7 aug 2019
In a meeting with members of US Congress, President Abbas stresses rejection of dictations
In a meeting with members of the US Congress today in Ramallah, President Mahmoud Abbas stressed his rejection of US decisions and dictations regarding Jerusalem, refugees, borders, and security.
President Abbas received members of US congress, headed by House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah.
Abbas said that Israel did not respect bilateral agreements signed under international auspices and insists on destroying them, which forced the Palestinian leadership to suspend these agreements.
For their part, the US delegation expressed their full support to the two-state solution and achieving peace.
In a meeting with members of the US Congress today in Ramallah, President Mahmoud Abbas stressed his rejection of US decisions and dictations regarding Jerusalem, refugees, borders, and security.
President Abbas received members of US congress, headed by House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah.
Abbas said that Israel did not respect bilateral agreements signed under international auspices and insists on destroying them, which forced the Palestinian leadership to suspend these agreements.
For their part, the US delegation expressed their full support to the two-state solution and achieving peace.
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) advanced plans for 2,304 settler homes and regularized three settler outposts in the West Bank during a two-day meeting of its higher planning council that ended Tuesday, Peace Now reported.
Plans for 1,466 of these settler homes were deposited, which means they are in the initial stages of discussion, and 838 were validated, which means they were given final approvals, according to Peace Now, a left-wing NGO.
70 percent of the units are for isolated settlements, which are located outside the route of the separation barrier.
At one time Israel and the US had made a distinction between isolated settlements and settlement blocs. Isolated settlements were believed to be vulnerable to withdrawal in any future final-status agreement with the Palestinians. Israel in the past held that settlements blocs would be part of its final sovereign borders.
Under the current US administration of Donald Trump and the current Israeli government, no distinction is made between settlements on either side of the barrier. Earlier this week, premier Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Efrat settlement and reiterated his remarks that “no settler or settlement will be uprooted on his watch.”
Among the more significant projects are almost 300 units for the small, isolated ultra-Orthodox settlement of Asfar, which is located in the Gush Etzion region. About 200 of the units that were deposited are for property within the settlement itself. In addition, the council legalized the adjacent Ibei Hanahal outpost as a new neighborhood of the settlement, approving in the process 96 new homes.
Peace Now has condemned the moves, saying “the approval of settlement plans is part of a disastrous government policy designed to prevent the possibility of peace and a two-state solution, and to annex part or all of the West Bank.”
It noted in particular that the council also approved the Haroeh Haivri outpost as an educational institution with plans for 24 homes. Built in 2015, it is located near the Bedouin herding village of Khan al-Ahmar, which the government has sought to evacuate.
The council also authorized the Givat Salit outpost with plans for 94 homes, but held off on approving the Brosh outpost. It also delayed the approval of 207 homes in the Har Bracha settlement.
UN official: Israeli settlement expansion a flagrant violation of international law
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, today described Israel’s plan to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory as a flagrant violation of international law.
The Israeli authorities approved over the past two days the advancement of some 2,400 housing units in settlements in Area C of the occupied West Bank.
“The expansion of settlements has no legal effect and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,” said Mladenov in a statement. “By advancing the effective annexation of the West Bank, it undermines the chances for establishing a Palestinian state based on relevant UN resolutions, as part of a negotiated two-state solution.”
The UN official called on Israel to “immediately and completely” cease expansion of settlements in the occupied territories.
Britain’s secretary of state urges Israel to halt settlement construction
Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Dominic Rennie Raab, urged Israel to halt its settlement expansion, which he stressed is contrary to international law and promotes the effective annexation of the West Bank, and allow Palestinian construction in the Israeli-controlled area A of the West Bank.
While the Israeli Cabinet approved construction permits for 715 Palestinian units in Area C, much more needs to be done to fulfill the needs of the estimated 300,000 Palestinians there, said Raab in a press statement.
“The UK continues to urge the Government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms that allow Palestinians to build within Area C,” he said.
