Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat today blamed the recently-announced US Mideast plan as a reason for the latest uptick in violence.
Erekat rejected US allegations of incitement and linked the latest escalation of violence to US President Donald Trump’s plan, dubbed “deal of the century”, which in fact cements Israel’s longstanding policy of permanent occupation, colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian people.
“Main source of violence is the Israeli occupation & its colonial-settlement plan. Mr. Kushner has enabled Israel to move ahead with further annexation/colonization. But he blames President Abbas cause according to those like him, our mere existence/rights & Int. Law are the problem,” he tweeted.
He was responding to remarks delivered the day before by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who blamed President Mahmoud Abbas for escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, which erupted after Trump’s “peace plan” was unveiled on January 28.
In a behind closed doors meeting with the UN Security Council in New York yesterday, Kushner
said Abbas “does have a responsibility” because leaders who are ready to form a state “don’t call for days of rage and encourage their people to pursue violence if they’re not getting what they want”.
The US formula would legitimize all illegal Israeli colonial settlements on Palestinian territory; deny the legitimate claim of Palestinians for a national capital in East Jerusalem; leave tens of thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel outside Israel; annex large parts of Palestine including giving Israel sovereignty over one-third of Palestinian territory in the Jordan Valley; deprive Palestinians of refugee status; and eliminate UNRWA, the UN agency which is vital to the Palestinian economy.
