Palestinian groups — Fatah, Hamas and others — should not confine themselves to simply rejecting the Trump administration’s so-called “deal of the century.” Instead, they should use their resistance to the new American-Israeli plot as an opportunity to unify their ranks.
Leaked details of the deal Palestinians’ worst fears: It is a complete American acquiescence to the right-wing mentality that has ruled Israel for more than a decade. According to the Israeli newspaper , a demilitarized state, “New Palestine,” will be established on territorial fragments of the West Bank, as all illegal Jewish settlements would permanently become part of Israel. If the Palestinians refused to accept Washington’s diktats, according to the report, they will be punished through financial and political isolation.
This is certainly not an American peace overture, but an egregious act of bullying. However, it is hardly a deviation from previous rounds of “peace-making,” where Washington always took Israel’s side, blamed Palestinians and failed to hold Tel Aviv to account. Washington has never refrained from supporting Israeli wars against Palestinians or even conditioned its generous on the dismantling of the illegal Jewish settlements.
The only difference between the US “peace process” of the past and today’s “deal of the century” is in the style and tactics, as opposed to the substance and details.
Undoubtedly, the deal championed by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, will fail. Not only will it not deliver peace — this is not the intention — but it is most likely to be by Israel. The new government being formed under Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership is centered on far-right and religious parties. It is no longer politically correct in the new Israeli lexicon to even discuss the possibility of a Palestinian state, let alone agree to one.
Netanyahu, however, is likely to wait for Palestinians to the deal, as they certainly should. Then, with the help of the largely pro-Israel mainstream Western media, a new discourse will evolve, blaming Palestinians for missing yet another opportunity for peace, while absolving Israel of any wrongdoing. This pattern is familiar, highlighted most starkly in Bill Clinton’s summit in 2000 and George W. Bush’s “” in 2003. In 2000, then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat rejected his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak’s “” — an entirely manufactured political hoax that, to this day, defines official and academic understanding of what transpired in those secret talks.
It is critical that Palestinian groups at home and in the diaspora push for Palestinian dialogue
Ramzy Baroud
All Palestinians must reject the “deal of the century,” or any deal that is born out of a political discourse that is not centered on Palestinian rights as enshrined in international law — a political frame of reference that is agreed upon by every country in the world, save the US and Israel. Decades of fraudulent American “peace-making” prove that Washington will never fulfill its self-designated title as an “honest peacemaker.”
However, rejection per se, while going back to business as usual, is inadequate. While the Palestinian people are united behind the need to resist the Israeli occupation, challenge Israeli apartheid and employ international pressure until Israel finally relents, Palestinian factions are driven by other selfish priorities. Each faction seems to rotate within the political sphere of foreign influence, whether Arab or international.
For example, Fatah, which is credited with “igniting the spark of the Palestinian revolution” in 1965, has been largely consumed with the trappings of false power while dominating the Palestinian Authority (PA), which itself operates within the space allocated to it by the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank. Hamas, which began as an organic movement in Palestine, is playing regional politics in its desperation for any political validation in order to escape the suffocating siege of Gaza.
Whenever both parties verge on forming a united leadership in the hope of resurrecting the largely defunct Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), their benefactors manipulate the money and politics, thus resuming disunity and discord. The new US deal, however, offers both groups an opportunity, as they are united in rejecting the deal and equally perceive any Palestinian engagement with it as an
More importantly, the steps taken by Washington to isolate the PA through Palestinians urgently needed funds, revoking the PLO’s diplomatic status in Washington and shunning the PA as a political ally provide the opportunity to open the necessary political dialogue that could finally accomplish a serious Fatah-Hamas reconciliation. Meanwhile, Israel, by withholding tax money collected on behalf of the PA, has lost its last pressure card against Mahmoud Abbas and his government in Ramallah.
At this point, there is little else that the US and Israel could do to exert more pressure on the Palestinians. But the space available for Palestinians to create a new political reality will be brief. The moment the new deal is as another failed American scheme to force a , the political cards, regionally and internationally, will be shuffled again, beyond the ability of Palestinian factions to control their outcome.
Therefore, it is critical that Palestinian groups at home and in the diaspora push for Palestinian dialogue, not simply for the sake of forming a unity government in Ramallah, but to revitalize the PLO as a truly representative and democratic body that includes all Palestinian political currents and communities. It is only through the resurrection of the PLO that Palestinians can finally return to their original mission of devising a national liberation strategy that is not manipulated by money and not subjected to regional politicking.
If history is any indication, the “deal of the century” is another American attempt to manage the situation in Palestine in order to assert political dominance in the region. This deal is essential for the US’ reputation, especially among its disgruntled regional allies who feel abandoned by the American military and political retreat from the region.
This latest charade does not have to be at the expense of Palestinians, and Palestinian groups should recognize and grasp this unique opportunity. The “deal of the century” will fail, but efforts to achieve Palestinian unity could finally succeed.
- Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is “The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story” (Pluto Press, London). Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter. Twitter: @RamzyBaroud