Our top 10 stories in 2019 focused on BDS, the Democratic Party primary, Trump’s thus far secret Deal Of The Century peace plan, and the ongoing daily oppression of the Palestinian people. Hopefully 2020 will see justice for the Palestinian people. Let’s make it happen.
Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV published details on Monday from a reportedly leaked draft of the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan, or “deal of the century,” marking a second time this year unconfirmed documents have revealed plans to establish a demilitarized state of “New Palestine” alongside Israel.
Democrats are pushing to pass a watered-down and toothless version of a resolution supporting a negotiated two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue in the coming weeks, and yet Republicans say even this contradicts the Trump Administration’s peace plan. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the resolution is designed to “score points against the President” and “cut the Administration’s peace process off at the knees, ensuring that any political proposal released by the Administration already has the black mark of a rebuke by the House of Representatives.”
In an interview with Israeli press, US Ambassador David Friedman indicated support for maintaining Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank when he said evacuations of Jews or Arabs as part of a US peace plan would be “inhumane.”
Benny Gantz is “bad,” but Netanyahu is “the worst,” says Ayman Odeh of the Palestinian Joint List in Israel. But Odeh told Time magazine that 10 Palestinian legislators endorsed Gantz because they want to stop Trump’s deal of the century and the annexation by Israel of West Bank lands.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s main opposition in the the upcoming Israeli elections responded to his call to annex the West Bank by saying they had the idea first. Between the support of the Trump administration, and Israeli political consensus, and there is little standing in the way of annexation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he would annex all Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley, and the northern Dead Sea area of the occupied West Bank if he wins Israel’s general elections next week.
Polling suggests that Netanyahu will fall from power in Israel’s September elections His Hail Mary to stay as prime minister and avoid indictment is that the Trump administration interferes, by releasing its peace plan, thereby putting pressure on Netanyahu’s rivals to make a government with him, says Evan Gottesman of Israel Policy Forum.
The absurdity of the Trump economic plan is that it tries to fix the Palestinian economy while completely ignoring the primary reason the Palestinian economy is failing — the occupation.
What if the Palestinians were to exploit the opportunity provided by Kushner’s plan to build Palestinian society as an important step on the way to developing the strength to secure political rights and freedom in one secular state? James Zogby writes. History shows that when people live in economic despair, they are less inclined to demand political rights.