"Any attempt to address
the Israeli-Palestinian issue that does not begin and end with the full acknowledgment
of the Palestinian right to self-determination, freedom, justice, and equality
is a non-starter."
Human rights advocates
condemned U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's "annexation
plan" for large swaths of Palestinian territory as the two
leaders on Tuesday presented what they termed a "peace deal" for
Israel and Palestine.
Critics joined Palestinian
leaders in rejecting
the premise of the so-called "vision for peace," which was
drafted by the White House and Netanyahu without the input of Palestinians.
The resulting plan is
"shameful and disingenuous," tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
The plan aims to expand and
make official Israeli control of Palestinian territories while assuring
Palestine that it will be afforded "a
pathway to a future state"—but one that will have no military of its
own and in which Israel will maintain security control over some areas.
"This is not a peace
plan," tweeted Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the U.S. Campaign
for Palestinian Rights. "It is a war plan."
"It's stunning that
Donald Trump doesn't know that this is insulting to Palestinians," tweeted
James Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute.
"This plan is simply a
rubber stamp for the Israeli government's continuing violations of
international law, separate-and-unequal policies, land grabs, and human rights
abuses against the Palestinian people," said the U.S. Campaign for
Palestinian Rights in a statement. "Any
attempt to address the Israeli-Palestinian issue that does not begin and end
with the full acknowledgment of the Palestinian right to self-determination,
freedom, justice, and equality is a non-starter."
Major points within the
deal include:
Jerusalem will be established
as Israel's "undivided" capitol, undermining Palestinians' aim to
recognize East Jerusalem as their capitol;
the recognition of the
majority of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine;
the recognition of the Jordan
Valley, which makes up a third of the occupied West Bank, as part of Israel;
and
the refusal by Israel to grant
Palestinians the "right to return" to their homes lost in the Six-Day
War and other conflicts.
Palestinians in occupied
territories held protests on Tuesday ahead of the deal's announcement. Larger
demonstrations are planned for Wednesday.
"I am not against peace,
but what is being talked about is not peace," Ahmed Shafiq, a student in
Gaza, told The
Guardian. "Peace is not imposed on people."
The so-called "peace
deal" amounts to "an endorsement of Israel's aggression, allowing it
to take over whatever Palestinian lands it wants and punishing the victims for
daring to object to having their homeland stolen," said Omar Baddar,
deputy director of the Arab American Institute, in a short video the group
released.
A map released showing Trump
and Netanyahu's vision for the future of Palestine resembled "a Native
American reservation" more than a sovereign state, said entrepreneur
Shahed Amanullah.
"This is not a peace
plan," tweeted Omar.
"It is theft. It is erasure."
Munayyer of the U.S. Campaign
for Palestinian Rights called on Americans and the international community to
reject Trump's attempt to "whitewash the apartheid reality alongside his
Israeli partners-in-war-crimes."
"The only suitable
response from people of conscience is to reject this effort and demand
immediate accountability for Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights,"
Munayyer said. "The
separate-and-unequal reality the Israeli government has imposed on Palestinians,
with the support of the U.S., flies in the face of the values Americans claim
to uphold. Freedom, justice, and equality for Palestinians is the only way
forward.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.),
whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from occupied Palestine, slammed Trump and
Netanyahu for releasing the plan as both are facing re-election campaigns and
legal battles.
"It's fitting that the
Trump-Netanyahu plan was released by a forever impeached president on the same
day that Netanyahu was indicted for corruption," Tlaib tweeted. "This
political stunt gets us no closer to peace or justice."
"This is a political ploy
by both leaders to distract from their abuse of power, designed to help
Netanyahu win the election in less than six weeks," Emily Meyer, co-founder
of Jewish progressive group If Not Now, said in a statement. "The plan
itself is a plan for permanent Israeli military occupation and control, not a
plan for peace. It is simply a continuation of Trump's strategy since entering
office: to disenfranchise Palestinians and deny their rights, their agency, and
even their identity."
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