29 Jan 2019; MEMO: US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar slammed US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” as “shameful and disingenuous” yesterday.
After the deal was announced in Washington in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with no Palestinians present, progressive politicians and anti-occupation groups condemned the so-called “peace deal”.
Omar wrote on Twitter: “They could have guaranteed justice, and brought everyone into this peace deal. Instead these two embattled heads of state, impeached and indicted, have a “just us” peace deal. It’s shameful and disingenuous!”
Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib also condemned the move, and tweeted in Arabic: “From Detroit to Palestine: What was announced today is futile and useless, and contrary to all UN resolutions and international legitimacy.”
US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders was also quick to voice his opposition of the peace plan.
Sanders said the US could bring leadership to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but the “deal of the century” did not come close to doing that.
“It must end the Israeli occupation and enable Palestinian self-determination in an independent state of their own alongside a secure Israel. Trump’s so-called ‘peace deal’ doesn’t come close, and will only perpetuate the conflict. It is unacceptable.”
Anti-occupation Jewish group IfNotNow also pointed out that there were no Palestinians present at the launch of this peace deal, none were consulted, and none were invited.
It said:
"There are no Palestinians at this press conference. No Palestinians were invited to the White House meeting about the plan. No Palestinian leaders were involved in the “process” that led to this plan. The whole thing was designed to support the project of endless occupation."
In a string of tweets, the anti-occupation group claimed that this peace plan was “out of touch” with American Jews, and that the “amazing team” behind the “peace plan” had personal interests in expanding Israeli settlements, including the investment of their own personal money.
The so-called “peace plan” was presented in a joint press conference with Netanyahu and Trump, and enjoys the support of opposition leader Benny Gantz and his Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) party.
The United Nations (UN) rejected the deal, saying it is not based along UN guidelines, but is an imposition of Trump’s own vision of a two-state solution.