The UK also remains seriously concerned by the continued demolition of Palestinian property by Israeli authorities, including the July 22 demolition of 10 Palestinian buildings in Wadi al Hummus area in Sur Baher, a neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, the statement concluded.
The Israeli Higher Planning Committee of the so-called Civil Administration, an army of the Israeli military government in charge of the occupied West Bank, announced in the last two days plans to advance 2,304 settlement housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a decision that has provoked Palestinian and international criticism.
EU calls on Israel to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion
The European Union criticized today Israeli settlement plans in the occupied Palestinian territory and called on Israel to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion.
"Israeli authorities have approved the advancement of well over 2,000 housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The European Union's position on Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear and remains unchanged: all settlement activity is illegal under international law and it erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace," according to a statement by the EU spokesperson.
Commenting on the Israeli approval last week of 715 housing units for Palestinians in Area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under full Israeli control, parallel with the construction of thousands of units in the illegal Israeli settlements, the EU spokesperson said the Palestinian population living in Area C "continues to face repeated confiscations, demolitions, displacements and land expropriation, while almost all of their submitted master plans and building permits for Palestinian development remain unapproved."
The spokesperson concluded: "The EU expects the Israeli authorities to fully meet their obligations as an occupying power under International Humanitarian Law, and to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, of designating land for exclusive Israeli use, and of denying Palestinian development.
The EU will continue to support a resumption of a meaningful process towards a negotiated two-state solution, the only realistic and viable way to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of both parties."
Turkey condemns Israel’s new settlement projects in West Bank
The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned today Israel’s announcement of the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
A Foreign Ministry statement accused Israel of robbing Palestinian rights by advancing the construction of more than 2300 housing units in the settlements, which it stressed came in total disregard for and in violation of international law.
It said it rejects Israel’s behavior, which aims at destroying the two-state solution and on sustaining the occupation, reiterating its stand by the Palestinian cause and people.
Germany says Israeli settlement plans run counter to a negotiated two-state solution
Germany said today that Israeli advancement of plans to build more than 2000 housing units in illegal West Bank settlements run counter to a negotiated two-state solution.
A statement by a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said Germany rejects all unilateral steps that jeopardize a two-state solution.
Commenting on the Israeli cabinet's decision last week to approve 715 housing units for the Palestinians in area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under Israeli control, in addition to approving the construction of thousands of housing units in the illegal Israeli settlements, the spokesman said that granting of permits for Palestinian construction in these areas should be done in agreement with the Palestinian Authority and independent of any decision on the possible expansion of settlements.
Abu Rudeineh strongly condemns Israel's new settlement construction plan in West Bank
Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh strongly condemned today the continuation of Israeli settlement activities and the occupation authorities’ plan to build 2300 new housing units in West Bank settlements.
Abu Rudeineh said that the Israeli actions and decisions, including settlements, arrests, and demolitions of homes, carry devastating risks, stressing that all settlements are illegal and that Israel's violation of Palestinian rights and defiance of international legitimacy do not lead to any peace, but would rather contribute to the continuation of tension and instability in an already volatile region.
He said that without solving the Palestinian issue in accordance with international legitimacy and the Arab peace initiative, the next stage would represent dangerous and difficult crossroads for the region and the world, stressing that a just peace must be based on an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Plans for 1,466 of these settler homes were deposited, which means they are in the initial stages of discussion, and 838 were validated, which means they were given final approvals, according to Peace Now, a left-wing NGO.
70 percent of the units are for isolated settlements, which are located outside the route of the separation barrier.
At one time Israel and the US had made a distinction between isolated settlements and settlement blocs. Isolated settlements were believed to be vulnerable to withdrawal in any future final-status agreement with the Palestinians. Israel in the past held that settlements blocs would be part of its final sovereign borders.
Under the current US administration of Donald Trump and the current Israeli government, no distinction is made between settlements on either side of the barrier. Earlier this week, premier Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Efrat settlement and reiterated his remarks that “no settler or settlement will be uprooted on his watch.”
