Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki has called the anticipated US plan for ending the Israel-Palestinian conflict an unacceptable “surrender act”.
Speaking at Chatham House think tank in London, he said theplan that US President Donald Trump calls the “deal of the century”was in fact “the consecration of (Palestinians’) century-old ordeal”,the BBC reported on Friday.
No confirmed details have been revealed of the plan, whichWashington says could be unveiled in June. Israel has not officially taken aposition towards the plan.
Earlier in May, Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner, who isan architect of the plan, said the proposals will be a “framework…(which) will lead to both sides being much better off”.
It is unclear whether the plan will be based on theso-called “two-state solution” — a long-standing formula forresolving the conflict by creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel, withJerusalem a shared capital.
Malki said all the indications were that “this (US)administration is preparing to give its stamp of approval to Israel’s colonialpolicies”.
“When it comes to taking the lead on peace efforts, theworld left the steering wheel in the hand of a reckless driver… with a viewthat we should wait till the reckless driver goes over a cliff or runs over thePalestinian people (before doing) something about it,” he said.
The Palestinians often describe Israeli settlements andother activities in the occupied territories as a form of colonialism, acharacterisation that Israel strongly rejects.
Israel has built about 140 settlements, home to more than600,000 Jews, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since it occupied them duringthe 1967 Middle East war.
Palestinians claim the territories for a future Palestinianstate.
The settlements are considered illegal under internationallaw, though Israel disputes this.
Malki said the Trump administration’s plan offered “noindependence, no sovereignty, no freedom and no justice – and if (the US) donot think that this situation will have an impact on the future of Israel andthe region one way or another, they are the ones that are delusional and notus”.
Inferring that acceptance of the Trump plan would be”capitulation”, the Foreign Minister said the Palestinians would”never be ready to sign a surrender act”.
“Our people have not suffered so long or endured somuch to simply change the size of their chains,” he said. Agencies