Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey, December 13, 2017.. (photo credit: REUTERS)
US President Donald Trump’s tweets threatening to cut aid to the Palestinians have “absolutely no justification,” a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday.
Late Tuesday evening, Trump tweeted “with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them,” referring to the hundreds of millions of dollars the US makes in aid payments for the benefit of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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“This statement has absolutely no justification. We wanted a peace process with the Americans and we worked hard for it. We gave Trump all the attention and time. We went to the White House to see him and welcomed him here in Bethlehem. But then he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, taking the single most important part of negotiations and a two-state solution off the table,” Nabil Shaath told The Jerusalem Post in a phone call. “So he wants to punish us for protesting and not accepting his position on Jerusalem…This [tweet] shows that Trump is not a serious man.”
On December 6, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and initiated a process to relocate the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to the holy city, breaking with decades of American policy.
After Trump announced his decisions on Jerusalem, PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared that the US no longer can play the role of interlocutor in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
Shaath added that Trump is mistaken to say the Palestinians no longer want a peace process.
“We have not given up on peace. But we are simply looking for other partners to go to an international peace process. We still are working hard for a peace process, but not one monopolized by Mr. Trump,” he said.
Shaath along with PLO Executive Committee Member Ahmad Majdalani traveled to Russia and China earlier this month to explore the possibility of bringing more countries into the peace process.
Israel has long only accepted the US as an interlocutor in the peace process, turning down initiatives to bring other parties into it.
When asked how the Palestinians would deal with a possible cut in aid from the US, Shaath said, “This will make things more difficult,” adding that the Palestinians will formulate a response at the meeting of the Palestinian Central Council later this month.
The PCC, the PLO’s second highest decision-making body, is slated to meet on January 14 in Ramallah.
According to PLO Executive Committee Member Wasel Abu Yousif, the meeting will aim “to set forth a strategy for the coming period in light of Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.”