International Community Divided On US Middle East Peace Plan

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International Community Divided on US Middle East Peace Plan

The US "deal of the century" on peace in the Middle East, unveiled by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, predictably delighted the Israelis, outraged the Palestinians and the Muslim world, and broke even further away from international consensus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2020) The US "deal of the century" on peace in the Middle East, unveiled by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, predictably delighted the Israelis, outraged the Palestinians and the Muslim world, and broke even further away from international consensus.

On Tuesday, Trump presented his long-awaited Middle East peace plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The plan lays out a two-state solution but does not grant automatic statehood to the Palestinians, who are first expected to implement a range of political, social and economic reforms. They are given four years to study, accept and implement Trump's plan, which offers them roughly twice more land than they already control, but way less than the entire West Bank they claim.

The plan allows Israel to keep all of its West Bank settlements, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Jews, and annex the Jordan valley, effectively denying any future Palestinian state uncontrolled access to the outer world.

According to the deal, Jerusalem will remain undivided under Israeli control. Palestinians, who claim the entire eastern half of the city and its historic center, are invited to use the adjacent villages of Abu Dis, Kafr Aqab and Shuafat as their capital.

The plan suggests that these places could be collectively referred to as Al Quds, a name now applied by Arabs to the whole of Jerusalem. Trump promised that the US would "proudly" open its embassy there. There will be no changes in the status quo of Jerusalem's places of worship.

The plan denies Palestinian refugees and their descendants the right to return to their homes abandoned in what is now Israel.

They are offered instead an absorption into the future State of Palestine, integration into their current host countries or resettlement in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states, subject to those countries' agreement.

To sweeten the deal, the plan includes a generous economic stimulus package of 50 billion dollars of investments, with a declared goal to more than double Palestine's gross domestic product over the next decade, create over a million jobs, cut the poverty rate in half and eliminate dependence on charity and foreign aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported Trump's proposals and expressed his readiness for the immediate start of peace talks with the Palestinians.

MANY MUSLIMS SAY 'NO' TO TRUMP'S PLAN, BUT NOT ALL

The Palestinians became skeptical about the US' mediation role in settling their conflict with Israel after Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state in late 2017. The decision was met with outrage in the Arab world and criticism on the part of the United Nations. In addition, last November, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington no longer considers Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories to be illegal, a statement that contradicted not only a UNSC resolution on the issue but the US' own previous policy.

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday called on all of Palestine's political factions to unite in opposition of Trump's Middle East peace deal. Abbas added that the world would only recognize Palestinian statehood if the territory's political factions were united, in a firm rejection of the terms of Trump's so-called deal of the century.

"Time will come when America will be forced to say 'yes' in the UN Security Council to an independent Palestinian state within the borders of June 4, 1967," Abbas said.

Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau ruling the Gaza Strip, called the US' plan for Mideast peace an attempt to get rid of Palestine's national project.

"Palestine is our home. There will be no compromise over this precious land. It's not for sale, either. We unequivocally state that we reject the deal of century. Hamas considers will never withdraw from the battle against the Trump's plan," Haniyeh said.

A negative reaction was also displayed by officials in Tehran. Iranian presidential adviser Hesameddin Ashena warned that Trump's plan on the Israeli-Palestinian settlement would lead to a new Palestinian rebellion, dubbed Intifada, since there was no interaction with the Palestinians during the preparation of the plan.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said that the "deal of the century" was "doomed to fail."

Lebanon, which shelters 600,000 Palestinian and 1.5 million Syrian refugees is decidedly against the plan, which prescribes the naturalization of Palestinian refugees in their current countries of residence.

"We [Lebanon] are strained to the limit after Lebanon has been drowning in debts for 30 years, which led us to the most severe financial, economic, and social crisis. This is an international play that has led the country to the following ultimatum: either [our] agreement to the naturalization or no financial aid and debt cancellation," Amal Abou Zeid, an adviser to the Lebanese president, said on Wednesday.

Ankara has also strongly rejected the US peace plan, calling it a "stillborn" initiative.

"The so-called US peace plan is stillborn. This is an annexation plan aiming to destroy the two-state solution and seize the Palestinian territories. The people and the land of Palestine cannot be bought off." the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

The League of Arab States (LAS) believes that the US plan violates the legitimate land rights of the Palestinians.

"We are studying the US vision carefully. We are open to any serious efforts to attain peace. However, the first reading of the plan shows that it violates the legitimate land rights of Palestinians," LAS Secretary-General Aboul Gheit said.

Egypt and Jordan, two of the few states in the Arab world that have diplomatic relations with Israel and that signed peace agreements with Israel, showed a more restrained reaction to the "deal of the century."

Cairo called on "both sides to carefully study the American vision, consider all its aspects and open the channels for dialogue to resume negotiations under the auspices of the United States."

Jordan expressed commitment to the basic principle of a two-state solution for the Middle East settlement. Meanwhile, the Jordanian foreign minister pointed out the importance of the upcoming meeting of the League of Arab States for developing a common position of the Arab world concerning the deal.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia, an important regional player, has welcomed the US-sponsored plan and called on the conflicting sides to return to direct negotiations under the auspices of Washington.

"The Kingdom appreciate the efforts of President Trump's administration to develop a comprehensive peace plan between the Palestinian and Israeli sides; and encourages the start of direct peace negotiation between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, under the auspices of the United States, and to resolve any disagreements with aspects of the plan through negotiations, in order to move forward the peace process to reach an agreement that achieves the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

Palestine has asked the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday in connection with Trump's plan. The meeting is expected to take place in Cairo.

EUROPE SHOWS DIVERGING STANCE ON TRUMP'S PLAN

The assessments of the US Middle East settlement plan turned out to be quite ambivalent in Europe. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has welcomed the plan and urged the conflicting sides to start a dialogue under UN auspices.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Trump's Middle East peace plan could be a positive step forward in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict settlement.

"We welcome the release of the United States' proposal for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This is clearly a serious proposal, reflecting extensive time and effort," Raab said in a statement.

He added that only the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian territories could determine whether these proposals met their needs and aspirations.

At the same time, Sweden and Germany believe that Washington's proposals do not meet the requirements of the EU to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem.

"Only a negotiated two�state solution that is acceptable to both parties can lead to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians ... The US proposal raises questions that we will now discuss with our partners in the EU. This includes questions concerning the involvement of the conflict parties in any negotiation process and how the proposal relates to internationally agreed parameters and legal positions," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel said that the European Union would study the US initiative for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but remained committed to a lasting two-state solution.

MOSCOW SHOWS RESTRAINED POSITION

Moscow has so far shown a rather restrained position with regard to the "deal of the century," without providing any specific assessments to the document.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow is continuing to study the US initiative.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov believes that the Quartet on the Middle East settlement, comprising Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, should join in the discussion of the United States' plan.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Sputnik that Israel and Palestine "should have direct talks and reach a mutually acceptable compromise."