Chief Palestinian negotiator calls on Arabs to boycott ‘US settlers’

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has called upon Arabs to boycott President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal for “peace” between the Israeli regime and Palestinians, dubbed “the deal of the century,” describing his three-man team tasked with formulating the plan as “settlers.”

News ID: 445269

Date: 05 June 2019 - 09:31

RNA - “Once again, I call on our Arab brothers not to talk to this group of settlers, [Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared] Kushner, [US Middle East envoy Jason] Greenblatt, and [US ambassador to the occupied territories David] Friedman,” Erekat, who is also the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said on Tuesday.

He added, “What they are planning is prosperity for the settlers.”

Erekat’s remarks came in response to Kushner, who said earlier in the day that the Palestinians deserve "self-determination," but stopped short of backing Palestinian statehood, expressing uncertainty over their ability to govern themselves.

On June 2, Trump acknowledged that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s doubts about his so-called deal of century “may be right.”"Look, we’re doing our best to help the Middle East to get a peace plan, and he [Pompeo] may be right. I mean, most people would say that," Trump told reporters in Washington, DC.

He added, “But if we can get a Mid-East peace plan that would be good. And when Mike says that, I understand when he says that, because most people think it can’t be done. I think it probably can. But as I say often, we’ll see what happens.”

According to an audio recording of a private meeting between Pompeo and Israelis obtained by The Washington Post, the US top diplomat is heard suggesting that the plan is “unexecutable” and it might not “gain traction.”

“It may be rejected. Could be in the end, folks will say, ‘It’s not particularly original, it doesn’t particularly work for me,’ that is, ‘It’s got two good things and nine bad things, I’m out,’ ” Pompeo said.

“The big question is can we get enough space that we can have a real conversation about how to build this out,” he pointed out.

Trump’s “peace plan” has already been dismissed by Palestinian authorities ahead of its unveiling at the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan and the formation of the new Israeli cabinet, most likely in June.

Speaking in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on April 16, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh lashed out at the initiative, asserting it was “born dead.”

Shtayyeh noted that negotiations with the US were useless in the wake of the country’s relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, which Palestinians consider the capital city of their future state.

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