TEL AVIV — PLO members and their organizations won’t accept the peace deal reportedly being drafted by Trump administration officials, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, several PLO members told Breitbart Jerusalem in a series of interviews.
Waleed Awad, a member of the Palestinian People’s Party (the former communist party) said, “The Palestinians warn against and reject the American deal beneficial to Israel, giving it much larger weight and position while allowing the Arab states to normalize their relations with Israel and enter the circle of friendly nations despite its identity as the first-most enemy of the Arabs and Palestinians.”
Arab and Palestinian media have reported recently that the deal being worked on by the Trump administration includes negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians as part of a regional conference that will act as the infrastructure for normalization between Israel and the Arab countries.
The deal is also said to aim for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement under the framework of the so-called two-state solution, according to a report in the New York Times.
Authors of the draft proposal, which is reportedly still being ironed out, include Greenblatt, Kushner, Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategy Dina Powell and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
Arab media reports indicate that the deal would also see the Palestinian Authority assume full control over some area C territories while accepting broad economic benefits.
According to Awad, “Despite the fact that many people in many countries are working to sell the plan, the Palestinian organizations oppose any deal that doesn’t ensure Palestinians the creation of an independent state and sovereignty over the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as their capital.”
The so-called 1967 borders refer to the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and Western Wall areas.
Awad said that a consensus exists among the Palestinians regarding the need to deal with any attempt that would lead toward normalization between Israel and the Arab countries at the expense of the Palestinians.
Ramzi Rabah, a member of the politburo of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, another PLO member organization, says, “The fate of all the talk of a peace deal and agreements – their fate will be failure as long as they don’t meet the demands and the expectations of the Palestinians.”
According to Rabah, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine “is in favor of the creation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders without a single settler remaining in the territory. Any other option is unacceptable.”
Rabah warned “against falling into the American trap of forcing the Arabs and the Palestinians to give up on the issue and the Palestinian dream and their rights. The goal of the American government is the normalization of ties between Israel and the Arab countries in order to serve their national interests in security and Israel’s economy.”
He called on the Palestinian Authority to avoid any role it might play in contributing to the American political efforts, “especially the suspicious role played by a number of Arab countries on this issue and the pressure they put on the Palestinian leadership.”
Iyad Nasser, a member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council and the organization’s spokesman in the Gaza Strip, praised any political effort that would secure a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. “But we won’t agree to any plan that guards the interests of the Israelis at the expense of the Palestinian issue and Palestinian demands. So, on this issue, there is complete coordination between President Abbas and the leaders of the Arab countries who support our position.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.