‘It’s No Deal’
A PRESS STATEMENT
(For Immediate Release)
The so-called ‘Deal of the Century’ recently declared by US president, Donald Trump, is nothing but another instalment of a long-term plan to strong-arm Palestinians, beating them into submission, so that they give up their legitimate claims and rights that are recognised under various international treaties.
For over 70 years since the Nakba, Palestinians have lived a definite catastrophe of Zionist massacres, land grabs, indignity of refugee life, statelessness and mass incarceration in enclaves carved out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
It has always been the strategy of the Zionists to pretend talking peace while continuing to steal Palestinian land. Countless rounds of ‘talks’, ‘negotiations’, ‘proximity talks’, ‘deals’ and ‘accords’ make what is called the ‘peace process.’ Those familiar with the double-speak, however, know that it is neither peace nor process.
Under the ‘Deal of the Century’ which startlingly has support from some quarters of the Arab World, Palestinians shall remain a humiliated nation, and at the mercy of Israelis who will control all borders while maintaining illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land, sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, let alone the recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The right of return, one of the cardinal principles of the solution to the Palestinian Question, is effectively off the table within the ‘Deal of the Century’ which was announced in the glaring absence of Palestinian Authority, the supposed co-signatory, and designated beneficiary of a bribe-like U$50 billion pledged in aid.
It is no surprise that what was unveiled at the White House was nothing but Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan. On Tuesday, Chris McGreal wrote in The Guardian:
“The unusually detailed 80-page proposal to resolve decades of conflict fulfilled a wish-list of Israeli demands made over the years…”
Palestinian author and prominent activist Ramzy Baroud predicts:
“Donald Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ will fail. Palestinians will not exchange their 70-year long struggle for freedom for Jared Kushner’s cash; nor will Israel accept even if there is a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank.”
Palestinians have, and continue to pay a huge price for their dream of nationhood. This supposed ‘Deal of the Century’, not entirely new in its posturing, is one more cheap shot at acquiescence, based on terms that are dictated by the Occupying Power.
All nations of the world in general, and the Arab World, in particular, should respect the aspirations of Palestinian people who have suffered all these years and have not given up on their struggle for liberation. The least we can do in solidarity is to listen to them and not be party to attempts at forcing them to provide a precedent-setting legitimacy to an occupation that leaves them with nothing but Apartheid-like Bantustans.
We reject this deal which goes against internationally-held consensus on Palestine, is visibly one-sided, and seeks to appease Zionists by denying Palestinians statehood, in the name of Israeli security.
Issued by:
E.I. Bham (Moulana)
Secretary General
30 January 2020