Palestinian supporters have distributed a draft U.N. resolution demanding an outright rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it violates international law.
The resolution, obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press, could be put to a vote on Feb. 11 when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to address the Security Council and outline his objections to the Israeli-backed U.S. peace plan.
Dismissing the proposal as “nonsense,” Abbas has already declared: “We say 1,000 no’s to the ‘Deal of the Century,’” using a nickname for Trump’s ambitions.
Any vote on the resolution is virtually certain to be vetoed by the United States.
The U.S. plan, unveiled by President Donald Trump on Jan. 28, came with his personal acknowledgement that the field effort to make peace between Israelis and Palestinians was a historically difficult process but that he was determined to make it happen.
“All prior administrations from President Lyndon Johnson have tried and bitterly failed, but I was not elected to do small things or shy away from big problems,” he said.
The Arab League has already unanimously rejected Trump’s unveiled plan, prompting a senior White House official to predict the Palestinians’ fate will never change.
Arab leaders said in a statement Saturday the pan-Arab bloc, “rejects the U.S.-Israeli ‘deal of the century’ considering that it does not meet the minimum rights and aspirations of Palestinian people.”
It also vowed not to “cooperate with the U.S. administration to implement this plan.”
Trump’s plan would see the establishment of a contiguous but demilitarized Palestinian state on most of the West Bank with parts of eastern Jerusalem that are outside the Israeli security fence as its capital.
Jerusalem would remain undivided and under Israeli control.
In response to the Arab League’s rejection, a senior U.S. official released a statement saying such rejectionism would never ease the decades-long suffering of the Palestinians.
“It is only by having a wiliness [sic] to try a new approach that we will make a breakthrough in a conflict that has left the Palestinian people to suffer for decades,” he said.
“Past Arab League resolutions have placated Palestinian leadership and not led to peace or progress and it is important to try a new approach or the Palestinian people’s fate will not change.” the official added.
AP contributed to this report
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