PLO:

US president’s policy shift on Palestine nonsensical

Rasa - A senior member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has lashed out at US President Donald Trump for his swift policy shift from Washington’s decades-long support for a so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

News ID: 427395

Date: 15 February 2017 - 20:16

RNA - “This does not make sense,” PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi told AFP on Wednesday, adding, “This is not a responsible policy and it does not serve the cause of peace.”

“They cannot just say that without an alternative,” she added.

On Tuesday, a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Washington would no longer insist on a “two-state solution” to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but would support whatever the two sides agree to.

“A two-state solution that does not bring peace is not a goal that anybody wants to achieve,” the official said, adding, “Peace is the goal, whether that comes in the form of a two-state solution if that is what the parties want, or something else if that is what the parties want.”

Husam Zomlot, an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also voiced surprise at the Trump administration’s suggestion that a deal between Israelis and Palestinians may not come in the form of a “two-state solution.”

The comments come ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day.

The last round of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians stalled in 2014.

One of the major sticking points in the negotiations was the Israeli regime’s settlement activities on occupied Palestinian lands, which are viewed by the international community as unlawful.

Tel Aviv has turned a blind eye to Resolution 2334 adopted by the United Nations Security last December, which condemned the establishment of settlements as a “flagrant violation under international law.”

Emboldened by the inauguration of Trump in January, the regime has approved the construction of some 6,000 settler units in the West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Several Israeli ministers have recently been speaking of the annexation of Palestinian land, a move criticized by the world body.

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