Among the more significant projects are almost 300 units for the small, isolated ultra-Orthodox settlement of Asfar, which is located in the Gush Etzion region. About 200 of the units that were deposited are for property within the settlement itself. In addition, the council legalized the adjacent Ibei Hanahal outpost as a new neighborhood of the settlement, approving in the process 96 new homes.
Peace Now has condemned the moves, saying “the approval of settlement plans is part of a disastrous government policy designed to prevent the possibility of peace and a two-state solution, and to annex part or all of the West Bank.”
It noted in particular that the council also approved the Haroeh Haivri outpost as an educational institution with plans for 24 homes. Built in 2015, it is located near the Bedouin herding village of Khan al-Ahmar, which the government has sought to evacuate.
The council also authorized the Givat Salit outpost with plans for 94 homes, but held off on approving the Brosh outpost. It also delayed the approval of 207 homes in the Har Bracha settlement.
UN official: Israeli settlement expansion a flagrant violation of international law
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, today described Israel’s plan to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory as a flagrant violation of international law.
The Israeli authorities approved over the past two days the advancement of some 2,400 housing units in settlements in Area C of the occupied West Bank.
“The expansion of settlements has no legal effect and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,” said Mladenov in a statement. “By advancing the effective annexation of the West Bank, it undermines the chances for establishing a Palestinian state based on relevant UN resolutions, as part of a negotiated two-state solution.”
The UN official called on Israel to “immediately and completely” cease expansion of settlements in the occupied territories.
Britain’s secretary of state urges Israel to halt settlement construction
Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Dominic Rennie Raab, urged Israel to halt its settlement expansion, which he stressed is contrary to international law and promotes the effective annexation of the West Bank, and allow Palestinian construction in the Israeli-controlled area A of the West Bank.
While the Israeli Cabinet approved construction permits for 715 Palestinian units in Area C, much more needs to be done to fulfill the needs of the estimated 300,000 Palestinians there, said Raab in a press statement.
“The UK continues to urge the Government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms that allow Palestinians to build within Area C,” he said.
The UK also remains seriously concerned by the continued demolition of Palestinian property by Israeli authorities, including the July 22 demolition of 10 Palestinian buildings in Wadi al Hummus area in Sur Baher, a neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, the statement concluded.
The Israeli Higher Planning Committee of the so-called Civil Administration, an army of the Israeli military government in charge of the occupied West Bank, announced in the last two days plans to advance 2,304 settlement housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a decision that has provoked Palestinian and international criticism.
EU calls on Israel to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion
The European Union criticized today Israeli settlement plans in the occupied Palestinian territory and called on Israel to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion.
"Israeli authorities have approved the advancement of well over 2,000 housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The European Union's position on Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear and remains unchanged: all settlement activity is illegal under international law and it erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace," according to a statement by the EU spokesperson.
Commenting on the Israeli approval last week of 715 housing units for Palestinians in Area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under full Israeli control, parallel with the construction of thousands of units in the illegal Israeli settlements, the EU spokesperson said the Palestinian population living in Area C "continues to face repeated confiscations, demolitions, displacements and land expropriation, while almost all of their submitted master plans and building permits for Palestinian development remain unapproved."
The spokesperson concluded: "The EU expects the Israeli authorities to fully meet their obligations as an occupying power under International Humanitarian Law, and to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, of designating land for exclusive Israeli use, and of denying Palestinian development.
The EU will continue to support a resumption of a meaningful process towards a negotiated two-state solution, the only realistic and viable way to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of both parties."
Turkey condemns Israel’s new settlement projects in West Bank
The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned today Israel’s announcement of the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
A Foreign Ministry statement accused Israel of robbing Palestinian rights by advancing the construction of more than 2300 housing units in the settlements, which it stressed came in total disregard for and in violation of international law.
It said it rejects Israel’s behavior, which aims at destroying the two-state solution and on sustaining the occupation, reiterating its stand by the Palestinian cause and people.
