US President Donald Trump's so-called deal of the century on the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is simply “a colonial plan” to force Palestinians out of their homeland, says an analyst, adding that it is a deal for “apartheid and occupation” rather than a peace plan. RNA - Charlotte Kates, activist and commentator, made the remarks during a Friday edition of Press TV’s The Debate program while commenting on Trump’s proposed plan for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We are not talking about a peace plan or proposal for peace or anything like that. What we are talking about is a plan for apartheid and further colonization and destruction of Palestine. So we have two parties that are only interested in pursuing permanent war, occupation, colonization, violence and destruction –namely the US and Israel – who are essentially making an agreement with one another to continue to perpetrate apartheid, violence and colonialism against the Palestinian people,” she said.
“This was never meant to be any kind of a peace deal or an agreement. It was only meant to be a joint plan for colonization, destruction and imperialist and Zionist hegemony over the peoples of the region. This is simply a colonialist plan between two occupying imperial forces in the region to strip the indigenous people of the region of their sovereignty, their rights, their freedom and, frankly, their ability to even obtain any form of economic justice,” she added.
On January 28, Trump unveiled his so-called deal of the century, negotiated with Israel but without the Palestinians.
Palestinian leaders, who severed all ties with Washington in late 2017 after Trump controversially recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of the Israeli regime, immediately rejected the plan, with President Mahmoud Abbas saying it “belongs to the dustbin of history.”
Trump’s Middle East scheme largely meets Israel’s demands in the decades-old conflict while creating a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders.
It also enshrines Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley.
The proposal further denies the right of return of Palestinian refugees into their homeland, among other controversial terms.
Palestinian leaders, who severed all ties with Washington in late 2017 after Trump, in a controversial move, recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of the Israeli regime, immediately rejected the plan, with President Mahmoud Abbas saying it “belongs to the dustbin of history.”
Thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip took to the streets in immediate condemnation of the plan.
Muslims all across the world have also expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause and denounced Trump's proposed plan.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has also said Trump’s pro-occupation plan for ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is doomed to die even before the US president’s own death, adding that Washington’s push “will definitely end in failure.”
Kates further noted Trump’s scheme fundamentally violates international law and human rights, adding that it throws aside the fundamental principles of sovereignty, self-determination and the right to live free of colonization and apartheid.
She concluded by saying that in order to establish peace and justice in Palestine, occupation and colonization should be eradicated and the right of return of the Palestinian people should be implemented.
“The fact is, if we want to talk about peace and if we want to talk about justice, what we need to talk about is holding those accountable who have been destroying the promise of peace for over 70 years.”
“So that means bring Israeli leaders to trial before the International Criminal Court, making a plan for the implementation of Palestinian refugees right to return, ending occupation and building a society in which Zionism is dismantled … and replaced by a democratic secular society in which people can live together based on principles of human rights, anti-colonialism, anti-racism and self-determination in a liberated Palestine for all,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Fredrick Peterson, the other panelist on the program opined that this plan is an offer, adding that both parties must give a little to get a little in order to achieve peace, prosperity and freedom.
“The plan can be either accepted or rejected and it must be accepted by both parties and worked on by both parties but both parties must have a common objective and that common objective must be peace, prosperity and freedom and both must give a little to get a little in order to achieve this,” he said.
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