‘The Palestinian leadership is firm in its decision to sever relations with the administration since Trump’s declaration’ of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, member of top Palestinian body says</p>
Jordan’s King Adbullah II welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, December 2017.Khalil Mazraawi/AP
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman on Monday to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan.
Aside from Abbas, attending the meeting on the Palestinian side will be longtime peace negotiator Saeb Erekat and Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj.
The king called the meeting between the two leaders following a recent phone conversation with Abbas. Abdullah wants to discuss Trump’s peace plan, which sources close to Abbas say is expected to be unveiled by the White House soon, as well as its implications.
Last week, Trump warned there won’t be peace if the Palestinians refuse to return to the negotiating table. Speaking before a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, D.C., Trump said he believes the Palestinians intend to return to the negotiating table, “and if they don’t, there will be no peace.”
White House officials are also expected to discuss the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, at the initiative of Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt. Representatives of Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia were invited to attend the discussion, but the Palestinians said they will boycott the meeting.
Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said the Americans are trying to frame the Gaza discussion as a humanitarian issue while ignoring the blockade of the Gaza Strip. Majdalani described the American move as an attempt to lead a humanitarian initiative without addressing the recent policy shifts by President Trump, mainly his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the relocation of the American embassy to the city.
“The Palestinian leadership is firm in its decision to sever relations with the administration since Trump’s declaration [recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital]. That will continue until the attitude towards Jerusalem and the two-state solution changes,” Majdalani said.
Isn’t it time to take the Palestinians at their word? If they refuse to accept that they not only lost every war but also the political support of the Obama Administration, then they deserve to be ignored.