Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected the plan.
by Anwar A. Khan
Trump’s au naturel plan is for Israel-America axis only, but it is not for any interest of Palestinians. It is an unpeaceable plan in a flash. This so-called peace plan can’t be imposed on Palestine’s people. As people see a great danger is looking sharp ahead. It is an act of imposing peace by imposing apartheid. The writer of this piece denounces this evil agenda.
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government (the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community) in 1917 during the First World War announcing support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population.
The local Christian and Muslim community of Palestine, who constituted almost 90% of the population, strongly opposed the declaration. As described by the Palestinian-American philosopher Edward Said in 1979, it was perceived as being made: "(a) by a European power, (b) about a non-European territory, (c) in a flat disregard of both the presence and the wishes of the native majority resident in that territory, and (d) it took the form of a promise about this same territory to another foreign group."
As U.S. Donald Trump revealed his disputative plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on 28 January 2020, many countries have come out both in support and in opposition to the so-called "deal of the century."
The political analysts have agreed that the Trump plan is a failure, and it only serves Israel's interests. Because it violates international legitimacy and does not give the Palestinian people their rights.
Washington's role as an Israeli-Palestinian conflict mediator has been questioned with the Trump administration's pro-Israeli policies in the past three years such as recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving the U.S. embassy to the city, and slashing hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
Countries, such as, Egypt and the UAE have praised the announcement, whereas others, such as, Turkey and Iran have denounced it as shameful. While Trump has touted it as "a win-win solution for both sides," some leaders have labelled it a "deal of shame," while others say it "could prove a positive step forward".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said "a thousand no's" to US President Donald Trump's plan, which he said strongly favours Israel. Palestinian factions in Gaza unite has opposed Trump's plan. He said Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, members of Fatah, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine marched together through Gaza in protest. On last Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said the deal was "nothing but a plan to finish off the Palestinian cause." Sami Abu Zhuri, a Hamas official, said Trump's comments were "aggressive and will spark a lot of anger.” "Trump's statement about Jerusalem is nonsense and Jerusalem will always be the land of the Palestinians," he said.
Egypt gave its full support to the plan while calling on both Israelis and Palestinians to carefully study it. It said in a statement that the plan offers a solution that restores all the legitimate rights of Palestinians by creating an independent and sovereign state on the occupied Palestinian territories. Egypt also said it appreciates the US administration's efforts to try to resolve the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jordan warned against the dangerous consequences of the plan, and also warned against the annexation of Palestinian lands.
Israeli promises to annex Jordan Valley and threatens peace deal with Amman. In Amman, dozens of protesters gathered outside the US embassy in protest, shouting slogans including "No to normalisation" and "We will not recognise Israel." Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, called for direct negotiations that solve all final status issues, including the protection of the kingdom's interests.
The establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on land captured by Israel in a 1967 war, and with East Jerusalem as its capital, is the only path to comprehensive and lasting peace, Safadi said in a statement. "Jordan supports every genuine effort aimed at achieving just and comprehensive peace that people will accept," he said.
The UAE said the plan is an important starting point to reaching a peace between Israel and Palestine. The UAE's embassy to the US said that the country appreciates continued US efforts to reach a Palestine-Israel peace agreement. “It is a deal funded by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to cement Israeli occupation” has echoed by Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, Yemen's Houthi rebels.
The Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement that Riyadh renews its assertion of support for the Palestinian people. "The kingdom values the efforts of the administration of President Trump in developing a comprehensive peace deal between the Israeli and Palestinian sides," the ministry said in a statement.
Qatar's official news agency released a statement welcoming Trump's plan. It said it appreciated "the endeavours of the current US administration to find solutions for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.” The Qatari statement also called for a Palestinian state "within the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem," as well as the right of return.
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement called the plan a "deal of shame", and said it was a dangerous step that would have negative consequences on the region's future, according to Al Manar TV.
The political bloc also said the proposal would not have happened without the "complicity and betrayal" of several Arab states.
