Palestine announces diplomatic campaign to confront US peace plan

RAMALLAH, Palestine - Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki announced on Sunday the launch of a Palestinian diplomatic campaign to confront the US Deal of the Century aimed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

According to Malki, the campaign would begin by sending a message from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to world leaders to secure their support for the Palestinian stand on the US-proposed Middle East peace plan.

Abbas will soon address the foreign ministers of the European Union to mobilize European and international support against the US deal, he said.

The Palestinian president will call for holding an international peace conference, putting an end to all unilateral measures and abiding by international legitimacy and UN resolutions, Malki added.

US President Donald Trump's envoy for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt hinted that his country's peace plan would not include a two-state solution on the 1967 borders.

According to Israeli public radio, Greenblatt warned that the Palestinians and Israelis would miss an opportunity if they refused to negotiate, especially the Palestinians, saying the two sides would be satisfied with some parts of the plan and not with others.

The Palestinians, however, have refused any US plan to resolve the conflict with Israel, saying the plan is undermining their rights and preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Wael Abu Yousif, executive committee member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, or PLO, denounced Greenblatt's statement, saying the United States has always been "a partner" of Israel in being hostile to the Palestinians and their rights.

The US has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel without acknowledging the two-state solution, gave a green light to the settlement expansion in the West Bank to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, he noted.

The Palestinian Authority has refused to contact the US government since Trump announced in December 2017 the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocation of the US embassy in Israel to the city.

"The statements of US envoy Greenblatt are totally rejected, and the Palestinian side is not subject to any American or Israeli threats," said Saleh Rafat, a member of the PLO Executive Committee.

"Any plan or proposal or deal not built on the basis of a two-state solution is doomed to fail" and will be rejected by the Palestinians and countries around the world, said the statement obtained by Xinhua.

Xinhua