PLO official:

"Deal of Century" Is An American Plan to Liquidate Palestinian National Rights

Rasa - Tayeer Khaled , member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization said that "the deal of the century" is a US political project aimed at liquidating the Palestinian national rights, when it excludes Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlement blocs from the agenda of any political solution.

News ID: 437911

Date: 28 May 2018 - 22:04

RNA - “This means that the political solution for the Palestinian side cannot be accepted after the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the [US] embassy to [Jerusalem], because these events are only indications of the nature of the deal, which the US administration is trying to dictate," the PLO official stated in a statement, WAFA reported.

He stressed that "what is required is to intensify our efforts and activities within the United States and abroad, in order to besiege this policy and that this is possible", explaining that "from within the United States it is not an easy process, but there are indications, for example, about 76 members of Congress, Of the Democratic Party are addressing Netanyahu and demanding that he stops the policy of demolishing Palestinian homes".

"There are opportunities to influence the decision and policy of the US administration, the most important of which is to stand firm against the policy of this administration,” he added.

There are also opportunities to reinvigorate the situation in the region and prevent the American administration from relying on the bad situation in the region, he stressed.

The official called for national unity and the restoration of the unity of the Palestinian political system.

Regarding the closure of (PLO) office in Washington, He stated that the closure is a step that comes in the context of the hostile stance taken by the American administration against the Palestinian people and their rights and against the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Khaled said in an interview with the media that the US administration is based on a legislation that was issued in the US Congress in 1987; law against terrorism, which are the worst US laws , adding that "since then, the Congress deals with the Palestine Liberation Organization as a terrorist organization."

He pointed out that "a relative change occurred in 1994, when the US Congress adopted a law to facilitate the peace in the Middle East, after the signing of the Oslo Accords, where the Congress gave the US President to suspend the law enforcement for the Palestine Liberation Organization, through a work permit for the Office of the PLO Office in Washington renewed every six months".

"It seems that things have reached the end and there is no suspension of the anti-terrorism law, which is now used as a cheap political extortion tool against  the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian side, not the only tool, but there are many extortion tools used by the US administration," he noted.

He pointed to the clear and direct threat related to the cancellation of aid to the Palestinian people by the US administration, pointing to the reduction of the contribution of the United States of America in the UNRWA budget, and perhaps cancellation.

He stressed that "the use of all kinds of extortion and pressure on the Palestinian people, is directly linked to the 'deal of the century'", stressing that "this is impossible, because the deal of the century does not concern us  in any sense".

The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was considering the closure of the PLO office in Washington or keeping it open, pointing out that it takes some time before a decision would be made on this matter.

Speaking at a meeting of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo reportedly stated that keeping the Organization's office open without renewing the resolution or a new resolution is linked to a legal problem, noting that the continued funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is under review.

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