The people of the region have to bear the responsibility of standing up to this danger and facing it with every possible and legitimate means. 'Jerusalem is our red line. We won't allow steps to legitimise Israel's occupation and oppression' said by Turkey's foreign ministry.
Turkey has condemned Donald Trump's so-called "deal of the century," calling it "stillborn" and another attempt at stealing Palestinian land. "This is an attempt to kill the two-state solution and a plan that aims to annex Palestinian territory by robbing it," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to Iran's foreign ministry, “Iran dismissed the so-called "peace proposal", calling it "a plan of imposition and sanctions. The shameful peace plan imposed by America on the Palestinians is the treason of the century and doomed to fail.”
"This is a deal between the Zionist regime (Israel) and America. Interaction with Palestinians is not on its agenda," Hesameddin Ashena, an adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, tweeted. Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement that the proposal was not the "deal of the century" but the "treason of the century" and bound to fail.
The UK has viewed the plan favourably, saying it could be a "positive step.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson had a phone call with Trump after the revealing of the plan and conveyed his support for it. "The leaders discussed the United States proposal for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which could prove a positive step forward," the prime minister said.
The ANC says any peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that does not include the participation of both states would have no legitimacy.
This follows a "peace plan" for the Middle East announced by US President Donald Trump after discussions with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on last Tuesday, where no Palestinian leaders were present.
Trump's plan for peace in the Middle East includes establishing the highly contested city of Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital, with a potential Palestinian capital to the east and north of the city.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected the plan. "The true solution will not be found in any place other than in Palestine and Israel. The ANC will continue its solidarity efforts in supporting a just solution, including the strengthening of a sovereign independent state of Palestine, which will help to bring peace to the region and end conflict between Israelis and Palestinians."
The proposals Trump unveiled alongside Netanyahu at the White House on last Tuesday are an important attempt to shift the parameters of politics in Israel, the Arab world, and here in the U.S. Despite the way they’re being advertised, none of them have anything to do with achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians; in fact, they are more mortal blows to the fading prospects of a two-state solution to the conflict.
Trump’s plan does not break with those decades-long expectations - no evacuations of settlements, Palestinian presence in Jerusalem limited to the eastern outskirts, Palestinian diaspora not just barred from returning to Israel but limited in its ability to immigrate to Palestine. The territory proposed for Palestine is considerably less than what has been offered in the past. The deal doesn’t include a path to statehood but rather talks of a “future State of Palestine” after, among other things, the Palestinian armed group Hamas which currently controls the Gaza Strip, along with a significant portion of Palestinian territory and population disbands. Israel’s security is to come not from its full, equal, unstinting inclusion in the community of nations as well as its national power, but from national power alone.
There are also the actual right-wing policies. Some of Netanyahu’s supporters have urged him to act immediately to declare sovereignty over the areas that Trump’s map shows as remaining with Israel. This would be another in a series of blows to the set of international legal norms that had, for decades, been the supposed foundation of a solution to the conflict — and were meant to be norms that all sides benefited by observing. Netanyahu’s Cabinet will reportedly vote on annexing all settlements and Jordan Valley areas as early as possible. That move, if it happens, will produce another layer of crisis for U.S. and Israeli Arab partners, for the United Nations, and for Europe and in all likelihood violence and suffering for Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
What we don’t need to wait to see is that U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is now irrevocably shaped by the worldview of Trump and his allies, in which it is in the U.S. interest that “the strong do what they will and the weak endure what they must.”
It is a strongly pro-Israeli plan, as it reveals. It is also a purely dictated and one-side plan. It is truly “Like South Africa’s grand apartheid.” The plan vital force to uncover the despicable contort grimace of Trump. It means more bloodshed of the Palestinians by another scallywag state - Israel in the coming days. A proverb is appropriate here, “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”
-The End-
The writer is an independent political observer based in Dhaka, Bangladesh who writes on politics, political and human-centered figures, current and international affairs
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