Al-Alusi: the anti-normalization wave is an attempt to collect votes

Shafaq News/ Former MP, Mithal al-Alusi, lambasted the backlash to the "Peace and Raclamation" conference held in the capital of the Kurdistan Region, Erbil, that publicly called for "normalized ties" with Israel.

Al-Alusi told Shafaq News Agency, "some parties that had released press statements condemning the Erbil conference have direct or indirect ties with Israel themselves."

"Some others wish to open a channel with the Israelis to establish relations with them," he added.

"These parties exploited the event to harvest votes ahead of the parliamentary elections. They might do anything to gain the Iraqi's trust that they lost because of their corruption and failure over the years."

Al-Alusi's statements came a few days after the controversial "Peace and Reclamation" conference held in the capital of the Region, with more than 300 Iraqi figures publicly calling for full normalization of the ties with Israel.

The group, which includes Sunni and Shiites, youth activists, and tribal leaders, said the next step after the dramatic announcement would be to seek “face-to-face talks” with Israelis.

The 312 Iraqi men and women issued their statements from a hotel in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region. The conference was organized by the New York-based Center for Peace Communications, which works to advance engagement between Arabs and Israelis, and to protect activists supporting normalization.

The first initiative of its kind in Iraq, a historic foe of Israel and where its sworn enemy Iran has a strong influence, the conference was held on Friday.

Israel's Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, said on Saturday night that "Israel extends its hand back in peace" in response to the normalization calls from the Erbil conference.

"This is a call that comes from below and not from above, from the people and not from the government, and the recognition of the historical injustice done to the Jews of Iraq is especially important," Israel's PM tweeted.

"The State of Israel extends its hand back in peace," Bennett added.

The organizers, the New York-based Center for Peace Communications (CPC), advocate for normalizing relations between Israel and Arab countries, alongside working to establish ties between civil society organizations.

Earlier today, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Jotiar Adel, said that Kurdistan is committed to the foreign policy of Iraq.

Adel tweeted, "The KRG was not made aware of the Center for Peace Communications (CPC) conference and was held without our approval or knowledge."

"The views of the conference do not reflect the views & policies of KRG," he added, "The KRG will take necessary measures to follow up on how this meeting was held."

Yesterday, Kurdistan's Presidency denied acknowledgment to the "Peace and Reclamation" (al-Salam and al-Istirdad) Conference that took place in the Region's capital city, Erbil, stressing that "Foreign Policy" is a prerogative of the Federal Government solely pursuant to the Iraqi Constitution.

Kurdistan's Ministry of Interior on Saturday announced its outright rejection of calls made to normalize ties with Israel during a conference a day earlier in the Region's capital city, Erbil.

Iraq’s federal government rejected the conference’s call for normalization in a statement on Saturday and dismissed the gathering as an "illegal meeting".

The conference "was not representative of the population’s [opinion] and that of residents in Iraqi cities, in whose name these individuals purported to speak," the statement said.

The office of Iraq’s President Barham Saleh joined in the condemnation campaign.

Powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr urged the government to "arrest all the participants", while Ahmed Assadi, an MP with the ex-paramilitary group Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Force-PMF), branded them "traitors in the eyes of the law".

Tribal dignitaries from al-Anbar expressed discontent toward their fellow tribespeople who attended Friday's "Peace and Reclamation" conference, disowned them, and accused them of high treason.