By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Washington’s backchannel peace plan dubbed the “Deal of the Century” is aimed at derailing the Palestinian national cause, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) said Tuesday.
“Palestinian steadfastness… and our continued adherence to the longstanding Arab position on Jerusalem will sink the so-called ‘Deal of the Century’,” Palestine’s WAFA news agency quoted PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh as saying on Tuesday.
The deal, he went on to assert, revolves around a proposed Gaza arrangement that would “turn the Palestinian national cause into a strictly humanitarian issue”.
According to Abu Rudeineh, the U.S. administration believes that setting aside Jerusalem and the refugees issue — and opting out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran — would pave the way for a deal on Gaza, the terms of which have already been rejected by the Palestinians and most Arab capitals.
“These ideas and illusions [i.e., the proposed terms of the deal] are intended to stifle the Palestinian identity and destroy our national cause — not to make progress on the peace process,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and U.S. peace envoy Jason Greenblatt both recently visited Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Israel with a view to promoting the “Deal of the Century”.
The Palestinian leadership, however, has rejected U.S. mediation since last December, when Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem — occupied by Israel since 1967 — might eventually serve as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