Germany says Israeli settlement plans run counter to a negotiated two-state solution
Germany said today that Israeli advancement of plans to build more than 2000 housing units in illegal West Bank settlements run counter to a negotiated two-state solution.
A statement by a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said Germany rejects all unilateral steps that jeopardize a two-state solution.
Commenting on the Israeli cabinet's decision last week to approve 715 housing units for the Palestinians in area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under Israeli control, in addition to approving the construction of thousands of housing units in the illegal Israeli settlements, the spokesman said that granting of permits for Palestinian construction in these areas should be done in agreement with the Palestinian Authority and independent of any decision on the possible expansion of settlements.
Abu Rudeineh strongly condemns Israel's new settlement construction plan in West Bank
Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh strongly condemned today the continuation of Israeli settlement activities and the occupation authorities’ plan to build 2300 new housing units in West Bank settlements.
Abu Rudeineh said that the Israeli actions and decisions, including settlements, arrests, and demolitions of homes, carry devastating risks, stressing that all settlements are illegal and that Israel's violation of Palestinian rights and defiance of international legitimacy do not lead to any peace, but would rather contribute to the continuation of tension and instability in an already volatile region.
He said that without solving the Palestinian issue in accordance with international legitimacy and the Arab peace initiative, the next stage would represent dangerous and difficult crossroads for the region and the world, stressing that a just peace must be based on an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
6 aug 2019
Premier: Netherlands, EU, and rest of world countries must hasten to recognize state of Palestine to save two-state solution
Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh stressed that the Netherlands, along with the European Union and the rest of the world countries, which have not recognized the Palestinian state and are committed to supporting the two-state solution, must hasten to recognize the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital in order to save the two-state solution from collapse.
This came during a meeting with Dutch ambassador Kees Van Baar at the premier’s office in Ramallah, where they discussed the latest political developments in Palestine.
Shtayyeh said that there is a systematic destruction by Israel and the US administration of the chances of establishing a Palestinian state in an attempt to preserve the status quo, particularly through the isolation and blockade of Gaza, settlement expansion, land expropriation, and removing Jerusalem from any political solution.
He asked: “what does the EU expect from the US deal of the century which has not been presented nor discussed and which part of it has already been implemented on the ground?
Shtayyeh stressed that the assistance provided to the families of martyrs and prisoners in Israeli jails was agreed upon in the Oslo agreement, affirming that 'we will continue to support them’.
The premier praised the efforts of the Netherlands and the European Union to support the building of the institutions of a Palestinian state and development projects there.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh stressed that the Netherlands, along with the European Union and the rest of the world countries, which have not recognized the Palestinian state and are committed to supporting the two-state solution, must hasten to recognize the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital in order to save the two-state solution from collapse.
This came during a meeting with Dutch ambassador Kees Van Baar at the premier’s office in Ramallah, where they discussed the latest political developments in Palestine.
Shtayyeh said that there is a systematic destruction by Israel and the US administration of the chances of establishing a Palestinian state in an attempt to preserve the status quo, particularly through the isolation and blockade of Gaza, settlement expansion, land expropriation, and removing Jerusalem from any political solution.
He asked: “what does the EU expect from the US deal of the century which has not been presented nor discussed and which part of it has already been implemented on the ground?
Shtayyeh stressed that the assistance provided to the families of martyrs and prisoners in Israeli jails was agreed upon in the Oslo agreement, affirming that 'we will continue to support them’.
The premier praised the efforts of the Netherlands and the European Union to support the building of the institutions of a Palestinian state and development projects there.
5 aug 2019
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is ready to “go to the White House and continue what [he] started with [US President] Donald Trump.”
With this and other confusing statements, Abbas tried to articulate the new Palestinian political agenda to foreign reporters in Ramallah last month.
According to Abbas, the PA is ready to return to negotiations with Israel if two conditions are met: Washington is to reverse its stance on East Jerusalem, thus recognising it as an occupied Palestinian city; and there is a renewed commitment to the so-called two-state solution. “I will not accept a one-state solution because one state will be an apartheid state,” Abbas insisted.
