Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the US peace plan would go to hell.
“The Palestinians will face this conspiracy,” he told reporters after laying a wreath of flowers on the grave of late President Yasser Arafat on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.
“I hope that the next Eid al-Fitr would come while the Palestinian people liberate their country from the Israeli occupation, establish their independent state, with East al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital, and overcome the plots contrived against the Palestinian issue, including the Deal of the Century, which will all go to hell,” Abbas stated.
Abbas’ remarks came as the US team, composed of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor for the Middle East, and US envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt concluded a tour in the region to market the White House economic workshop to be held in Bahrain at the end of June. The workshop aims at unveiling the economic aspect of the so-called “deal of the century.”
The Palestinian Authority decided to boycott the workshop out of its rejection of the US deal as a whole. Palestinians say the plan is aimed at settling the Palestinian issue by resolving the most crucial files (Jerusalem, the refugees, and the borders) based on Israel’s interests.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried to promote the deal, saying that it would serve the interests of Israeli and Palestinian citizens alike, denying previous statements that the deal was only in Israel’s favor.
In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Pompeo stressed that the deal would fundamentally improve the lives of Israeli and Palestinian citizens, “not only Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, but also Palestinians living around the world.”
Meanwhile, Kushner met European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker for talks in Brussels on Tuesday. A commission spokesman said Juncker and EU foreign affairs Chief Federica Mogherini “listened to Mr. Kushner’s ideas and underlined the fundamental interest of the European Union for lasting and sustainable peace and stability in the region.”
Emphasizing that economic development was “crucial”, the EU insisted “it must be accompanied by viable political progress that takes into account the aspirations of both the Palestinians and the Israelis,” the spokesman added in a statement.
