Ahmed Tamimi, a senior PLO official, said that Trump’s remarks reflected the “continued American policy that is biased in favor of Israel.”
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHUpdated: AUGUST 23, 2018 08:46Anti-Trump protesters march in Berlin against the US President’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, December 15, 2017.(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Palestinians dismissed as “worthless” US President Donald Trump’s statement they will get something good in return for his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv.The Palestinians also repeated their strong opposition to Trump’s yet-to-be-announced plan for peace in the Middle East.The Palestinians’ comments on Wednesday came in response to remarks made by Trump during a campaign rally in Charleston, West Virginia.Trump said that since Jerusalem is now “off the table,” Israel will have to “pay a higher price” during the negotiations with the Palestinians.Bolton: There was never quid pro quo for Jerusalem embassy move, August 22, 2018 (Ziv Sokolov/U.S. Embassy Jerusalem)“If there’s ever going to be peace with the Palestinians, then this was a good thing to have done,” Trump said. “We took it off the table. In past negotiations, they never got past Jerusalem becoming the capital. So I said, ‘Let’s take it off the table.’ And you know what? In the negotiations, Israel will have to pay a higher price, because they won a very big thing. But I took it off the table.”Ahmed Tamimi, a senior PLO official, said that Trump’s remarks reflected the “continued American policy that is biased in favor of Israel.”Tamimi said the remarks also reflected “the ongoing illusions that the US administration is living under with regards to the possibility of implementing” Trump’s long-awaited peace plan, which “excludes Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state in any future settlement.”The PLO official said he did not know which negotiations Trump was talking about.“Jerusalem is in the hearts of the Palestinians and Arabs and Muslims,” he said. “If Trump was able to remove Jerusalem from the negotiating table, he won’t be able to remove it from the hearts.”Tamimi affirmed the Palestinian Authority’s “categoric rejection” of Trump’s upcoming peace plan in particular and the US policy concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The US administration will not find one Palestinian who agrees with its policies,” he said.Another senior PLO official, Taysir Khaled, condemned Trump for his remarks, saying they resembled those of “real estate men and thugs.” Khaled claimed that Trump’s remarks were in the context of his attempt to “market his goods.”The PLO official also condemned remarks made by US National Security Advisor John Bolton concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees during an interview with Reuters.“UNRWA is a failed mechanism,” Bolton said. “It violates standard international law on the status of refugees. UNRWA’s program is the only one in history based on their assumption that refugee status is hereditary, and I think it’s long overdue that we have taken steps to reduce funding.”Hamas also lashed out at Trump, calling his remarks on Jerusalem “shameless and dangerous.” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the PA’s response to Trump’s statements should be revoking Palestinian recognition of Israel, halting security coordination between the PA security forces and the IDF in the West Bank, and severing all security ties with the US.