Aside from the Palestinian leader’s insubstantial logic, the official Palestinian discourse emanating from Ramallah these days seems oblivious to the massively changing political reality in Washington over the past two years or so.
Remarks by Abbas, his recently-appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh or other PA officials are apparently based on the logic of a bygone era, one in which the US claimed, however falsely, to be an honest broker for peace; a period that lasted for nearly 25 years and during which PA officials benefited from the massive “peace process” racket, bankrolled by the US and other countries.
However, the jig is up. The PA has ceased to serve any useful purpose for the Israelis and their American benefactors, apart from the continued and shameful “security coordination” aimed largely at suppressing any Palestinian resistance to Israel’s brutal occupation.
Everyone seems to acknowledge this seismic change, except the PA.
While failing to understand the nature of the new challenge and redeem its past mistakes, the PA insists on remaining a major stumbling block to a new Palestinian strategy, one that should counter relentless US-Israeli efforts aimed at circumventing international law and, as a result, dismissing all Palestinian rights entirely.
Listening to PA officials speak makes one wonder if they are truly aware that the language coming out of Washington has shifted unmistakably, not only in its degree of bias towards Israel, but also in its complete adoption of the Israeli narrative in terms of nuances, religious fervour and political priorities.
US officials now speak as one with members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing extremist coalition.
The following examples illustrate the new US rhetoric that requires a complete Palestinian departure from their tired and clichéd language of the past.
On 6 December, 2017, Donald Trump said in a White House statement: “Jerusalem is not just the heart of three great religions, but it is now also the heart of one of the most successful democracies in the world.
Over the past seven decades, the Israeli people have built a country where Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and people of all faiths are free to live and worship according to their conscience and according to their beliefs. But today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. This is nothing more, or less, than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do.”
Trump’s infatuation with Israel is paralleled by complete disrespect and disregard for Palestinians.
On 2 January 2018, he tweeted: “We pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?”
US Vice President Mike Pence concurs. On 15 May last year, Pence said in celebration of Israel’s independence that Trump had done more to bring the US and Israel “closer together in a year than any president in the past 70 years.” He referred to him as “the greatest defender the Jewish state has ever had.” According to Pence, “President Trump made history now.”
For her part, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley played a major role in trying to marginalise Palestinians on the international stage.
On 6 October last year she insisted that, “The Palestinians are not a UN Member State or any state at all. The United States will continually point that out in our remarks at UN events led by the Palestinians.”
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, meanwhile, has the perfect blend of Pence’s religious fanaticism and Haley’s political opportunism. In an interview with the New York Times published on 8 June, he said that, “Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank.”
Friedman’s open support for Israeli colonialism was matched by comments made by US Middle East “peace” envoy Jason Greenblatt two weeks later: “We might get there [to a peace deal] if people stop pretending settlements, or what I prefer to call ‘neighbourhoods and cities’, are the reason for the lack of peace.”
He brushed aside the fact that all of Israel’s colonial-settlements are illegal under international law since they have been built on Palestinian land under Israeli military occupation since 1967.
When the PA dared to protest against such political bullying, Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner lashed out on 3 July at the “hysterical and erratic” Palestinian leadership. “The door is always open for the Palestinian leadership… If they stop saying crazy things,” he added.
According to the new American political lexicon, Palestinians have absolutely no rights; international law has no relevance; and supposedly democratic Israel is a model state incapable of erring.
In Washington’s la-la land, there can be no room or tolerance for discussions about military occupation, illegal settlements, genocidal wars, sieges and apartheid if they involve even the slightest criticism of Israel.
Considering America’s complete and unconditional adoption of the Israeli agenda, Abbas should stop talking about negotiations and conditions. Instead, he should revitalise and unite the Palestinian front to counter the US-Israeli menace and its political lackeys across the Middle East.
With this and other confusing statements, Abbas tried to articulate the new Palestinian political agenda to foreign reporters in Ramallah last month.
