ties with the Zionist regime betrays the Islamic world, the Arab world, regional nations and the Palestinian issue.”
The UAE formally ended Israel’s boycott on Saturday, becoming the third Arab nation after Egypt and Jordan to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. On Monday, the first direct commercial flight carrying a US-Israeli delegation arrived in the UAE to finalize the accord.
The Leader said, “We hope that the Emiratis wake up soon and compensate for their action.”
Earlier this month, President Hassan Rouhani had called the deal a “huge mistake” and a political maneuvering by US President Donald Trump looking for wins ahead of the November presidential election.
The so-called “Abraham Agreement” suspended Israel’s plan to unilaterally annex parts of the occupied West Bank, although many Israeli officials have stressed that the suspension is “temporary”.

New School Year 

In another part of his online speech, the Leader pointed to the occasion of the start of the new school year and applauded the Education Ministry’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The planning and measures taken by this ministry following the spread of Covid-19 was unprecedented since we did not have any experience in this regard,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader also expressed concern over educational justice amid the coronavirus outbreak, as many underprivileged children are deprived of the means to pursue online learning.
“The state TV must make up for part of students’ inability to use online instruction,” he added.
On the subject of educational justice, the Leader noted that the ministry should also improve the quality of public schools so that parents do not feel “they are sending their children to an unsupportive place”.
Before the Leader’s speech, Education Minister Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei briefed the Leader on his ministry’s performance and said he is planning to raise the salary of teachers and teach students practical skills during their 12-year education in the school system.
Pointing to the “speedy response” of his ministry to the Covid-19 outbreak, Haji-Mirzaei said, “Less than a week after the coronavirus, we conducted lessons through television programs and after roughly a month, we launched the Shad application.”
Shad allows students and educators to share educational material online.
“We guarantee that all students will have access to education in the new school year,” the minister said.