Palestinians Warn If Jerusalem Is off Table, Peace Is off Table

Rasa - Palestinians denounced renewed statements by US President Donald Trump that Jerusalem is off the negotiating table and threats to cut all Washinton aid to the Palestinians if they do not return to the negotiating table with Israel, stressing that if Jerusalem is off the negotiating table, then peace and the United States are off the table as well.

News ID: 436065

Date: 28 January 2018 - 19:54

RNA - Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, told reporters in Ramallah that the US “policy of threats, starvation and capitulation will not work with the Palestinian people”, WAFA reported.

"The issue of Jerusalem is a sacred one. It is the key to war and peace in the region. It is not for sale with all the money in the world and the threat of cutting aid to UNRWA is totally unacceptable," he said.

Abu Rudeineh was referring to Washington decision earlier this month to cut $65 million from the US annual contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees to punish the Palestinians for refusing to accept the US and Israeli conditions for negotiations that include taking Jerusalem off the negotiating table.

He reiterated the Palestinians’ commitment to peace based on United Nations General Assembly and Security Council resolutions as well as the decisions of the Arab summits and the Arab Peace Initiative that support the two-state solution for establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

“Unless the US administration retracts its decision regarding the occupied city of Jerusalem, it will have no role in the peace process. If Jerusalem is off the table, then the US will be off the table as well,” he stressed.

Chief Palestinian negotiator and secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Saeb Erekat, echoed Abu Rudeineh’s words.

“President Trump’s statement only reaffirms that the US has disqualified itself from playing a role in achieving peace. His comments on Jerusalem should serve as a wakeup call for Arab leaders and decision makers, as well as to the rest of the world,” he said in a statement.

“Jerusalem is not off the negotiations table; rather the US is outside the international consensus. Those who say that Jerusalem is off the table are saying that peace is off the table. The holy city is in the hearts of each and every Palestinian, Arab, Christian and Muslim, and there will be no peace without East Jerusalem being the sovereign capital of the State of Palestine,” he underlined.

Erekat added that “Today’s message is clear: President Trump is blackmailing and punishing the Palestinian people for fighting and believing in their freedom and human rights per international law and UN resolutions. President Trump could buy many things with his money, but he won’t be able to buy the dignity of our nation.”

“This is not a game for the people of Palestine. It is about our very existence that continues to be denied by Israel with full US support. As the US Administration insists to continue promoting international anarchy and rewarding violations of international law, we will continue to use all available political, diplomatic and legal venues in order to achieve the long overdue rights of the Palestinian people, most importantly our right to self-determination,” he stressed.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos. By recognizing Jerusalem, Trump said the US has removed the issue from the agenda of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

“We took Jerusalem off the table, so we don’t have to talk about it anymore,” he told Netanyahu, adding that “you won one point, and you’ll give up some other points later on in the negotiation.”

However, the US leader turned down a question from an Israeli journalist, who wanted to know whether the phrase “off the table” meant that no part of Jerusalem would become the capital of a sovereign Palestinian state in the future.

In order to promote the resumption of the currently stalled peace talks, Trump warned that US financial aid “is not going to them [the Palestinians] unless they sit down and negotiate peace.”

He stressed that the Americans have been providing Palestine with “hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support, tremendous numbers, numbers that nobody understands.”

The US leader was upset that Palestinian officials “disrespected” America by refusing to talk to Vice-President, Mike Pence earlier this week. During his visit to the region, Pence promised the Israelis that the US would move its embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem by the end of 2019.

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