According to Abbas, the PA is ready to return to negotiations with Israel if two conditions are met: Washington is to reverse its stance on East Jerusalem, thus recognising it as an occupied Palestinian city; and there is a renewed commitment to the so-called two-state solution. “I will not accept a one-state solution because one state will be an apartheid state,” Abbas insisted.
Aside from the Palestinian leader’s insubstantial logic, the official Palestinian discourse emanating from Ramallah these days seems oblivious to the massively changing political reality in Washington over the past two years or so.
Remarks by Abbas, his recently-appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh or other PA officials are apparently based on the logic of a bygone era, one in which the US claimed, however falsely, to be an honest broker for peace; a period that lasted for nearly 25 years and during which PA officials benefited from the massive “peace process” racket, bankrolled by the US and other countries.
However, the jig is up. The PA has ceased to serve any useful purpose for the Israelis and their American benefactors, apart from the continued and shameful “security coordination” aimed largely at suppressing any Palestinian resistance to Israel’s brutal occupation.
Everyone seems to acknowledge this seismic change, except the PA.
While failing to understand the nature of the new challenge and redeem its past mistakes, the PA insists on remaining a major stumbling block to a new Palestinian strategy, one that should counter relentless US-Israeli efforts aimed at circumventing international law and, as a result, dismissing all Palestinian rights entirely.
Listening to PA officials speak makes one wonder if they are truly aware that the language coming out of Washington has shifted unmistakably, not only in its degree of bias towards Israel, but also in its complete adoption of the Israeli narrative in terms of nuances, religious fervour and political priorities.
US officials now speak as one with members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing extremist coalition.
The following examples illustrate the new US rhetoric that requires a complete Palestinian departure from their tired and clichéd language of the past.
On 6 December, 2017, Donald Trump said in a White House statement: “Jerusalem is not just the heart of three great religions, but it is now also the heart of one of the most successful democracies in the world.
Over the past seven decades, the Israeli people have built a country where Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and people of all faiths are free to live and worship according to their conscience and according to their beliefs. But today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. This is nothing more, or less, than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do.”
Trump’s infatuation with Israel is paralleled by complete disrespect and disregard for Palestinians.
On 2 January 2018, he tweeted: “We pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?”
US Vice President Mike Pence concurs. On 15 May last year, Pence said in celebration of Israel’s independence that Trump had done more to bring the US and Israel “closer together in a year than any president in the past 70 years.” He referred to him as “the greatest defender the Jewish state has ever had.” According to Pence, “President Trump made history now.”
For her part, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley played a major role in trying to marginalise Palestinians on the international stage.
On 6 October last year she insisted that, “The Palestinians are not a UN Member State or any state at all. The United States will continually point that out in our remarks at UN events led by the Palestinians.”
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, meanwhile, has the perfect blend of Pence’s religious fanaticism and Haley’s political opportunism. In an interview with the New York Times published on 8 June, he said that, “Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank.”
Friedman’s open support for Israeli colonialism was matched by comments made by US Middle East “peace” envoy Jason Greenblatt two weeks later: “We might get there [to a peace deal] if people stop pretending settlements, or what I prefer to call ‘neighbourhoods and cities’, are the reason for the lack of peace.”
He brushed aside the fact that all of Israel’s colonial-settlements are illegal under international law since they have been built on Palestinian land under Israeli military occupation since 1967.
When the PA dared to protest against such political bullying, Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner lashed out on 3 July at the “hysterical and erratic” Palestinian leadership. “The door is always open for the Palestinian leadership… If they stop saying crazy things,” he added.
According to the new American political lexicon, Palestinians have absolutely no rights; international law has no relevance; and supposedly democratic Israel is a model state incapable of erring.
In Washington’s la-la land, there can be no room or tolerance for discussions about military occupation, illegal settlements, genocidal wars, sieges and apartheid if they involve even the slightest criticism of Israel.
Considering America’s complete and unconditional adoption of the Israeli agenda, Abbas should stop talking about negotiations and conditions. Instead, he should revitalise and unite the Palestinian front to counter the US-Israeli menace and its political lackeys across the Middle East.
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