Palestinian Authority Accuses U.S. of ‘Cheap Blackmail’

Ynetnews reports: In response to the US decision to cut more than $200 million in aid money to the Palestinians, the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman says the US decision is meant to force the Palestinians to abandon their claim to Jerusalem.

According to Nabil Abu Rdeneh, the move is part of continuing political and financial pressure on the Palestinian leadership. He says the Americans must be fully aware that there will be no peace without east Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

“The American administration is using cheap blackmail as a political tool. The US administration should be ashamed of constant bullying and punishment of a people under occupation. The US has already demonstrated its depravity in its collusion with the Israeli occupation, allowing Israel to steal land and resources, and now it is displaying economic viciousness by punishing the Palestinian victims of the occupation,” Hanan Daoud Khalil Ashrawi, a PLO Executive Committee member, said on Saturday.

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